Two words: Trip Advisor. Yep, I said it, and I’m not sure many in our ranks would admit it openly. There are days we love it and days we dread it. Sure, if you work hard and put the time in, you’ll get a good report, right? Wrong! We live in an age so ripe with people wanting to be heard and seen, and Trip Advisor is the perfect place to be an armchair food critic. I like the constructive criticism that gets posted and even make changes sometimes based upon a comment, but the gut-checks are hard to stomach. Pun intended. The downside to Trip Advisor is that you may get a bad review and then it stays there for days or even weeks. Secondly, not everyone who has a great experience takes the time to go online and write a great review. I mean, it’s expected that you’ll enjoy your experience, right? Most of the time people are looking for an outlet to scream at the top of their virtual lungs to let everyone know just how bad their experience was. It’s crushing if you truly take what you do to heart, as most chefs do. How many other businesses live and die by the review? Do you stop going to your bank because the teller was horrible? Chances are you don’t. You just assume that person had a bad day, or they need more training. Look, we’re chefs, but we can’t possibly cook every single thing that comes out of our kitchen. There are days we are dealing with a new hire or are short-staffed. There are times in the kitchen when someone completely screws up an entire batch of something and you have 30 minutes before you open to get it ready again. It’s crazy, but know this: We want to offer you the best. Period. End of story. So the next time you have a bad experience, take into consideration that you have bad days too, that we are all human and subject to errors, and give the staff another chance to make it right. Oh, and if you had a great experience? Please tell everyone on Trip Advisor.
Keep the City Paper free
We don't have a paywall. Each week's printed issue is free. We're local, independent and free. Let's keep it this way.
Please consider a donation of $100 to keep the City Paper free. Donate: chscp.us