A Less Than Fabulous Lunch
Submitted by admin on
This is just one experience I had at Alfred's. I can't afford to try them 2 or 3 times and see if service improves, (or make my kids wait for it) so if you've had a better experience recently, please comment.
There's one sure-fire way for a restaurant to burst my bubble of positive thinking. That would be to ignore me for a good 15 minutes, then not appear to notice or care that you did that.
I was just getting up to grab my camera bag and usher my 4 year old back through the door, when the server at Alfred's Cafe decided to stop by and bring us a menu. I knew we were in trouble when I saw the "Please Seat Yourself" sign. In my experience, this never goes well. Part of the job of a host is to recognize your presence, introduce you to your server, and make sure you, your menu, and your server have all met within the first five minutes or so of your dining experience. If you know you aren't going to have time to distribute menus, have them somewhere your diners can take them, themselves. (Or better yet, just seat people.)
At Alfred's, there's a small diner-like space by the kitchen that is open to all ages, the rest of the place is 21+. There was just one other family in this space when we got there around 1:05 pm, and they seemed to be experiencing the same back of the bus treatment. I'm sure alcohol has a much better profit margin than food, but if you're in the food business and you have a 50s diner type atmosphere and a kid's menu, you probably ought to treat families just as nicely as all the business-y types crowded into the bar.
We got to Alfred's around 1:05 on Friday, and by this time I was stupid-hungry, having had one of those "coffee is gluten free! Who needs anything else!" days. We sat down and waited five minutes. We waited another five minutes. I gave the littlest my camera to play with and we waited another five minutes. Then I decided to leave, but while I was gathering everything up our server came by and brought us menus and took our drink orders. Around 1:25, the other family that had been sitting sipping their drinks since we go there at 1:05, finally got their food.
The menu's pretty extensive but kind of pricey for a diner-style lunch. Hamburgers all seem to run in the 9-10 dollar range. I was going to order something simple and inexpensive, but then looking at the menu your basic bacon cheeseburger cost just as much as the blue-cheese stuffed double bacon burger, (About 9.95) so I went that route. French Fries come breaded so that option was off the table, but they have home-made potato chips, which the server assured me were "just potatoes." Turns out, they come coated in some powdered seasoning (I think it was supposed to be sour cream and onion?) which was OK but not really what I was expecting. They're alright, if a little uneven and chewy at times. Honestly, I really wanted breakfast, which is advertised as lasting until 2 pm, but I wasn't given a breakfast menu and didn't really want to have to ask and then wait again.
My burger was interesting. The burger itself was excellent, but the blue cheese and bacon didn't really have any bite, and the bacon was pretty limp. I'm not sure I'd spend all those calories on it again.
The littlest had already had lunch with her daddy, which was the only reason I could get away with waiting so long. I'm a pretty speedy eater, but we still didn't get out of there until about 2:20, with additional waits for food, the check, and change. While we ate, the staff used the diner area to have a little meeting and chat with each other. I don't ordinarily mind this sort of thing, but coupled with ignoring the customers, it made me grumpy.
This was only my second visit to Alfred's (the first being a great breakfast experience a few years and a change or two of management ago) and I can't say what it's like if you sit in the bar. It does appear to be a very popular bar at 1:30 on a Friday afternoon, so they must be doing something right.
Alfred's Cafe
402 Puyallup Ave
Tacoma, WA 98421
(253) 627-5491
1 Comment
Authored by: Anonymous on
Submitted by old-anonymous (not verified) on
Authored by: Anonymous on Sunday, February 03 2008 @ 12:51 PM PST
since I live 2 blocks away you can bet I eat/drink at alfreds all the the time. I've had issues with alfreds since the big remodel, but I hate change. I've always been treated with prompt attention whichever side I sit in. the food is only so-so but I know that. I don't go there for gourmet...I go to eat serviceable food. As far as wait staff in the cafe.....all the best staff has been siphoned off to the many many many many cafes & restaurants in T-Town. I noticed this trend about 2 years ago. (and have you ever worked as a waitress--what a hard hard job for low low pay)
If you go with less big city expectations and take alfreds as it is......it's old-school Tacoma, it might seem better. All food is too costly anymore....welcome to the Bush Administration. It's not alfred's fault. all the working class cafes/restaurants have had to raise their prices.
But I do agree, alfreds could use some staff training, but as sassy as I am, and I had kids with energy/food issues and allergies, I just learned to lower my expectations when dining with kids in an adult cafe/restaurant.
I'd have posted under my real name, but I'm impatient jen!!!!
tressie
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A Less Than Fabulous Lunch
Authored by: Jenyum on Sunday, February 03 2008 @ 06:16 PM PST
I don't expect super speedy, and I know my kids can be a PIA so I usually tip very generously. It was just the being totally ignored thing, that got to me. I mean there's slow because you're busy, slow because you're a little absent minded (I'll give a waitress a pass for that on account of suffering from the occasional spacey day myself), or because the restaurant hasn't really figured out how to do things yet (lots of that in T-town and I don't really care, usually) and then there's slow because you just really don't seem to care, which was the impression I got.
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A Less Than Fabulous Lunch
Authored by: Anonymous on Saturday, May 10 2008 @ 12:33 PM PDT
Alfred's has "seat yourself" in the diner-there is also a restaurant in the back which is 1/2 of the total space, as well as the bar and diner each comprising 1/4 of total space each. This patron I believe tried to take her child in the bar and was argumentative when asked to go to a different section.
The burgers (which are TOP Sirloin started at that time at $6.95 including fries or freshly made chips and a side of coleslaw, or baked beans.
Since everything is made to order, and we can be very busy at lunch time because of the many happy repeat customers, things can get a little slow at times when we are hit with a rush.
I am sorry for the unpleasant experience. I wish the "anonymous" author would have asked to speak with either me or our manager instead of going public with her obviously rare negative comments on the internet, without giving us a chance to correct this. BTW we also have special kids menus, and place mats for coloring, as well as booster seats.
In addition she does make slight ref. to her frame of mind and stomach with only coffee.
In the future I hope we will be made aware of any shortcomings, and given a chance to correct them before jumping into a public forum which is rather unfair.
Sincerely,
Richard Bartolatz
Owner
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A Less Than Fabulous Lunch
Authored by: Jenyum on Saturday, May 10 2008 @ 02:44 PM PDT
Hi.
I definitely did not try to take my child into the bar, and I definitely was not argumentative. Franky, I really don't appreciate that characterization, three months after this experience.
This may have been an isolated incidence of particularly spacey service, but it is what happened.
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A Less Than Fabulous Lunch
Authored by: ensie on Monday, May 12 2008 @ 09:44 AM PDT
I don't think that posting about her experience in a public forum is "relatively unfair." Restaurant reviews happen all day, every day. And you better be ready to handle them. Jen is a very honest person and if she writes it, it happened. She is scrupulously honest about her experiences and if you read her other restaurant reviews you'll see that it's very rare that she writes anything negative at all. In fact, if you had bothered to learn anything about her, you'd see that she's been involved in a project to boost the image of Tacoma for the last year; the last thing she wants to do is write a bad review.
If I were you, I would apologize for the bad service and offer better in the future. Show her what you can do. Jen is a great voice in the community and she deserves the best you can offer.
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