Restaurants feel the pinch as consumers tighten belts

Bush's Iraq blunder has sent this country into the worst depression since 1929.

Paul wrote:

Maybe if the service was better people would want to go to these restaurants.
The attitude of the host station, the servers and the poor management is awful.
And it is not going to get any better, when the restaurant owners allow "auto 18%" gratuities to be added to bills.
Cut the auto gratuities, make these servers earn their money.
People are sick of been ripped off

Make servers earn their money????
Servers get paid a whopping $3.77 an hour, after paying taxes and insurance, most get no paycheck or less than $20.00 and many actually owe the company money for deductions that their check did not cover. My guess is that YOU get crappy service because you are a tight wad and tip next to nothing if at all. Believe me we know who you are, the person who wants everything extra and everything free and are nasty, and we remember you the next time you come in and will give you even worse service. Why should I spend time on you when the next person will give me the money I need to take care of my son? People who do not want to tip need to go to McDonald's and leave real dinning to those who appreciate it. My restaurant only auto grats on party's over eight. So go out alone and you will not have to worry about it, or better yet STAY HOME.

I'm not seeing where any of these substandard restaurants will be missed, with the possible exception of the original Melting Pot and Midnight Blue. The rest of these are basically all formulaic chains with poor food and service.

TheRunningNurse wrote:

To bring patrons back........offer SMALLER PORTIONS and lower the price. Train servers to be PROFESSIONALS. Unfortunately the young people who wait tables today could careless if you come back tomorrow.

Right on! Most of these chain restaurants hire college kids to wait tables. These kids couldn't care less about the customer, just working to get the tip, and planning to move on to a "real job" when they graduate. These chains will not hire professional servers because those folks demand high tips and the people who eat in these chain restaurants are usually families on a budget, unable to afford a high tip even if the service was spectacular. To hire a professional waiter or waitress, the food prices must be high, which many potential customers of the restaurant cannot afford in this time of economic nightmares.

Tish wrote:

I'm not seeing where any of these substandard restaurants will be missed, with the possible exception of the original Melting Pot and Midnight Blue. The rest of these are basically all formulaic chains with poor food and service.

nothing seems to last in the location where Midnight Blue was...they should have looked a little closer at the actual tenure of tenants in that property before putting a faux-stuffy bistro there

Driving down University Blvd a few days ago. KFC & krispy kreme both closed down. Don pablos was either closed down or had not one car in the parking lot.

Don Pablos on University closed last year along with the Don Pablos on Semoran near Red Bug. The location by the Seminole Town Center in Sanford is still open.

Re$taurant$ only care about the bottom line. They wont turn a customer down even if theyre wearing shorts and flip-flops.

yoohoo wrote:

Re$taurant$ only care about the bottom line. They wont turn a customer down even if theyre wearing shorts and flip-flops.

I thought that was the airline passenger dress code.

Mackie wrote:

Bush's Iraq blunder has sent this country into the worst depression since 1929.

Yea buddy. All he has done is save thousands of innocent lives here in America. Seen any attacks on our soil since Iraq? I did not think so. If Obama gets in and "talks" to those idiots expect another 9/11.

naplesgator wrote:

<quoted text>Yea buddy. All he has done is save thousands of innocent lives here in America. Seen any attacks on our soil since Iraq? I did not think so. If Obama gets in and "talks" to those idiots expect another 9/11.

Right. And I'm selling an anti-lion device for your home. Simply put this little rubber ball on your counter and your home will never be bothered by lions again.(rolls eyes)

henry wrote:

<quoted text>
Right. And I'm selling an anti-lion device for your home. Simply put this little rubber ball on your counter and your home will never be bothered by lions again.(rolls eyes)

You have a hard time accepting facts. The fact remains that we have not been hit again. But I am sure you will feel safe with Obama, right? If you are then you are just naive. Have I been happy with everything he has done? No. I wish he had more balls to stand up against weenies like you. I personally wish I could vote all of them out of office. Especially congress. At least Bush stands for something. I just love how people blame him for everything. HIgh gas...Bush. Poor economy...Bush. Housing market collapse...Bush. Get my point?

I, for the most part, avoid restaurants because they add an automatic tip at a lot of them, and then they are really crappy to the customers.

henry wrote:

<quoted text>
Right. And I'm selling an anti-lion device for your home. Simply put this little rubber ball on your counter and your home will never be bothered by lions again.(rolls eyes)

How many lions has homeland security stopped? How many cases of dangerous lion organizations have been stopped since 2001?

Bury your head in the sand because you feel safe,, you have been protected many times,, there have been many planned attacks that didn't happen because of Bush fixing the intelligence network Clinton broke. How many more would there have been if we hadn't been keeping al queda busy over there,, instead of giving them the opportunity to be busy over here?

Not to say I am a fan of him or many of his policies but facts are facts.

I own a restaurant and we will not allow auto grats. I think it could take away incentive to earn that tip. So I agree totally.

Just remove the radio playing, the video cameras and have a dress code and then maybe the restaurant will win more customers.

TheRunningNurse wrote:

Sam Seltzer's in Altamonte--disgusting, I hated the oil they put on their hard rolls. Good riddance

I used to see lines of people waiting to get into that Sam Seltzer's so I tried it... ONCE. You are right. The steak was crap and the service poor. I am not exagerrating when I say I've had better meals at McDonalds. I am glad that horribly run "restaurant" is gone.

pizzaria owner wrote:

Driving down University Blvd a few days ago. KFC & krispy kreme both closed down. Don pablos was either closed down or had not one car in the parking lot.

Yet for some reason they are building still more strip malls along University and Alafaya around UCF. I expect Pizzeria Uno (horribly bland pizza) and the newly opened Ruby Tuesday's (terrible) to be the next to go.

naplesgator wrote:

<quoted text>
At least Bush stands for something.

Right...like corruption, obscene profits for his big business cronies while they rape the american public, the death of thousands upon thousands of innocents both american and iraqi, dissolution of civil rights, destruction of the budget, alienation of much of the world...yup, he sure stands for something. Get THE point?

Learn From the Past wrote:

<quoted text>
Not to say I am a fan of him or many of his policies but facts are facts.

Absolutely...and as soon as you start using a few facts, we can have an intelligent discussion.