My Yelp review for Rad's started percolating in my brain from the get-go, unlike their coffee, which they ran out of (twice!) while we were there. And it was a Saturday. At noon. If there's ever a time to make sure you have coffee available, I would think it would be on the weekend during peak hours.
I think it has to do with the way they do their coffee: It's in large carafes and you serve yourself. But they don't seem to pay attention to the carafes of coffee, and the staff waits until some hapless uncaffeinated soul goes to get a mug of coffee and finds them empty. Then, when the staff gets around to it, they remove the carafes and you have to wait 10 minutes until they're filled up. Now, you're probably thinking: Why don't they have a backup set of carafes so that there is always coffee available? Why can't they have one set brewing while the other is set out and ready to be used? I was thinking that, too, as I watched the carafes be depleted twice during my 30 minute visit. I did manage to get one cup of coffee, but I had to watch the carafes like a hawk and make sure to jump up from my table right when they were set out. Other people did the same, so there was (I'm not even exaggerating) seven people gathered around, empty mugs in their hands, in line for coffee. I felt like this was 1996 and I was standing in line at a Ticketmaster box office, hoping to snag tickets to Pearl Jam. It was a desperate scene.
So that's the coffee situation.
Then our food came, and my husband's biscuits and gravy were cold. I didn't believe him at first because my and my children's food was hot, and he's sometimes prone to exaggeration. I thought maybe it was just not as hot as it should be or something. So I took a bite of his food and nope -- it was cold. Like cold-cold. Was his food made first and left sitting out while ours was being prepared?
I'm so enraged about the coffee and the cold biscuits and gravy that I jumped ahead of myself. When we first got there, we had no idea if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait to be seated. There's no sign, and there's no one at the front to greet you. So we're standing there, looking for someone, anyone, to help us. A lady walks in after us and asks us what we do: do we put our names on a list or ...? I'm thinking, "Girlfriend, I'm as confused as you are, so I guess we're all in this together." So we stand around.
There weren't any tables ready anyway, because several needed to be bussed. But apparently it wasn't an urgent issue, because the guy bussing the tables would meander over to the tables, put a couple of plates and glasses on a tray, then meander back to the kitchen and drop them off. A minute later he would emerge, meander back to the tables, put a couple more dishes on the tray, then meander back and disappear into the kitchen. I wanted to volunteer myself to help him bus the tables, that's how long it was taking and how ridiculous the situation was becoming.
Jump to the end of our meal. We go to pay and they have these tablets that they run your credit card through that they bring to your table, and then you choose your tip by pressing one of the options on the screen. Except that they don't hand you the tablet and let you conduct your transaction and decide the tip privately. No -- the server held it in front of her and you have to decide what to tip as she's watching you. No pressure! Don't mind me looking into your face as I decide how much you're worth to me!
I'll end this review with a few positives, because despite the fact that I'm never coming back, I did notice some positive things.
One: My challah french toast was really tasty (and hot).
Two: The bacon was cooked crisply and tasted excellent.
Three: They provide a fresh fruit cup with their kids meals, and they cut their grapes in half lengthwise, which is the proper way to cut grapes when serving them to young children to help prevent choking. Yay! read more