| rev:text
| - The first 5 minutes were great, better than expected, even. Unfortunately, the 50 minutes that followed quickly disintegrated into a Mach 5 flat spin from which even Maverick himself could not recover. The end result was a hot, steaming pile of overwhelmed staff, disorganized kitchen, and obvlious management.
I'm about to accomplish two firsts for me as a Yelper:
1. Review a restaurant whose food I've never tasted
2. Bestow a 1-star rating
I was excited when I heard the rumors that an upscale diner-esque type dining establishment was coming to the food desert that is Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Unless you're into wings, light beer and fast food, your options are pretty limited in Old Brooklyn. I wanted them to succeed. Finally, about a month ago, they opened - and then closed for a little bit - and then re-opened. They did a great job with the space. Plenty of bright, natural light, comfy booths lining the walls,lots of table seating and even a more traditional bar toward the front. Pics of Cleveland hang on the walls and the place just feels comfy and clean. This part they got right.
We stopped in for our first visit at 11:15am on a Monday. As soon as we entered we were greeted by a cheerful hostess/waitress with an affinity for the word "awesome" who quickly showed us to a booth in the corner. The place was nearly empty. There was a party of 4 toward the back and another couple seated at a booth behind us. That was it. Great, we thought, we should get some pretty good service. Oh, how wrong we would be.
Our waitress took our drink orders and brought them out pretty quickly. We placed our food order - a cobb salad and a garden omelet with a side of pancakes and bacon - and that's when all hope vanished. As we sat and waited, we watched customers continue to come in and be shown to their seats. A party of two here, a party of 4 here. Pretty soon, there were half a dozen tables filled in what 30 minutes prior was a practically empty restaurant. We watched orders get taken, we watched frustrated people sitting there with empty drink glasses, and we watched others continue to wait.
There was a single server, probably fine when there were only a few tables, but she was quickly overwhelmed. After nearly 30 minutes we started to see food come out of the kitchen. OK, maybe they were surprised that they were open. The 4-top that was there when we arrived got their food. Then the couple behind us, and then, WTF, a couple that was seated 20 minutes after we arrived got their burgers. That was it. My wife flagged down the server and asked where our food was and her response was priceless, "Oh yeah, but they got burgers." We didn't even know how to respond to that. At this point, I knew that our order never got placed or was simply lost. Without looking at us she wandered away toward the kitchen. We waited for another 10 minutes and she never returned to give us an update.
We had had enough. We were walking out. We wanted to pay for the iced tea and coffee that we had, but we stood there at the front register for another 5 minutes as a customer repeatedly screamed back to the kitchen, asking whether or not his take-out order was "all there". Finally, the hostess/server said, "Don't worry about it," and we didn't and we left.
This visit was a complete disaster. We were there nearly an hour and we left hungry and very frustrated.
I want this place to succeed. If not for me, for the people of Old Brooklyn who deserve far more than cheap beer and chain restaurants. To this end, I offer the following suggestions:
1. Ditch the tablet check out at the tables. Watching a server bending over tables swiping on a tablet as customers sat there waiting is just painful. Tablets are great at food trucks, not in restaurants. Your customers will hate them.
2. If you ever have a customer that has decided to walk out, address the issue. Speak with them, find out what happened, just do something. Hiding in the kitchen is not an option.
I don't know if we'll give them another chance. I want to, they have a menu with plenty of tasty-sounding items and they are very close to our home. Unfortunately, with so many options out there, second chances seem to happen less and less often these days. Perhaps, if we do pay City Diner another visit, and we actually get to taste their food, I can reassess my position. I'm open to change. Let's hope they are, too.
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