boagman

Cheese and crackers, man! During Happy Hour, a smoked salmon app, an entree of duck confit, and a dessert of graham cracker cake are only $16 plus tax and tip? You're killing me, here. Seriously. You should call it "Obscenely Happy Hour", or something to that effect.

Leonard, this review was interesting to me. By far, my experiences at Modern have been favorable. I can, however, relate to the complaints made by the posters online who were mistreated by the owner/chef. I ordered an entree that was new to the the menu and had been a well-received special, apparently, called "Evil Tiger Prince". It was billed as a Thai-inspired dish, and when it came out, it was cold. I had to send it back, and when it came back the *second* time, it was cold. Cold and pretty lousy, considering that it was the most expensive thing on the menu. I asked to speak to someone about it, and you betcha: the chef came out and tried to lecture me on food. I did end up paying for it, but wasn't very happy. I will also spot that food can sometimes arrive cold. Cold soup (unless it's gaspacho or something) is just anathema to me, and I want it heated up properly. Service, however, I've always (no exceptions) found to be prompt, courteous, and friendly, whether I've sat at a booth, table, or bar. I've always been impressed with the servers. For the most part, I find the food to be *very* good, too. I had lunch there last week and started out with the shrimp fritters with romesco sauce (which was quite good), a bowl of the corn chowder (which was *also* very good), and one of the lunch specials: a turkey pot pie with cornbread topping which may darned well have been the best pot pie I've ever eaten in my entire life. It was wonderful, and it was the last thing I ate that day, being completely full from the meal. At $8, that pot pie was a *total* bargain as well. I'm inclined to say that the place could use a General Manager, or at least a buffer between the FOH and the BOH. When the chef comes out, he's obviously miffed, and yet he can be (and sometimes is) wrong. Cold food is what it is. Bad service is what it is. Bullying customers is not acceptable. I've only ever had the one bad experience there, and have been back since and was pleased, but I'm surprised by some of this. The one thing I don't get: what's wrong with the decor? It's nothing to write home about necessarily, but it's not bad, either, and it's clean! More than that, the parking lot was just resurfaced, making that an even better experience. I think the decor (which is probably the thing I care least about) is just fine as-is...I've seen *far* worse at places charging far more. And whatever smell some of the people were complaining about is just a lie: the place does *not* have a smell. I do hope you'll go back and try it again, Leonard. If not for dinner, then try lunch! Heck, just fill up on the soups! Just tell them you want them *hot*!

Yeah, and I'll bet that he wanted to wash it down with a Diet Coke, eh? Actually, in fairness to the guy, if his wife was the one on his back about eating those crappy Egg Beaters, he may have just been making it worth his while to actually consume them. It's sort of a delicate dance some people have to walk to not lie to their spouses, you know?

Wow...this request is akin to asking for a hamburger without all of that beef and bread to get in the way! It probably wasn't worth it to ask, but I take it that you were *direly* tempted to ask the customer and/or the boss, "Well, what, exactly, are you suggesting that I make it with? Magic beans?"

I've seen this place. I haven't been there yet, and don't really see myself doing so anytime soon. If there's one thing that the Detroit area has an absolute overabundance of, it's Italian restaurants, in all of their many forms, shapes, and sizes...whether chain or independent, authentic or from out of a can, high-priced or low-priced, there are just *tons* of Italian places. Honestly? I think that they're making a mistake opening up, especially right now with the economy being what it is. It probably doesn't help that Italian isn't exactly my favorite cuisine, but by anyone's estimation, there's just far too many of them around here. In the same way that Thai was once hard-to-find and is now ubiquitous here, Italian joints were *never* hard-to-find, and now litter the landscape from east-to-west, north-to-south. Besides, there are places in Clawson that I already really like: Noble Fish for sushi, Frittata for breakfast, Royal Kubo for Philippino, etc. I understand that the bar/microbrewery on the corner of 14 Mile and Main Street is quite good, too...too bad I can't stand beer. BTW, it was great sharing a meal with you at DJB!

Wow...I'm not so sure that it's this particular guy that you need to be worried about. It's really more of a problem with the business itself, and if you pointed out such a major-league problem, and it fell on deaf ears, I'm really thinking that the local news station might be the best way to handle this. It's really the danger of the peanut allergies that makes me sit up and take notice. "Well, no one's complained, and apparently no one's died...yet, ergo, it's not a problem" is either the most negligent attitude I've ever heard, or it's purposely ignorant. So I'll revise: I guess you should try to contact the owner of the place, and ask about it, yet be clear that you're not "just asking". Ask the owner what kind of criminal and civil action could become of this, and what the local news might think. This is not the time to pussyfoot around, IMHO. They know *exactly* what they're doing, and if you know it too, the red flag should be raised. I wonder what *else* they're trying to pull off?

Sorry, Alex, but it is, in fact, Loui's, without the final "e"...they did it purposely. And yes: he was the one who gave both Shield's and Buddy's their recipes. Credit Buddy's for better overall marketing, since they've expanded the most, but their pizza is now pretty far from the way that Loui's is. Buddy's is a good "second place is the first loser" substitute when Loui's is closed for vacation or something like that, but Loui's absolutely puts out a far superior product, without a doubt. In fact, the last time I had Buddy's (at their Warren location), I was downright disappointed. Noble is definitely still in their little grocery in Clawson. Didn't know about the URL thing, though. Is Nobana still owned/run by the Noble Fish folks?

I think the Vernors and Faygo suggestions are good ones. If you're buying Faygo, don't go for the standard cola, or any other standard flavors...you want Rock and Rye, Redpop, and perhaps a couple of others. These are what people think of when they think of Faygo. Vernors is a local institution, but it isn't what it once was. It's still pretty good, and it packs a relative whallop, if you're not used to such a thing. Nothing's better for you when you're sick. Leonard's right about the pizza places he mentioned, but the best pizza I've ever eaten in my entire life is available in Hazel Park at Loui's Pizza, on Dequidre just north of 9 Mile Road (about 7-8 miles from your hotel, and well worth the trip). The interior is kitschy, but the pizza is simply undeniable. I lived in Chicago for three-and-a-half years and while there was good pie there, nothing touched Loui's. Nothing. It's a deep-dish type that isn't stuffed or anything, with crust to die for. If you *did* happen to die while eating it, at least you'd die happy. Fiddleheads is good, too, as I've been there. Nice atmostphere in a place that you'll drive by without even knowing it's there. Good food. Sweet Lorraine's is consistently good as well, which is another really good suggestion. I'd recommend it for breakfast, particularly, since there are lots of other places for lunch and dinner. Frittata is also a great breakfast place, as previously mentioned. I love it there. One place I would disagree with the recommendation of is Beverly Hills Grill. I've been unimpressed with that place, which I find to be overpriced, and kind of sketchy in their ability to prepare food correctly without overcooking. It usually has a long wait to be seated at prime times, and some of the menu choices/specials do actually sound interesting, but the actual application of said items has consistently disappointed me. For the price, it isn't worth it. I'd much rather steer you in a different direction. Like sushi? Noble Fish in Clawson (not far from your hotel) is just plain the best sushi available in the area. I can't compare it to, say, California, but it's a great little place inside of a tiny Japanese grocery. You wouldn't know it was in there if you didn't know it was in there. That kind of place. Great, great stuff. I'll keep thinking, too.

This might come off as me being a bit of a twit, but I'm really not trying to be: you do realize that, to a degree, at least part of this is your fault, right? I mean, walking out at the point where you're red-faced, after an hour-and-a-freaking-half...that's not mere patience, that's being walked-on to the point of madness. Your mistake was, say, after the initial page of hangman was completed...I'm trying to understand why you didn't flag someone down at that point, considering that your empty coffee cup wasn't magically refilling itself, and your food order wasn't magically appearing on its own. Apparently, your table was in a no-man's-land that day, and when that happens, it's best to politely-yet-firmly "help out" a problematic staff by asserting your own existence. "Hi, we're over there, and my kids and I are really hungry, and I could use a refill...would you be kind enough, as the owner, to see what's happening? I'd hate to think that we've fallen through the cracks, here. Other people that came in after us are eating already..." I realize that it might be a bit embarrassing/condescending to do this, but remember: you're fighting for the right to avoid Olive Garden, for heaven's sake! And that's something that an independent establishment should appreciate! Should you have had to do this? Absolutely not...I'm not really defending the restaurant. I'm trying to understand why, when your wife isn't keen on good culinary experiences, you'd allow something this horrible to continue for 90-odd minutes, knowing full well that the owner is within easy attention-grabbing distance. Sure, your wife might still be annoyed by this, but if you could light a fire under their collective, uh, "patooties", at least you might have had a chance to have your wife acknowledge that, yes: this food is worth going a bit out of our way for. Again: not trying to pour lemon juice into the already-painful wound...just wondering why you allowed such a fiasco to endure for so long without stopping the bleeding by going straight to the owner. If he's glad-handing happy customers, *who cares*? You're not happy, and not only that: since it sounds like it'll be harder for you to return, that's got to make *him* unhappy. Sorry it all went sideways on you...guess you'll be having to spend a couple meals' pennance at the Wasteland of O'Charley's, you poor, poor soul.

I absolutely can, Alex. First, the ability of Chef Mary Brady far surpasses that of the person who comes up with the dishes at Steve & Rocky's. Mary just knows how to put food together that not only sounds good, but goes together very, very well. Her specials are normally what I go for, not because the regular menu isn't great, but because I enjoy when *good* chefs have the ability to put things together on a far-reaching scale: she's exceptional with fish and all things underwater, but I've also had wonderful pork, sides, etc. To this day, I don't think I've ever had beef at DJB's...I find beef and sometimes chicken to be somewhat of a safety/fallback position at any given restaurant. I find that when I go to DJB's, I always want to take a chance on her abilities, and I'm never disappointed. Second, there's the staff. You simply won't find any empty-headed college students working there. I'll be the first to say that the staff skews a bit older, but in the best ways possible. These folks *know* the menu, can accurately describe the food, and yes: they *eat* the food there, every day. Every staff member tries the week's specials so that they can honestly tell people what they're like, whether they enjoy them themselves, etc. They're attentive without being overbearing, they can make a recommendation that is pretty trustworthy (so long as you're being fair...don't order fish if your heart's set on a ribeye), and they're never too far away. I regularly tip around 25% of the pre-tax amount. They earn it. I'm always amazed when a 21-year-old at S&R's (or any place like that), when I ask them how the fill-in-the-blank fish is, tells me "Sorry...I don't eat here/fish." It's unacceptable for an entree when it's $20. Third, the pricing structure when compared to Steve and Rocky's is almost head-shaking. The price-per-head is probably relatively equal at either place, but the food at DJB's is two-to-three steps better in terms of quality of fare and preparation of such. At DJB's you're automatically started with some nice bread, and the salad that's included with the price of an entree isn't iceberg, tomatoes, and a slice of cucumber...it's higher-quality mixed greens with certain fresh available veggies with dried cherries and a fantastic housemade grapefruit vinaigrette that I find tantalizing. If I'm going to have the choice between the fare they serve at S&R's for basically the same price as that of DJB's, DJB's wins every time. Fourth, and this is perhaps a bit over the top, but I've never heard a bad report about DJB's, and I've heard some pretty horrible tales about S&R experiences. I haven't been to S&R's since I stumbled onto DJB's some years ago, but I'm not prone to go back and give them another chance based on the experiences I've heard from others I trust. In fact, one of them told me that they were genuinely wincing knowing that DJB's was just a walk across the parking lot...but being that they were with a group, and the S&R staff just *could not* get her order out (a steak! How hard is that?), she ended up leaving hungry. It was a comedy of errors, but it's not funny when everyone else is eating, you're not, and when it's brought up to the manager, the response is basically, "So what am *I* supposed to do about it?" There are other things, too. Suffice it to say that DJB's is about the best thing in Novi, IMHO. I've eaten at a lot of places around there, and some are decent (which is where I'd place S&R's based on my experience), but precious few are great. DJB's is great, especially at the price point they're charging. Oh, and don't forget Mary's desserts. When I have room left, you're darned tootin' that I'm ordering, though I fully admit: I wish that the dessert list would be a bit more adventurous/larger. It's always a plus when the dessert special of the week appeals to me as well. Oh, and the bartenders do know their craft. Hope that at least provides a glimpse into my sick mind, Alex.

I have not. It's strange...I think I've only actually driven by that particular place once in all the time since we've discussed China Cafe on this thread. It's still on my culinary radar, but it's not a pressing thing at the moment. Glad you think that DJB's is praise-worthy. I find it to be abundantly good in so many ways.

Easy, Tiger. The operative word in there being "little". As I said, the exception to the rule is for people whose age lies in the single digits. It's when the employees have to do their silly little chants for anyone out of, say, elementary school that I find it pretty degrading. I mean, sheesh: who *doesn't* want little kids to have fun on their birthday? It's very nice, and the place *is* geared towards kids having a good time any time they're there. For crying out loud, they have a costumed robin flitting about the joint on busy weekends, with helium-filled balloons aplenty! However, when the employees have to do it for people older than that...really, you don't find that to be pushing the limits of good graces? And more than a bit weird/undignified on *both* sides (i.e. both on the giving and receiving end of the chant)? Oh, and just to be clear: I find it inappropriate at *any* place that does this, not just Red Robin. Feel free to disagree. If it's your birthday, and you'd like a free dessert, hey: no problem, enjoy! But please, for the love of Mike, don't make the employees dance and sing for you if you're old enough to know better. Triple Curse Jackpot to idiots who "surprise" their older friends who are having a birthday and call upon the employees to do this. For kids? Fantastic! For everyone else? Um, no.

Oddly enough, I happen to know that they use almost *exactly* this same chant at Red Robin restaurants today. It's...uncanny, weird, and yes: pretty undignified for all concerned parties, unless, of course, your age is in the single digits. The more chains change...

Start trying to get yourself a reservation *yesterday*. And no, I'm not kidding.

Hey Magus. As one of your happy, paying customers, I'd like to give my input here: skip the fries, at least for this season. You know as well as I do that the line already moves slowly enough as it is, and the fries issue would simply complicate the issue even further. You make a great burger...don't go overboard biting off more than you (or we) can chew. Sure, we all like fries with our burger, but seriously: they're ubiquitous, and they're *not* worth making the long line that much longer. Simplicity is its own reward. You've had a rough go of things over the past little while...come back with your strong suit. You can always add more stuff later. Be ready to deliver that which everyone has come to expect and enjoy from you, and remember why you wanted to do this in the first place: it's all about a *quality burger*, correct? Don't try to overdo it for now. Fries just aren't that important. Really. I look forward to seeing you at the U of M/MSU game this year. And yes: I'll be wanting bacon on mine. And so will my brother. Again.

I've already seen a local Mickey D's with the absence of a Dollar Menu. All of what used to be on the Dollar Menu were now on an "Other Values" Menu priced at $1.40. It is a rather surprisingly expensive McDonalds on the whole (all, and I mean *all* value meals were above $5 before tax, and some were more than $6), so this didn't surprise me much. What I *am* finding surprising is the disparity between one McDonalds and the next, price-wise. Example: I've seen the same Big & Tasty value meal be as cheap as $3.60 plus tax, and well over $5 plus tax in the same general area. I guess that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. BTW, you'll enjoy that free burrito at Chipotle. Go for the carnitas (pork), and dress it up nicely. Of the quick-serve burrito places I've tried, I enjoy Chipotle the best.

I hate you for saying this. Oh, BTW, it's "pain", not "pan". Just in case. ← For that matter, it's "au chocolat" not "au chocolate"! ← True, but I've already mentioned that in a previous post in this thread. Didn't want to, you know, be a total pest about such things or anything.

I hate you for saying this. Oh, BTW, it's "pain", not "pan". Just in case.

By "a rice dish", I certainly hope you mean "mass-produced Rice-A-Roni". Ron, really: $350 for 50 stinking people? $7 a head? And you're thinking of *pork loin*? I'm with the others here in this thread...you just simply *cannot* do this job at this price. If they want catering, they want catering...and catering costs money. Real money, not the Monopoly kind. Honest, Ron: to my knowledge, a place like Boston Market won't do this kind of pricing/profit margin. If you want to put on a display of your talents, you MUST NOT accept this kind of work. You'll be digging yourself a major-league hole, and that's not the way to start out. If I was the woman in question, and I had a $350 budget, I wouldn't even be *considering* catering...I'd just be buying deli meats, bread, condiments, drinks, and cookies, and be done with it. That's not a budget...that's an insult. I fully understand that you want to impress folks. For that, you should be congratulated, and admired. Impress them with the quality of your fare, your ability to be worked with, your demeanor, your desserts...but do *not* impress them as being able to feed 50 people for $350. There are worse things than turning down work. Some things just aren't worth your time, money, and effort, and this *definitely* qualifies. To quote Nancy Reagan, "Just say 'No.'"

Well, for this, you could buy a cigarette-lighter-to-power-adapter thing (the name escapes me at the moment...it's past 3:30AM, I need some slack) at any number of places in order to be sure that you have *some* power. Also, must everything be room temperature? How about oil burners, thermal wraps, and such? For the brisket, are they wanting it in sandwiches, by itself, or what? I would think that, in a sandwich, the brisket wouldn't need to be really hot, but if it's standing on its own, yeah: hot temperature would be better received. For the appetizers, why not go (at the very least) with your strong suit of cheese? Go with what you know. I wouldn't fancy it up too much in sticking with the cowboy-esque theme, but cheese (hate it though I do) is always a great standby for such things, and if you can do that course as well as you've shown in the past, what cowboy would find cheese distasteful? Are there going to be paper plates? Are good, *quality* calico beans with bacon and brown sugar out of place? It might be kitschy, but the theme draws me back to these. Just throwing some ideas out and seeing what sticks. If it's all garbage, well then hey: it was free.

Oh...you make pain au chocolat(e). It'd be almost worth flying in to NM just for that. My local source for it has closed down for the summer in order to go back to France for a few months, so I'm not going to have any place to grab some. I'll tell you what: if I were coming to NM, I'd be sure to eat at your place, based on the pictures on your homepage alone! Best of luck to you in your venture.

Welcome. If you're in Farmington Hills, I'd highly, *highly* recommend you travel about 10 minutes west to Diamond Jim Brady's Bistro in Novi, just off the Novi Road exit of I-96 (the Twelve Oaks Mall exit, if that helps). Their website is www.djbistro.com and you can click on the Specials menu option on the left to see what the specials are this week. I absolutely love this place, and for good reason. I doubt very much that you'll be disappointed.

Hey, you fortunate KC folks. I just saw this on another site, and since I'm in Detroit, I can't use it, but if you're interested, it's a pretty interesting offer: a free starter with every bottled wine purchase, patio dining only. The expiration date's 12/31/08, though I doubt it'll be good that long, since the patio won't be open forever, obviously. I'm not saying that it's a major league coupon if you're not a wine drinker (I'm not), but if you are, it would appear that Justus Drugstore is aiming to bring you to their establishment this summer, and I'd say that this is a nice incentive. Here's the link: http://smithville.com/PDFs/justus_coupon.pdf That should take you directly to the coupon itself. Hope it's helpful, and enjoyable. If you do enjoy it, be sure to let us know! Edited to shorten length to coupon

In this case, the percentage she deserved is not relevant. There was an autograt and the OP and his party refused to pay the full amount. That they did not see the fine print indicating an autograt on the menu is the collective party's fault. Had the service really been inadequate, it would not have been only 87 cents they were questioning. They could have spoken to the manager and said 20 percent was unacceptable. The manager could have taken the full 20 percent off their bill, and they they could have either given what they wished or stiffed her altogether. But it was up to the manager to decide whether to remove any part of their bill, not them. If they had issues, they should have brought it up with management. They did not. Now according to the OP, the autograt should only have been 15%, not 20%, so he's going to speak to management about it. If he's willing to speak to the manager about being overcharged (after paying), why wasn't he willing to speak to the manager at the time? ← You know, when I was a server, there were times that I dropped the ball. I knew it, even if, at the time, it burned me to have people not tip as well as the next. Usually, by the next day, upon reflection, I could see whether those who didn't tip what I expected were just cheap, or perhaps I just didn't earn it. Now, if someone spoke to the manager about my lacking service, I can guaran-freaking-tee you that it was well worth a few cents to me to not have them do that. I mean, they're still tipping me a darned good percentage, I didn't serve them as well as I should have, and they don't want to get me in hot water? I appreciate that, or at least, I would have at the time. Speaking to management just causes undue anxiety for the server, for the most part. Or at least, it did for me, because I cared about my job, and about how I performed at my job. The server didn't deserve 20%, and really didn't deserve 19%, but hey, I didn't want to rake her over the coals...apparently, with those who disagree with what I did, I should have, since there's no middle ground. I would disagree with that. Having walked in those shoes, I thought then, and still think now, that the autograt is STILL NOT MANDATORY. To those who disagree, bene. You say that an automatic gratuity is a contractually obligated charge, and I say it isn't. I'm sure that Ruth, and myriad other servers on the board here are quite conscientious about the level of service that they offer, and deserve to be compensated well for their efforts. In this case, the server didn't deserve to be compensated at the level we were being strongarmed at, and so the gratuity, ever so slightly, reflected that. Again, I'm still in a service-oriented business to this day (though not food service anymore), and if I'm charging for something, I'd darned well better be fulfilling on my end, if not going beyond the call of duty. I guess there's no good way of doing this except to embarrass the server by calling on management and pointing out the problems, instead of just docking the tip by 1%. A shame, that, since I would rather be discreet about things and let her day go relatively smoothly, than point out her faults and make it an issue. I can see now that there's no middle ground. She's either the sister to Mother Teresa, or she's the Cruddiest Server Ever.

I use the asterisks for emphasis only. I do it here, I do in on other boards, I do it in private emails...it's just the way I write. I write the way I speak, and I prefer to convey that. The only time I looked down at my server was when she expectantly asked for the eighty-seven cents. Then, yes: I sort of had to chuckle at the audacity of asking for more when, clearly, she provided less. In the future, I will most certainly ask for itemized bills for each person. I will be told "No freaking way..." by the server, but I'll ask for it. So she does incur a bit of my ire for functional service with a "Ferrari attitude". I'm not entirely sure that I'm unhappy with my friends, any more than usual in terms of group-dynamics. The restaurant's policy? Yeah, I can get behind being annoyed with that more than the server, though.