worst restaurant in town!

So today, DH and I planned an afternoon date. His new glasses were ready to be picked up at Walmart Optical... smooth... no hiccups.

Next stop was at our local Arts Council where we bought season tickets to our local theatre (some really good shows coming this season)... no hiccups, except the tickets weren't printed yet, so they will mail to us next week...

Next stop, a relatively new (well 9 months) eatery downtown for lunch. Neither of us have eaten there, although I've had some of their sandwiches at Chamber of Commerce Diplomats meetings, and some were good, some not.

So we walk in at 12:30 (good time, after the downtown lunch crowd. I ordered my sandwich and Chuck, his, and we both asked for water...

Girl says, "Don't have" DH says how about tap water? Girl Says, "No cups" , just the sodas you see in the cooler. We ask, any tea? No. We ask for coffee. "Don't have" I order a Diet Pepsi and ask for a straw. "Don't have straws"

Getting frustrated... so we decided to ask for our orders (sandwiches) to-go... wait, then we get, we go home open only to find rather burnt bread.

Won't be going back. We should have known, this is the 4th restaurant in 10 years to move into the location, none of which have lasted for more than 3 years (we tried them all and they sucked).

Doesn't necessarily pay to listen to locals when they say "Oh Casa Bella (or fill in the blank) is soooooo good." Sometimes sticking to national chains like Applebees or O'Charley's the better way to go~

So tomorrow, we'll go see Eat Love Pray (or whatever order those words are in) and go to O'Charley's for supper. At least it won't cost us $14 because we have gift cards to use LOL

I totally get where you're coming from Dee... When Kris and I decide that we're going out to dinner, I usually pick the Jade Palace. He always asks me, "Don't you want to go somewhere else?" Truth is, we have gone other places but I more times than not, I end up getting disappointed, either with the food, the service, the cleanliness or both. I used to work at a restaurant and so I notice the little things and they drive me insane. I've been to the Jade, I know that their food is good, I know it's fresh, I know it's clean and the staff is friendly and professional and it's consistently that way. We hardly ever go out to eat, so I figure why waste our money and chance it? However, rarely, we do try something else..

How funny Kelly, we too have a Jade Place (althought the outside is blue LOL)... It's a buffet type place.. which we never do, always order off the menu (always tofu for me)... but greasy~ OMG yes. Still tastes good.

We don't do the buffet at the Jade either...we usually get the Pu Pu Platter and some side orders with it (of course we end up bringing tons of leftovers home)

On Father's Day my brother and I took our dad out to dinner. We wanted to try the new Mexican restaurant in the town where my dad lives. It said they were open and we walked in. We saw several tables with people eating, but we were told that they were closed. Oooookay. We checked again on the way out and they should have stayed open till 7. But it was Father's Day, so maybe they wanted to close early.

So we went to a restaurant down the road. We were seated, and we looked through the menu. We tried to order. What my dad wanted, the waitress went "Um, I don't know...I wouldn't!" His second choice got the same response! Finally he found something. What my brother ordered, they were all out of. He finally found something to order. We waited for awhile and got our drinks. Then the waitress returns to tell us that they were out of what my brother wanted. He chooses something else, which just so happens to be what the waitress already told us would be a poor choice.

We walked. Ended up at Applebee's and had a great dinner.

I do like a chinese buffet, we have about 30 within 30 miles. I prefer a good steak or mexican though...when we eat out , which is onyl about twice a month we do steaks at Texas Roadhouse, or Mexican at a local place that has the most awesomely bestest Barbacoa ever.

I know exactly what you mean, Dee. Sure I've eaten at local places that were really good, but it's a risk and sometimes you'd just rather KNOW that your food will be hot, good, and come in a reasonable amount of time. Another advantage that a national chain has is that IF your food isn't top quality, you're more likely to get some satisfaction. The one time that Olive Garden got my order wrong and didn't make it right, I asked to speak to the manager and she comped my meal, gave everyone at the table a free dessert, and gave us a gift card to use on our next visit.

I know what you're saying, we should patronize our local eateries, but if they don't proform to standards we expect (after all we are paying their salaries), then the don't deserve to stay in business. Being in a small town, places open and close often here.. sadly, there are only a handful of local places that continue to survive, how I don't know, especially when they permit smoking (this is western KY afterall and unlike central KY are not willing, often to stop it) they lose more an more of us that are so opposed. So for now, will stick with national chains, especially those that don't permit smoking and will either comp or make right a meal gone wrong!

The places that don't allow smoking here go out of business quick....the ones that do, usually on a patio or something, they do OK. ALot of people go for the bar, even our Luby's has a bar

everything here is non smoking, restaurants, bars, everything.

here too...

We're all non-smoking except for cigar bars and the like. I'm not a smoker so it's much appreciated.

It is only in certain cities here, but most places you can smoke. ...I smoke, but honestly I prefer to sit in the nonsmoking section, since I have the kids and all, but we do someitimes sit at the bar if it is just dh and I, and then we would like to smoke...

I love that even fast food places here are going against the current and saying no smoking... I used to be a smoker, long after DH quit, and I had no problem waiting until "after dinner" to smoke.

That's UNREAL!!!! and this is a RESTAURANT?? DEE,unheard of!!!