Bad restaurant experience!

[kddani]

ARGH! I'm so ticked off.
One of my favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh is this Italian place on the South Side called Papparrazi. Very good italian food, decent prices.
I go there with my friend Lisa tonight, and we both ordered martinis (she got some sort of raspberry, I got a melon one). Well, I didn't even like mine b/c it was too strong (yeah, i'm a drinking wuss, but this had way too much rum in it, very bitter tasting). Oh well, that's not something i'd complain about b/c i'm a drinking wuss.

We get the bill. The friggin' martinis were $10 each. Now, that may not be a lot in some areas, but in Pittsburgh that's a lot. My veal parm dinner was only 13.50 (HUGE portion of veal too). It wasn't top shelf liquor- it was Bacardi and Midori and Cointreau. ARGH. So i'm a little ticked- the most expensive I'd had in Pittsburgh (i've been to a lot of places) were about $8, and those were bigger and in more expensive places. The waiter tells me to see the guy in all black downstairs to complain if I want to (the waiter thinks its ridiculous too).

So I ask who the owner is when we get downstairs, he point him out. Now, not only will this owner guy not even look at me b/c he's too busy watching the Mets game (wouldn't even take his eyes off of the TV!), he's incredibly rude to me.

I start off in a nice way, saying how I love the food, etc. but we really think that $10 for that kind of martini is ridiculous. He doesn't even apologize or anything, starts to try to justify it by saying, "oh, i went to Olive and Twist (upscale Pittsburgh bar, lot of attorneys), and Bar Louie, and they're $15 there." Um, NO! I call him on his BS and inform him that they're only $8 there (and that's even really high for Pittsburgh). He doesn't really have a response for being caught like that.
I'm pretty ticked by then b/c he's being very rude, and he lied to my face. He goes back to the game and just ends the conversations (just turned his head). I told him that I wouldn't be coming back. He said "i'm sorry to hear that over $2."

ARGH! It wasn't over $2. If it was $8, okay I could almost be okay with it. My main point in going to him was to tell him that I thought it was very high price for the area (it was a new drink list they were trying anyway). But the fact that he was so rude and lied straight to my face just pissed me off so much. The fact that someone would treat a paying loyal customer that way just blows my mind.

Any other place i've ever gone, if the owner's there, he or she is making sure everything's running smoothly and that people are happy. And if you're not, they're going to try to fix things. Or at least they're treat you with some amount of respect. Hell, i've been treated a million times better at little dive places and even Mickey D's.
Yeah, maybe we should've asked how much they were, but I was willing to pay a decent amount, not a RIDICULOUS amount. I hate asking how must stuff like that is, it feels tacky. But I sure as hell will now.

I'm sorry, just had to vent. I LOVE the food there, but I refuse to put my very hard earned money in the pockets of someone who would treat ANYONE that rudely.

[smiley21]

Originally posted by kddani
.
One of my favorite restaurants in Pittsburgh is this Italian place on the South Side called Papparrazi.

no doubt that man is an ass, but i just have to point out that a restaurant with a name like papparrazi sends off warning signals in my mind! i would start to think the waiters would be all in my business asking about the food. or better yet, there could be cameras everywhere watching customers' every move

[KillarneyRose]

Danielle,
Sorry about your experience at Papparrazi. I completely agree with you and it has nothing to do with $2. It's lack of customer service.

I don't know what's up with the South Side, but I've had only annoying dining experiences there in the past few years. I guess since that area is the current "hot spot", the restaurant owners feel that customer service is not important and that people will go there anyway.

A 13 dollar martini in Pittsburgh - I am still trying to wrap my mind around that!

[CrimsonTide4]

and here I was b*tching that Amaretto Sours in Charlotte are $6.

You need to write the BBB about him and his lack of response to your concerns. The fact that he did not even look at you pissed me off.

This post on GC helps too because if ever in Philly Papparazzis won't be on my list of restaurants to eat at.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

I have noticed that alcoholic beverages are really expensive in New York also. I wish I could get a drink for $6. I went out and had a glass of red wine for $12. It wasn't that good, either. Martinis and cosmopolitans range from $8 to $10 here. Seriously, people cannot afford to go out and have a couple of drinks anymore.

[Steeltrap]

At Fifty Seven Fifty Seven restaurant on the Upper East Side's Four Seasons hotel, I recall my martini was about $15.
This was in 1997.

That's one reason why I buy my superpremium vodkas for home use.

[Kristin AGD]

Originally posted by kddani
It wasn't top shelf liquor- it was Bacardi and Midori and Cointreau.

The restaurant industry is very fickle. Very few independents last more than a few years. And customer service like that will just hurry that process along for Papparazzis.

The customer service is apalling. But the price of the drink doesn't shock. And at most chain restaurants the liquors described above actually are considered top shelf. Well liquors would be the cheapest rum available, melon liquer, and triple sec. And they charge an arm and leg for that!

From an insiders point of view, while we might not be able to divulge why we charge what we do, it is always in our best interests to acknowledge and respect the customers point of view.

Not returning over over $2?? Hardly. But losing a paying guests return business over having to pay attention for 2 minutes, that was obviously worth it to him.
Absolutely disgusting.

[Hootie]

My family had a bad restraunt experience on Mother's Day that I posted about somewhere on GC...
So I emailed the company and they promptly forwarded my message to the local branch manager who called me yesterday and offered to treat our family to a free dinner to make up for Mother's Day. Mom liked the sound of that!

[PM_Mama00]

Ahhh meet Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit. Alright service, expensive food for not a great taste, and even more expensive drinks. But with a name like Hockeytown, it'll never go under... plus it's smack in the middle of all the ballparks.

[sigmagrrl]

Working for the hospitality industry I can tell you that this man is obviously clueless and probably never ran a restaurant before.

It's not about the $$$, it never is. It's about reputation. What he did was cause you to tell numerous lurkers/posters/future customers what lousy service you recevied and, therefore, lost an amount of $$$ he will never be able to recover.

Studies show that when someone has a good/great experience, they tell on avg 3 people. But when they have a bad one, they tell 10 or more....

It's never about the money, Loco!

[KSig RC]

Originally posted by kddani
It wasn't top shelf liquor- it was Bacardi and Midori and Cointreau. ARGH.

umm . . . a bottle of Cointreau is more than a bottle of Grey Goose - I get a feeling that $10 isn't too far from an accurate price to keep the restaurant's margin (usually a 3x markup, at least at the ones I've worked at).

Could they survive at $8? Maybe - I'm just saying that it's not too far out of line. Should you have been treated the way you were? Certainly not - that's pretty poor form on his part.

[LeslieAGD]

That guy was an ass.

Lesson for next time...always find out how much the drinks run and, if you don't like how they make it, send it back!!! No one wants to pay $10 for a drink they don't even enjoy!

[AlphaSigOU]

Don't forget that in certain states, hard liquor is heavily taxed, and the cost is eventually passed down to the customer.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

There is a new bar in Trump's new monstrosity near the U.N. A drink costs $50. Yes that's right, $50. Another restaurant has $40 hamburgers. I have had neither.

[aephi alum]

Originally posted by Cream
There is a new bar in Trump's new monstrosity near the U.N. A drink costs $50. Yes that's right, $50. Another restaurant has $40 hamburgers. I have had neither.

You have got to be kidding me. Is the drink served in a golden goblet that you get to keep?? Of course, this is Manhattan we're talking about...

kddani, well, I wouldn't have complained about the drink price - I've paid more than $10 for drinks before, but you better believe if they're going to charge that much they'd better get it right! But you're right that the owner was a jerk. When a customer has a complaint, the owner should try to smooth things out, not sit there and watch the game and ignore the situation.