crappy giant

last night celestial and i took q2 to little giant for her b-day dinner. . i had been there long ago with q2 and debs but that was a lifetime ago. . . a cozy, tiny little restaurant low-lit that makes new american, hearty, comfort food.

around 6:50PM both q2 and celestial contacted me to let me know that celestial would be late to dinner. . . i swing by q2's place to pick her up and we walk to the restaurant from her pad. arrive just a few minutes after our reservation at 7:30pm. we tell the hostess that our 3rd party member may or may not be coming. . .


ho-stess: so did you want to wait for your friend before you order?


v: no, we're not sure if she'll make it in time for dinner. we'll go ahead and sit and eat.


ho-stess: well, i can't hold a big table for you. you can sit here or here (motioning to two tables in non-ideal locations). i'll have to break the tables up but if no one else sits here when your friend comes then she can sit here.


there was a two top at my left and our table that was squeezed in next to a plant. it was a four top- two tables pushed together. the hostess wanted us to sit further away from the occupied two top. q2 didn't look happen and muttered something about feeling smushed.


v: uh, is it possible to sit on the left table?

ho-stess: (huffily) fine

we sit and puruse the menu and decide to share the chicken liver pate, fig & prosciutto salad, braised short ribs, and brussel sprouts. after the appetizers arrive, celestial calls and tells us she's on her way. i notify the hostess.

waiter 1: is your friend coming?

v: yes she's on her way.

waiter 1: well can you order for her?

v: we asked her, she wants to order when she gets here.

waiter 1: (huffily) fine. it would help to get her order in sooner.

v: well, she wants to order when she ges here.

we chat, enjoy our appetizers, which are delicious but i'm starting to really get annoyed with how much they are rushing us. . don't get me wrong, i totally understand they are just trying to run a business and a restaurant needs to flip more tables so they can make more money. . but not at the mistreatment of their current guests!

celestial arrives and looks over the menu. she places her order and soon after our entrees start coming out. everything is well prepared, flavors carefully balanced. short rib is wonderful, tender, succulent, but the portion is somewhat small. the brussel sprouts were a tad sweet for my tastes but contrasted well with the pork. celestial ordered the beet and arugula salad and scallop entree which were both solid. while we were munching on the food the waiter stopped by as if to clear our plates which we were still working on.

i told him we were still working on it then he left us alone til everything was pretty much gone. after clearing out plates he brought us dessert menus. before we even had a chance to glance it over, he stopped by and asked us if we knew what we wanted.

celestial: we haven't had a chance to look it over.

granted we continued to carry on our juicy conversation. . 30 seconds into it, the waiter stopped by again.

waiter 1: what would you like?

celestial: actually, could we have another minute?

waiter 1: it would be great if you could place your dessert order so we can get the table ready for our next guests. there's a long line and we have to get to our next reservation.

we had only been there for an hour and a half!! that was the last straw. we asked for the check. the angry little asian girl in me was ready to ask to speak to the manager but my girlfriends asked me not to make a fuss. so i let it go. . but i will never ever go back to little giant and i will never recommend it to anyone.

while i might not expect good service at a dive or certain restaurants (vietnamese, chinese, etc), if i'm gonna pay over $25 for an entree i expect an all around quality dining experience including decent customer service!