Michael's --- Newark, DE

I do not have a problem with adding the 18% gratuity for a holiday, as long as the food and service warrant it. Ya got to give before you take.....

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Life isn't Always Beautiful, but It's a Beautiful Ride

I've frequented Michael's for lunch many times for the lunch specials. Although the waitresses are clueless, the food wasnt that bad. The salad bar was on time and the icecream had the fixin's for the toppings. Teh main dishes werent spectacular but neither has the China Buffet on 40 either.
Yeah, I'm a buffet guy. LOL!

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And the reign will kill us all.
Throw ourselves against the wall.
But no-one else can see.
The preservation of the martyr in me. - Slipknot

Hey I stick with the Old Country Buffet. For $30.00 bucks just can't go wrong there!!1

When my wife and I were first together, we would talk about leaving when service was bad, or if the food was poor quality, but it took us years to first try it. I still remember that day; it was liberating.

We had gone to Perkins Pancake House on Kirkwood Highway just outside Newark. For almost a year it had been a semi-regular breakfast haunt for us, yet one that about half the time we ended up talking about just leaving.

That sunday, we waited almost twenty minutes before waitstaff even approached our table. Strangely enough, other people were arriving and getting service pretty quickly. We tried to get their attention a number of times and it jsut seemed like they were ignoring us. When the waitress finally came, it was a flyby; here's your menus, I "Dora" (I just made that name up) - swoosh she was gone! She did not ask if we wanted coffee, and we even tried to tell her we already knew what we wanted.

Another fifteen minutes went by before she came back. We handed her our menus and pointed out that we had already tried to order, why was everything taking so long? She never answered us, but acted impatient about getting our orders.

Another 20 minutes to get the orders to our table. People that had come in after the people who came in after us were already done and leaving. The waffles were like leather, the coffee lukewarm.

We spent another ten minutes trying te get "Dora's" attention to no avail. After I set fire to as much stuff as I could pile into the ashtray, we stood up and started to leave. Suddnely, there was "Dora" with the check all ready.

We pointed out that we had basically not touched the meal, that the service sucked and we were leaving. She threatened to call the cops. We said, do it now, because we are leaving. We are not paying for such crappy service or food that was inedible. She tried standing on our way, and for the first time ever I saw my wife making a fist. She told "Dora" get out of our way, or feel the wrath. There were flames shooting from my wife's eyes. "Dora" thought better of her actions and moved aside.

As we got to the door, the manager appeared. He did not try the standing in our way thing, or the empty threats to call the cops. He was asking what was wrong. I took two minutes to recap the wait for hte waitress, the crappey food and "Dora's" general bad attitude toward us. He tried to make up some crap about a big group that supposedly came in, and some other nonsense.

I said, lok, your service has been getting worse and worse over the past few months. This is the last straw. How can you or "Dora" even imagine that we would stand for this treatment, let alone pay for it? He tried pushing a coupon at us for a free meal each. I took the coupons; and imediately tore them up in front of him and scattered them on the floor with the usual epithet that we would simply not be returning.

As we started to leave, sure enough the cops were arriving. We went up to them in the parking lot, told them about waiting nearly an hour for food that was inedible, another ten minutes trying to return the food, and "Dora's" attempt to stand in our way. They said: on your way, then, without getting our identity. We don't know what else happened, we never heard from the cops and never went back.

Ever since that day, if it takes more than a few mintues to get a seat, or two minutes for waitstaff to appear, or too long for drinks or food, we are gone. No hesitation. Even on a busy night, there are options. We have no problem upgrading to a better place, and ultimately even a Papa John's Pizza is a better option than abusive restaurants.

If service sucks, don't hesitate to leave. If there is anything about the food that you do not like, return it. The only way some of these places will get the message that things need to be changed is when people do these things.

Any Red Lobster, and the Lone Star on 202 are on our never go to list. I'll tell you all about that Lone Star experience another time. Let it just suffice to say that our recent visit resulted in a call to the health department.

Sooo, your saying the cops let you go? gave you the benefit of the doubt? THOSE BASTARDS!

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Philly Sports

I love when I walk into a place and my ice tea is immediately put on the table. Then I don't mind sitting and skimming the menu for a few minutes. I have a couple of places I go to that know me and do what they can to keep me happy.... I tip well if the service and food are good.