Dear ELV,

How many comps do these restaurants have to give to ELV to make the book? And how many for the top ten?

Signed,

Critically Cynical Kevin

ELV responds:

Dear CCK-ster,

Some meals are comped, some are paid for by us, and some get paid for by our dining companions.

For example, Le Cirque, where ELV hasn’t paid for a meal in years, wasn’t in the Top 10 last year, and made it this year.

Figure it out for yourself, dillweed….which you could do by diligently reading this blog…and being less of a hater.

Sincerely,

ELV

ELV note: Just what is going on here? The patron describes relentless unsympathetic treatment (and a bill!); the management says they did everything they could. Who is right? Does it matter? Some people (diners especially) often go out with a chip on their shoulder. Restaurant management can sometimes be way too defensive. We are reminded of the sociological exercise when a staged event happens suddenly in front of people (lasting less than a minute), and they’re then asked to re-create/re-tell what they observed — always with severe divergence from the facts. (Lesson: perception is reality, even when it’s the wrong perception.) Without taking sides, ELV will say that he’s always found Gallagher’s to be a top drawer operation…more in keeping with the management’s version of these events. You make the call!

Hello –

Thank you all for the comments and thoughts regarding this guest experience.

As the Marketing Director for Ark Vegas, which operates Gallagher’s Steakhouse, please allow me to clarify a few things regarding this particular situation.

Continue reading “Responsive Letter of the Week”

ELV note: The following letter outlines a common customer conundrum, i.e., exactly how should a restaurant handle a patron in distress? Our response concerns the issue of the food poisoning rather than the manners of the management, and we’ll leave it to our loyal readers to decipher/discern/decode(?) what was really going on at the hostess stand, and how things should have been handled.

Hello,

I went to Gallagher’s Steakhouse in the New York New York Casino….   wait..  Let me rephrase this so that it is clear exactly what has happened and how I plan on sharing it.   I stayed in Las Vegas for additional evening to the tune of approx. $400 (hotel, extra dining, etc) to get an opportunity to try a newly learned about Steakhouse in the New York New York Casino…   The wine that was recommended by Paul our server was great..  the bread was OK, but we ordered the Clams Casino, and I am sorry to say but they were horrible…  disgusting and to the point that they made my girlfriend and I both sick.  Literally we were both vomiting in the bathroom just outside the restaurant.  I attempted to make the staff aware of the obvious isolated problem and carry about my evening, this became impossible.  After vomiting in the bathroom and than making our way to a taxi and puking a few more times we made in back to the hotel where we were staying and again vomiting and feeling extremely ill.  I have never gone to the length of emailing every email address that I could find relating to a restaurant, but this is how strongly I feel about this whole event.

Continue reading “Letter of the Week”