After much hullabaloo on Facebook about Chef's Corner from lots of different
people (not mentally challenged or psychotic people, but people with differing
tastes) I decided it was time to take the proverbial plunge. I figured I
would give them a good amount of time to get over opening jitters which usually
causes a few issues when first opening a restaurant. Once a place gets in their
groove you can get a good idea about how they are going to cook, serve, and
generally wow the customer. Unfortunately, for Chef's Corner, there seem
to be some major issues. Now if you don't mind trash on the floor, lack
of atmosphere in the way of decorative pictures on the walls, slow service, and
some unfriendly wait staff then Chef's Corner is definitely for you! I'm
almost certain I've talked about this before but there is a stereotype in the
restaurant business that Hispanics (namely Mexican Hispanics in my experience)
don't tip well and I just wonder if maybe that is some of the reasoning behind
the way we were being served. Who knows?!?! At any rate let’s start at
the very beginning, a very good place to start . . . uh yeah.
We came in just after their Saturday lunch rush and there were at least 9
tables empty in the restaurant with 3 waitresses. Since there were 3
rooms I assumed that the waitresses were assigned 1 to a room. This
restaurant had maybe 4-6 tables per room from what I could see. Another
young lady (more than likely the owner's daughter or granddaughter) was
dutifully cleaning tables and helping in whatever way she could which was a
sign to me that this place is family owned and that this child was learning the
ropes which I find really great. I am impressed with young kids working
hard at their family restaurant. My daughter has helped me with catering
jobs and parties on numerous occasions so I have a very soft spot in my heart
for these young 'uns learning the trade. One of the things that struck me
in the restaurant was the vibrant Southwestern style colors on the wall with
white trim. This was nice but there were no pictures or decorative
touches to distinguish this restaurant's style and I think I know why.
When we received the menu I noticed they are serving 3 types of cuisine:
Mexican, American, and Italian. One of the biggest mistakes you can make
when opening up a restaurant or doing catering is to do too many things.
Three types of cuisine (plus a breakfast service) give this place a multiple
personality disorder. I wanted to give this a chance to see how they
would pull it off. Our drink order was taken quickly but I sensed a bit
of tension from the first waitress. She asked if we wanted an appetizer and as
is our custom we ordered one to get the full experience of the
restaurant. I noticed some chips and salsa on other tables so I assumed
we would get some which we did not. Another one came over and asked if our
drink order was taken and she seemed a bit friendlier than the first one
although she did tell us the wrong special for the time of day we were there.
Our drinks came out and we waited for our appetizer. We waited. Then we
waited some more. In fact I'm still waiting for my appetizer. It never
came out. The waitress that asked us if we wanted it never brought it
out. Her attitude just plain stunk. No smile. No
personality. In fact when she came back to refill drinks she was very
curt and as I stated before no smile on her face, no kindness in her
voice. She practically barked at us, "DO YOU WANT ANYTHING ELSE TO
DRINK?" Uh, yeah. We had not had any refills yet so it was a
definite yes. In stark contrast the friendly waitress smiled a lot and
although she was inexperienced I could tell she was trying hard. Here's a
professional hint for those people desiring to be wait staff though:
don't make excuses about this being your 4th or 5th day on the job, don't tell
me I didn't get my appetizer because you didn't know that we had ordered it,
don't tell me every time I see you that your new. I don't care if you are
new. A head waitress can train people to do the job that needs to be done
unless you are just not meant to do this kind of work. You usually know
that after 3 or 4 services though.
I ordered beef fajitas, Kandra and JJ ordered Chicken Alfredo Pasta, Jonah
ordered a bean burrito (surprise surprise) and my wife ordered an enchilada
plate. Service was VERY slow. There were more than 9 empty tables
in the restaurant which should have meant that we would have our food or
refills very quickly. At many points during the hour and a half we were
there I didn't see either of the waitresses for 5-10 minutes at a time.
When we did get out food I was pleasantly surprised by the presentation.
Beef fajitas were served with grilled onions and bell peppers, beans and
rice. My first bite was tasty but the meat was very rubbery. There
were some pieces that were not cut very small which didn't make for a good taco
as the meat was too stretchy to bite off. OH I see this fajita meat was
not cut across the grain for maximum tenderness so there's part of the
issue. Luckily I still have fairly good teeth and was able to chew it up
with the tasty guacamole and slightly bland pico de gallo. Rice was tasty
but had a few clumps in it. Beans were bland and dry. My son loved his
bean burrito that benefited from a good amount of cheese and the fact that it
was wrapped in a tortilla which helped his beans to retain their
moisture. My wife stated that the enchiladas had a tomatoey type twang to
them and that's not something she particularly cares for. My other 2
children decided on the Chicken Alfredo pasta and my daughter being the
resident connoisseur of this particular dish was quick to praise the
presentation and the flavor of the toasted bread that came along with it.
The pasta sauce itself didn't look creamy but looked more like what would
happen the day after you have this dish, where it sat in the refrigerator overnight,
and then been reheated it in a microwave. She whispered in my ear that it
had no flavor so basically the Alfredo sauce was more like a paste keeping the
noodles together. My wife's enchiladas didn't come out til JJ was almost
done with his pasta and after Jonah had been sitting there for a pretty long
time. That is a kitchen issue. The food should come out at the same
time and therein lies the multiple personality disorder problem that this place
has. If anything the enchiladas should have been first out.
Prices here are very good (you get what you pay for in my estimation) and I
think if they focused more on the Mexican food they could really be a better
restaurant. I'm not even going to put down any of the regular ratings I
normally put in my reviews because my own inclination is to stay away from this
place for a while. I'm seriously hoping that they will hire a good head
waitress to train the rookies. Here are some tips in case YOU are the one
that is going to train them: 1) PERSONALITY - Smile, speak kindly,
listen, I said LISTEN to the customer and what they want. 2) Promptness - greet
your guests quickly. 3) Pop in regularly - don't be gone from any of your
tables for more than 5 minutes at a time. 4) Pride - take pride in what
you do i.e. don't make excuses for mistakes you are making, just make it right!
5) Privacy - The fact is that unless a person is generally interested in seeing
you (waitress) on a personal basis we don't want to know your business, where
you came from, how you came to work in this restaurant, or what you did last
night with your boyfriend. 6) Proficiency - be proficient at knowing
specials, be able to answer questions about the food, study the menu and know
what the price is, the ingredients (to some extent), if substitutions can be
made.
Until necessary changes are made in atmosphere, wait staff, and deciding on
what cuisine they want to focus on I can't in good conscience recommend this
place.
No comments:
Post a Comment