We had a bad time of it today at Chili's, only four of us this time. Judy C. is in CO with her daughter's family for their spring break, and Terri had other plans. Betty had to stay after to clean up following the Lord's Supper. I was in the company of three handsome young men, and yes, I can stand it.
Normally we are seated in one certain area with our choice, basically, of servers. Often the ladies ask to take care of us, knowing our orders by heart already. Today we sat on the other side (as if you can see that...!) and recognized no one. None of the wait staff nor the managers looked familiar, as if we were at an entirely different store. Hmmm....what's going on here?
We placed our orders with the young man and he entered them into the machine near our table. After a certain point a manager came to our table and asked if we had a question about the menu. We told him we were good, no thanks, and he stepped away. That was odd...but we figured he had the wrong table. Nope, he did not, we just didn't know there was a question. The waiter came to tell us that we could not order from the lunch menu any longer, the new General Manager was going to be a stickler for the rules. Those who had ordered from that menu had to choose differently, from the regular menu. Nuts!
That was going to be problem as some people preferred the lesser expensive items from the lunch menu or the choices there. As we ate, we discussed other options in the area for us to gather on Sundays. Pricing is always a consideration for our group so that somewhat narrows our selection of dining opportunities, as does space, as we need room to seat all us when our number swells. We shall have to see what the others care to do.
Also, the place we go to must be able to seat us almost immediately which leaves out places like The Olive Garden or LongHorn which are closer to church. On occasion we have been known to dine at St. Johns Seafood but we have to time our arrival just right to allow us room to all sit together in their cozy dining room.
We don't mean to be difficult, really, we don't. We've been dining at Chili's for several years now and would really dislike changing our place of choice. When the group is all together again, we will have to discuss the situation. Justin completed the survey on the table top kiosk when he paid our bill, spelling out our concerns. Mike S. thinks doing it such is the coward's way. He prefers face-to-face expression of dismay. I do not, and I wear my cowardice bravely!
