Letter of Complaint to Armadillo Willy's
Anne P. Mitchell, Esq.2b
Below is the text of a letter which I just wrote:
January 29, 1992
Armadillo Willy's BBQ
1031 N. San Antonio Rd.
Los Altos, CA 94022
To Whom It May Concern,
It is my hope that this letter will serve to bring to your
attention the absolutely inexcusable treatment that my party
received at your restaurant this evening, in the hopes that future
customers will not have to suffer the same.
We arrived at your establishment this evening at approximately
6:45pm. We went immediately to the check-in podium, and I
registered our name. We were duly noted as the Rob party of five,
our entry immediately below the entry for the Gary party of two.
We were informed that the wait would be about "20 minutes, maybe
less". There were at this time in the waiting area a middle-aged
couple, who later turned out to be the "Gary party of two", a
family of five, and another couple. The Gary party of two was
called about 10 minutes later, and the family of five was called
at about that same time. About 10 minutes later (20 minutes after
we'd arrived) a party of six arrived, and sat down next to us to
await their turn.
After half an hour had passed, I noted to one of my companions
that it was taking a bit longer than the twenty minutes estimated.
We were not upset by this, recognizing that prediction of the
timing is, at best, an inexact science. I did however go up and
check on the list, and noted with satisfaction that all the names
above ours had been crossed out. This made sense, of course, as
some time before that the Gary party of two immediately ahead of
us had been called, however this did not occur to me at that time.
I was assured that we would be seated soon.
About 10 minutes later the party of six who had come in 20
minutes after us was called and led to their table. At this time
I got up and went to the gentleman who had called them and informed
him that our party of five had been there considerably longer, and
were still waiting to be seated. He looked back towards the party
of six, making their way toward the back of the room to their
table, sort of shrugged his shoulders, pointed to where the Gary
party of two was seated in a booth, and said that he was waiting
for them to finish up so that we could be seated there!
I pointed out to him that he was telling me that we had to
wait for someone to be seated, order, be served, and finish their
meal before we would be even be seated, given that the Gary party
had been seated after we arrived, while he had just taken and
seated a party of similar size who had come in twenty minutes after
us! Then the man began pointing at all the parties of 2 and 4
registered on the list who had been seated after us, explaining
that there had just been nothing open for us! This after he had
just made the excuse that we had to wait for a four-person booth
to open! At this point a woman who did not identify herself,
although she clearly was an employee, walked up, and I explained
the situation to her. She said simply that they would seat us at
the next available table. No apology, no offer even of a credible
explanation. I started to go back to explain to my companions, and
then decided I should speak to a manager. The woman informed me
that she was the manager!
In utter digust, we used your payphone to call the Chili's
across the street, ascertained that they had open seating available
immediately, informed your "manager" that we were leaving for
Chili's, and did so.
I have been to your restaurant several times prior to this,
and while the service has never been stellar, it has always been
adequate. This incident, however, has ensured that this visit will
be the last. You can be assured that just as I am quick to pass
along the news of a good restaurant, I shall be quick to inform all
of my friends, as well as several hundred local persons connected
to the public computer network, of the incompetent, unprofessional,
and inexcusable lack of service we received this evening in your
establishment.
Sincerely,
Anne. P. Mitchell
--
LOOKING FOR: Nan Booton, Lorna Taylor, Linda Dalgard, & Sumi Furiya
I am: Anne Mitchell, mom, 3rd-year law student, transplanted East-coaster, and
founder of FREE, the Fathers Rights and Equality Exchange.
The fathers' rights paper is ftpable from leland.stanford.edu;/pub/dads
Matthew L. Ginsberg
about an unpleasant experience at Armadillo Willy's.
I am a regular customer of theirs, and have found both the food and
service excellent. On those (rare) occasions when something goes wrong,
the manager has typically been more than accomodating in sorting it out.
Matt Ginsberg
Richard Casares
Leave it to Ginsberg to dispute your gripe.
Though if we think about it, HE's usually the one writing these letters....
--
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Ellon Schnaible
>>|> about an unpleasant experience at Armadillo Willy's.
>|>
>|> I am a regular customer of theirs, and have found both the food and
>|> service excellent. On those (rare) occasions when something goes wrong,
>|> the manager has typically been more than accomodating in sorting it out.
>|>
I have been to Armadillo Willy's about 5 times. Only once was the
service even decent. The other times there was an outrageous wait
time(even tho the place was less than full), the wait-persons were
rude and acted like wwe were putting them out if we asked for
anything. But, one nice thing I can say, is that the food has been
GREAT every time.
Just my $ 0.02 worth...your mileage may vary.
Ellon
--
I can still remember when all I had was time. A time when I had nothin
but this empty heart of mine. When I needed inspiration, when the night
was all I knew. You were the light shinin' into my life. The reason
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Stergios
gins...@t.Stanford.EDU (Matthew L. Ginsberg) writes:
I am a regular customer of theirs, and have found both the food and
service excellent.
As barbequee goes, Armadillo Willy's would not last a week in Texas.
Their pecan pie, a traditional desert when real bbq is served, is
awful. Ask them for jalepeno bread and watch them say "hugh?" Their
meats are ok, but nothing special. Their portions are for children,
not texans!
buba
--
Stergios Marinopoulos
ster...@kt22.Stanford.EDU
Kathryn Henniss
>As barbequee goes, Armadillo Willy's would not last a week in Texas.
>Their pecan pie, a traditional desert when real bbq is served, is
>awful. Ask them for jalepeno bread and watch them say "hugh?" Their
>meats are ok, but nothing special. Their portions are for children,
>not texans!
>
>buba
>
>--
>Stergios Marinopoulos
>ster...@kt22.Stanford.EDU
Actually, you can do a good sight better than AW's for BBQ
locally at Goldie's on University Ave. just west of 101 (Whiskey
Gulch). Best to call ahead, and even then you might well
have a wait, but it's worth it. I think there are a couple
of tables there, but I'd imagine providing a gracious dining
environment is not their main objective.
Damn fine 'Q.
Kathryn
--
/=====================================================================\
| Kathryn Henniss "Every time that wheel turns round |
| Department of Linguistics you're bound to cover just a little |
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Chuck Karish
(Kathryn Henniss) writes:
>>
>>As barbequee goes, Armadillo Willy's would not last a week in Texas.
>>ster...@kt22.Stanford.EDU
>
>Actually, you can do a good sight better than AW's for BBQ
>locally at Goldie's on University Ave. just west of 101 (Whiskey
>Gulch).
My understnding is that Goldie and Rocky are from Kansas
City and that their barbecue is KC style, not Texas. I'm
not an expert on the subtleties. They don't serve all the
accompaniments that Stergios referred to.
>Damn fine 'Q.
Agreed. If you want ambiance as well, check out Goldie's
in San Jose.
Chuck Karish kar...@mindcraft.com
Mindcraft, Inc. (415) 323-9000
Gary Brainin
>The level of vitriol in the previous article compels me to post a counterpoint.
Having been a member of the party in question, I am compelled to
reply.
>While I will grant that the service at Armadillo Willy's is not out of this
>world, the food has always been terriffic. I'll grant that I don't think
>it's real subtle, but it's always delicious. I only wish they'd upgrade
>their beer selection.
>
>And as for the service, I've never felt a need to be sucked up to. I like to
>think of the service at Willy's as relaxed but friendly. What else would
>you expect at a Bar-B-Q place.
Neither I nor anyone else in the party expected to be "sucked up
to." As was mentioned in the initial letter, we have always found the
service to be adequate (though not exceptional). However, what
happened on this occasion was unforgivable for even the sleaziest
dive. It is not so much that we were passed over for a table
--mistakes happen, and I understand that. But when it is pointed out
and the manager responds with an attitude instead of (at the very
least) an apology, it's either she goes or I go.
I have been quite pleased with Willy's food for quite some time,
but I can live longer without that than without my dignity.
-Gary
--
|Gary Brainin |BITNET: garygm%leland.stanford.edu@stanford|
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