| rev:text
| - After picking him up from the airport, I brought my fiance and my daughter to try out Even Stevens. I had an amazing sandwich during their media night (the grilled cheese was incredible) so I thought I'd spread the love.
The Tempe location is so cute and we LOVED that they had games to play. We ended up playing the Guess Who game at our table for a few minutes. They weren't too busy so we did not feel bad about camping out for a little bit. They have really good games... even Rock 'em, Sock 'em Robots. I don't think they thought out having the Game of Life there, though. That game can take FOREVER and I doubt anyone really wants to wait on someone who is playing a full game. It's one of my favs, but I didn't want to take up a table for that long.
The Good:
On this trip, I ordered the brioche french toast. It was a bargain and was yummy... but it could have used a side of sliced strawberries or some fruit with it. It just looked so lonely on the plate.
My honey tried the Mi-hami sandwich, which is their version of a Cuban. He devoured it in 4.5 seconds, which is pretty amazing considering this guy eats like 1/2 of my portions, even at 6'2" and 2## pounds. He left the chips, which was great because I have the tendency to rudely eat off his plate (which he doesn't mind).
My darling daughter got the grilled cheese kids' meal, which was generous. At $4.99, it definitely made the list for places to eat in the future. She was happy that Even Stevens used real cheese and good bread. She said it was "delicious." So, there's a raving review from one of the Tempe location's first 8 year old customers (I'm assuming).
The Bad:
We also ordered the party tots as an appetizer. Before you get too excited, don't. I love tater tots, but there was a lot to be desired. For one, they just don't have enough cheese to be called a party. Was there cheese? I don't remember. Plus, the flavors don't really mesh well. They were like nachos, but the texture was weird and the tots tasted like they were under-seasoned. To be fair, the dish normally comes with bacon and I asked for it without. Perhaps the saltiness of the bacon makes up for the lack of seasoning.
That brings us to the customization. Okay, so I am a pain in the rear and ordered something without bacon (which I know to some of you is sacrilegious). Here is how the conversation went:
ME: "So what comes on the party tots?"
CASHIER: (lists ingredients)
ME: "There's no bacon, right?"
CASHIER: "On the tots? No."
ME: "Okay good, because I don't eat pork."
Moments later...
FOOD RUNNER: "And here are your party tots..."
ME: "Is that bacon on those?"
FOOD RUNNER: "Yes, do you need me to have them remake it?"
ME: "Yes, please. I'm sorry."
/scene
Even Stevens is super awesome about customer service. All the employees seem to wear smiles. I loved that when I sent back the party tots that they offered them to another table instead of tossing them. I hate wasting food and that was great!
They're new so maybe the particular cashier just didn't remember about the bacon, but when someone says something particular like "I don't eat pork," if you are not 100% sure about the ingredients, you should probably stop and ask someone. I happen to be very mistrusting about pork sneaking into my food, so I always double check. Some people might have an allergy and so it is really a training issue.
The only other thing I do not like is that they ask for a tip at the register. This is ALWAYS annoying to me. I know more and more casual places do this because they use Square, but I hate it. What if the service is awful? And, as such, I tend to only tip 15% or 18% at the register when I typically tip a lot more because I just don't know how service will be.
Overall Impression:
I really liked Even Stevens and I will bring my kiddo back for lunch some day when we are in the area.
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