La Boheme

[Sartain]

I had the worst restaurant experience of my life at La Boheme tonight. It wasn’t the food, it was what happened at the end of dinner.

I took an out-of-town friend there for dinner tonight. We were seated at 8:25pm. Service was fine at first, but as the night progressed it got progressively slower. We found ourselves waiting a while to order dessert, not to mention waiting a long time for the dessert to arrive. Likewise, after the desserts were clearly finished (we don’t leave a lot of doubt there), we were left to sit and wait for our waiter, who had disappeared, and consequently for the check. Strange that we had to wait that long, especially when we are now the only customers left and the two waiters behind the bar are shooting us dirty looks.

Here’s where the unbelievable happens. Out of nowhere, a man who is clearly drunk, shows up next to the table. At first he is friendly enough, if a bit smarmy. “Ladies,” he slurs, “beautiful.” Pause. “Can I taste your wine?”

“Sure,” we said. It was a bottle of Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel.

He pours, drinks and declares it “Cheap!” My friends and I look at each other, not quite believing what was happening. I think this is the only time someone has asked to taste the wine I brought to a BYO and certainly the only time someone has insulted it.

He goes on: “Oh, but it’s nice for you. But (waves arms to indicate the waiters in the back behind the bar) people want to go home, so yeah.”

I’m still thinking “is this guy throwing us out of the restaurant?” when my friends point out the fact that we can’t leave if they don’t bring us the check. Mr. Bigshot then says that he will pay the check and we should go home. He heads back toward the bar and starts to talk to the two waiters there in a foreign language that I did not understand.

My friends and I gather our stuff and our waiter now runs back to us with the check in hand, apologizing and telling us that Mr. Bigshot was an off-duty manager who was drunk and hanging out with the wait staff and didn’t know what he was saying. Another manager came out and pretty much told the same story, and added that Mr. Bigshot just got served divorce papers today.

Does being drunk excuse this behavior? I think not. Am I supposed to feel bad for him? Give me a break. I’ve got my own problems. The manager who came out afterwards offered me a gift certificate, but that’s a bit like offering someone who got food poisoning from your restaurant more free food, no?

I don’t think I’ll be going back to La Boheme, even if it is right in my neighborhood. If it is a place that condones this kind of behavior towards others, I don't see any reason to continue to go. I am really angry and disturbed about what happened tonight. We were polite customers. I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary that a party that sits down for dinner at 8:25 will stay past 10. Of course, this is somewhat controlled by when the food comes out and when we get the bill, which, ironically, is under their control.

I trust that you guys will tell me I'm over-reacting. What would you do, if anything?

[kellytree]

I wouldnt do anything --.

I would look at it as an experience - makes a great story. BFD- stuff happens.

Look at the bright side - if this is your worst dining experience of your life you are doing darn good.

My mother would probably sue the restaurant -

Like you said - you have your own problems, whats the sense of giving yourself more over a dinner gone interesting

[Capaneus]

....

My friends and I gather our stuff and our waiter now runs back to us with the check in hand, apologizing and telling us that Mr. Bigshot was an off-duty manager who was drunk and hanging out with the wait staff and didn’t know what he was saying.  Another manager came out and pretty much told the same story, and added that Mr. Bigshot just got served divorce papers today.

Does being drunk excuse this behavior?  I think not.  Am I supposed to feel bad for him?  Give me a break.  I’ve got my own problems. The manager who came out afterwards offered me a gift certificate, but that’s a bit like offering someone who got food poisoning from your restaurant more free food, no?

I don’t think I’ll be going back to La Boheme, even if it is right in my neighborhood.  If it is a place that condones this kind of behavior towards others, I don't see any reason to continue to go.  I am really angry and disturbed about what happened tonight.  We were polite customers.  I don’t think it’s out of the ordinary that a party that sits down for dinner at 8:25 will stay past 10.  Of course, this is somewhat controlled by when the food comes out and when we get the bill, which, ironically, is under their control.

I trust that you guys will tell me I'm over-reacting.  What would you do, if anything?

←

Given the way things happened *after* the unpleasantness, I think the restaurant did what it could to make right what was, as you say, a horrible experience. I would take their apologies with as much grace as I could muster, and chalk it all up to experience.

[philadining]

That sounds like a pretty disturbing episode, I can't blame you for not wanting to go back. It's probably safe to say that your waiter and the on-duty manager didn't anticipate that the guy was going to come annoy you, but then, if they have a raging drunk in the house, it seems like they might want to keep an eye on him. The fact that the other nearby waiters didn't intervene on your behalf is reprehensible.

I presume that the manager was apologizing as the explanation and gift certificate was being offered, and it's your call to asses their sincerity. If they really did seem contrite, I might give them another chance. If they were trying to excuse it as "the guy had a bad day so lighten up," I think I'd never return.

The larger issue of the disappearing waiter is a bit more common. I'm always amazed how often it's a problem to get my check. I appreciate not being hustled out of a place, but one ought to be able to find the server within a few minutes of finishing. It shouldn't be too hard for them to asses whether you want to linger or are eager to get going.

A good friend of mine was so annoyed by this phenomenon, she'd insist on just getting up, putting on her coat, and heading for the door if we couldn't flag down our server within about 10 minutes. I can testify that the server and check always magically appeared before we got to the exit. We weren't sprinting for the door, so we couldn't be mistaken for trying to skip out on the check, but it did get close a couple of times.

[phungi]

I think you should have taken the gift certificate and then opened up a new thread requesting eGullet members "bid" for the right to give the gift certificate to a friend or family member who most annoys them. Once the date and reservation is made, we set them up with a few bottles of Cline Ancient Vines Zinfandel, and then secretly invite the off-duty manager to join them for dinner.

I would love to send some "special friends" to a rude awakening!

[Tess]

The larger issue of the disappearing waiter is a bit more common. I'm always amazed how often it's a problem to get my check.  I appreciate not being hustled out of a place, but one ought to be able to find the server within a few minutes of finishing.  It shouldn't be too hard for them to asses whether you want to linger or are eager to get going. 

Me too. Why do they do that? And in this case, why were they giving the party dirty looks. That's just weird. Did they think they were camping out there because they hadn't finished their wine?

This abandoning of tables at the end is very strange to me. A lot of times, I would like to have an after-dinner drink or a dessert, but the waiter has disappeared and by the time s/he comes back I've wasted enough time that I don't want to order anything else. I could spend the same amount of time and buy more stuff; surely that would be better?

[NulloModo]

The guy's behavior was definately rude, but it seems more the fault of one drunk than the whole restaurant. Honestly, if it had been me in the situation, I would've thought the whole thing was hilariously funny, especially after. And hey, if they are going to give you a gift certificate, might as well use it, after all, free food is free food.

[Busboy]

I think you should give yourself the luxury of having a good snit over this. Service sucked and an obnoxious drunk -- a employee of the damn restaurant -- comes over to drive the nail into an already deteriorating evening with truly asinine and vaguely menacing behavior.

Sure, you should laugh about it eventually, but it was an unacceptable performance at a number of levels. In fact, it was bullshit, and in no way funny -- the end of the meal in many ways determines how one remembers the rest of the dinner, and sets the tone for the remainder night.

Trying to make up for an incident that should clearly never have happened does always cut it. Go national on the bastards. Go international...find the most popular food website you can find and post about this, warning thousands of people around the world.

Oh, you did that. Good show.

[ivan]

If you went from table to table sampling people's Zins, you'd be drunk too.

[Buckethead]

I'm not entirely clear on how the bad server experience is related to the drunk manager experience. Do you have any idea why they were giving you dirty looks when they hadn't even given you the check yet? Seems fishy.

A drunk person in the restaurant who is bothering the other customers should be escorted out of the restaurant, whether he is the manager, the owner, or just some guy having dinner.

The only experience I have that roughly compares as far as the bad service goes is one time at the Adobe Cafe in Roxborough (I don't know if it still exists). I ordered fajitas, the tortillas were ice cold from the fridge, too cold to even roll into fajitas without cracking them. I asked to have them warmed up a little. 15 minutes later they came back to the table at room temperature, my dinner buddy was almost done eating by then. I left a $50 bill to cover the $24 tab (it was all I had). The server came around to our table, looked down at the $50, and kept on walking. She did this 3 times over about 20 minutes, she never picked up the check. I guess she figured we'd get tired of waiting and just leave her a 100% tip. Instead, we left with my $50 in hand. And that's the only time I ever skipped out on a check.

[fchrisgrimm]

If a drunk employee disturbs your dinner, they should comp you the meal - not another one - right then and there. No question.

Enjoy that you have a good story to tell? Are people kidding me? It's a good story if they made good - but they really didn't. If it wasn't an employee, it would be another thing. But the punch line is on the customer, who is out real money for an unpleasant experience.

And the drunk employee offered to pay, right?

Funny because this was on the list of best BYOB's to consider, as we are visiting Philly in a few weeks. So posting on here helps too, because it keeps away people like me.

Now if you want to hear about comped meals, let me tell you about Jean-George! ("Sometime Jean Georges, he doesn't let you pay!") One of our favorite dining stories of all time. But for another board.

[NulloModo]

Enjoy that you have a good story to tell?  Are people kidding me?  It's a good story if they made good - but they really didn't.  If it wasn't an employee, it would be another thing.  But the punch line is on the customer, who is out real money for an unpleasant experience.

←

I think that entirely depends on your outlook on things. It sounds almost like the poor/tardy service ruined the meal more than the drunk manager. Personally myself and my friends would have been incredibly entertained by the whole fiasco, and I might have secretly hoped for more drunken shenanigans when I went back to cash in on my gift-carded meal, but hey, I probably enjoy chaos and drunken antics more than most...

[fchrisgrimm]

I think that entirely depends on your outlook on things. 

←

I would have taken it better than most, too. Don't get me wrong. But it is awfully presumptuous for anyone working for a restaurant thinking that they can drunkenly disrupt a meal for which someone is shelling some real cashmoney.

I would put that behavior in the category of a fatal mistake, that requires being made good immediately. I might personally chuckle at it, but I don't expect someone else to.

For anyone at the restaurant to do anything less than comp the meal is an even worse slight. The gift certificate is a laugh.

I'm reminded of the Larry Miller bit about getting back together with exes. It's like taking a swallow of milk, realizing it's sour, and putting it back in the fridge, to see if it's fresh again the next day.

[Sartain]

I'm not entirely clear on how the bad server experience is related to the drunk manager experience. Do you have any idea why they were giving you dirty looks when they hadn't even given you the check yet? Seems fishy.

←

According to my friends (who were seated facing the dining room while I was seated facing the walls), the drunk manager had come in to the dining room and was speaking with the wait staff who was shooting us the dirty looks. Their talked for ten minutes before the drunk manager came over. It was almost like "watch this, I'll get them out the door for you."

I probably would have taken it better if I wasn't entertaining a friend from out of town that I hadn't seen for a long while. I know I can't control a drunk, but the episode was very embarassing for me. Guess I'm thin-skinned.

[fchrisgrimm]

Guess I'm thin-skinned.

←

Don't apologize! You were treated in a way that a reasonable person might consider appalling. Just because a few of us might have had a more bemused take on the incident doesn't mean that you were obligated to do so. It was your money, you deserved better.

[JennyUptown]

I'm with NulloModo. Given that the food was good, my friends and I would be laughing ourselves silly if some drunken lout (employed there or not) dropped by our table. I most definitely would have taken the gift certificate because surely the staff would remember me upon my return (and hopefully would be on their best behavior).

It's like an express route to becoming a regular, no? And like you said, the food was good.

Ah well, that's just me.

[KatieLoeb]

I'm with NulloModo.  Given that the food was good, my friends and I would be laughing ourselves silly if some drunken lout (employed there or not) dropped by our table.  I most definitely would have taken the gift certificate because surely the staff would remember me upon my return (and hopefully would be on their best behavior). 

It's like an express route to becoming a regular, no?  And like you said, the food was good.

Ah well, that's just me.

←

I have to respectfully disagree. Allowing drunken louts (employees OR customers) to wander about your restaurant menacing other diners says a lot about the standards in a place. I don't care how great the food is, I don't pay my hard earned money to be treated with that level of disrespect. The owners of the restaurant should be mortified and doing everything they possibly can to track down Sartain (perhaps through eGullet?) and write an eloquent apology. That the meal wasn't comped on the spot is appalling. The offer of a gift certificate a band-aid on a gaping wound. Comping the meal AND offering a gift certificate would be adequate, but nothing will ever give back that time wasted in that restaurant, and I doubt any diner present at that table can spit on the ground enough times to get the unpleasant taste out of their mouths that the experience left.

[ghostrider]

I agree with the position eloquently outlined by Ms. Loeb above. Since I wasn't there, it's a little hard to tell from reading about the experience whether it was like wandering into a scene from Fawlty Towers or something more unnerving. My reading of what's between the lines here makes me think it's more the latter than a Cleese piece.

Regardless, considering that the guy was an employee, and other staff were watching & apparently condoning his behavior, they owed you big-time from the moment he approached your table. IMHO the gift cert was too little too late.

[sabg]

If a drunk employee disturbs your dinner, they should comp you the meal - not another one - right then and there.  No question.

Enjoy that you have a good story to tell?  Are people kidding me?  It's a good story if they made good - but they really didn't.  If it wasn't an employee, it would be another thing.  But the punch line is on the customer, who is out real money for an unpleasant experience.

And the drunk employee offered to pay, right? 

Funny because this was on the list of best BYOB's to consider, as we are visiting Philly in a few weeks.  So posting on here helps too, because it keeps away people like me.

Now if you want to hear about comped meals, let me tell you about Jean-George!  ("Sometime Jean Georges, he doesn't let you pay!")  One of our favorite dining stories of all time.  But for another board.

←

i wanna hear the jean georges story !!!

[Capaneus]

I agree with the position eloquently outlined by Ms. Loeb above.  Since I wasn't there, it's a little hard to tell from reading about the experience whether it was like wandering into a scene from Fawlty Towers or something more unnerving.  My reading of what's between the lines here makes me think it's more the latter than a Cleese piece.

Regardless, considering that the guy was an employee, and other staff were watching & apparently condoning his behavior, they owed you big-time from the moment he approached your table.  IMHO the gift cert was too little too late.

←

I'm thinking the lout may well have been the owner, which, if much of what I've heard is right, would have kinda limited what could be done by the others to fix the problem.

Or possibly not, of course.

[Toasted]

Who wants a drunken idiot coming over to their table? Not me. It might make a good story later but some of us have too many of those to count! I don't blame you for being pissed off.

[fchrisgrimm]

i wanna hear the jean georges story !!!

←

OK - while this is completely the wrong board, it sort of relates, and it's a fun story.

This was shortly after J-G had opened, got the four stars and was the talk of the town. Had to call a month to the day to get in, yada yada.

So I make a reservation to take my SO there for her birthday. I'd lunched but not dined there because I worked for a company that did some business with him - though I didn't work directly with J-G.

About two weeks before our reservation, our beloved corgi takes ill, requiring some scheduled surgery - alas, on Leslie's birthday - so I cancel the res. Long story short (or, at least, less long) the vet has a family tragedy so calls the day before to postpone the surgery. (Sidebar - Dylan, our beloved, had a dramatic recovery, sans surgery, and continues to charge around to this day - about seven years later, so it was all a blessing in disguise.)

So we commute to NY for work on Leslie's birthday, no dinner plans in hand. It's a Friday, too. I call the person at my company who works closely with J-G and ask if there is any chance she could help us get in the restaurant - all I'm looking for is two seats.

Later that day, I get a call from the restaurant - they have nothing in the dining room, but we can eat at the bar if we'd like. OK - great, it'll be fun.

I get to the restaurant ahead of Leslie, check in, and start watching the time. Leslie's is late, and later, and still later. The hostess comes out and I think 'we've lost our bar seat.' Just then, as Leslie is launching herself out of her cab, the hostess says "we have an opening in the dining room, if you'd like it." Some days you are just living right.

So we sit down, and are treated wonderfully, like royalty. Make the mistake of saying that J-G does not need to whip up something special for us. No tasting menu. We just order some terrific grub a la carte and a nice but reasonable bottle of wine.

It too far back now for me to remember what we had, but, at the time, it was the finest meal I had ever eaten. And what I especially recall was the atmosphere of the place. Very buoyant, everybody happy, adults being kids, sort of. I may have since had a handful of finer meals, but that atmosphere was the best! All light and buzz.

So we have our dinner and our cheese and our dessert and everything is perfect. The service is perfect, the food is perfect. Everything perfect.

And since we commute from the 'burbs, we admittedly start thinking about train schedules. And for the first time all night, we can't get the attention of the staff. And as I get slightly anxious about making the train (not what you should be worrying about on the SO's b'day) I have to admit that I started to add up the tab in my head. It's great, but man this'll set me back four bills (and that's 20th century money).

Finally, the maitre d', a wonderful fellow who had set us up, sees my flailing hand and comes to the table. "Check, please."

With the raise of his finger and the single word "no!" I suddenly realize what's happening. Clearly, my colleague had suggested that I had, well, in my small way, contributed to the coffers of the burgeoning J-G conglomerate.

All I could say were the truest words I have ever sputtered out "but I only wanted a table!" I almost felt guilty about what was happening (funny, because knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't!)

The maitre d', with what I can only describe as the world's most dignified shrug, replied "sometimes Jean-George, he doesn't let you pay!" It came out in a way that almost suggested a 'guest of the night' program - and we just happened to draw the lucky number! It was the ending of endings to our wonderful dinner. Of course, we thanked J-G profusely, as we worked our way out of the place (and who cares what train we catch?!)

To this day, when we have a spell of luck, big or small, one of us will invariably utter the "sometimes J-G..." line.

Final lessons learned - when you go out for dinner, always carry enough cash to cover the projected tip, even if you plan to use your credit card! And always let the chef cook for you, if he offers.

[joiei]

i wanna hear the jean georges story !!!

←

OK - while this is completely the wrong board, it sort of relates, and it's a fun story.

This was shortly after J-G had opened, got the four stars and was the talk of the town. Had to call a month to the day to get in, yada yada.

So I make a reservation to take my SO there for her birthday. I'd lunched but not dined there because I worked for a company that did some business with him - though I didn't work directly with J-G.

About two weeks before our reservation, our beloved corgi takes ill, requiring some scheduled surgery - alas, on Leslie's birthday - so I cancel the res. Long story short (or, at least, less long) the vet has a family tragedy so calls the day before to postpone the surgery. (Sidebar - Dylan, our beloved, had a dramatic recovery, sans surgery, and continues to charge around to this day - about seven years later, so it was all a blessing in disguise.)

So we commute to NY for work on Leslie's birthday, no dinner plans in hand. It's a Friday, too. I call the person at my company who works closely with J-G and ask if there is any chance she could help us get in the restaurant - all I'm looking for is two seats.

Later that day, I get a call from the restaurant - they have nothing in the dining room, but we can eat at the bar if we'd like. OK - great, it'll be fun.

I get to the restaurant ahead of Leslie, check in, and start watching the time. Leslie's is late, and later, and still later. The hostess comes out and I think 'we've lost our bar seat.' Just then, as Leslie is launching herself out of her cab, the hostess says "we have an opening in the dining room, if you'd like it." Some days you are just living right.

So we sit down, and are treated wonderfully, like royalty. Make the mistake of saying that J-G does not need to whip up something special for us. No tasting menu. We just order some terrific grub a la carte and a nice but reasonable bottle of wine.

It too far back now for me to remember what we had, but, at the time, it was the finest meal I had ever eaten. And what I especially recall was the atmosphere of the place. Very buoyant, everybody happy, adults being kids, sort of. I may have since had a handful of finer meals, but that atmosphere was the best! All light and buzz.

So we have our dinner and our cheese and our dessert and everything is perfect. The service is perfect, the food is perfect. Everything perfect.

And since we commute from the 'burbs, we admittedly start thinking about train schedules. And for the first time all night, we can't get the attention of the staff. And as I get slightly anxious about making the train (not what you should be worrying about on the SO's b'day) I have to admit that I started to add up the tab in my head. It's great, but man this'll set me back four bills (and that's 20th century money).

Finally, the maitre d', a wonderful fellow who had set us up, sees my flailing hand and comes to the table. "Check, please."

With the raise of his finger and the single word "no!" I suddenly realize what's happening. Clearly, my colleague had suggested that I had, well, in my small way, contributed to the coffers of the burgeoning J-G conglomerate.

All I could say were the truest words I have ever sputtered out "but I only wanted a table!" I almost felt guilty about what was happening (funny, because knowing what I know now, I probably wouldn't!)

The maitre d', with what I can only describe as the world's most dignified shrug, replied "sometimes Jean-George, he doesn't let you pay!" It came out in a way that almost suggested a 'guest of the night' program - and we just happened to draw the lucky number! It was the ending of endings to our wonderful dinner. Of course, we thanked J-G profusely, as we worked our way out of the place (and who cares what train we catch?!)

To this day, when we have a spell of luck, big or small, one of us will invariably utter the "sometimes J-G..." line.

Final lessons learned - when you go out for dinner, always carry enough cash to cover the projected tip, even if you plan to use your credit card! And always let the chef cook for you, if he offers.

←

Great story, may I borrow the line sometime?

[KatieLoeb]

fchrisgrimm:

What a fabulous story! What a wonderful experience. Sometimes the planets and culinary gods are all in alignment and we are pleasantly surprised by the generosity of others.

I had a similar experience recently at a local restaurant here in Philadelphia. I had been booked for a special event with a guest and the dinner was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict with the guest chef that evening. I'd received a very apologetic phone call from the public relations firm that represented the restaurant and was told the owner would still like to have me as his guest that evening. I chose to honor the reservation because my guest had never been there before and it remains one of my favorite restaurants. I thought it would be a night out with great food and fabulous wine and perhaps a comped course or round of drinks. After feasting and having each course expertly paired with different wines by the sommelier we asked for our check and were told "There is no check"! Over the top generosity and good will for all eternity. There's nothing that can describe how special that makes you feel. It's just an awe inspiring experience.

My guest and myself are cooking up some sort of thank you for the sommelier that was kind enough to both pay inordinate amounts of attention to us and comp our check. We're thinking a gift certificate to a spa or something that a busy guy with a stressful job would appreciate on a rare day off. It's the least we can do in return for the hospitality and graciousness we were afforded.