TheBoatMan

Exactly Dodge. And why is it the customer’s responsibility to complain. Maybe Courtzzzz just preferred to go on her way and is not a complainer. Don't reports state that most diners will not complain, they just won’t return? I think it is in the restaurants best interest to train their waitstaff/busstaff to notice full plates upon clearing and to notify the manager of such. Maybe the diners just weren’t hungry but at least the manager could make a tableside appearance to inquire if everything was all right. Lreda Quote: What good does it do to ask when the diners are leaving? Why not stop by the table and ask at that point? Courtzzz Quote: Why does Lreda state she asked how the meal was when courtzzz states that never happened? From Courtzzz post she states she never told anyone “everything was great”. Someone is not telling the truth here. I do think Lreda stepped up to the plate and think it’s great restaurant owners are monitoring this board. courtzzz and Lreda both seem to have a different recollection of the night’s events so it’s hard to determine what exactly happened. I hope courtzzz takes lreda up on her offer and gives the restaurant another chance. I thought this board was about opinions good or bad? I hope the board continues to be an objective outlet for diners as it has been in the past. If someone is going to be antagonized for giving a negative opinion I think it will deter others from doing so as well. We don’t want courtzzz to go back to being a lurker, do we? Quote Rail Paul I am anxious to read rail paul's review, as his posts are very detailed and objective. I may have to give this restaurant a try and decide for myself.

My wife prefers The River Palm's non-smoking room (fairlawn). I prefer the elbows in your face atmosphere of Edgewater YMMV Nick Nick, Isn’t it great to people watch at the Edgewater location? It's almost like an adventure

Even though it is a chain Ruth Chris is still one of my favorites. Nothing beats their steak coming out on those butter sizzling plates and their au gratin potatoes. I prefer the Weehawken location to the Parsiappany Hilton location, as it’s enjoyable to walk around the water and view the skyline after the meal. Dodge, have you been to The River Palm? Give it a shot, I think you will love it. They have 3 locations but our favorite is the one in Edgewater.

I haven’t been to the fairway market in over a year, but they used to sell aged strip steaks, which were fantastic. Don't confuse them with the regular strip steaks they sell. I found the butchers to be very friendly and if you called ahead they would french racks of lamb, veal or pork at no additional charge. Your friend may want to give the Fairway Market a try. I used to buy my meat from Kings quite religiously but in recent years have found the quality of their meat to be sinking and their prices rising. In my opinion it’s not worth the premium. In my quest for a great retail steak I got spoiled and now buy meat in the city from either the Homestead or on real special occasions from Lobels. I know this is a NJ forum but if she wants the absolute best tell her to check out Lobels in NYC. It’s on Madison Ave. in the 50’s and you can get there and back to NJ quite fast. They have a website at http://www.lobels.com I also have been disappointed with the quality of retail meat available in NJ. I hope some other member’s post some places to try that I have missed.

As you know Rosie, I love the River Palm. Yum, I get hungry just thinking about it.

LOL, thanks Dodge. Thanks to Tommy for helping me come up with it

have you tried cubby's in hackensack? Havent tried it Tommy. Is this the same owner of the Cubby's in Hasbrouck Heights? I think I heard mixed reviews about it. Also, heard the prices are a little on the high side for the type of food they serve. Is it worth a try? If you say it is maybe I'll trust your "taste" and give it a shot.

Excellent review Rail Paul. I love pulled pork, tough to find it served decent in the area. Are you normally wary about restaurants that are not busy or crowded? Do you alter menu choices because of it? I think I might have been scared to order the escargot. Dirty menus are a pet peeve of mine as well. How can you expect the kitchen to be clean if they can't even provide you with a clean menu?

you can afford neither my taste nor my opinion. This is not fair I want to be able to value your reviews for helping me decide whether or not to try new restaurants. Why am I not worthy? All I asked is a simple question, why so defensive?

this is key. positive *or* negative reviews do very little to sway my opinion when i don't know the person's taste. no, not even very little. i'd say more like nothing. Tommy, What is your "taste"? I'd like to value your opinion.

i'm picking up your sarcasm. :wow: Tommy, that is impossible but I thank you for the compliment. My halfhearted attempts at sarcasm are inspired by some of yours and TCD’s magnificent posts. I am attempting to follow in the footsteps of greatness.

How do I respond to such brilliance? You must have received an 'A' in debate. I bow to your intellectual superiority. Should I be scared now? FYI, my words were not harsh, merely a question. It is you that have resorted to profanity.

Tommy, Now that's a subjective statement. Who made you the reigning deity on what is an interesting thread and what is not?

I wish I had the time or should I say energy to use fresh but I do not. I started using organic muir glenn diced tomatoes about 2 years ago when making simple tomato sauces. If you use the diced tomatos you can use the entire contents and not worry about the liquid. Just let it reduce down for about 10 minutes and you're all set, I've never run into a problem. They are a little on the pricey side but kings and shop rite run usual specials on them. Everyone that comes for dinner raves about the sauce. You should give it a try. Usual ingredients of fresh garlic, olive oil, fresh basil if you desire, salt and pepper. If you prefer a sweeter sauce throw in some sugar or pepper flakes for a spicier sauce. I love it.

Like Liza, I love to use them when making crab cakes.

I will respectfully agree to disagree with some of these opinions, as I do not want to drag this discussion out. I do feel bad though, as I am sure many people are probably duped by this scam. Maybe I do not have enough confidence in people or maybe it comes from my days of waiting tables through college but I can only think this happens elsewhere. Beware and check that bill. Anyway, thanks to everyone for your opinions. Now, wilfrid about that land.....

Dodge Thank you for the support. I'll email the restaurant name to Rosie as she suggested and she can decide what to do.

No, we should not expect them to have different slips. Where the tip line is, the server should have written INCLUDED . There is nothing illegal about this. If a diner decides to leave extra, he can do so in cash or ask for his card to be run again. Simple as that. wilfrid are you for real? Give me a call I have some land to sell you.

Courtzzz I love the River Palm Terrace, it is my favorite steakhouse. I have been to all 3 locations (Mahwah and Fair Lawn) but prefer the Edgewater location. It has more of a steakhouse feel there and its fun to people watch at that location . Though I hear the Edgewater location is expanding, I hope this doesn’t change the atmosphere I like there so much. I have been to steakhouses all over the country i.e. Sparks, Peter Lugers, Ruth Chris, Don Shulas in FL, Mortons and others. I think we are lucky to have a steakhouse the caliber of River Palm in the state.

If a restaurant is going to impose an automatic gratuity policy for large parties the diner is entitled to a verbal notification of the policy. It can be done at the time of reservation, upon being seated or when the check is presented. It would behoove the restaurant to do so, plus elimanate any of these "mistakes" that may happen. Just my 2 cents.

lano, I agree with you that it is the diner’s responsibility to check the bill. Unfortunately, my father took care of the bill and I didn’t want to cause a scene with a “check fight”. Again, let me state my concerns: 1) Not the fact that gratuity is automatically added but in the manner the gratuity was displayed on the check almost like a menu item being ordered. 2) When the check was presented the lack of the server verbally informing my father gratuity is added for parties of 6 or more. 3) And finally with the server taking the credit card receipt and handing my father his copy. At that point he had to have clearly seen the additional 90-dollar tip.

Rosie, It was more of an upscale restaurant and waitstaff seemed to be older. Our waiter seemed to me that he was quite competent. I really did not want to name the restaurant only because this could have been an isolated issue. The management handled the issue fine when I called to complain. I suppose I was just looking for other's thoughts on how the check should be presented if a gratuity is going to be added. Or do people not think it is at all dubious to hide this gratuity almost as a menu item on the check? Am I asking too much to be verbally notified when the check is presented? I mean you’re with a group of people having a good time, should you be forced to step to the side and go through every item on the check? Maybe it is I who am naive.

My issue was more with the policy of how the tip was added. I know mistakes can happen and that's why I haven’t named the restaurant. All I'm saying is I think that if a restaurant is going to add gratuity they shouldn’t try to hide it on a bill like its a menu item being ordered. They should also verbally alert you when handing you the check. Is this really too much to ask?

Tommy, waitstaff is a reflection of the restaurants management. Management should instruct the waiter to inform guests that gratuity has been added. Something to the effect of "Here is your bill, just for your information we add 20% gratuity to parties of 6 or more" Simple as that. This person was not rushed as it was early in the evening and the restaurant was still quite empty. The waiter picked up the check and provided my fathers charge copy. I'm sure he saw the extra 90-dollar tip at that point. Did he think his service deserved a 160-dollar tip? He could have easily said something at that point. Am I to think the waiter would have notified his management later in the evening about this? Management said themselves it should have been circled on the bill, which it wasn’t. Please don’t be naïve Tommy.

I can live with the gratuity being added automatically on the check for larger parties, this is not an issue for me. My concern has more to deal with the manner/process in which the automatic gratuity appears on the check. This comes into question for me as my family celebrated Mothers Day at a restaurant over the weekend. Later that evening my father commented to me on how the restaurant was a bit pricier than he expected. My father paid the bill and I never had a chance to examine it at the restaurant but thankfully he always takes the bill for his records. I checked the bill and 20% had been automatically added to the bill. This charge was not written by hand but appeared by print out like a menu item ordered. When speaking with my wife she told me that it clearly states on the menu that 20% is added for parties of 6 or more. What makes me angry is not that 20% was added on automatically but the manner in which it was done. When the bill was presented there was no verbal mention that the gratuity had already been added on. My father paid by credit card and when the charge slip was presented the tip area was blank and there was no mention that the gratuity had already been added. This left the opportunity for “double tipping” wide open. After seeing what had been done I immediately called the restaurant and spoke with the manager. They of course apologized but said the added gratuity is always circled to inform the customer. Well, like I said my father kept the original bill and I told the manager that it had not been circled. The manager again apologized and stated the credit card would be credited for the extra 90.00-dollar gratuity. All I can say is this ruined what I thought had been a very good dining experience. I waited tables throughout college and trust me I have seen this trick pulled before by unscrupulous waitstaff. Restaurant policy should be to inform the customer when the check is presented that the gratuity has already been added. They can leave the tip area blank on the credit card slip so people can leave a little extra if they so desire but to trick the customer into “double tipping” is a disgrace. If I had not called the restaurant back my father would have paid the automatic 20% gratuity of 70.00 dollars plus the 90.00 dollars he left totaling a 160.00 tip for a 350-dollar meal. I understand it is buyers beware and I always thoroughly read the check before paying. My father on the other hand doesn’t take the time to read every line on a computer printed restaurant bill and almost paid because of it. Sorry for the ranting…beware and read your bill.