StX Restaurant Ratings

RE: IHOP

I heard today they are down to 18 employees. A friend of a friend...

Had a late lunch, early dinner. It was fine, not GREAT, not BAD, just fine, which is actually really, really good! We were greeted by a couple of people and finally our actual hostess, who did seat us ( just a couple of minutes from entry to hostess) , nice table by the window (not the "fishbowl"...I'll let you find out for yourselves...lol :@))

Everyone was really pleasant, just a bit tentative, as to be expected with new servers. I had chicken, spinach crepes. Way too salty. My husband had beef tips, way too tough. He asked for medium and they came very rare. I have NEVER been asked for a temp on beef tips before.

Over-all, an OK experience. I wish them all the best. I really think we have a need for this type of restaurant. There WERE unruly kids and boom box music, but we will be a bit more selective about our seats next time. Maybe they could make the fishbowl adults only??

Would anyone on this board mind waiting for a few minutes extra,for a breakfast that is as good or in some cases,better than your mothers used to make . You would also be able order it at anytime during business hours.

Just working on a future menu and looking for local island advice. I will ship in Green Chile,for those of you who are interested.

For those of you who are wondering what Green Chile is,it is a Southwestern Chile pepper,that adds a wonderful flavor to any meal.

What kind of southwestern chile? Hatches? Poblanos?

I use to make a mean pork green chili (with an I) that had big chunks of browned pork, chunks of tomatoes, and of course, lots of jalapenos, hatches, and poblanos. We use to smother our breakfast burritos with it and also served it as a soup with a warm tortilla on the side. Perfect for Colorado winters.

I think a breakfast place would do well. I always envied the owners of breakfast/lunch owners that closed by 2 p.m. Lots of profit on eggs and potatoes!

Went to IHOP today. Only waited about 5 minutes to be seated. Staff was very friendly.
We had what I call a Grand Slam. 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns and pancakes.
I have to say the pancakes were great. They were not stiff but nice and fluffy. The scrambled eggs were pre cooked and were very wet. I like mine dry. The bacon and sausage was just okay, the hash browns were tasty.
I think the prices are high. Our total bill with tip was $30.
If we go back I would just order the pancakes. Although the omelette's looked very good.

Tried to go to IHOP last night at around 8, there were about 10 people in the waiting area and they don't accept cards yet, so we had to pass. Went to China Jade instead. Will attempt IHOP again, hopefully it will work out!

Just got home from IHOP. The food was really good, but the service was the worst I have ever experienced in my entire life. Not kidding! Our waitress was young and obviously inexperienced, which is OK, but she had no common sense, and the worst part is she lied to make it easier on herself. After a couple of rounds of trying to order things they were out of, I asked if there was anything else we should know they didn't have before we take a bunch more time deciding on something else that they are out of. She said no. I asked about the soup. She said they didn't really have any soup. When I pointed out that the meals come with soup or salad and said that's the soup I'm talking about, she said it didn't really look like soup to her. Well, I decided she and I probably like different things. The soup was really quite good. It was chicken noodle, with lots of chicken and noodles. She thought it should be watery. My point is she was just blowing off the soup instead of telling me about it and letting me decide. My husband ordered Caesar salad. He said it didn't really taste like caesar. I tasted it, and it definitely was not. I asked the server if she was sure she ordered caesar. He pulled out her pad and said yes. So, we kept eating. I tried more salad and insisted to hubby it was not caesar. I asked her again if she was sure and she said yes, it's caesar, to which I said no it's not. I can taste honey and dijon mustand. It is NOT caesar, and then...without ever leaving the table...she said "we ran out of caesar." I looked at her stunned and said you insisted it WAS caesar and now you say you're out of it. Don't you think you should have told us and let my husband decide if he wanted something else. She just looked at me kind of blank and started telling me they didn't get everything they were susposed to, etc. She didn't seem to understand she had lied to us or that it should have been my husband's choice. Lots of other really lame service, other than that, and on top of it, there was a woman walking around doing things, and she stopped by out table to tell us how bad the upper management was and how they treated her like she was white. (She was a black woman from the states.) I could NOT make that up! LOL. One law they are certainly complying with...they hire the handicapped.

Juanita, the dinner from hell it sounds like. Hopefully they see the girls inability to wait tables and get rid of her.

Marlene, I'm sure she won't last another week, and it really was amusing (in a way). The food was really good, so that made it OK. When I asked for our garlic bread she got that blank look again. I had to explain to her that the menu said garlic bread. She didn't seem to know that, and after waiting a while, I stopped another employee and asked if she could see what was going on with our garlic bread. She brought our 2 pieces of white sandwich bread that had been toasted with garlic butter. It's like, whatever, I would do that at home, just don't expect it in a restaurant. We ate it. Obviously the real garlic bread was 86'd too.

Went to Elizabeth's for Crab legs last night. Ate too much and loved it.
🙂

Juanita, I promise the same great service every time you walk through my doors. The food will always be as it was when you had it the first time. No excuses,I can only offer my word. I am sure there will be times when I run out of things. Some stuff just wont keep forever but I do know what Chicken noodle soup looks like.

I have a top notch Gal in mind,if I am lucky enough to hire her.

Sounds great, chockman! I'll tell you who is ALWAYS consistent, and that is Case Place. Always the same and very good. The first time we ate there I had the French onion soup. It was great. I asked our server if I order this again, will it be the same. She assured me it would. That was 2 years ago, and it's still the same, great soup.

chockman, I certainly wish you the best, but it's foolhardy to make such promises. If I remember correctly from your previous posts, you've never run a restaurant before? I don't think you realize how difficult this undertaking is going to be, expecially here on STX where lots of things are harder than in the states. In the 6 years I've been here I've seen serious, experienced, dedicated people and at least one large restaurant chain come and go. Have you thought about working for someone else for a year or so to get your feet wet?

Agree with Juanita... Case Place rocks.. i cant get enough of their crab dip or their alfredo, mushroom & jalapeno pasta dish!

Love Case Place food and it used to be a favorite spot but the last few times I was there it really needed to be de-smokified. I'm a non smoker....even when no one is smoking it smells of smoke (or at least it did last year when I was there a few times). I'm not the only one who's mentioned this. Has it gotten better?

Sean

I know this was discussed before, and the funny thing is we are not smokers, and my husband swears he can smell cig. smoke when nobody else can. He doesn't smell it in Case Place, and neither do I, never have.

Sean, that's also my reason for not going to Case Place, though I loved their food. they used to have espresso coated scallops that were soooo tasty, but the smell of smoke has kept us away for many years. We used to leave there and our clothes and hair smelled like an ashtray! I'd go back often if they had a no-smoke policy, but seems they cater to the boating community in Gallows bay, most of which smoke like chimneys!

Case P is off our list for the same smokey smelly burns-my-eyes reason...

i am a smoker and it is too smokey for me too.

How's the Mexican food working out at Golden Rail/ Dos Amigos(?)? Any reviews?

Went to Eat @ Cane Bay for brunch today. It was great. Some had the burgers another had the Lobster Benedict and I had the mahi sandwich. I had a taste of the lobster Benedict it was amazing. The mahi was nice and fresh.
The reggae band was great.

Went to IHOP this morning. The wait for a table at 8:30am was about 35 minutes (we were told 20). I was pleasantly surprised when it only took 15 minutes for our food to come out. It tasted very good. The only downside was our server. I was trying to figure out what was odd about her when my husband said, "she's higher than a kite". Sure enough when she came back to the table I checked out her eyes and they were glazed over. She kept just standing at the table smiling a weird smile and not saying anything for long periods of time. It was a bit disconcerting. Once we figured it out, we just laughed about it. Overall, it was a great experience. I'm not sure I'd go back on a Sunday morning but it is the only day of the week my husband and I both have off to go to breakfast together. The menu for lunch/dinner looks very good too.

Looks as if the IHOP owner is totally oblivious to what is going on in her restaurant.

divinggirl...LOL..That could be what what going on with our server. I never thought about it. That could so explain the blank looks!

I heard the Mexican restaurant was really good - homemade guacamole and great chicken flautas. I havent tried it yet, but looking forward to it!

Another note, The Cultured Pelican is doing a special - Large Pizza and a six pack of beer (including Italian imports) for $30. Take out or Dine in. Not sure about the toppings included (if there are any).

We tried the new Mexican menu. We did not like it. The staff were all really nice, so we'll probably give it another try in a few months and hope for better.