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Thu. January 25, 2007, 07:10am PST
How to get off my "places to eat" list
At work, we like to have weekly staff lunches. It's not often we run into an area restaurant incapable and seemingly unwilling to take our business. Here's a paraphrased conversation a co-worker had when on the phone with a local cafe around 10:45am:
"Hi, I'd like to place an order please."
"When would you like to pick it up?"
"About 11:30. It's for 9 people."
"Uh, we only have one guy in the kitchen."
"So what time can you have it ready?"
"It probably won't be until 2:30 or so. After our lunch rush."
"Oh, OK... We'll give you a call back."
At which time we promptly decided to take our business elsewhere. I already noted a previous beef I had with this place but Rosewood Cafe is off my list of places to give anymore chances. If an order for 9 people constitutes enough to burden a small sandwich shop during their "lunch rush" then I ask why they even take phone orders? If they do, maybe they should just state they don't cater to business. If all 9 of us decided to drop by in-person, would it have taken them 3-and-a-half hours to make our sandwiches?
I'm always up for giving a place a couple chances to get it right. Rosewood has had their chances with me and it ain't happening anymore. There are too many capable and tasty places in this town for my expectations or money to be spent at a place like this.
Not my favorite thing to be negative so early in the morning especially since I want most local businesses to be great and succeed. While we're on the topic, are there any, shall we say, "words of advice" you'd like to dish up to any area eateries? Or just tell me which ones you don't like.
Comments (17) | To Top
1/25/2007 @ 8:42am
Isn't the owner of Rosewood opening a new pub on S. 12th?
Maybe Rosewood is suffering because of the focus on getting the new place ready?
Or maybe it just needs new management. I've always had a fine time at dinner. However, your experience proves that if a restaurant can't do something well (like lunch or phone orders) it shouldn't do it at all - it is ubiquitously negative.
by Heather
1/25/2007 @ 9:05am
Might be but the previous experience I linked to was nearly a year ago. Service, to me, is everything though. If they don't effectively communicate with potential customers, especially when they have "quirks" like the above, then I'm likely to go elsewhere.
by KevinFreitas
1/25/2007 @ 9:30am
Rosewood Cafe is one of my favorite places. In fact, I just went there last night. They have a huge following for a good reason.
They make food themselves and are fairly small and use ovens alot. They simply are not made to do a large pick up order fast like that. Subway and Hal of a Sub could or Pita Pit.
At least they told you so you didn't waste their time.
Here's what they are good at: Let a week pass and try out dinner with Cassioposa. Relax in the easy going atmosphere. Order two glasses of T3. Then compare the experience to Subway.
by Erik
1/25/2007 @ 10:06am
Thanks Erik. I'm not completely opposed to trying them out in a different mode but really think they still might have issues if they can't handle a relatively small, 9 person lunch order. If we all went in would the place simply shut down?
We have a huge list of menus for our staff lunches and none except Rosewood have ever complained.
by KevinFreitas
1/25/2007 @ 12:35pm
Well, Kevin, from my single experience - if you all showed up, yes, they might shut down. I went there with my mother for lunch on a weekday and though, the food was fine, the service did leave something to be desired. When we arrived there was one other table already eating and we got plenty of attention. After we'd ordered however, another table or two arrived and we became invisible. We were checked on once after we were quite a ways into our meal and we finally had to ask for the check after waiting too long for someone to remove our finished dishes and bring it on their own. To be honest, my impression is that it wasn't an overwhelming demand that slowed them down - it was lengthy chatting with the new arrivals.
If it makes you feel any better while we were there I heard them discourage a phone-in order, so you are not alone.
btw - 45 minutes to make 9 sandwiches is not fast.
by Angela
1/25/2007 @ 1:12pm
I don't think the issue is the quality of food or the atmosphere at Rosewood Cafe. It's the fact that they offer the option to phone in orders, and then proceed to pick and choose which phone-in customers they accept on a daily basis. That kind of business model is horribly flawed, and leaves them open to a damaged reputation. Many other small (lots even smaller than Rosewood) find the capacity to fill all lunch rush demand (I know, I've tested many local restaurants). If they're not savvy enough to figure out simple operation logistics lke that, they should probably make it known that they do not fill phone orders. Word-of-mouth on service spreads quickly around town, and I know Rosewood has already garnered kind of a "crappy service" reputation, especially in my (rather large) office.
by Cassioposa
1/25/2007 @ 3:28pm
I really want to love the Rosewood because it is a small local place owned by a nice guy, but my experiences there over the past two years have made it hard to love. Every time I have tried to have lunch there, it has taken at least an hour, and not because I was enjoying a few beers and relaxing. Dinner also takes an unneccessarily long time to get on the table.
Last year I got the macaroni and cheese and liked it, this year the same dish was almost unpalatable. I can accept mediocre service with good food, but if they lose the good food, what's left? Maybe a new pub on S 12th...
by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim
1/25/2007 @ 4:42pm
The Rosewood is a good enough sidewalk cafe, but that's really about it. I've had a terrible time with them trying to get anything done besides sit down and order food.
by Dave
1/25/2007 @ 4:42pm
@Erik
"They simply are not made to do a large pick up order fast like that"
Nine sandwiches isn't really that large of an order. I'm sure that Kevin's group would have even waited around another half hour (giving the cook over an hour from time order was placed until ready) given the option. Instead they say "maybe in three hours." If you already know that you have a lunch rush, maybe there should be more than one guy slinging turkey and mustard. And maybe you should just say "come on by, we don't have the capacity to handle phone orders right now."
I've placed lunch orders from all sorts of small restaurants over the past few years and none have ever complained. Some places (like Tatanka Takeout) love getting "large" orders because it lets the owner go home a little earlier and enjoy his day.
by Gabe
1/25/2007 @ 6:02pm
One of my wife's coworkers had her divorce finalized, and she wanted to throw a party. They called the Olive Garden and asked if they could make a reservation for 12. Their reply: We don't take reservations... but we will be willing to hold the first big table that becomes available if half of your party shows up.
I know, not the same local love as the Rosewood etcetera, but the same theory: you have a big bunch of paying customers who have expressed that they want to give their money to you; why blow them off?
by The Damn Mushroom
1/26/2007 @ 8:50pm
My big disappointment with a local establishment this week was at Puget Sound Pizza. I wanted to give it a try and find out what everyone was so enthusiastic about. Unfortunately, they don't sell pizza by the slice. I'm sure it's fresher for them to make me my own personal size pizza, but $8.50 (plus the time of making a pie) is a little much for a pizza lunch.
I'm sure I'm not the only one to walk in there at lunch time and walk out disappointed. It looks like the type of place that ought to serve a couple of slices and a soda for $4.99, but no dice.
by jenyum
1/26/2007 @ 9:17pm
Jen: Haven't been to their new locale nor stopped by at lunch. I'm usually glutton enough not to mind the non-slice thing. When I do grab pizza by the slice at Abella I do like it like that. A slice and a caesar salad really hits the spot.
by KevinFreitas
1/27/2007 @ 12:38am
jenyum, thanks for giving us a try at PSP this week and I'm very sorry we didn't win you over. If we did offer slices it would require us to have a heat lamp in the kitchen to keep the unsold slices of any remaining pizza "ready" for the next customer ... and who would want to purchase the last 3 slices of a pizza thats been sitting under a heat lamp? no one. And as we're trying to eliminate waste and provide awesome quality pizza every single time we have found cooking individual personal pizzas to be the best route for us instead of slices.
The business model of selling pizza by the slice works best when where there's lots of foot traffic i.e. places like Pioneer Square, Manhattan or other high-density environments like shopping malls. Downtown Tacoma's not quite there yet but we are getting closer every single day.
The time for us to cook one our our pizzas is about 9 minutes including assembling and cooking. Granted during busy rushes it can take 20-30 minutes because of sheer volume of orders and our currently limited space, both kitchen and seating.
That being said we are dedicated every day to putting out high volumes of really great food downtown Tacoma as we have done since opening in October of 2004 regardless.
Thanks for your time and look for us to finally open our expansion in a couple weeks adding 40 new seats. And jenyum I do hope you decide try us again and by the way Ed Murrieta made some of the the same points as you in our April 2005 TNT restaurant review where we received 5 stars.
by Jim @ PSP
1/27/2007 @ 9:20am
For what it's worth, I know of a few restaurants that specifically limit their hours for phone-in orders to avoid the lunch rush times. Perhaps that's what the Rosewood is doing without making it an official, published policy?
by shannon
1/27/2007 @ 9:49am
Jim: Thanks for the insight and good luck with your new space! I'll be sure to stop by.
shannon: That may be what Rosewood is doing but they need to make that obvious on their menu, website, and even over the phone.
by KevinFreitas
1/27/2007 @ 1:38pm
Thank you Jim for the response. I'm always amazed at how much the proprietors around here really do listen and respond to customers. We'll try it again as a family.
by jenyum
1/31/2007 @ 11:30am
I am not sure where you work at, or what your budget is so let me give a little love to my downtown favs and maybe it might help you in your quest for lunch.
Vin Grotto on Pacific has a very yummy upscale sandwiches (turkey with mango chutney and blue cheese) and their soups are usually decent. I’ve called in with big orders before, no problem.
For some snazzy pizza Puget Sound Pizza on 7th and St Helens is a good bet. They have good salads too, filled with all the goodies. Their cheesy garlic bread should be a sin. I see that Jenyum didn’t have the best of experiences, and I’ve missed a couple times myself there, but I’d say 95% of the time they rock the party.
Margaret’s Kitchen on Saint Helens has amazing soups and she makes the best baked goods! She has three soups and two or three salads that change everyday. Plus Margaret is one of the sweetest people in the world. She serves till she runs out so you have to get your orders in the early am.
Over the Moon Cafe in Opera Alley has the best grilled cheese sandwich that I have ever tasted. The lobster bisque is amazing too. Albeit a little pricey for lunch, they have a great atmosphere and very comfy chairs if you are staying, very worthy of a few xtra pennies.
Pacific Grill on Pac Ave has a pretty good lunch menu too. Again, a little pricey but you get what you pay for here. Really good food! The soft crab sandwich (if they still have it) is good as well as the famous sliders.
Ravenous on Broadway is good for pasta. I have not tried their pizza but I hear it is good. I am just too darn loyal to PSP!
These are a few of my take out favs, hope this helps!
by iheartgrittytacoma