Tag: restaurant

Posted in Life

Seafood? No thank you.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Durenne Loris on Unsplash

Last month, we took my son and his family out to supper at a nice seafood restaurant in Saint Augustine. As we were looking over the menu, I overheard an interesting conversation at an adjacent table.

“I’m allergic to all kinds of seafood. What else do you have?”

The menu was filled with wonderful appetizers and entrees. With dishes ranging from gator tail to butterfly shrimp to the catch of the day, I had a hard time deciding on what to order.

I listened with interest as the waitress explained to the seafood-allergic customer that they had little to offer a hyper-allergenic customer.

Why? Why would you come to a seafood restaurant if you were allergic to all fish and shellfish? What were you thinking? What did you hope would happen?

The boyfriend was beside himself. This was a bad idea. No matter how you look at it, this was going to be a bad night. She’s pissed at you. You’re both hungry. There’s nothing on the menu you can order.

You might as well just go somewhere for dessert.

Posted in Life

Wow, that’s a big bowl!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

After a long, leisurely breakfast at Metro Diner, I still had time to kill waiting for a brake job at Brakes-For-Less. I slowly wandered back, thinking I would just wait out front in a plastic lawn chair.

Then my eye caught the sign for Diane’s Natural Market. Nice. I know they have a little cafe. I’ll wait there.

As I walked in, I encountered the smell of a health food store. It’s unique, and I can’t quite put my finger on it. A combo of cardamom, cinnamon, and cumin? I don’t know. It’s just unique.

I ordered a coffee at the cafe and noticed some huge mixing bowls in the food prep area. They looked to be about two feet wide and one foot deep. I commented, “Wow. Those mixing bowls are huge!”

A young lady working in the back glanced at me and smiled. “We’re making big batches of tuna salad and chicken salad.”

Of course. You make big batches of food for the day. I’ve never worked in a restaurant kitchen before, so I’m not familar with the workflow.

That’s not entirely true. I worked at Subway a long, long time ago. I spent a lot of time in the back slicing meats and cheese, shredding lettuce, and mixing up tuna and seafood salads for the subs. A lot of the work was about prep and cleaning, so that we could make a boatload of subs.

After I got my coffee, I thought a lot about food service jobs. I think I would have liked being in the restaurant business. And sometimes I think about how different life would have been in that world.

Posted in Food

Review: JoJo’s Country Cafe in Deland, FL

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The cool, breezy morning had given way to a hot summer day by the time our grandson’s baseball game was over last Saturday. We didn’t mind the early drive to the field, but now we were hungry. A quick search of nearby restaurants on a maps app guided us around the corner to JoJo’s Country Cafe in Deltona.

As we pulled into the strip mall parking lot, we saw JoJo’s, along with the usual tattoo place, barber shop, 24 hour coin laundry, and other assorted businesses. Tucked away between some hotels and a housing addition, the strip mall had been there a while. Our initial reaction: “Sketchy.” But it got decent reviews, so why not give it a try?

JoJo’s is a typical breakfast and lunch place. The coffee was hot and strong, but only tasted average. My wife and I split “JoJo’s Platter”, which included eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, hash browns, and toast. We added a pancake, too. The good was good. As I told her, “It’s hard to get breakfast wrong.”

I thought the decor was interesting. There was no rhyme or reason to the stuff hanging on the walls. There were some old photographs, a US Flag, a bible verse, some old signs, and a framed flower. A few old Uline catalogs were scattered around. I guess people like to page through those. (Actually, we did that, looking at some boxes and shipping materials.) None of the coffee mugs matched. In fact, ours advertised banks in Texas. I’ll bet they purchased these at a thrift store.

It was 10:30 on a Saturday morning, and we were the only customers there. The restaurant must be crowded on weekdays or earlier in the morning. Only one other couple wandered in for some lunch.

On a shelf behind the counter, my wife noticed large boxes of cereal. Nothing appeared on the menu, but we could have asked for a bowl of Cheerios or Raisin Bran. Neither of us have seen cereal offered at a restaurant for a while.

Overall, JoJo’s wasn’t a bad place for breakfast. The average reviewer gave it four out of five stars. That sounds about right. I doubt we’ll ever be in this neighborhood again, so I’m glad we stopped in.

Posted in Life, waiting

Forgotten? Probably not.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash

We weren’t in a hurry. After an afternoon of crafting with a crafty friend, we decided to get chips, wings, and a burger at a nearby sports bar type restaurant. I was surprised by the crowd when we arrived. The parking lot wasn’t full. But the wait was short and we settled into a big booth.

Our server breezed by to get our drink order. “Chips and salsa, too, please.”

“Sure!” She quickly returned with our drinks, took our order, and disappeared around the corner. Disappeared is the key word here. From now on our waitress will be out of sight. (Sorry. It’s almost Christmas. I can’t help it.)

We chatted about the Christmas cards we had just crafted, upcoming family birthdays, this week’s trip to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas, next week’s trip out of town, big dogs and little dogs, and “She heard us order chips and salsa, right?” It had been about ten minutes since we ordered. Someone usually runs them right out.

As we sat, a few tables finished up, replacement families sat down, and no one was watching the televisions around the room. We talked about Christmas Eve and Day with the family, gifts ordered, gifts we were waiting for, gifts to return, and “I don’t even see our server.” When other servers brought plates to folks who arrived after us, we began to feel forgotten.

“How long have we been here?”

“About twenty minutes.”

“Maybe we should flag down another server.” While several hustled around the dining room, none passed by our booth.

As I scanned the room again, our server suddenly appeared from around the corner with our food. Well, most of our food. Wings? Check. Burger? Check. Chips and salsa? Nope. “I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. Just be sure to take them off our check.”

Our server stopped by multiple times to make sure everything tasted good. It did. Our food really hit the spot. I didn’t say anything, but wondered how we got lost on a not-so-busy night. I’m sure I have no idea all that happens in the back, even when things slow down.

So I’ll just be thankful for a less frantic, more relaxed moment in my day, food on the table, and time together.

Posted in Moments of grace

Long live the salad bar!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

As I reached for the handle to open the restaurant door for my wife I saw it. I did a double take. And then I said, “They have a salad bar!”

Do you remember salad bars? We saw one! A vintage sixteen foot, help yourself, all-you-can-eat, as-many-trips-as-you-want Ruby Tuesday salad bar. This was the only real restaurant close to our hotel on the way home from our most recent trip to Dallas. We’re glad we stopped in.

Once Covid shut down everything over three years ago, salad bars disappeared. Were they the reason everyone was getting sick? I don’t know.

Four kinds of greens. All the veggies from cukes to shredded carrots, bell peppers to broccoli, radishes to cherry tomatoes. Chopped up eggs, diced ham, chick peas and edamame. Croutons, seeds, and bacon bits, seven kinds of salad dressing. Amazing.

I’ll bet there’s a whole generation of diners who have never seen a salad bar. Just like a wired phone or a television antenna, they only exist in grandpa’s stories of the good old days.

Every once in a while, someone spots a bird or animal thought to be extinct. I got to be that guy tonight!

Posted in Life

QR deception

Posted on by William Douthwaite

When we sat down at a table by the window in Bahama Breeze in the Orlando airport, I saw a QR code on the table. Interesting. I could scan, order, and pay right on my phone. Sweet. About five minutes later, when no server had come to our table, I decided to give it a try.

I scanned the code, brought up the menu, and started clicking boxes for our meals. Salad, fish tacos, drinks. Done. Easy-Peary. I clicked on the shopping cart to check out.

A message popped up. “A server must open a tab for this table to use virtual ordering.”

Wait a minute. I thought the purpose of this was to bypass the need to wait for a server. If a server had come to our table, I wouldn’t need to order online.

Finally someone did come over. Paola greeted us, saying, “I guess I’m your server.” There were very few servers working a couple dozen table, so she was hustling. She did a good job and I gave her a nice cash tip.

But hey, don’t tease me with a QR code if you’re only going to lead me to a dead end.

Posted in Food, Life

A slow food restaurant

Posted on by William Douthwaite

As we walked into the restaurant, I noticed this sign at the host station. This was a small breakfast/lunch place with both indoor and outdoor seating, lots of diners enjoying a meal or a cup of coffee brought by the waiters. No drive through window. No tablet ordering kiosks. Nothing resembling a fast food restaurant.

So I couldn’t help but wonder, “What have you experienced here that would make you order and post such a sign?”

I didn’t get the chance to ask anyone that question, but I can just imagine some of the comments and behaviors they have had to deal with. Patience is a virtue, but it is not a common virtue. People want want they want when they want it, and generally, they want it right now.

There may be another dozen tables in the restaurant, but some want you to get to work on their order immediately. Ten minutes has become too long to wait for food?

It could be that people just don’t cook that much at home. They forget how long it takes to prepare a meal. The longest they ever have to wait is two minutes for something to come out of the microwave.

I wonder if the customers who need to read that sign are the ones who see those words? Does a sign like that silence the impatient and demanding clientele? Do words like that really change anyone’s behavior? Do folks read that and react, “OK. I guess I’ll go somewhere else”?

If you don’t have time to wait for a table, don’t have time to sit and have something to drink and look over the menu, don’t have time to wait for the cook to prepare your food, and have to eat and run, then why did you come here at all?

There is something so nice about not having to rush, not having to cook, and not having to clean up. You can focus on the people you’re with, enjoy the place and sometimes the view, and be off the clock for a while.

Posted in Food, Stories

“Does this taste right to you?”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Photo by Yasmine Duchesne on Unsplash

Last week after swimming with the dolphins for my wife’s birthday, we stopped for lunch at one of our favorite beachside restaurants. It was a gorgeous, sunny, gentle breezy, not-too-humid day, so we sat outside in the shade. Wahoo was the catch of the day, so I had that grilled in a sandwich. My wife chose the ceviche.

My food was excellent. But my wife pushed her plate over towards me and asked, “Does this taste right to you?” I took a bite and knew exactly why she asked. The shrimp had a very strange consistency. It wasn’t overcooked and rubbery. It wasn’t undercooked and translucent. It was kind of tasteless, with the consistency of tofu. I Answered, “No, I don’t think you should eat that.” We put it aside and I gave her half of my sandwich.

When the waiter came by to check on us, he noticed we were sharing the fish and asked if everything was tasting OK. We looked at each other and said that we were our meals. I don’t know why, but we were reluctant to say anything. We never, ever send food back at a restaurant. We felt awkward and embarrassed to complain about the food.

Towards the end of our meal, one of the floor managers came over to make sure everything was good, as they typically do at this restaurant. Again, I hesitated, but said, “I hate to complain, but I think there’s something wrong with this shrimp. It just doesn’t taste right.” He didn’t taste it, but thanked me, said he would take it off our bill, and let the chef know, too. He said, “We count on your feedback for quality control. Thank you for saying something.”

Thinking back over that moment, I wonder why we’re so reluctant to speak up about something like that. We both had a little work experience in food service, so maybe we just didn’t want to be one of those who are demanding, hard to please and quick to complain. We know how hard restaurant staff works and didn’t want to be the cause of a bad day for them.

I like to eat and there’s not much I don’t like, so this was a rare day in my life. Maybe that’s why it was uncomfortable. This was unknown territory.

Posted in Stories

What’s on tap?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Photo by Fábio Alves on Unsplash

We were on our way home to Florida from Dallas after a wonderful visit with my son and his family. Though we usually stopped for the night in Jackson, MS, we decided to press on a little further to Hattiesburg, for a lighter second day of travel. We dropped off our stuff at hotel and headed out to find a place to eat.

It, was, however, Super Bowl Sunday. Might be a little crowded, but we weren’t in a hurry, just hungry. Yelp helped us find a couple of places worth trying. The first, a little Mexican place had a sign on the door, “Closed for the Super Bowl.” Interesting. I thought this night was pretty important for the restaurant business.

We headed across the street to our second choice, O’Charley’s Restaurant and Bar. The parking lot wasn’t crowded here either. But the lights were on, so we headed in. The hostess asked if we wanted to to sit at the bar. That was the only TV with the game on. We weren’t there to watch, so we just took a booth in a quiet section.

As we looked over the menu, a very nice waitress stopped and asked if we would like to start with some drinks. Absolutely. I asked, “What do you have on tap?” “Hold on,” she said, “I’ll go check.” A few minutes later she came back to let me know, “We don’t have any draft beer.” Really? At a bar? OK, I pointed to one of the bottled beers on their list and said, “How about one of those?” “And a glass of red wine for me,” my wife added. “Great,” our server replied and headed off.

A few minutes later, a man wearing a manager name tag told us they didn’t have any of the beer I had ordered. So I asked, “OK, what do you have?” He said, “I’m not sure, I’ll have to go and check.” Interesting. I guess that’s why they weren’t all that crowded on what should have been a busy night.

I think I ended up with a Corona. To be fair, the food was pretty good and we enjoyed a quiet place to rest and eat. And our server did tell us that she usually worked take out rather than table service, so she was a little out of the loop. I thought all hands would be on deck that night. But I’m not in the food biz.