Saturday, January 27, 2007

La Salitas de Albuquerque




















La Salitas de Albuquerque:
A Wait Staff's Nightmare Becomes a Manager’s $4.00 Negligence

Having once been a waiter for Sambos, Denny’s and an upscale Occoquan Inn, I can understand the angst wait staff have in regards to customers and spilling things on them. Fortunately, I was never privy to a spill.

However, last Sunday we decided to return to La Salitas on the NW side of Albuquerque to enjoy the company of friends over lunch. We decided to eat at La Salitas again, even though the ambience is lacking much, mainly due to proximics. The tables are too close for comfort. Rubbing elbows with strangers while I eat is not my cup of tea.

The waitress, who is by-the-way, very nice, accidentally dumped a huge glass of ice water down the back of my four year old. Her coat, shirt, pants, socks and shoes were absolutely soaked. Worth mentioning, my daughter didn’t make the slightest bit of noise or even shed a single tear. Did I mention the temperature outside was 21 degrees (F)? Wet and cold is a bad combination.

The waitress apologized profusely and thanked us for being so understanding. Afterwards, my little one received a duck shaped sopapillia to eat while she sat uncomfortably in drenched clothes. She never complained. She makes me so proud.

Upon receiving the bill I was shocked to see that the manager had not compensated or adjusted the bill in anyway. In fact, the manager never even came to our table to address us, which I think is inappropriate. I imagined the manager would have at least given my daughter her $4.00 kid's meal free. After paying the full bill and tipping the waitress, I decided to leave a note on the receipt about what occurred. I included my home phone number so the manager could call me at his/her convenience. Did the manager call? No.

Mind you, it is not the $4.00 it is the principle of the matter. Although, $4.00 dollars might have kept me from taking the time to draw a picture and write about the experience.

So, sitting here drinking my coffee, I decided to capture the image for all to see and ponder. The question is, am I being too hard? Any thoughts? Feel free to comment...

Will I return to La Salitas de Albuquerque?



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mike,
Heck no, you are not being too hard. At least they should have given you her meal for free. I can see how the waitress might not have told the manager what happened... no? That does not mean he wouldn't call you back, but that may be why he didn't show up at your table that day.

Colleen and I once went to a restaurant in Sisters, OR... I forget the name of the place. It's a rustic place just off the highway and has a bar. I found a piece of paper towel burried in my food and then the umbrella protecting us from the sun was wind-swept right over and hit Colleen hard on the shoulder. Our waitress nor anyone else from the staff came over to help, despite seeing what went on and we let them know about the item in my food. They never apologized, nor did they give us any money off. We left no tip and never returned.

Too harsh of us? I think not!

: )

Daniel

Mike Kline said...

Dan,

I totally agree! What is wrong with the customer service focus these days? This Sunday is two weeks since the body freeze. Will the manager call? Time will tell.

Thanks Dan,

Mike