Tell us what made your best dining experience so exceptional? Or what made your worst one so unpleasant? What keeps you going back to that one place, or repels you from another?
We want to know your answers! These details reveal some of the best and worst restaurant business practices out there and can provide valuable lessons for everyone in the foodservice industry to remember.
Email your comments to Kimberly@mymfn.com or blog us here. Your reply may be shared with our readership in future E-newsletters and/or in our bi-monthly print issue of My Foodservice News.
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Although my comment applies to many restaurants, I can only say that one of my most perverse disappoints in eating out at restaurants these days, is the paying of anywhere between $4-$7 extra for a plain old salad with an entree, in which you are now given a choice between a veggie or potato.
As a Culinary Professional, I understand the costs involved, but for example:
when you are paying anywhere bwtween $20-$25 for a meal made up of a basic piece of steak/chicken or 5 medium sized shrimp (lavishly described as large or as prawns in some cases), potato OR veggie, no salad and a limp piece of bread if lucky, something veery mysterious in costs in going on in that kitchen.
I have had a small restaurant thus I do understand costs involved.
But give me a break, for those little bit of greens set into a bowl costs the restaurant on average maybe 30 cents and a few more pennies to pay the dishwasher with!
But for the cost of $20-$25, yeehaw you get a piece of steak, and a tater OR a 1/3-1/2 cup of slightly warmed veggies.
When I Go out to eat, I want to be fed, and leave the restaurant full and palatably satisfied! Thus for now, I prefer to eat at home, or at a small Mom/Pop type restaurant , who believe in good food and making sure that their customers ARE satisfied and filled.
The best dining experience was at the Delhi Junction restaurant in Sheffield England. It is a complete misrepresentation to malign English cooking as the nation is home to some of the finest ethnic cuisine anywhere in the world. The Delhi Junction specializes in gourmet Indian cuisine, and being a fine dining professional I am not easily impressed. From the moment of our arrival our congenial host proceeded to make this the most memorable dining experience one could ever hope for. Upon being invited to take charge of our dining experience, he proceeded to bring us one delicacy followed by another, each magnificently unique and different, perfectly prepared and presented with a full description that was only exceeded by the palate dazzling experience of each heavenly bite and paired perfectly with knowledgeable selections from the wine list. I am an enormous fan of allowing a restaurant to take charge and show the best of the best, and this one by far delivered way beyond my wildest expectations. An unprecedented masterpiece of a dining experience.
The worst would have to be the fair food at the Sonoma County fairgrounds in Santa Rosa which is so heavily dominated by five star catering. I am a huge fan of “junk food” but the lack of variety, creativity, or honest to goodness flavor is a huge disappointment. So many venues offering garlic smothered something or other is simply disgusting. 13 different vendors of overpriced corn dogs, and just the outrageous prices for such pitifully produced swill makes this one of the worst dining experiences around. Considering this is in the heart of wine country, and nestled among restaurants that rank among some of the finest in the world, this is a price gouging and stomach churning experience, and it need not be!
st dining experience has to be my visits to Kevin Rathbun Steak in Atlanta. The restaurant has a wonderful atmosphere that is always warm and inviting. The steaks are the best I have ever eaten and the sides are as good as the steaks and that is saying a lot.
Most of all the staff is friendly. When you walk in the door you are treated like a friend who just stopped in for a family meal. At the table the wait staff is knowledgeable, attentive and kind. All this without hovering or making you feel as if you are being watched. Chef Kevin, the owner, is like a big lovable uncle that you can’t wait to see again and he truly enjoys his work.
Kevin Rathbun Steak in Atlanta tops anywhere else I have eaten anywhere in the U.S.