These could be isolated incidents, so I’m reluctant to post. But I figured that there might be other Cvillains out there who keep having this happen to them, too. So I want to know.
About a month ago, I went to Eppie’s, ordered a white jerk chicken plate, and paid. I was then told they were out of white meat. I ordered a slightly more expensive salad instead, and I was discouraged from doing so (in spite of the inconvenience). Also, they were out of pumpkin bread. I ended up really happy with a less expensive goat cheese salad, but then, I was charged fifty cents for a second salad dressing. I’ve worked behind a sandwich counter, so my guess was that the cash register situation had to do with a new employee. But they were out of jerk chicken and pumpkin bread on a Saturday? (Disclaimer to Eppie’s: I loved your salad– it was like 10 pounds of candied walnuts and goat cheese!)
Then, yesterday, I was going to give Eppie’s another shot, but the line was almost out the door, and I had about 20 minutes to get to a meeting. Instead, I went around the corner to Kiki. The owner apologized for being out of baby greens and chicken salad. After I ordered an off-the-menu cobb salad, he took orders from and prepared lunch for two regular customers in the time that he made the salad. I appreciated this, because I go to bars where I have put in the time and money to get served first! (Sha nay nay, am I there yet? :)) And he was really kind to improvise for me and charge a base price, and the salad was very fresh and well proportioned. But after 15 minutes I just thought it was funny… and I ended up leaving with one of their porcelain bowls (which I just returned!), because to-go boxes had run out too. (Disclaimer to Kiki: I loved your salad, too– so hard to find fresh avocado right now!)
I guess what I’m asking is:
Is there an inner circle of downtown mall regular eaters that I am definitely not in?
How do downtown restaurants perform at lunch, ie is it normal not to prepare every menu item daily, to save waste?
What is the amount of time mall diners should expect to wait for a lunch?
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Tagged as: Charlottesville, Downtown Mall, Gripes, Restaurants, Reviews
…inner circle of downtown mall regular eaters…
Alright. Which one of you tipped yupster off to the DMRE association. We can’t very well be an “inner” circle if we keep expanding like this. Why dont we just put up flyers? Lets just invite EVERYONE! Sheesh.
I feel your pain, but I’d much rather go to a place that makes fresh food and runs out than eat somewhere that always has back up frozen.
As for planning what to make, sometimes it’s the restaurant’s fault (i.e. always order extra steak on parents weekend) and sometimes it’s just a perfect storm of 35 customers in a row that order the exact same dish. As for the mall specifically, there’s a pretty set number of daily lunch eaters and a limited number of worthy establishments and we are all affected by the same weather, which means we are all going to want to eat outside when it’s nice and order chilli when it’s cold. So while a restaurant may have an average number of chilli orders per week, you can guess what day they’ll run out based on the number of scarves folks are wearing. And who would trust the weatherman with the financial well being of their small business?
This post is rambling and seemingly without point. Or maybe I drank too much last night.
Maybe both.
There you go, Dave.
Wait, Dave, you’re hungover at 3pm? I think it’s mandatory for you to write about your night. We have a Code here. It’s on it.
Oh no, sorry to disappoint. You take me for having sturdier stock than I do. Alas, I drank the better part of a bottle of red wine and fell asleep around 11 reading the New Yorker. For whatever reason, headache + grogginess has followed me throughout the day.
Wait… there’s a code? What else is in it?
/scared of ‘codes’
You mean other than “thou shalt dance upon tables”?
If you were at the last DMRE meeting you would have received the updated Code book. Slacker.
Yupster, you are SO there.
And that is really irritating when places run out of exactly what you want. At least you ended up with two yummy salads in the end and got to borrow a bowl. I’m sure they wouldn’t let just anyone do that so maybe you’re slipping into that inner circle yet…
See y’all Saturday night!
Mea Culpa!
Yupster, sorry we were out of what you wanted that Saturday. I’m guessing that was the Saturday Wilco was in town? In addition to being our busiest Saturday ever, it was also our worst service ever. I was not happy. For about an hour, our cashier kept selling food we didn’t have. Basically, the whole afternoon went like this:
“Hey unnamed cashier, don’t sell any more XYZ, we are sold out. I am making more. I will tell you when it is ready.”
1 minute later. Next ticket - 3 orders of XYZ to go.
Needless to say, that was her last shift.
Occasionally we do run out of stuff, for which I apologize. Next time you’re in, and we’re out of something, let me know you’re from Cvillain and I’ll make it up to you. I’d make it up to you anyways (free cookie or coupon, etc.), but I’ll do something better if you’re say you’re a Cvillain (this goes for all Cvillains, not just the Yupster).
In regards to your 3 questions, here’s my thoughts:
1) THE INNER CIRCLE. I don’t know if there’s an “inner circle,” but we (Eppie’s) have what I think is a very loyal group of regulars. I’m no longer surprised to see people two days in a row, maybe dinner one night, and then lunch the next day. Some people just really like our food. Do “regulars” get better service? No, not really. However, if you’re eating in my restaurant 3 or 4 times a week, hopefully I’ve learned your name, as well as memorized your usual order.
But then again, this is the only restaurant I’ve ever run, so maybe every restaurant has its own group of diehard regulars.
2) PREP. We basically prep lunch the same everyday. We may make more soup if it’s a cold day, or we’ll prep extra beans and rice if we’re doing something Mexican (tamales or burrito bowl), but otherwise, prep is exactly the same every day. However, when we do run out of stuff, it’s generally because everybody is ordering the exact same thing. Some days everybody wants lemon pepper chicken, and on those days, we have a lot of jerk chicken to throw away. Some days it’s the opposite. After over a year, the only discernible patterns are that every day is different, and that there’s usually one or two “hot” items, something that everybody wants that day. Today it was mac and cheese.
3) TIME. The amount of time for lunch downtown really depends where you go, and when you go. I can’t speak with authority to table service, but my guess would be food served about 15 minutes after it’s order. Surely someone else here is in the know?
At Eppie’s, after you’ve ordered, it should take 2-4 minutes to get your food. Sometimes it will be faster, sometimes slower. But I would say 3 minutes is average for us. However, if you show up right in the rush, you might have to deal with the line, and then it’s anything goes. Sometimes it’s nothing but regulars who know exactly what they want, so the line just flies. Other times, people order slow. Generally speaking though, lunch is regulars who know what they want, and are in a rush, so they order fast and move on. I would say if you walk in and the line is backed up to the door, you’ll probably have to wait 8-10 minutes for food (5 minutes in line, maybe 5 more minutes for food).
If you’ve made it this far (longest post ever), let me again apologize for running out of white jerk chicken. Next time you’re in I’ll buy you (or someone pretending to be the yupster) a beer.
Dave, we should be friends.
I know, Lys, when I read that, I had one of those moments of not wanting to be anonymous. NYer subscriber, red wine drinker. That feeling first happened when BusRider said “suckitude.”
[…] potentially isolated negative experiences are hard to go from, I sympathized with Yupster’s recent salad woes. Being told you can’t have exactly what you’re there for is news that’s hard to […]