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I normally don't do this, but I felt an interaction I had this evening at Rowdy Joe's was worthy of sharing. As they say, if you offer good service the customer will tell one or two people, offer bad service and they will tell ten. I wouldn't say I am a Rowdy Joe regular, but my wife and I usually meet friends there every two months or so. As some people know, they make their own ice cream, and it is wonderful. One night last year they had peanut butter ice cream with Reece's Pieces. This instantly became my favorite ice cream to the point where I would recommend going to eat there just so I could get the ice cream afterward. Occasionally we would stop by on our way back from the beach to see if they had made any that day as they don't carry this ice cream often (or at least often enough in my mind). Anyway, there is a blond server that is generally surly every time we are there. We have had issues with her in the past. Nothing major, just normal attitude issues that you get every now and again from servers here in St. Croix. I don't know if she is involved in the ownership or not, but she comes across as the boss.
Anyway, we were driving past tonight and stopped in to see if they had the ice cream. To my delight they did. I asked if I could get a serving to go as I didn't want to take up a table just to eat ice cream on a busy Friday night. However, the boss server wouldn't sell me any. She said I needed to be a paying customer. ??? I was planning on paying for the ice cream, but she informed me that I would need to order dinner in order to buy ice cream. Of course this has never been the case before. I argued for a bit to no avail, offered to eat my ice cream there if that was the issue, but nothing. So I left without my favorite ice cream and honestly, I will never go back. I explained that this would likely mean I wouldn't return again, but she wasn't concerned.
It is a shame that we continue to see small businesses go under, especially restaurants, but when they continue to treat paying semi-regular customers in this manner it isn't surprising when it happens. Now when my group of friends recommends meeting up at Rowdy Joe's, I will be the first to bring up alternate suggestions.
Posted : March 24, 2012 12:42 am
You have to buy a dinner to get an ice cream? So unreasonable! I'm glad you outted them!
Posted : March 24, 2012 1:41 am
Same here with Rowdy Joes
We agreed to meet up with friends there although we stay mostly in the Christiansted proper. That place on the outside seems like a beer and brats place so we were surprised they don't serve burgers....and between 6 people the bill was $284. I think I would rather go to Bombay Club for food.
Sorry you had a bad experience. We saw people leave their table several times to go smoke on those chairs outside by the band area. You should have ordered one to go and taken a seat there.
Posted : March 24, 2012 1:44 am
I understand your disappointment. No ice cream and crappy 'tude. I'd be annoyed too.
Posted : March 24, 2012 6:21 am
Send a letter addressed to The Manager of Rowdy Joes and tell them your experience, and give them the link to this thread.
Posted : March 24, 2012 8:08 am
a lot of place have servers with attitude and slow service. i have never been to rowdy joes before and had been hoping to go one day. maybe not any more.
Posted : March 24, 2012 10:26 am
Thats great information and thanks for posting. I have only eaten at Rowdy Joe's once and didnt get the feeling my business was much appreciated by the blonde boss lady either. Your comments will definitely make me think twice about going back in the future.
Lets see how friendly and welcoming they are in a few months when the island's financial apocolypse really takes hold.
Posted : March 24, 2012 12:00 pm
Did you ask to speak to owner or manager? R u assuming "blonde boss lady" is the owner? She may just be a lazy, bad employee that the owner would want to know about. The dessert with dinner would be a strange policy if true.
Posted : March 24, 2012 3:13 pm
Gee. My husband and I often just order appetizers for dinner. I wonder if that's forbidden too.
Posted : March 24, 2012 3:40 pm
My wife and I eat at Rowdy's frequently. We love it and have never had a problem with service or attitudes. In fact, we find them amazingly accommodating to our dietary restrictions, always willing to prepare things differently to avoid verboten ingredients.
Not saying what you experienced didn't happen, but it's not consistent with what we've experienced there.
Bernie
Posted : March 24, 2012 5:25 pm
We too often eat at Rowdy's and have always enjoyed the experience. I hope that someone connected with the business will take the time to comment on this posting.
Posted : March 24, 2012 5:34 pm
I like that place. fish tacos and spicey passion fruit margs!
Posted : March 24, 2012 5:59 pm
I love Rowdy Joe's, too. I'm hoping this is just an employee who acts like she owns the place. Please try to speak with the actual owner (if it's not her) and make him/her aware of this. I'd hate to see the place go under just because of one bad experience.
Posted : March 24, 2012 8:34 pm
My wife and I eat at Rowdy's frequently. We love it and have never had a problem with service or attitudes. In fact, we find them amazingly accommodating to our dietary restrictions, always willing to prepare things differently to avoid verboten ingredients.
Not saying what you experienced didn't happen, but it's not consistent with what we've experienced there.
Bernie
I concur with this 100%. We eat there from time to time and have never found Rowdy Joe servers to be rude or experience the "ice cream" incident detailed by Texas Webmaster. It is a pricey place if you don't stick to their chalk board menu of which Fish Taco's are my favorite.. However they are competitively priced on their "nightly" special entree's and special appetizers to some of the other finer dining places like The Bombay Club..
Jumbie-STX
Posted : March 24, 2012 8:58 pm
I can't believe this happened to you, and I hate to hear that!
Rowdy Joe's had some of the best food on this island, and I eat there all the time. I know it can be expensive, but as stated above just order the few cheaper items of the boards. I will have to agree the staff/ower is not very friendly...just a little bit of a forced "friendliness"! Maybe they are overworked and tired!
What really bothers me the most is the interior of the building...they DESPERATELY need an interior designer to lay the seating and general interior! It doesn't have to be fancy...just a little nicer and organized!!! And the porch too!!! I feel as they have just thrown the furniture and the space feels strange to me.
BUT...I love the food!!!!!!
Posted : March 24, 2012 10:32 pm
I always felt their uncomfortable chairs were designed to keep us from staying too long. 🙂
Posted : March 25, 2012 10:59 pm
I talked with one of the waitresses yesterday and asked her about this. She said that night they were almost out of ice cream and when that happens it is policy to save it for dinner guests desert!
She said " Gid, it's only a bowl of ice cream"!
Posted : March 26, 2012 11:02 am
And, therein lies a really big problem. I hope someone at Rowdy's is smart enough to realize that they have an issue that needs to be addressed.
Posted : March 26, 2012 11:30 am
to the server it was only a bowl of ice cream. to the lost customer it was more than that.
Posted : March 26, 2012 12:04 pm
Rowdy Joes is one of my favorite restaurants on island. In fact, I ate their last night. Soups and salads are amazing!! Their prices are comparable to other good restauaraunts on island. I would recommend giving it a second chance. We all have bad days and hiccups in the service industry.
Posted : March 26, 2012 1:22 pm
I have given them a second, third & fourth chance. I refuse to go back at dinner as the service is horrid. I still, on a rare occasion, go for lunch but will leave if I see the blonde working. I will not give my hard earned $ to such a rude person. If she is one of the owners then shame on her.
Posted : March 26, 2012 1:30 pm
Rowdy Joe's is usually very good overall. But it would be far better to serve ice cream to everybody until to runs out, since guests will easily understand that happening. They will hardly understand that only certain guests are allowed to order it.
Posted : March 26, 2012 1:32 pm
Can't someone find out who the blonde is? Server only or boss?? Also, someone should clue in the owner even if it is the blonde!
Posted : March 26, 2012 5:41 pm
Was wondering the comment about blonde in the intial posting. I've known the wait staff and owners for several years and no blondes (under my definition) work there. Of course some people's definition of blonde hair is different. Light brown would more correctly describe a couple of the ladies who work there.
Jumbie-STX
Posted : March 26, 2012 5:48 pm
Rowdy's rocks! Great, consistent food, and while eating there last night, the staff was all kind and professional, and they were all running hard to provide top-notch service. No complaints.
Posted : March 26, 2012 6:14 pm
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