John T.
Yelp
This is a story about a miserable person and the importance of supporting locally owned restaurants. Let me tell you what happened...
Today was February 1st and it was a rainy day in L.A. My wife and I decided to get Salvadoran desayuno and pancakes at Honey Bee's hoping that it would be a slow day. When we arrived there were three quiet tables already full, one of them was a woman with small children. There was one server who was polite, and he seemed to have his hands full bringing the food out to the little kids and the other two tables. OK, yes it took a little while for my wife and I to get our menus, but it was no bother to us at all because he was helping a woman with children.
Once we started giving the waiter our order, another woman came into the restaurant alone and took the table right next to ours. There were plenty of other empty tables, but we didn't think much of it. This is important to the story because her proximity made it easy to hear most of what she was about to say, especially because she talked a little loud much of the time.
The lone woman tried to flag the server down when he was already multitasking, so he kindly let her know that he would be right with her. When he approached to take her order she was stern in a strange way and insisted on having hot water served first and then went into a litany of special things she wanted off menu like, "half chocolate and half coffee with the chocolate at the bottom of the coffee in a mug." With that detail alone I knew she was going to be a difficult customer. I tried to mind my own business, but she was a little loud when everyone else was so quiet, so it was hard not to be distracted by her tone and attitude. Anyway, she had this complicated food order with elements from this plate mixed with that, and she was very particular with the order of things and how hot she wanted them. "When you give someone a hot water is it scalding like it could burn someone's mouth or is it just hotter than warm?" There was more, but these were the kinds of things she was very particular about, and she seemed to be ready to fight before there was a problem.
My wife and I just started eating when her order came out as-well. So the kitchen service was prompt.
I recommend the Salvadoran breakfast called El Super Classico. Salvadoran breakfast has this excitement to it that is hard to explain, and Honey Bee's has never let me down on that. The pancakes are also a must because they have a pleasant and unique tang or umaminess to them that sets them squarely in my top 2 pancakes in L.A. right next to Dupar's. The hashbrowns are also crispy and seasoned well.
Before we could get very far in our breakfast the woman next to us called the waiter over to complain about the food. She said that her pancakes weren't hot and that she refused to pay for something like three items in her order. She said that she would pay for the coffee and something else that she was mumbling about. The server apologized and offered to make things right with her, but she wasn't having it. She rudely told him to get the check and make sure that something like half of her order wouldn't be charged. He went to the next room to get the mobile payment device. While he was gone she started to huff and puff loudly for everyone to hear, and then she announced to the rest of us, "I hate my job!" She got up, went into the next room and yelled, "I just want you all to know that I'm a food critic for the L.A. Times. Your food and service was terrible. I have already submitted my review!" She stormed out through the front door.
Not only did we enjoy our food, but the server was a nice guy. We stayed a while and had a short conversation with him. I can't imagine that her food was anywhere near that disappointing.
Without giving away anyone's information, I will say that I am related to someone who used to work at the L.A. Times, and I know enough to surmise that the lady was most likely lying about being a food critic especially with what I know about the recent lay-offs. What a strange thing to do, and how terrible to treat a locally owned business like that. I'm taking this as a reminder to be kind to people in hospitality. It's a hard job. Also, I'm going to be returning to Honey Bee's more often.
If you go, say what's up to Stanely. He and his family work hard to bring good food and culture to the people of L.A.