Willoughby Brewing Company on Mother's Day
Now, I know you all will have no problem seeing a price of $22.99 per plate for a Mother's Day Buffet, but I would suspect you would expect something better than the average Home Town experience. Right?
Let us start at the beginning, shall we? We tried to call in order to set up reservations more than week before the actual day, I realize that was a bit late but we wanted to try anyway. We were told the place was, "totally booked," which we believed because there was nothing to indicate it was untrue. One of our party then spoke with someone, whom knew someone, AND, lo and behold, we suddenly had reservations for at least eight in a "party room." It helps to know people who know people, you know? Thanks Our friend!!! (I don't want to mention her name because... it may incriminate her, or him, in some way, but you know who you are and this is a very sincere thanks.) Anyway, as you may have already figured, things are not always as we would wish. In fact, they are more often the opposite of that which is expected.
Here we go.... Upon entering the restaurant, at the appointed time of 1PM, we noticed something strange. Although we were told the place was, "completely booked," less than 1/2 of the tables had any people at them. I have rarely seen a place, "completely booked," by invisible people. Wait! I don't think I have EVER seen that. Have you??
The next thing awry was the supposed, "Party room." Well, as you may have guessed, we were not taken to any party room. Instead, we were directed to an area about four steps above the main floor with other tables having patrons. We had enough room, mind you, but a party room should be just that. It was supposed to have been private, according to what we were told and that was obviously not the case. On a high note though, our server, Jim was just flamboyant enough to be humorous and keep us happy.
The food was the next problem. We all realize that buffet food is rarely hot BUT is should NEVER be as cold as my supposed Chicken Marsala. I even looked to see if the Serno was lit (it was but it must have been too far away because that shit was freezing). The Marsala part of the previously mentioned entree tasted more like cream of chicken soup than wine. The potatoes were not even as tasty as those at Home Town Buffet. There was no chaffing dish of scrambled eggs, who ever heard of a brunch buffet without scrambled eggs? The carving station was nothing of the sort. The carver had already sliced all the meat and put it in another dish with some juice. The same thing for the ham. When I went to get a waffle the same thing happened. They were piled in a pan and limp.
When paying $10.99 I expect fresh and tasty food. For $22.99 I expect to be awed. I was awed but only the beginning part. Aw...FUL. There is no way I should have had to go in a pan for my carving station beef or ham. My waffle should have been cooked to order. There should have been heat under each plate that actually made it warm. The fucking eggs... I cannot believe you people forgot the fucking eggs. What the hell were you thinking? The Strata thing was OK, but not what EVERYONE expects.
Then, to add insult to injury, you put on an outrageous 18% gratuity. Do any of you know what the term gratuity means in this business? It has to do with providing extra money to a server for his/her SERVICE. Although our server was nice, he did very little serving. It is a FUCKING buffet for God's sake. I don't tip 18% regularly for full service let alone some place where I served myself, unless the service is phenomenal. And, don't try to tell me the server split tips with those bussing and manning cooking stations. The bussing was done by us, we put our dishes on the ledge by the register and he took them from there, and those running the stations did nothing but stand there because everything was already cooked. The omelet guy, though, did do his job, and well I might add. Kudos to him.
You all might want to re-think your holiday brunch idea. I would NEVER come back to one of these done in the manner above. I cannot believe you could ever think this was worthwhile. I had a better breakfast at the corner bar and it cost a HUGE amount less.
Let us start at the beginning, shall we? We tried to call in order to set up reservations more than week before the actual day, I realize that was a bit late but we wanted to try anyway. We were told the place was, "totally booked," which we believed because there was nothing to indicate it was untrue. One of our party then spoke with someone, whom knew someone, AND, lo and behold, we suddenly had reservations for at least eight in a "party room." It helps to know people who know people, you know? Thanks Our friend!!! (I don't want to mention her name because... it may incriminate her, or him, in some way, but you know who you are and this is a very sincere thanks.) Anyway, as you may have already figured, things are not always as we would wish. In fact, they are more often the opposite of that which is expected.
Here we go.... Upon entering the restaurant, at the appointed time of 1PM, we noticed something strange. Although we were told the place was, "completely booked," less than 1/2 of the tables had any people at them. I have rarely seen a place, "completely booked," by invisible people. Wait! I don't think I have EVER seen that. Have you??
The next thing awry was the supposed, "Party room." Well, as you may have guessed, we were not taken to any party room. Instead, we were directed to an area about four steps above the main floor with other tables having patrons. We had enough room, mind you, but a party room should be just that. It was supposed to have been private, according to what we were told and that was obviously not the case. On a high note though, our server, Jim was just flamboyant enough to be humorous and keep us happy.
The food was the next problem. We all realize that buffet food is rarely hot BUT is should NEVER be as cold as my supposed Chicken Marsala. I even looked to see if the Serno was lit (it was but it must have been too far away because that shit was freezing). The Marsala part of the previously mentioned entree tasted more like cream of chicken soup than wine. The potatoes were not even as tasty as those at Home Town Buffet. There was no chaffing dish of scrambled eggs, who ever heard of a brunch buffet without scrambled eggs? The carving station was nothing of the sort. The carver had already sliced all the meat and put it in another dish with some juice. The same thing for the ham. When I went to get a waffle the same thing happened. They were piled in a pan and limp.
When paying $10.99 I expect fresh and tasty food. For $22.99 I expect to be awed. I was awed but only the beginning part. Aw...FUL. There is no way I should have had to go in a pan for my carving station beef or ham. My waffle should have been cooked to order. There should have been heat under each plate that actually made it warm. The fucking eggs... I cannot believe you people forgot the fucking eggs. What the hell were you thinking? The Strata thing was OK, but not what EVERYONE expects.
Then, to add insult to injury, you put on an outrageous 18% gratuity. Do any of you know what the term gratuity means in this business? It has to do with providing extra money to a server for his/her SERVICE. Although our server was nice, he did very little serving. It is a FUCKING buffet for God's sake. I don't tip 18% regularly for full service let alone some place where I served myself, unless the service is phenomenal. And, don't try to tell me the server split tips with those bussing and manning cooking stations. The bussing was done by us, we put our dishes on the ledge by the register and he took them from there, and those running the stations did nothing but stand there because everything was already cooked. The omelet guy, though, did do his job, and well I might add. Kudos to him.
You all might want to re-think your holiday brunch idea. I would NEVER come back to one of these done in the manner above. I cannot believe you could ever think this was worthwhile. I had a better breakfast at the corner bar and it cost a HUGE amount less.
posted by johnathan e at 5:15 AM
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