*Warning, this is a pretty long rant on a restaurant experience. This is only told from two people's experiences on a recent Friday night.
Almost a year ago, visited Bogey Macaws at Springwood Golf Course for a Cheap Eats outing. It was out of this world. Read here if you missed it.
It took a while to find time to go, but Nate, my husband, and I decided to go back on Friday. What a mistake. I should have known when I called earlier that morning and asked for the chef that it was bad. They told me Chef Jackie Pestka wasn't there anymore.
Still, we loved it the last time and hoped for a similar experience. We arrived a little before 7 p.m. We were there on a Monday on our last visit, so it was a bit different atmosphere, more of a bar than that of an intimate restaurant. We waited at the hostess podium and there seemed to be a little misunderstanding about where to put us. I guess they got it all figured out and sent us down to a booth near the window. And there we sat for at least (and I am being generous) 15 minutes.
No "Hello", no "I'll be with you in a minute," no " let me see who your waitress is." It was down right rude.
We watched servers, bus boys and what looked like managers walk by and look at us. We had no drinks and our menus were on the table. I have 10 years of waitressing experience. I don't care how busy you are, you at least stop and tell the table you will be with them shortly.
When my patience had nearly worn thin, I stopped one of the gals walking by and asked her if she knew who was supposed to take care of us. She said she would get her.
Then she showed up, and I'd seen her walk by us many time.
And this is what she said:
"Hi how are you?"
Really? Is that all you have to offer after making us sit for that long?
"REALLY hungry," I said as my upper lip twitched in the corner like it always does when I am about to blow up.
Usually, I am not this blunt, or rude, but I was so mad. She could have apologized, but instead she pretended like it never happened.
The start to the evening just really soured my stomach. But we ordered an $8 appetizer of calamari, a $10 burger and a $10 plate of tuna sliders. Then, I am not sure if she was trying to make up for something, but the waitress decided to direct us to the cabana for complimentary appetizers for the "closing the deck party." Problem one was that we just ordered an appetizer. Could she have offered that up before we ordered?
Problem two was that I went up to the cabana and all the dishes were empty. After waiting at least five minutes probably more because by this point I was getting delirious with hunger, I approached one of the hostesses. You know what she said?
"My bus boys are back there waiting with the empty pans."
And that means what?
I gave up and sat down. One guy standing with me waited at least 20 minutes for wings and you know what he got? Dried up chicken fries.
When I returned to the table, the appetizer we paid for was at the table. It was calamari, but it didn't look like it. It was white rings only slightly covered with bread crumbs. It wasn't good.
I do have to say, that we ate four rolls between the two of us. They had a honey butter and a sun-dried tomato pesto to dip it in. That was actually awesome.
Then the food came. It was mediocre. The sauce for my tuna sliders was really tasty, I think it was a chipotle mayo, but the sliders themselves were small and they weren't generous with the toppings. Nate's burger was burnt and he asked for it medium well, not even well done.
I can't tell you how disappointed I was. When I went in January, Bogey Macaws was one of the best restaurant experiences I had ever had. When I returned Friday, easily one of the worst and I don't have many of those because I am really not picky.
Maybe I would have appreciated the food more if I weren't in a bad mood from the inconsiderate server. Nate and I decided we won't be going back. Money is to precious to spend on a bad evening out.
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