Caribou Cafe

[davidbdesilva]

Knowing that Friday was going to be a very crazy day in Philly I decided to make a reservation for lunch at Caribou Cafe for after the parade. I called TWICE, once to make it for 5 people and the again to change it to two, both times the girl wrote it down. Well after the Phantastic parade we headed to the restaurant and I overheard the manger telling someone in front of me that "every table was taken and that it would be at least an hour wait". I told him I had a reservation to which he laughed and then said "oh really?" I told him I called the day before, but to no avail. Then I got angry an told him that it was poor business to take and then not honor a reservation, even on a day like that. He said there was nothing he could do and did not seem upset when I said I would never return. Granted it was a very crazy day but he should have honored the reservation by at least offering me the next available 2-top.

[gfweb]

I never liked that place anyway. I don't think that you missed much.

[KatieLoeb]

Management at Caribou has never been their strong suit. I have several friends that used to work there, and after hearing their stories, I'm not particularly surprised by your bad experience with "management". The place survives by being in a highly trafficked area that's close to the theaters and tourist attractions. Not many natives bother with the place, except perhaps to sit at the bar, which is lovely.

So where did you end up eating after the parade?

Edited November 3, 2008 by KatieLoeb (log)

[mattohara]

Having direct experience with said management I'll just chime in to say "I second that, Katie," and bow out.

[philadining]

While I certainly agree that reservations should be honored, even on a crazy day, let's remember that there were TWO MILLION PEOPLE downtown at the parade that day. I'm sure the hosts of any restaurants near Broad Street were mostly happy to not be trampled to death.

[davidbdesilva]

I did receive an e-mail from the manager (after sending an e-mail to the restaurant), he said he could have handled th situation better (I'll say) and that he would be speaking with the owner and get back to me. As of yet, I have not heard back from them and don't expect to. I told them where I was posting my opinion so hopefully they'll look and see what kind of effect one customer can have on business. We ended up eating at Minar Palace. I grabbed a bottle of wine from the state store on Chestnut (though small bottles of spirits seemed to be popular that day) and had decent Indian food on plastic plates and sauvignon blanc in plastic cups. It was a somewhat disappointing experience in that I was in the mood for some French bistro fare and a few glasses of Chinon but from what you are saying Caribou woul have been disappointing as well. So much for trying to plan ahead! Positively though, that was one hell of a parade and I've never seen Philly quite like that before!

[Tim Dolan]

Positively though, that was one hell of a parade and I've never seen Philly quite like that before!

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Totally off topic, but I completely agree. Me and a group of friends managed to snag an upstairs table at Good Dog and toasted the Phils with more than a few bottles of Chimay. Great, great day all around.