recent Courier Cafe experiences
Motoni Hodges
were wondering if this has happened to others as well.
In our last 3-4 visits there, we got very sick once (dinner), and twice
our order slips "were found on the kitchen floor" and as a result we
waited 40-50 minutes for our food (breakfast). The latter happened to us
this morning, and the waitress told us that the breakfast was for
free. But when she brought one of the dishes (almond french toast),
the bread was barely covered in batter and it was like eating warmed
dry toasts with sprinkles of almonds and powder sugar.
Since we didn't have to pay for our breakfast, we decided not to complain
about the food - but what bothered us more was what the waitress said to
us - that we "should be happy now that we get breakfast for free" and
that we "should walk out the door smiling".
We almost asked for the manager (especially given that this was the
second time it happened to us, with the *same* waitress), but when we
saw the big line of people waiting, we just left. We're more
disappointed than upset, since we really like the place, but it seems
like their service and food have really gone downhill lately.
Has this happened to others too?
Motoni F. Hodges
<mfho...@students.uiuc.edu>
vwe...@ncsa.uiuc.edu
really noticed that their food and especially their service seems to
be slipping. The last few times there I've been unhappy with some
aspect of the food or service or both.
Specific examples: last time we were there we just dropped in for
dessert. We waited a while to order, then ten minutes after ordering
the waiter comes back and asked "You guys ordered a Sundae, right?"
The previous trip for breakfast I ended up with an oj that was bad
even for frozen concentrate.
On a side note - their lack of a real smoking section is also an issue.
Most of the time it doesn't bother me too much, it was worth putting
up with for the food, but on our last trip we came out smelling like
we'd been in a bar. Don't know if their ventilation was not up to par
that night or what. But that combined with the decling quality means
it will be a while before we return.
Von
Motoni Hodges <mfho...@students.uiuc.edu> wrote:
: We've been having pretty bad experiences at the Courier Cafe, and
: Motoni F. Hodges
: <mfho...@students.uiuc.edu>
--
Von Welch vwe...@ncsa.uiuc.edu
Alliance Computational Environment and Security NCSA
hilberg steven d
>We've been having pretty bad experiences at the Courier Cafe, and
>were wondering if this has happened to others as well.
>In our last 3-4 visits there, we got very sick once (dinner), and twice
>our order slips "were found on the kitchen floor" and as a result we
>waited 40-50 minutes for our food (breakfast). The latter happened to us
>this morning, and the waitress told us that the breakfast was for
>free. But when she brought one of the dishes (almond french toast),
>the bread was barely covered in batter and it was like eating warmed
>dry toasts with sprinkles of almonds and powder sugar.
>Since we didn't have to pay for our breakfast, we decided not to complain
>about the food - but what bothered us more was what the waitress said to
>us - that we "should be happy now that we get breakfast for free" and
>that we "should walk out the door smiling".
>We almost asked for the manager (especially given that this was the
>second time it happened to us, with the *same* waitress), but when we
>saw the big line of people waiting, we just left. We're more
>disappointed than upset, since we really like the place, but it seems
>like their service and food have really gone downhill lately.
>Has this happened to others too?
This is really surprising to me -- I don't think I've ever had anything
bad at the Courier....and usually, once I get a table, it's pretty fast.
I hope your experience isn't an indication of where things are headed. :/
--
Steve Hilberg <Necromancer> CCSO Workstation Support Group
<hil...@uiuc.edu> KB9TEV
The _No Carrier_ Shadowrun Site CCSO _still_ doesn't pay me enough to
http://kestrel.cso.uiuc.edu/~sdh speak for them, so I still don't.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And if He ever suffered, it was me who did His crying...."
-- Concrete Blonde, "Tomorrow Wendy"
klk Beadworks
>
> Well, we haven't had yucky food, but I've had really bad service each time
> I've been there recently... usually it seemed to be many little
> irritations adding up to generalized annoyance. I thought at first it was
> a new waitron, but my dining companions said she'd been there a while, so
> it wasn't that. So yes, I've noticed a marked decline in the quality of
> service at Courier.
>
> --Kate
The last time I was there my service was sacrificed to a
giggle-fest in the back area. Really annoying and I haven't
even thought of going back since. When I'm tempted, I just
think of the fingers-in-the-dressing someone reported awhile
back and the temptation goes away.
Now, if they could only take the food from Urbana Gardens
and the service from Radio Maria and combine them at
Courier, I'd go broke eating there.
--
Kelly
Brad Cortright
>
> On Sun, 30 Apr 2000, Motoni Hodges wrote:
>
> > We've been having pretty bad experiences at the Courier Cafe, and
> > were wondering if this has happened to others as well.
> > Has this happened to others too?
>
> I've been there recently... usually it seemed to be many little
> irritations adding up to generalized annoyance. I thought at first it was
> a new waitron, but my dining companions said she'd been there a while, so
> it wasn't that. So yes, I've noticed a marked decline in the quality of
> service at Courier.
Maybe I can provide a little insight here. I worked as a waiter at the
Courier in the early 1990's and my brother was the night manager. I
think there are several issues that maybe causing the bad service at the
Courier. First of all, the wait staff work long shifts compared to most
restaurants. 7-10 hours of waiting tables and cleaning is not really my
idea of a good time regardless on the pay. On top of the long shifts,
there are gaps in the schedule (like just before 5 pm and late night)
that allow servers to become overwhelmed very quickly with too many
tables. If memory serves me correctly, there are something like 26
tables in the Courier. I remember waiting on 12 tables at a time during
brief periods of my tenure there. It is extremely difficult to wait on
12 tables simultaneously. At the other places I worked, you would not
ever get more than 6 tables at the peak times.
Late night is a special problem because of desserts and shakes. It is
the primary responsibility of the wait staff to make the desserts, some
of which can take as long as 2.5 minutes to make. Sometimes I would get
entire tables of 6 or more ordering dessert. In addition, compared to
other restaurants, the Courier requires a lot of cleaning and
preparation for the next shift from its wait staff near the end of their
shifts. Since the cleaning duties and next shift prep can take an hour
or more at the low server minimum wage, most of the staff get a jump on
these tasks by ignoring their customers right before the end of the
shift.
With the right staff, these problems can be overcome, but it could be
that the Courier is having problems finding the right staff because of
increasing competition for employees. I regularly made $10/hour or more
at the Courier, but doubt this rate has increased significantly in the
past ten years. Meanwhile, other employers have increased their
starting pay rates significantly for lower stress jobs.
Brad
klk Beadworks
> >
> > Well, we haven't had yucky food, but I've had really bad service each time
> > I've been there recently... usually it seemed to be many little
> > irritations adding up to generalized annoyance. I thought at first it was
> > a new waitron, but my dining companions said she'd been there a while, so
> > it wasn't that. So yes, I've noticed a marked decline in the quality of
> > service at Courier.
>
> Maybe I can provide a little insight here. I worked as a waiter at the
> Courier in the early 1990's and my brother was the night manager. I
> think there are several issues that maybe causing the bad service at the
> Courier. First of all, the wait staff work long shifts compared to most
> restaurants. 7-10 hours of waiting tables and cleaning is not really my
> idea of a good time regardless on the pay.
You make good points otherwise, but I really have to point
out that employment is not necessarily the place to demand a
"good time."
Of course, this comment flies in the face of my
determination to enjoy my work, so I do know what you are
saying. Perhaps a fast turnover in staff who come to
realize there IS no enjoyment in waiting tables there is
part of the problem. Makes me wonder, though, what the
difference is between Courier and Urbana Gardens, where the
staff is obviously experienced (most of them, anyway),
attentive, and seemingly unharried. They must be paying the
staff ok to have kept them as long as they have, and the
number of waitpersons is adequate, but they are certainly
not cutting corners on quality of food to do it. Just order
their fresh fruit plate to see that (fresh fruit being a
real test of quality concern). Nor do they serve
micro-portions for maxi-bucks like RM does.