Tuesday night: the people on staff had to look up what a 'long island iced tea' was and it took them 21 minutes to deliver it. This was after asking for two other simple cocktails, one being a Tom Collins, that they'd simply said no to because they didn't know how to make. They didn't even try to look it up.
When the long island iced tea was delivered after 21 minutes in an empty bar with no activity happening, no music or more than 5 patrons in the whole bar, the person delivering the drinks paid for expected us to be impressed. The drinks were in hurricane (incorrect) glasses. They'd taken a third of an hour to arrive when those drinks could be built in literally less than one minute.
At one point I walked past the window where you could see the drinks being made and laughed, loudly, at the bartender's lack of experience. "Are those two drinks to be long island iced teas?" the two glasses on the counter were hurricane glasses full of ice. I laughed heartily at this venue's lack of training.
"I'm doing what it says in the book!" said the kid behind the bar when he came out to speak to me a few moments after he'd seen me laughing heartily at his efforts with the ice and the fancy glasses. Apparently there is a book at the bar that instructs the staff in the construction of various drinks. Not only do the staff not study this, but the book is wrong. Not only is it wrong and they do not study it, but they rely on it when someone asks for a basic cocktail. When that happens the customer is occasionally amused by the circus of failure that unfurls around them, but always disappointed. That's not what I ordered. I already paid but I feel badly about it. Best not make a fuss. NOPE. Let's go somewhere else next time? Please?
Professional recommendation: train your staff, lower the music volume level during regular hours OR just go all out and strike a deal with Tony's in the valley to get some really old strippers in the place taking their clothes off. There were plenty of old punters in the place when I was there and I think they'd appreciate it. Changing the tone would reduce the expectation of quality or timely service for the young-folk and alleviate your difficulties in the review department. It could lead to increased revenue. Investigate accommodating 20 to 30 motorcycles at a time. The people who ride motorcycles have money to spend, drink responsibly since they have to ride home, and give a great family atmosphere to the place. Most are parents! What a wonderful thing!
Spending 20 minutes making a 30 second drink with them might be eye opening!
Edit: If you're not going to the Bent Elbow across the road, where they actually care about a customer experience, you're doing it wrong. read more