Great way to kill return business
by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on January 23rd, 2010, 6:53 pm | Food
While on vacation last week, my wife and I decided to take a leisurely drive down US 1 on our way back from Kennedy Space Center to our room. It was a way to see "out of the way" things and (we hoped) find a fun place for dinner.Well at about 4:30, we ran across this nice-looking place called "River Rocks." It certainly looked a good sight better than the usual crab house or simple diner, so we decided to drop in.
At the entrance, we saw that the decor was nicely-done, and the people who greeted us were very pleasant. They asked us if we wanted to dine inside or out, and told us that inside, there was an" early bird" special deal that gave us a 3-course meal with limited items for $15 each. We opted for the deal, as the limited choices looked rather good.
Our salads were delicious, and sized just right. Our entrees were exquisite. We were looking forward to ordering the desserts, and the server told us "I'll just go get you the desserts now." and vanished. We thought that he was going to show us sample desserts to choose from, as some restaurants will do.
Instead of asking us what we wanted from the 3 desserts on the menu, he came and plopped a couple of tiny pieces of dried-out cake in front of us and vanished.
When he came back with the bill for the meal, I said, "What's with this cake? I thought there were 3 things to choose from for dessert, and this isn't any of them."
He said, "Well, it was a busy weekend, and we ran out of two of the three choices. So the manager told us to use the cakes we had left over from the brunch this morning."
I was so stunned to hear this - SO MANY things wrong with it! - that I decided to just end the meal and get out ASAP. I really should have called for the manager and asked him WTF, mon? We wondered if we had somehow offended the management, that they decided that we should get handed left-overs to end our "elegant" meal. I had thought to leave a large tip for the great service and recommend this place as a gem to be found in the wilderness of Route 1. Instead, I got the hell out of there as quickly as I could, planning to use it as a byword for being skeptical of "early bird" dinner specials.
Caveat Emptor, I guess.
