How depressing it is to see my favorite restaurant near death

I remember ordering pizzas from this little (I'll keep it unnamed, I don't want to be accused of slander) Italian eatery in my hometown of Ashland, PA .. I recall how the taste was different from other places.. it was a bustling little restaurant that was converted into one from a former movie theater. The building has a lot of history ..

And now, it's nearly dead.

It's been slowly going downhill for a few years.. There were ups and downs.. former owners wanted out. But the new owners, who I think wanted in, aren't really concerned about the demise!

I went there tonight.. I ordered a large pizza with sweet sauce and mushrooms. I got called back within minutes. They were out of mushrooms.. I still went ahead with the order.

I walk into the establishment, once busy now empty, and the soda machine was out of order.. TVs were turned off.. credit machine was "out of order" .. cooler was empty besides good old Coal Region Guers Iced Tea.. and my pizza was the only order waiting to be picked up.

It made me sad.. but angry, too!
Give me the restaurant!
Let me go "hell's kitchen" on it!
Let me go "Kitchen Nightmares" on it!
Give me a few weeks.. Something has to bring this place back.

Even if they lie and say "under new management" maybe it would at least make someone come back in..

I don't want my little former favorite pizza place to die away. I long for the taste of the traditional sauce.. Long for the days when they delivered it.. long for the days when people went in there.

It's a lonely world when you own an empty restaurant. But for God's sake! do something to get people back in! Don't just let your pride and joy slip and slide away into the black hole of tasteless memory..

Read More

Dinner before Gaga

I went to see Lady Gaga the Tuesday night in Philadelphia with my wife, her sister, and a friend. Before the sexual show, we were striving to eat somewhere else besides the former Wachovia arena, now Wells Fargo Center. I am just not happy paying $7 for a hot dog, or pizza, and $8 for a beer..

We ended up at Popi's Restaurant in South Philly.. and it wasn't bad at all.

I was worried.. I was decked out in a white T-shirt along with cammo shorts.. The others in my party were a bit better dressed than the casual me. But it was all fine.. they accepted us, and actually the staff was quite happy that they met some folks going to see the Lady Gaga show.

I had the chicken marsala, my wife and her sister had crab cakes, and our friend had some chicken dish (name escapes me) .. The food was very reasonably priced for South Philly and it was quite good for a quick meal .. Drinks? .. ehhh a little higher priced--but $5 for a beer instead of $8 is fine with me for city standards.

So .. I guess the bottom line: If you're going to see anything at the Wells Fargo arena, give yourself some extra time and Mapquest Popi's to eat a nicer dinner that will be good and reasonable as opposed to expensive and sloppy ..

Read More

A bad lunch...

Chicken that tastes like rubber but it's still pink.. coffee burned with a tinge of pepper.. and salad with brown spots.. It's a diner, baby, it's a dive.

Read More

IN LABOR for labor day

Work tomorrow.. three parties. Work Sunday .. two parties. Ugh...

Read More

A strange meal...

...shrimp over pasta with .. spaghetti sauce on top. I don't care how fancy a restaurant it may be, you can call it whatever you want, but it's still shrimp with spaghetti sauce. That's it.

Read More

The soup is cold..

...and the flies are gray.. The leaves are turning a shade of orange in the bright lights of early September. And I am 30.
Yes, I passed through the teens.. I am done with the 20s. How fast they flew by.. I'm on to a new decade, one that a show was made about years ago called '30 SOMETHING.' That show was absolutely boring.. So that doesn't give me much hope. And anyway, all those people who starred on it are in their 50s now, right? So much for hope of eternal youth..

While it's not outright hopeless to keep composure, the fact I am going to be a father on or around the time of February 26, 2011, and now entering the dreaded '30s,' it's a big disconcerning. Where did all that time go? All those scenes .. all the dread.. all the nervousness of things that came and went.

All those other songs and words we have to say.. that's the story of our lives.

Read More

Everyone plays their part

I don't like class reunions. They are the worst type of party, as I've written on here before (search the archives) ..
I also don't much appreciate snobby restaurant attitudes.
But what is the snobbiest party of them all?

I think bridal showers--much more than baby showers. Baby showers are the little reminder: "You're going to have a baby soon and your life as you know it is over." But bridal showers are when people get the tingle of the fairy tale feeling. The notion that the best days are yet to come. And I hope they are! I think they are.. Maybe?

Perhaps restaurants, along with catering wedding events, should start having divorce parties. They'd at least get returning customers up to 60% of the time, right?

The part that I dislike most strongly about the wedding shower: Everyone plays the role they are "supposed to."

Let me give you a step by step rundown of how things go (and this rule is everyone. Very few exceptions)

1) Bride's mother comes in. She demands thumb tacks to hang "Fairy tales come true" banners. She has helpers, most likely including at least one girl under the age of 10, that places the favors on the tables. Normally the 'friends' are in charge of games and place a paper on top of every dinner plate, even though we tell them not to since we are going to serve salads before dinner....

2) Bride enters. She looks a little annoyed. It's fun for her, yes.. but tiring. I have to admit, the bridal shower is the day I feel the worst for the bride. She has to sit in a big chair and open gifts in front of everyone.. even gifts that don't fit her character.

3) Guests arrive. And guests talk.. and chit-chat.. and laugh.. and make fun of men. It's like a fiesta of men bashing. They hate the x and y chromosomes of the male gender. And yes, they compliment each other on outfit choices, and then whisper behind backs on how ugly everyone else is.

4) Food service. Bla bla bla..

5) Dessert service. "Could I have a piece of vanilla?" "Could I have chocolate?" "Is that decaf?" ..bla bla bla..

6) Gift time. The roles really get amplified now. Now is when the female gender takes on a "what did she get" face, frantically looks at each gift, watches each tear of wrapping paper, and expects excitement from the bride.

7) gifts...

8) more gifts.. oh, a coffee maker. Great.. Oh a blow up mattress for camping trips.. nice.. thanks for the tongs! .. oh wow, utensils. and more .. and more..

9) Leftover gifts everyone forgot were there because they were hidden under the table of giant gifts.

and finally.. drumroll where I am the most annoyed of all:

10) The men arrive.

The arrival of the male at a bridal shower is always interesting. They crowd in a separate room and nervously wait and watch through the window in the door wondering how the hell long it takes for 125 gifts to be opened.. but really, all they want to do is fulfill their "role." That role, in this situation, is to carefully place themselves into the keyhole personality type they think they should be in. So they increase their immaturity level, put on their uber male persona, and ask for a beer. And another beer.. and another beer. Normally grandpa asks for a glass of red wine. And he happily drinks it while his younger UBER MALES surround him with empty bottles of clanging beer.

By the end of the female cleanup, each gender has now sufficiently fulfilled their purpose at the bridal shower: To neatly act their part, like placing the right sized pieces onto a puzzle. Nevermind the whole thing of being independent. There is no independence when it comes to the bridal shower.. there is no deviation of the pattern.

And then, step 11.. the cleanup. The headache...

The end.

Read More

The absolute worst day at a wedding. Ever.

Ran out of green beans halfway through dinner service.. Ran out of potatoes a little after that.. Didn't run out of meat, chicken, or fish, but by the time the kitchen regrouped from the elementary mistake, it was took late: Food was ice cold.. gravy was coagulated.. But there were some really hot vegetables!

I can't quite figure out how professionals were able to misjudge and make food for 150 when a wedding was 250?

It was a disaster of a night.. Dinner service should have been an hour, it ended up being nearly two hours. Embarrassed servers didn't even want to leave the kitchen.. at one point people were hiding in shame near the entrance doors, trying not to be seen by the guests.. The first 10 or so tables were fine. Enough food.. nice and hot.. tasted great.. But that was only the beginning..

People began to get angry. But you know what's funny? They didn't get angry at the lack of food being served. No sir ree bobby.. they got angry at the bar being closed until after dinner was served. Which is understandable.. the lengthening dinner hour problem surely are into their getting drunk time.. Which is inevitably going to cause a group of people that get soothed by cold beer to get angry ..

Oh it was awful.. so very awful.. So bad. So very very bad...

But by 11pm, when the crowd left the building--leaving behind a very large mess and quite an odor in both restrooms-- it was over. All gone.. only memories to further pave the path of life. But this is one night of memories that will turn into a dreaded 'server dream' at some point soon...

Maybe it will be like INCEPTION and all of the servers I work with will be back in the same situation again in a dream together..

So very bad..

Read More

So who's looking forward to Gordon Ramsay's newest show?

Hopefully he won't yell and scream too much..

Read More

I'm still alive..

I found out recently I'm going to be a father..

I'm still at Schmuckraker.com..

I also can be found on Coalspeaker.com

And yes, I'm still around Soup on my Fly.. More work on weekends coming up, more blog postings in the pipeline.

Stay tuned.

Read More