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| - ***Full Disclosure: I used to work for Flat Top Grill for nearly six years until April 2011, spanning its old and current ownership, but not at this location***
My buddy Sven and I came to town the other night and decided to stop in for dinner. He had been eating unhealthily all day and we both knew that FTG was a place to both eat healthy and make yourself a large quantity of food for your money, if that's your sort of thing.
We stopped in around 8:30 on a Saturday night. There appeared to be only one server, one bartender and a manager on the floor. The manager appeared to be wearing many hats, seating, serving and bussing tables.
Ok, most people are familiar with the process by now. The food was good. Our server Toni was good. Honestly, the only reason I'm giving such a low rating is because the place looked like a disaster area. It looked like a tour bus full of people had just left the place. Dirty tables everywhere, trails of water and food debris all over the floor. The bar area had 10 or so seats, with four of them covered by clipboards, paperwork, and other bar stuff. While our server, the bartender and the manager are all trying to make some sense of the place, I head to the bathroom and the busboy is in the back of the room on his phone.
The spot in the worst shape was the food line. There were veggies all over the counter, sauces splattered all over, a few items were missing tongs, and there was only one guy on a full grill on a Saturday night.
If you think about it, there's only one thing FTG offers, and that's the fresh food line. If that looks unappealing, then the whole concept looks bad. Someone with bad OCD that night would've probably had a Rain Man-style attack.
For all the times I visit Champaign (once a year), I'll write off this visit. I've been to FTG's that are immaculate, and ones that need some work. This one could definitely use a hand.
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