The first few times we went to Stomps the food was about perfect. More or less as good as a handmade burger can be expected. I've had a few "just plain cheeseburgers" and my wife only orders the bean burger, all were great. We told everyone we knew how darn good Stomps was and swore off every burger this side of the loop including Tookie's... then the reports came back from family and others. They had bad experiences.
I'm sad to agree that Stomps is hit or miss! I read the reviews that said as much. Apparently this has been going on for years. For my family, the short honeymoon came to a jolting halt. There's an obvious management problem. No excuse. Especially after a few years.
There should be a system. The kitchen? The same process and quality of food regardless of the cook on duty. The house, restrooms, tables should be clean, the parking lot free of debris, grease trap shouldn't smell like a teenaged prankster dropped a stink bomb.
No excuses. It's always "sorry we have a new cook." No, Stomps has had the same cooks since they opened. Dr. Jeckle & Mr. Hyde! In addition to the kitchen, Jeckle & Hyde also manage the menu, the wait staff, the house keeping, the restrooms, parking lot and the grease trap. All of it hit or miss.
I almost feel a little guilty being so harsh. Almost. But really Stomps should feel guilty.
Everyone can have a bad day. Things happen in people's lives that are catastrophic and for a time the best they can do is hang on. I can be sympathetic to a part time cook over run during a rush with no back up. But the management by this point should have a "plan B" worked out!
When a super passionate foodie and amateur chef like myself begins to brag, boast, recommend and frequent your restaurant. Only to see it take a re-occurring nose-dive... that breaks my heart. I feel like weeping. I see another American dream with potential flushing down the toilet.
We were going out for a rare family lunch. We almost never go out because it's expensive and because myself and the circle "I run in" cook better than 95% of the possible restaurants within the state. My family choose to go to Stomps as our special place because of their proven potential?
They messed that up. We waited an hour, the order gets messed up, the 2nd order gets messed up, my chili burger had no chili on it. But Mr. Hyde sort of brushed some chili pan drippings over the bun. The onion rings were cold and if not soggy just blah. They had been waiting for almost as long as us.
My 6 year old daughter's, kid sized bean burger was close to burnt. The bun was rock hard and stale. This is no mistake. Mr. Hyde stuck his hand into a plastic bag and touched a rock hard, stale burger bun and decided to feed it to a customer. We didn't eat half our food and just left disappointed. Me angry enough to fight but? No excuse for that disrespect.
A 6 year old Stomps fan! Because Mr. Hyde was too lazy and inconsiderate of his youngest customers to think they would notice. That was the final for me. Our little girls Stomps. We introduced her to burgers here... because we do not eat fast food. When I touched that rock hard, stale bun... that did it! That tells me a lot about the attitude in the kitchen. Feed the kid whatever eh? read more