Jeff C.
Yelp
I have been to the Chophouse twice now, and while I think the menu provides a little something for everyone and the food is good, their service, from the hostess to the servers to the managers, leave a lot to be desired.
On my most recent visit, a birthday dinner that included a party of 5, my family arrived 15 minutes before our 5pm reservation. As we stood at the hostess stand and witnessed an almost empty dining room floor with plenty of staff milling about, we were told, "You need to wait so our servers have a chance to catch up."
I have to say the response was a real head scratcher. What I wanted to say in response to the matter of fact hostess was, "Catch up on what, gossip?" First, no employee was running around, closing the rings on a fitness tracker at 4:45pm. Second , if you've ever been to the facility, even before it was the Chophouse, the basic layout hasn't changed.
There's a very small foyer at the entry point. Short of making yourself part of the wall decor, asking a party of 5, with a reservation, to wait when there are plenty of empty tables in the dining room shows very poor situational awareness. Did I also mention that it was pouring rain at the time? We just wanted to sit, take off our wet coats, and warm up, away from the cold entry area.
The evening didn't improve much after we were seated, not a minute before 5pm. The dining room isn't very big. It's not the Sizzler, where acres of seating options await any hot bar, salad bar, or dessert bar grazer. There are a few booths by the windows and maybe 10-12 tables in front of the kitchen. My point is that there were plenty of staff people standing by the kitchen and talking amongst themselves to service even a full restaurant.
When I see staff people standing around while I'm waiting 5-10 minutes for someone to greet me and take my drink order, I start to seriously question whether or not the establishment actually wants my business. I don't care if my assigned server is otherwise occupied. Someone, even if it's a hostess or manager, can take and / or fill a drink order and get some bread on the table.
While I'm on the subject, one of my biggest pet peeves at a restaurant is drink refills. Unless I'm consuming a beverage like I'm taking part in a frat house drinking game, I should never have to ask a server for a refill while I'm dining out. This was one of those times where my family had to constantly look for our server, then ask for refills, boxes, and a check.
My wife ordered a steak. She likes her red meat served red, but she usually orders it cooked medium. Her logic is that most people order steak medium, the cooks are used to cooking most steaks medium, and while she prefers more red on the inside than pink, either is better than well done and brown.
Her steak came out practically well done, with very little pinkish color in the center. My wife is not one to complain or to send food back to the kitchen. She would have eaten the steak without saying a word, but since our server actually took the initiative to ask about the steak without a prompt, my wife responded that her steak was way overcooked.
When a steak has to be recooked, not only are you sitting, helpless, hungry, and without a meal, you're watching the rest of your party eat their meals, and and some point, the rest of your party will sit and watch you eat your meal, long after they've finished eating. A situation like that makes for a very disjointed, and awkward, social and dining experience.
The manager returned in about 10 minutes with another steak. She apologized for the inconvenience, but then she walked away. My family and I aren't freeloaders and aren't looking for excuses to enjoy an entire meal without paying. A replacement item as quickly as possible and an apology are a great start to solving a problem with the meal, but there has to be something more. Offer my wife a drink, offer her a dessert, or offer to compensate her meal. If you provide a good cocktail or dessert, the recipient is likely to share it with the rest of the table, and suddenly we're all eating, drinking, socializing, together, at the same time, and the evening is back on track.
We didn't leave hungry, but we also didn't leave satisfied. When you go to a nicer restaurant, sometimes the server will ask, "Are you celebrating a special occasion?" I'm not one to embarrass a person with a sombrero, whip cream on their face, or a show tune, but it's nice when a restaurant employee wishes you a happy birthday and thanks you for celebrating with them. That level of service and attention to detail costs nothing.
Would I go back to the Chophouse? Probably, but when I spend more than $100 on a meal, without tip, I expect a lot more in the way of service. It all starts at the top. If the manager isn't going above and beyond, the employees certainly won't either.
