The WORST Restaurant Experience Ever!

We're in Tallahassee, FL for an annual visit to advocate for libraries. We'll spend the next two days roaming the halls of the Capitol talking to our local legislators about how Florida's libraries change lives, especially in today's economic climate. But first, we gotta eat, right?

We're staying at the Doubletree Hotel, right near the Capitol, a beautiful hotel with an emphasis on great customer service. That's why this dinner story is so distressing and puzzling, and why we're mentioning it here.

Tonight there were twelve of us dining, and I'd made a reservation last night at the restaurant onsite, Jacob's on the Plaza.. "No problem,", I was told, "We'll be happy to accommodate you!"

I guess I first should mention that Lisa & I had dinner at Jacob's last night, and while it wasn't the best meal we've ever had, it wasn't the worst either. Our complaints were that Lisa's filet mignon was tough and grisly & my baked potato wasn't quite hot enough. We didn't complain, and perhaps we should have. We also had breakfast there this morning and it was OK. Anyway, back to tonight's debacle....

We arrive for our 7:30pm reservation, and all order dinner. We talk and wait for dinner...and talk & wait....and wait some more.... The menu states that bread comes with meals but none is brought. One of our companions asks for bread since we're waiting so long for our meals. We wonder if the server heard her because no bread comes out for a l-o-n-g time but then finally arrives...a basket of rolls that was fresh....yesterday! Today they were dry and tasteless....

It was 9pm and still, we had no dinner! One of our party walked to the hostess station to inquire, and by the time she walked back to our table, the plates began to arrive, just like magic!

To make a long story a bit shorter, NO ONE was happy with their meal....most of dinners were unacceptably cold...one person's filet was cold, and the rice served with it was ice-cold, as was the rice on another's plate (although her hamburger was warm enough), someone's vegetables tasted like fish, my ribs were barely warm & my baked potato wasn't warm enough to melt the butter I put on it!

Some of us ordered new meals, some didn't want to since it meant waiting again, and I asked that mine be heated up. We asked why it had taken so long for our meals to come out in the first place and the servers gave lame excuses about problems in the kitchen, too many room service orders, and a group of 15 in their private dining room (but that party was leaving the restaurant when we were first being seated!). I had to interject that these weren't acceptable reasons since we'd eaten there last night and my potato was barely warm then! We asked to see the Manager, and after 10 minutes were informed that she'd left for the night. A few minutes later we were told that the Manager was returning to the restaurant. When she got there she apologized to us, said all meals would be "no charge" and that she would resolve the issue. She came back a few minutes and began clearing off the table, telling us that she'd had a "little chat" with the cook, and something about "having a son his age" (I didn't see the relevance!).

We were nice enough to give the servers a small tip, even though many of us felt that they'd been part of the problem...they never came out & said they were sorry it was taking so long, and when asked why, they blamed the kitchen staff for it all.

I think we've all had a negative restaurant experience or two but I've never eaten somewhere where EVERYONE was dissatisfied! As librarians we emphasize service, and we can see that the problems at this restaurant start at the top. I guess we won't be having dinner at Jacob's again during our stay!