Restaurants Are Disappearing Quickly
Why can we not seem to find a local restaurant that is worth a crap? We used to go to this local small mom-and-pop place called “The Pub“, but they sold it and the new owners really don’t seem to want to focus on the restaurant part of the business, they seem to primarily focus on the bar, and pub side of the business. So we have removed that one from our list. Our local Ruby Tuesdays closed in 2020 and that is a good thing as we had on several occasions been served semi-raw food, once my chicken was raw, now that is gross. Our local Red Robin has really slipped over the past few months, to where the last couple of times my wife and I have been there and the last couple of times our son and daughter-in-law have been there, the food has been cold and the fries are almost like they have been reheated and served.
Our local Applebee’s really needs some major help, On Father’s Day, the weekend I choose Applebee’s curbside pickup. Well, that was a bad choice, to say the least. I ordered riblets, which for some damn reason were dry and I mean dry as in they didn’t add any BBQ sauce to them while cooking and served them dry as well. They were like strips of jerky and gross. My dessert came complete with liquid ice cream. My wife and daughter’s pasta was mushy for some reason and my son said his burger didn’t have the bacon on it he ordered and it was just gross. What the hell, another freaking place off the list for a while.
The local O’Charley’s closed in early 2023 after having very similar problems. They went from hero to zero rather quickly. It seems that these places just can’t hire or find a manager that is worth a crap. And I’m a HUGE believer that a manager will make or break any business. If you have a solid manager, then he or she will not only find the right people but also inspire the employees to work hard and form a solid team. I have worked for both good and bad managers. The really strange part for me is working for the federal government, I see so many “leaders” that don’t have the first clue about how to lead. I have had some really bad managers in my life. I have been in the workforce for 40 years now, starting my first job when I was 14 and a half years old.
Our current go-to seems to be our local Texas Roadhouse, but the past few times we have been there, they have really slipped. It seems that they no longer care about customer service either, the food has been cold and the drinks warm. Speaking of warm drinks, we were at Costco the other day, and not only was the ice machine empty, but the damn sodas were warm, gross. The next time we were there they had ice and the drinks were cold, but they were so slow. We were there for close to two hours and that wasn’t us, just hanging out after we ate.
My wife and I prefer mom-and-pop places, but there just isn’t anything in our local area (within 5 miles from the house) that is worth anything. We had this one mom-and-pop that we loved, but they sold to a new owner and the new owner wanted it to be more bar and less dining, so we lost that place. We went to another mom and pop and that place was like Cheers where everyone knows your name. It took forever for a waitress, and that was because everyone who comes there all the time just goes to the bar and orders, and we didn’t know that little secret. We have tried other places, but every place we tried just sucks.
I guess we will see if we can try someplace new, and sadly, it will either disappear in a few months or will start off good and turn to crap.
Welcome to the Average Joe Weekly blog. This is basically my place on the web where I can help spread some of the knowledge that I have accumulated over the years. I served 10+ years in the Marine Corps on Active Duty, but that was some 25 years ago.
