Supper clubs are ubiquitous to Wisconsin culture, particularly in the more rural areas of our state. Some have long storied histories with widely known reputations for exceptional food and service. Others simply mimic the style without understanding there is more to the supper club experience than brandy old fashions and prime rib. Rupp's definitely falls well short of the exceptional.
Over the past decade my wife and I have dined several times at Rupp's and found the food, service and cost average though the table spacing has always been uncomfortably crowded, as if management was attempting to squeeze too many tables into too small a space. On this most recent visit the seating had devolved further, but was overshadowed by extremely bad service.
With early reservations the four of us were seated quickly to a corridor between the bar and main dining room. The corridor was lined with undersized booths, one of which we found ourselves crammed into. Seeing that the main dining room had numerous open tables, we asked to be moved and were informed gruffly by our server that we could not do so.
It is difficult to overemphasize the inadequacy of the booth seating. While the length of the table was sufficient for a group of four, the width of the table was no more than 26 inches. The gap between table edge and seatback was approximately 18 inches and the seat bench was shorter still and canted forward making the back of the seat bench slightly higher than the front. I was unable to extend my legs and throughout the meal my knees were frequently in contact with the person seated opposite me. Plating this oddly narrow table for two couples was very crowded and made regular bussing of used plates and glassware necessary. Unfortunately this ordinarily routine part of restaurant service occurred only after our server discovered she had no place to put our orders.
Our server, it should be noted, seemed generally put out by our presence. Her facial expressions and stance suggested she might have been suffering some degree of back or leg pain which I'm sure added substantially to her overall inattentive sour demeanor and, realizing this, made our group more forgiving of the bad service, although our magnanimity toward her evaporated at the very end of our visit. I will explain later.
Cocktails were ordered at the table and were served in good time. However, the drinks seemed watered down as evident in both color and taste. I am partial to a specific spirit and am very familiar with its strength and flavor. Despite being charged for the more expensive, I suspect being served bar rail.
As part of our meal we were eventually invited to take salad, soup and other sides from the salad bar. The salad bar was clean and the greens and sides were fresh and appetizing. As mentioned above, our group was one of the first tables seated and, despite this, we found the bread basket held only three rolls. The bread was not replenished during our meal.
After salad, the entrees we gradually received were of good quality, well prepared, well presented and palatable. However, our plates and sides arrived completely piecemeal over an unreasonably long period of time. When entrees or sides did arrive our server had difficulty finding room on our cramped table, mostly due to her failure to notice and address the growing assortment of used salad plates and glassware.
After the meal we shared desserts which were presented well and were tasty. While enjoying conversation, still drinking coffee and finishing dessert, our server presented our separate bills. Now we come to the point in our visit to Rupp's Supper Club that evaporated any sense of patients or understanding toward our server or for that matter toward the business as a whole. Upon returning our credit cards, we were bluntly told by our server to leave our table as soon as possible because others were waiting to be seated.
While I understand and accept the necessity of table turnover to the profitability of a restaurant, the business has an obligation to meet certain rudimentary customer service expectations, not least of which is to provide an atmosphere of enjoyment and comfort for a reasonable period of time. Though not etched in stone, the reasonableness of time spent at a table is not only dependent upon the customer but upon the quality and timeliness of service. Despite the uncomfortable seating and the sporadic nature of service, we were always good natured, abundantly patient and did not complain. To have paid our substantial dinner bill and then be unceremoniously told to leave was insulting and, from a long-term business perspective, very shortsighted.
I will not be returning to Rupp's Supper Club in Cleveland, Wisconsin and, unless you enjoy average food quality with disappointing service in cramped uncomfortable seating, I suggest you avoid this business as well. read more