Butcher's Cafe NOT honoring certificates

[SteveR]

First, I want to alert anyone who is holding – or panning to purchase – a Gift Certificate on Restaurant.com for the Butcher’s Cafe at 9th and Christian not to plan on using it. They are not honoring them. I will be notifying Restaurant.com first thing Tuesday morning.

Yesterday we came back from a most embarrassing experience at the restaurant and – based on the way the manager as well as the owner acted, I certainly cannot recommend dining there.

A little “back story”: Last January or February we decided to go to The Butcher’s Cafe as we had a gift certificate. We had no problem using it but the food was poor and the service worse! I had read good things about it as the former Chef from Sabrina’s Cafe (across the street) had moved there. I posted our bad experience here and this was confirmed by others. It seemed the chef quit a few weeks earlier. Okay, a few months ago there was a post that he was back and things were good. We didn’t want to get burned twice (Sabrina’s has always been consistent as you can tell by the lines outside!). So when I saw a certificate on Restaurant.com in May for Butcher’s Cafe we decided to try again. The certificate did have restrictions clearly stated:” Total of Food must be at least $35.00. Must present certificate before ordering.”> That was it. It was a $25.00 certificate.

Over the past week or so I noticed that they are still offering certificates for Butcher’s Cafe. They are the same $25.00 certs but for the new ones it says “Food must be over $45.00. Valid for Dinner Only.”.

Okay, back to today. It was a holiday and I knew business would be slow so we went for a late lunch. First off, the place is not air conditioned (just ceiling fans) so we ate outside. The menu is priced slightly higher than Sabrina’s (which had folks waiting while there was plenty of room at Butcher’s). The waitress came and I said “I wanted to let you know we have a Restaurant.com gift certificate”. She said “Fine, just give it to me afterwards.”. So far so good. We would not normally spend $35.00 at lunch but figured we’d try the menu. We live in the neighborhood so we we’d probably go back. We tried appetizer, two platters and dessert. The food was good though the service could have been better. The own (Todd?) came by to ask how things were going and we said “fine”.

The bill came to $36.00. We gave the waitress the check with certificate and a $20.00 bill, asking for change so we could leave a tip.

Five minutes later the “manager” (not Todd) came running out waiving the certificate and saying loudly “We can’t accept this certificate. It’s only good for dinner.” I pointed out that not only did it not say that, but it said “must present before ordering” and we did that. He replied “well the waitress is new”. I explained that was not my fault and that we never would have spent that much – and probably wouldn’t have stayed – if we had known they didn’t plan to honor it. He said, I’ll get the owner if you want. I asked him to. Well he went across the street where “Todd” was standing and talked to him. Todd didn’t come over. He sent the “manager” (I didn’t get his name” back saying.” We don’t honor these certificates and we told the company. But – this once – we’ll take it. He said this loud and other customers looked surprised. We took our change (which he delivered with a curt “Have a nice day!” and left.

I know that in the past some restaurants have had problems with Restauran.com as a company but in the few cases where they did, they did not blame the customer and handled it professionally. (Sabrina’s had restaurant.com in it’s early days selling more certificates than they agreed to but they honored every one of them and customers returned.

I’d like to give you a review of the food but a dining experience is made up of food, quality of service, and atmosphere. The food was okay, though the service was slow and lackluster, and we’d probably have tried them again, but with an attitude like what we received in a public place today, I don’t think we’ll be back until the management changes again.

Sorry for the lengthy post but I didn’t want others to have to go through what we did trying to use the certificate after following ALL the rules.

Steve R

[Buckethead]

I have had a similar experience with the owner of the Butcher's Cafe, though I've never eaten there (and never will).

I recently moved to the city and live close enough to the Italian market that I shop there often on weekend mornings. The way I walk there leads me from the corner where the Butcher's Cafe sits, crossing 9th on the west side of the street.

Anyway, I was down there about a month ago and when I got to that corner, there was a giant SUV parked in the crosswalk in front of the Butcher's Cafe. It was parked so close to the car in front that I couldn't get through there, and the only other way to cross the street was behind the SUV, which, due to its size, meant walking in the middle of Christian st. So I do that, and I'm standing by the back of this car, in the intersection, waiting for the light to change, when the driver walks around behind me diddling his car alarm fob. So I says to him, I says:

'Sweet parking spot you've got here'. And he says to me, he says:

'Yeah, well, I own the place [nods to the Butcher's Cafe]. When you spend a million dollars, you can park wherever you want'. (maybe not an exact quote)

I mean, I knew he was a jerk just from his selfish parking job, but he didn't leave any confusion with that remark. Anyway, the light changed and I crossed the street. Then, a few minutes later, I was down by Espositos and the guy comes out carrying a bag of whatever, spots me, and yells 'Hey, it's the Parking Authority!'

So I won't be going there.

[Greg Salisbury]

If only there was a way for you to see how vigorously I am shaking my head and rolling my eyes. I have often wondered how it is possible for a place like Butcher's not to succeed just by the osmotic property of being so close to Sabrina's and Morning Glory.

Now I know.

To do that to any customer, potential or otherwise, gift cert or otherwise, is inexcusable. For a BYOB that needs its neighborhood clientele to piss off two locals so much that they do lengthy posts...what can you say that won't be used against you in a slander suit?

[KatieLoeb]

Who the heck doesn't air condition their restaurant in a Philadelphia summer??? How hard is it to purchase a couple of window units? I guess the million had already been spent elsewhere?

I've eaten here twice and on both occasions had to literally get up and find my own glassware so I could enjoy a glass of wine that I had brought myself. The food is adequate, the service is atrocious. Attitude flows from the top down in any organization. My limited dealings with the Butcher's Cafe management have led me to believe they are insincere at best and complete a$$hats at worst. 'Nuff said.

[Capaneus]

Who the heck doesn't air condition their restaurant in a Philadelphia summer???  How hard is it to purchase a couple of window units?  I guess the million had already been spent elsewhere?

I've eaten here twice and on both occasions had to literally get up and find my own glassware so I could enjoy a glass of wine that I had brought myself.  The food is adequate, the service is atrocious.  Attitude flows from the top down in any organization.  My limited dealings with the Butcher's Cafe management have led me to believe they are insincere at best and complete a$$hats at worst.  'Nuff said.

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I don't know *where* the million went. It's not like the place looks good or anything... And the food is just... not good either. Let's leave it at that.

[rooftop1000]

Just for giggles I emailed the restaurant and told them I enjoyed myself soooo much that I ordered "a number" of Rest.com certs for myself and friends....but had just read they no longer take them..."what do I do now?"

lets see what happens

T

aaahhh mail returned fatel flaws...... linked from the website

Edited September 7, 2005 by rooftop1000 (log)