Bad cooking in restaurants

[357 MAX]

What happened to Taco Time? in Albany it is now Tonys Tacos pretty good. but I still miss Taco Time.

 

[Alexx1401]

....lot of employee's walking past one.....the place has trouble getting them to show up

Doesn't sound like there was a problem with the number of staff. I've noticed service has uniformly just gotten worse since the economy is going so strong.
Servers know they can almost walk into another job so why bother looking after customers? I show my displeasure by leaving a tip commensurate with the level of service I have received, that's if I don't walk out as you did.

I did leave a review for a restaurant I went to noting the low standard of food and crappy service. The manager left a reply, nothing unusual in that, however what WAS surprising was offering a free meal for two if we cared to try again.
That is why that particular place gets good reviews.

There of course has to be some kind of "management" problem here too. That they had several people who work there and could not or would not work as a server. That is a lot of money walking around and walking past us until we walked out. Since the servers no longer have to work for tips a lot of them don't much care any more. As we sat there I was looking across the place and was not seeing anyone being served. I made a joke with the Wife wondering if the servers were all in the back cooking too? In any case if the place makes a habit out of this it will solve the problem for itself. I am still quite shocked at just how many eateries there still are around here. Many have closed but there is still so many I often wonder how they all keep the doors open.

 

[MymuttBear]

There of course has to be some kind of "management" problem here too. That they had several people who work there and could not or would not work as a server. That is a lot of money walking around and walking past us until we walked out. Since the servers no longer have to work for tips a lot of them don't much care any more. As we sat there I was looking across the place and was not seeing anyone being served. I made a joke with the Wife wondering if the servers were all in the back cooking too? In any case if the place makes a habit out of this it will solve the problem for itself. I am still quite shocked at just how many eateries there still are around here. Many have closed but there is still so many I often wonder how they all keep the doors open.

If they've raised their prices as much as Fred Meyers (more on that in a sec) then I can see why they are still open and doing okay. Also take note of how many people ARE dining out these days which is significant and a sign, like it or not, of an economy that is very strong.

Okay Fred Meyer. My Wife went shopping the other day and I asked her to get a French stick for soup I was making. She texted and said they only have ones for $3.49. I said not to worry about it as I didn't want one of the "fancy" ones.

That wasn't one of the fancy ones but their own baked in store that the week before was selling for $2.00 a stick!!! I'm not a mathematician but isn't that about a 75% increase? No way have wages, flour, utilities etc etc increased by that much in such a short time. Back to making my own bread.

 

[Mikej]

Okay Fred Meyer. My Wife went shopping the other day and I asked her to get a French stick for soup I was making. She texted and said they only have ones for $3.49. I said not to worry about it as I didn't want one of the "fancy" ones.

That wasn't one of the fancy ones but their own baked in store that the week before was selling for $2.00 a stick!!! I'm not a mathematician but isn't that about a 75% increase? No way have wages, flour, utilities etc etc increased by that much in such a short time. Back to making my own bread.

Here in poopland Fred Meyer has ARMED, like with a Glock armed, security. What ya' suppose THAT costs? Not to mention the incessant commercials on channels during the very highest prices for add blocks? And many other times too.

 

[MymuttBear]

Here in poopland Fred Meyer has ARMED, like with a Glock armed, security. What ya' suppose THAT costs? Not to mention the incessant commercials on channels during the very highest prices for add blocks? And many other times too.

Never factored that in but yeah I guess that would be an added cost that comes off the stores bottom line. Fred Meyer has an armed security guard here in Tacoma which is a relatively recent, like last 6-12 months thing, but he is only at the front entrance and checks receipts on your way out.

 

[Mikej]

Never factored that in but yeah I guess that would be an added cost that comes off the stores bottom line. Fred Meyer has an armed security guard here in Tacoma which is a relatively recent, like last 6-12 months thing, but he is only at the front entrance and checks receipts on your way out.

Same here. At the entrance/checking receipts. There has been, a time or two, TWO of them. First time I saw they were truly armed. Had a nice chat with one and told them it's good to see SOMEONE in business was getting serious. But it is poopland, so don't expect it to make much diff.

 

[TopGun007]

Never factored that in but yeah I guess that would be an added cost that comes off the stores bottom line. Fred Meyer has an armed security guard here in Tacoma which is a relatively recent, like last 6-12 months thing, but he is only at the front entrance and checks receipts on your way out.

Wow !! When I lived in Portland (hmmm? poopland ... I kinda like that as its a very accurate description these days) the Fred Meyer stores would just let people walk out without paying. The store employees were told/taught/trained to NOT stop them, NOT approach them, NOT even look at them. And now ... armed guards verifying your receipt on your way out. I guess they want to stay in business ... theft is costly to a business.

 

[MymuttBear]

Had BBQ rat-on-a-stick from a street cart in Saigon about 20 years ago. Was the best damned small animal I've ever eaten, and that's sayin' sump'n. And I never got sick, either!

But that damned durian ice cream. I don't know how people eat that shiit...

Our Squadron used to go to Malaysia on deployments and not once did I ever get a "bait". I took the advice of guys who had been there before and only ate where the locals were eating. Since I don't speak Malay there is a good chance I may have eaten something that I wouldn't normally have eaten
And agree about durian fruit, that "thing" stinks.

 

[Alexx1401]

Never factored that in but yeah I guess that would be an added cost that comes off the stores bottom line. Fred Meyer has an armed security guard here in Tacoma which is a relatively recent, like last 6-12 months thing, but he is only at the front entrance and checks receipts on your way out.

I noticed armed at one of the Fred's here a good while back which shocked me too. The one in University Place has no interactions with customers though. Which one of them has the guard now asking people to show receipts? I no longer shop there but the Wally down the road from that Fred's also went with armed guards. Kept wondering how long it would take till they made the news by shooting someone. The newer Win-co here had armed people there too for a good while. Not sure when but they seem to be gone there. When they were there they never had any interaction with the customers either.

 

[Alexx1401]

Had BBQ rat-on-a-stick from a street cart in Saigon about 20 years ago. Was the best damned small animal I've ever eaten, and that's sayin' sump'n. And I never got sick, either!

But that damned durian ice cream. I don't know how people eat that shiit...

Reminds me of the campy movie Stalone was in. Where he wakes up in the future and he finds people living underground. There is no longer meat and he finds them making burgers. As he is chowing down the other actor tells him do you see any cows down here? The woman he got the burger from tells him in Spanish that the burger is rat meat. He just keeps eating anyway.

 

[MymuttBear]

I noticed armed at one of the Fred's here a good while back which shocked me too. The one in University Place has no interactions with customers though. Which one of them has the guard now asking people to show receipts? I no longer shop there but the Wally down the road from that Fred's also went with armed guards. Kept wondering how long it would take till they made the news by shooting someone. The newer Win-co here had armed people there too for a good while. Not sure when but they seem to be gone there. When they were there they never had any interaction with the customers either.

The one on the corner of South 19th and Stevens. They had actual Police standing around just inside the main doors for a while but now it's guards. A couple even look to be ex something as you can see how they appear to look to see if you are carrying, or maybe it's just my imagination

 

[Alexx1401]

The one on the corner of South 19th and Stevens. They had actual Police standing around just inside the main doors for a while but now it's guards. A couple even look to be ex something as you can see how they appear to look to see if you are carrying, or maybe it's just my imagination

That one always had a higher number of low life hanging around when Wife and I lived over that way. Sounds like its gotten really bad which I guess makes sense. There had been a lot of "homeless" many years ago there. So I have to guess the population has grown a lot which is a damn shame for those who own homes over there. What a damn shame people kept asking for this.

 

[Alexx1401]

Well sign of the times
Was just at the Fredies in James Center and there was now and armed security guy in there too. First I have seen one there. Have seen a LOT of "homeless" hanging around the place. I noticed the security guy seemed to be taking quite an interest in me and was wondering why since the place was busy. When I went to get in the car it hit me. I had forgotten to swap to a coat, still had my hoodie I wear around home on. So gun was covered barely, the clip for the holster would have certainly shown. So I had to guess he had seen it and decided I needed extra attention

 

[Boyandhisdogs]

Moving to Eastern WA from CA has a been a really nice change, except for the food. There isnt hardly any GOOD food here, lots of OK chain restaraunts and decent mom and pop places, but none that are as good as the places I used to take for granted.

What I wouldn't do for some Hawaiian BBQ...

So like others have said, learn to cook you own. My wife and I have taken our cooking really seriously in the past year or so. We cook almost everything from scratch now, and rarely eat at restaraunts anymore unless there is a really good promotion going on or it's some kind of occasion.

Even better is that processesed, frozen "convenience" foods are almost non existant in our house now. That stuff is garbage.

 

[monkeybutler]

Moving to Eastern WA from CA has a been a really nice change, except for the food. There isnt hardly any GOOD food here, lots of OK chain restaraunts and decent mom and pop places, but none that are as good as the places I used to take for granted.

What I wouldn't do for some Hawaiian BBQ...

So like others have said, learn to cook you own. My wife and I have taken our cooking really seriously in the past year or so. We cook almost everything from scratch now, and rarely eat at restaraunts anymore unless there is a really good promotion going on or it's some kind of occasion.

Even better is that processesed, frozen "convenience" foods are almost non existant in our house now. That stuff is garbage.

Similar story here.

 

[Tony617]

What happened to Taco Time? in Albany it is now Tonys Tacos pretty good. but I still miss Taco Time.

I like Taco Time and go once in a while. There are numerous Taco Times in Washington State for now anyways.

 

[nwslopoke]

Moving to Eastern WA from CA has a been a really nice change, except for the food. There isnt hardly any GOOD food here, lots of OK chain restaraunts and decent mom and pop places, but none that are as good as the places I used to take for granted.

What I wouldn't do for some Hawaiian BBQ...

So like others have said, learn to cook you own. My wife and I have taken our cooking really seriously in the past year or so. We cook almost everything from scratch now, and rarely eat at restaraunts anymore unless there is a really good promotion going on or it's some kind of occasion.

Even better is that processesed, frozen "convenience" foods are almost non existant in our house now. That stuff is garbage.

Unfortunately, good Mexican food is a rare thing in the PNW. Sometimes I am almost ready to drop $300-500 for a trip to go to the Mexican dive across from my old apartment in West Covina.

I went a year or two ago and it was the same from my high school days. Same Orange Bang machine and all.

 

[GrayGoose]

...that damned durian ice cream. I don't know how people eat that shiit...

Chitlins! That is the one thing that I can't understand how or why some people eat. As a kid in South Carolina I remember us driving past the Chitlin Struts they had in the summertime in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot, you could smell it 2 miles away!

 

[Tlock]

Unfortunately, good Mexican food is a rare thing in the PNW. Sometimes I am almost ready to drop $300-500 for a trip to go to the Mexican dive across from my old apartment in West Covina.

I went a year or two ago and it was the same from my high school days. Same Orange Bang machine and all.

Lots of good Mexican food in salem/Woodburn area. Alot of the good ones are just little trucks or carts

 

[357 MAX]

I have had Mexican in all of the western states. when I moved to Oregon in 2001 I was disappointed with the food, too bland. the best Mexican food was in Colorado, Wyoming (surprisingly) New Mexico, AZ. Cali, and Idaho. in New Mexico even the truck stops had good Mexican food. the burrito trucks in LA. were killer. one place in Pocatello Idaho called the Pilot House cafe was run by a Mom & Pop & family was the one I judge all the others by. they used to have a food trailer at the Eastern Idaho state Fair also, when the old Mother retired and turned the cooking over to the dughters the food slowly declined until they closed their doors about 20 years ago. the Mom & Pop places always had the best food.