BriceJohnson wrote:
If the underlying problem is the noise, how can we give up without at least trying the noise abatement solution they have for the room? What room WOULD be conducive to a meeting then? Rudino's is quiet b/c its a private room that the door opens on, and there is NOBODY else in the restaurant (for a reason if you ask me). I hear two complaints: noise, and service.
They sort of screwed the pooch on the service. I would bet a curtain would help the noise problem a lot, but as someone else mentioned, a poor service performance for a new group is a pretty terrible showing.
I would say we ask them if we could simply arrange to order at the bar and identify ourselves as being with THSCC (as far as reaching the minimum $ amount required for the room). That way, food/beer delivery doesn't interrupt the meeting either. To me, thats what Rudino's had going for it. Simple "order at the register" style service instead of wait service. Service for 33 people all eating/ordering at one time is always gonna suck, there's just no way around it. The built in tip is b/c they realize that, and don't want their servers to get screwed by large groups.
I still love Tyler's, the beer there is great, and the service is normally EXCELLENT, but they definitely failed this time around. My only suggestion is lets make sure we have an actual viable alternative before we abandon the idea. I wasn't particularly enamored with any of the other ideas that were thrown out there, and as has been stated previously, talking to the manager about our concerns and giving them a chance to remedy their previous mistakes could probably go a long ways towards improving things. Is a pool hall really going to have better service/noise conditions? With as many unspoken complaints about the food at Rudino's, are we really thinking El Rodeo is going to make people happy (its NOT really the best Mexican food IMO). I'm OK with people saying they want to try other places before deciding permanently, but I think its a bit unfair to not at least voice our complaints to Tyler's and see what they are willing to do to address them before abandoning them.
Just a thought, I was one of the first 5 people there and it was apparent to me right away that the "noise" was going to be a problem. Brice, maybe they could hang the curtain for you one weekend afternoon and you should be able to tell even with an empty room if it's going to help or not. If it doesn't....then you have your answer.
It was about 7:10 at the "young folks" table the other night when our server came around for another round of beers and we asked about food. I wasn't clear if someone had asked him to wait to take food orders or if they had chosen to hold off....but I pretty much insisted that he start taking them right then. As long as people get there early and get their food orders in when they first sit down, that problem would probably go away. I don't know what to suggest for the payment issue though.
I did enjoy the food and beer the other night, but could go either way on trying it again. Like Brice though, I can't say I'm crazy about any of the other options with maybe the exception of Randy's so far.