Tonight I had my first bad experience at The Hub. Which is really unfortunate, considering the fact that I've had really great experiences there previously. I wouldn't normally write about one bad time at a restaurant, except that not only was the food not good, but the service was bad too.

First - let me say that I was there the week The Hub opened in a group of 8 people and our waiter was fantastic and the food was delicious. Then was back last week and the waiter was almost oppressive he was so attentive. Kevin declared his steak "possibly the best in Tacoma" which is saying a lot considering what quality steaks there are to be had. I had pizzas both time and both were good.

So tonight I sat in the bar side of The Hub for the first time with Frinklin, Cassioposa, and Angela. Cassioposa got there first and ordered a glass of wine, only to be told five minutes after ordering that her chosen red was not available. After choosing another the waitress returned again and told her, again, that they were out. Cassie finally asked, "What is available?" and was told, "Oh, pretty much everything..." Not helpful. Fortunately her third choice actually was in stock.

Once we were all seated and ordered drinks it took a good 15 minutes to flag down our server. Granted, the restaurant was busy, but not frantic. We placed an order of fries as an appetizer and proceeded to order our entrees. A ceasar sald for Cassie, a pizza for Frinklin, chicken picatta for Angela, and the flat-iron steak for myself, asking that the fries be substituted with mashed potatoes. I sensed trouble as our waitress didn't bother to ask how I preferred my steak.

Our fries never came. When our food showed and I asked I was told it was a side order. I love it when servers tell you what you ordered. It's not that there can't be a misunderstanding - it's just that I know what I wanted, so I'm not the one that's wrong. The order for fries finally went in at that point.

My steak came, as did Angela's chicken picatta - with fries. When I stated that I wanted mashed potatoes my steak was sent back, only to be returned shortly with word from the kitchen that the restaurant was out of regular potatoes. It was just that no one had informed the wait staff. There was no opportunity for them to warn any patrons that their meal may need substitutions or the like.

At this point we were all starving. I ate my steak (tasty, but cooked more than I would like) with sweet potato frites and three of the saddest asperagus you have ever seen. As Angela said, "I would have been embarrased to plate those!" She half-heartedly picked through her over-peppered, tomato covered, so-so chicken picatta. Frinklin's pizza and Cassie's salad were pretty good, although Frinklin noted his pizza was a good couple inches smaller in diameter than it had been in the past. Our french fry appetizer (made from yams, lest you believe they had received a shipment of regular potatoes) showed up half way through our meal.

When our checks arrived our sever was kind enough to discount my steak and remove the cost of the appetizer completely. It was explained to us that the Head Chef walked out earlier today and that the Bar Manager had also quit. That could definitely explain the irregularity in our meals. While we sat and discussed this development and our meal our drinks were collected and table began to be bussed as though we were not sitting and chatting. There was no reason to throw us out, as there were plenty of empty tables, but we took this as our cue to leave.

I don't know exactly how much the Head Chef and/or the Bar Manager have an effect on the Serving Staff at a restaurant, but it seemed as though our waitress had no idea what was going on this evening. I don't think I'll be sitting in the bar section again. I hope it was just a fluke and that The Hub find a new Head Chef and Bar Manager soon.

Posted by: Ensie at 09:18 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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There's been a lot going on and I've steadfastly refused to blog about it. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it's the fact that it has to do with money and the lack thereof. Or the fact that some of it's job related, or again, the lack thereof. I can tell you that I've felt overwhelmed and exhausted when it comes to dealing with life and have spent far too much time curled up in bed as of late. Then again - at least I'm not out spending any money.

Frinklin's job search is on it's eighth or ninth week now. He's sent out a couple of hundred resumes and has had something like four interviews, which s a little disheartening. It's not that his job skills are lacking or resume is poor, it's that for one reason or another he hasn't been a perfect fit for the jobs available (Interviewer: "I see you live in Tacoma, how do you plan to get to Seattle each day?" Frinklin: "Actually I worked in Seattle for two years previously and loved taking the commuter train. I also own a car, so commuting is no problem." Interviewer: "Interesting. We're still concerned about your ability to get to work each day." Frinklin: "??") or there have been a gazillion candidates. The Seattle/Tacoma job market is extremely tough at the moment. See Richard Florida's new book for confirmation.

On the upside, Frinklin picked up some freelance work this week (thank you company who smiled on us!) and the State of Washington concluded their investigation into his unemployment claim last week, so a check finally arrived. Yay!

I can say, it you've ever been in this position, it's all about having funds available to shift around. I'm having to move money from my 401K to other places, and was using a credit card to cover something for a time...until one of my credit card companies decided that they would be halving my available credit without any notice. Gee! Thanks! I completely understand that there is huge credit issue occurring currently, but freaking out and cutting off one of my liquid sources of monies - not cool.

In other news I went on a week-long Conference to the Homeland of Bob's Hogs and Weiner Pigs. It was great fun to hang out with all the fellow Bob's Hoggers. We had "pajama parties" each night hosted by my roomie and myself where we "networked" for a couple of hours with drinks. It was the best part of the entire week. Beet was in fine form. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that we spent an hour "learning" how to color code an Excel spreadsheet. Actually, I spent that hour chatting online with Cassioposa and Kevin while Beet droned on about color coding Excel cells.

The trip home from the coference was an adventure. I'll leave that to my next post, hopefully tomorrow, from my new laptop (hint, hint).

Posted by: Ensie at 09:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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