St. Louis restaurant and poor service

Sure, it's a shame, but unless you're at a place like Fazoli's, it seems a little much to expect an entirely new dish to be prepared in 5 minutes. I don't know much about the kitchen workings of decent Italian restaurants, but I imagine that they don't just have a huge vat of sauce in the back ready to be microwaved and served instantaneously.

As for the plate compensation, the free entree seems reasonable.

Joseph,

Very valid point if it was a prep- to- order food, but typically even the best Italian restaurants woud make their red sauce way ahead of time to add when ordered - they are typically long-cooking sauces that take hours to cook. In this cases, preparing a new clam linguine ( red or white sauce) should only take a few minutes (5-7?) to prepare as they are constantly cooking pasta.

In my opinion, the "bad service" here is that the mistaken order should have moved to the head of the line and replaced faster; on the other hand, I would not have expected more than one comp'd entree. Just my personal opinion....

Deb

i would like to reiterate, respectfully, and explain a few things.
a) the priority that the kitchen places on an order is not up to the server in any way, shape or form once the server has informed the kitchen of the mistake
b) a kitchen worth its salt has reasons why it does things
c) a red sauce is made ahead of time. a white clam sauce is usually made to order.
d) good pasta is cooked to order (NOT pre cooked and waiting to jump on a plate from a steamtable) and takes a few minutes. if there were a lot of different noodles going, at different stages of doneness, for different dishes, they cannot and should not be tampered with.
e) it is possible, imo extremely likely, that the kitchen/server honestly regretted their mistake and wanted to make sure that the best dish possible went out to the customer
f) if the correct dish wouldve arrived (after the snafu) in 5 minutes and was over/undercooked/seasoned, sloppy, or flawed in some other way... THAT , to me, wouldve been a much worse mistake than waiting 20 minutes for a dish that met/exceeded my expectations



we ALL want to have a flawless dining experience when we go out. why shouldnt we?
i guess what im trying to say is, why sweat something so small and understandable if its the only kink in an otherwise enjoyable nightt out? especially when the house handled things in an appropriate manner.

i would like to reiterate, respectfully, and explain a few things.
a) the priority that the kitchen places on an order is not up to the server in any way, shape or form once the server has informed the kitchen of the mistake
b) a kitchen worth its salt has reasons why it does things
c) a red sauce is made ahead of time. a white clam sauce is usually made to order.
d) good pasta is cooked to order (NOT pre cooked and waiting to jump on a plate from a steamtable) and takes a few minutes. if there were a lot of different noodles going, at different stages of doneness, for different dishes, they cannot and should not be tampered with.
e) it is possible, imo extremely likely, that the kitchen/server honestly regretted their mistake and wanted to make sure that the best dish possible went out to the customer
f) if the correct dish wouldve arrived (after the snafu) in 5 minutes and was over/undercooked/seasoned, sloppy, or flawed in some other way... THAT , to me, wouldve been a much worse mistake than waiting 20 minutes for a dish that met/exceeded my expectations



we ALL want to have a flawless dining experience when we go out. why shouldnt we?
i guess what im trying to say is, why sweat something so small and understandable if its the only kink in an otherwise enjoyable nightt out? especially when the house handled things in an appropriate manner.

Matt,

When I say "bad service" I meant it from the guest point of view , not the server's. As a guest " bad service" includes anything that goes wrong with my experience, not just the things the server controls. Thus there was "bad service" because somone made a mistake with the guest's order, and kept them waiting another 20 minutes for replacement food without explaining that it would take that long.

If the policy of the kitchen was I go to the back of the line, that should have been explained: cooking fresh white clam sauce typically takes around 5-7 minutes ( the mise is done ahead time, so it's a matter of sauteing the garlic/herbs, mixing and plating) so as a guest I would have expected my food faster if not told.
But I'm with you- I think an apology and comping the entree was sufficient. But " great service" includes not judging what does or does not ruin someone else's experience. It is their experience after all and that 's up to the guest to decide.

Deb

Thanks for all the feedback. To answer a few questions ... it was The Pasta House on Euclid Ave. (near Washington U. and the hospital in the Central West End).

I guess my biggest complaint was that the dish wasn't moved to the front of the line when it was returned to the kitchen. We are not talking about the type of place that makes the sauce at the time of order and I'm sure the linguine is done continually, especially if they were so busy.

I probably would have been fine (and so would my sister) on having just the entree comp'd **IF** it had been brought out within 5-7 minutes and she was able to enjoy the meal with the others at the table. As it was, 2 of us finished our meals and she sat awkwardly waiting for her dish and then didn't feel like taking the time to slowly enjoy it. And yes, it would be nice to enjoy a glass of wine but the point is that my 2 guests are not big wine drinkers, we were tired, and we still had to drive to the hotel and check-in.

I do believe I will write a letter and would hope that in the future, if something is going to take 20 minutes, then the guest should be informed.

To answer a few questions ... it was The Pasta House on Euclid Ave. (near Washington U. and the hospital in the Central West End).

Oh Rebecca, I could have advised you to avoid that place. I went occasionally on hung-over Sunday nights as takeout since I lived within walking distance, but it's generally a place to be avoided.

Well, since I am likely going to be back in the area the end of June, I would love some suggestions for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I don't want $$$ and it will need to be a place that I can take the kids to (well behaved). We are likely going to be there for 4-5 days as we attend a swim meet and work in fun stuff too!

Thanks!

Try Duff's at 392 North Euclid Avenue in the Central West End. Everyone in your family will feel comfortable and the menu meets multiple needs. Check out their web site. When our son attended Washington University in St. Louis, we always stopped for a meal at Duff's. Their sidewalk dining is great and the indoor space is relaxed as well.

Try Duff's at 392 North Euclid Avenue in the Central West End. Everyone in your family will feel comfortable and the menu meets multiple needs. Check out their web site. When our son attended Washington University in St. Louis, we always stopped for a meal at Duff's. Their sidewalk dining is great and the indoor space is relaxed as well.

I agree. I could give you tons of suggestions, but many would not be kid friendly, even for well-behaved kids. Duff's is pretty good, especially their brunch (not sure if it's Saturday/Sunday, or just Sunday).

If they're adventurous kids, you might try one of St. Louis's many wonderful tapas restaurants--my favorite is Momo's in the University City area, which is Greek. Try the Greek white wine. A close second is Barcelona, a Spanish tapas place in Clayton, also relatively close to the Central West End and U City. Both are not very expensive, and would be fine for well-behaved kids.

I should also add that for good Welsh food (think Irish pub, but don't tell them that!), try Dressel's or Llewelyn's. Dressel's has better food, and is more restaurant-y, but both are good. Llewelyn's can get pretty crowded on weekend nights, especially with Wash U law students (eh-hem. . .), but earlier is fine for kids.

Think Molly Malone's or Flanagan's on a Friday--the difference between 6:00 and 9:00.