St. Louis restaurant and poor service

I just got back from a girls-only weekend trip to St. Louis. We had a great time except for our dinner. We went to a local Italian restaurant and we were ready to relax and enjoy the evening before going to our hotel. We arrived at the restaurant around 6:30 and were seated in about 15 minutes (for 3). Nothing wrong there. The problem came when our main entrees arrived. My sister had ordered the linguini with a red clam sauce and the waiter brought it out with white clam sauce. She said that was not what she ordered and he immediately said he was sorry and would get the meal corrected. Meanwhile, the other person and I started eating, thinking that the meal should be out momentarily. Fifteen minutes later, still no meal. The waiter kept trying to apologize but I told him that it shouldn't take that long to put linguine on a plate (already prepared) and put a red sauce on top! His excuse was that the kitchen was extremely busy and other orders were ahead of this one. My thought was that the mistake should have been corrected IMMEDIATELY. The meal finally came out 20 minutes after the other two meals. The two of us were finished before my sister ever started! The manager did come and apologize and said he had "taken care of it." In the end, the only thing that was comp'd was the entree. There was no offer of a complimentary dessert or even the apetizer that we had ordered as a table could have been comp'd.
Having only 1 night in town and having this as a dining experience put a blark mark on our trip. I am considering writing the restaurant (a locally-owned/independent) and expressing my disappointment. Am I out of line with my expectations of 1) an immediate fix (5 minutes top) and 2) an offer of more than the entree being comp'd? What are your thoughts on writing a letter?

Thanks for any input!

Rebecca

Rebecca,

Too bad about your expereince. I lived in STL for a few years, and the city has a great dining scene, similar in a lot of ways to Louisville.

The Italian restaurants can be very hit or miss, unfortunatley. There are so many of them on the Hill, and some are fantastic, but many are tourist draws. It's too bad your experience was poor.

I'm curious, if you don't mind posting it, which restaurant was it? Either way, I think a tasteful letter explaining your experience is a good idea. If it's one of the "tourist" Italian joints, I'm guessing your letter will go largely ignored, but if it was a local-favorite, the proprietors may take your comments to heart.

You are absolutely right about expecting immediate rectification. No question. Your dish should have been moved to the head of the line - pronto!

Comping the wrong dish seems OK to me. They screwed up one dish, they fixed it (yes, way too slowly) and they gave it to you for free. Seems fair.

Why not write a letter? What do you have to lose? They aren't holding one of your dining companions as hostage security so you won't write a letter, are they? Tell them how you feel.

It wasn't Cunettos's by chance? Had a bad time there myself recently.

i may be dense here, but i dont see how this constitutes 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.

i may be dense here, but i dont see how this constitutes poor service

Huh ??...and bringing the wrong entree to the table doesn't constitute bad service ?

i may be dense here, but i dont see how this constitutes poor service

Huh ??...and bringing the wrong entree to the table doesn't constitute bad service ?

we're not talking about someone who ordered the frutti di mare and ended up with veal parm here.
was obviously one simple mistake. everybody, EVEN the best make them once in a while. the server got the sauce wrong... BIG DEAL. according to the op, the server apologized profusely for the mistake, did what he could to correct it, management spoke to the table, and the item was comped from the bill.
if im in a place i like, with good company, with good food and drink, and a staff that will own up to and make ammends for an obvious human error, then im not going to take offense for having to wait 20 minutes that i can enjoy with friends and a glass of wine while i wait for my correct order to arrive (which i dont even have to pay for).

short answer.... no

i may be dense here, but i dont see how this constitutes poor service

Huh ??...and bringing the wrong entree to the table doesn't constitute bad service ?

we're not talking about someone who ordered the frutti di mare and ended up with veal parm here.
was obviously one simple mistake. everybody, EVEN the best make them once in a while. the server got the sauce wrong... BIG DEAL. according to the op, the server apologized profusely for the mistake, did what he could to correct it, management spoke to the table, and the item was comped from the bill.
if im in a place i like, with good company, with good food and drink, and a staff that will own up to and make ammends for an obvious human error, then im not going to take offense for having to wait 20 minutes that i can enjoy with friends and a glass of wine while i wait for my correct order to arrive (which i dont even have to pay for).

short answer.... no

Hmmmmm...Well then if we can't agree, I suppose the only answer is a duel. What say you to chicken wings at 10 paces ??? (Organic of course) Lock and Load

i lke your style

i lke your style

Back atcha my brutha.

It wasn't Cunettos's by chance? Had a bad time there myself recently.

I was thinking it could be Cunetto's also. i went to SL a few years ago and had pretty horrible service at that place!!!

Cunetto's was definitely one of the places I was thinking of when I referred to the plethora of bad Italian joints in STL.

There are many VERY good places, but probably 1 good for every 8 or 10 bad.

For those seeking St. Louis restaurants in the future, use Sauce Magazine: http://www.saucemagazine.com/

There is a search function by type of food, neighborhood, etc. It's very helpful.

FWIW, in the future, if you want good Italian in St. Louis, I recommend LoRusso's Cucina on The Hill for an upscale casual meal (be sure to talk to the owner if he's circulating that night--very nice guy), or Tony's downtown if you want to go ALL out (very $$$).

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