Rusty Pelican Cafe

10/02/11

Argumentative Owner turns a favorite into a 'never again'

by woody77 at Citysearch

A rare opportunity to go out for brunch (harder with little ones) afforded by some friends being in town so we took them to what used to be one of our favorite brunch spots.

Unfortunately it didn’t go well. Food took a long time, so the 2yr old and 1.5yr old had eaten theirs by the time ours came which meant chaos. Our food was cold, as if left on the side. The Crab Benedict has shell in it. The waitress said "sorry, we'll comp it. if you want to speak to the manager, he's over there." No offer for a replacement meal. I asked for the manager to come over. The manager, who is the owner too, then proceeded to argue with me as I explained it was a horrible experience. "Well what do you want? I'm not charging you for the Benedict." He said. "Of course, that dish was a failure so I'm not paying for it. I'd really expect a little more." Said I. "Well, what do you want?" He pushed. I explain that I shouldn't have to be doing this and that he as the service provider should propose a solution. "Fine, I'll pay for your whole breakfast." He said. I explained it was appreciated but that it wasn't in fact what I was after, that it wasn't necessary. All we really wanted was to be respected and spoken to accordingly, some gesture such as throwing in the drinks would have gone to make amends. As such, despite "comping us" for our breakfast it didn't make up for the experience, the attitude displayed by the manager, or being argued with.

We used to love this place, bringing our guests and recommending to many Eastsiders. Not anymore.