Comments on My Liquid Lunch

I hate ordering at the bar! That's what I hate most about the UK.

Never post a review before a place has been doing a meal service for at least a month. It's just not fair. Plus, the review typically becomes irrelevant quickly as the kinks get worked out. Not that this is really a review. And, yes, it's beyond annoying not to get the lunch one ordered. But still.

Fuck that. Don't go back. What kind of shit is this?

I've never understood that. 'C'mon, sure they're happy to take your money, but you can't actually expect them to be competent!'


I wish I could find me a job like that.

It's not a review. It's a blog post. And it's really not in all that critical. I even praise the place, and swear to return -- perhaps later this afternoon. How is this unfair exactly?

@2: Not getting your food is a pretty big "kink".

plastic cups? you jest. jesus. i didn't know i cold BE so offended.

I thought water was what you usually had for lunch. . .

Yep, branch water and bourbon, Matt...

...water so think you need a knife to cut it?

Quinn's food is good, but they need to give up on the gastropub thing and just embrace being a restaurant. If you're going to be a pub, don't make people wait to be shown to a table during dinner. If you're going to be a restaurant, don't make people order from the bar at lunch. Also, they need to do away with the fradulent mini-imperial pint glasses. If it's an American pint, put it in an American pint glass.

Please tell me more about these pretzels. Thanks.

thick even (like my skull)... sheesh!

Thud need edit. edit good.

An American pint glass? You don't say.

What the fuck is wrong with plastic cups for water? Personally I'd use a paper ala Dixie cup, but if you're offended by my damn water cup, get the fuck out of my bar. Goddamn pretentious seattle urbanites.

At $12 for a burger, yeah, plastic cups are offensive.

Jesus, could you be more passive-aggressive? You wait until you don't have time to eat to inform the staff about your missing meal. How about next time you wait ten minutes and say something to the poor mortal who can't read your thoughts? But then I guess you wouldn't have anything to slog about.

If I waited an hour at a place and never got my food, I would not go back for a very, very long time, if ever again.

You must be a pushover, Dan. There are times to raise hell and let the staff know their negligence is NOT okay.

Shut up, Emily. Go play with anthrax.

That burger is fucking delicious.
Easily the best burger in Seattle

Plastic cups for water? On Cap Hill? WTF are they thinking? I already hate them for that fact alone.

This is less of a review and more of Dan positioning himself for free lunch at Quinn's forever.

Now I feel better about paying $19.41 for a burger and a cup of brewed coffee.

I went to Dick's for a hamburger late - got it in about 30 seconds.

Hmmm, wonder what that says about lunch - pay $1.20 for a hamburger or $1.40 for a cheeseburger - or wait for half an hour and get zero $12 burgers ...

I was wondering the same thing as Emily, without the vitriol. Why didn't you, when you first noticed your meal wasn't forthcoming (say, within a few minutes of your companion receiving his/hers), ask about it at the bar? That's a great way to remind the folks working there about an order that might have fallen through the cracks. You shouldn't have had to remind them, but at least that way you could have eaten.

@9 Mmmm. Bourbon. I love bourbon. . .

I think I saw you leaving, Dan.

My pork belly sandwich (and my friend's tuna) came without a hitch, but we were at the bar. So they couldn't avoid seeing us.

Because I'm... patient. By the time I realize I ought to go say something, Cori, it was already too late for me to eat a burger if they could get one to me instantly.

Patience is not a virtue, Dan.

maybe ecce homo is a cook there.

just be happy he didn't pee in your food...

This one time at our favorite Korean place in Ann Arbor they brought my partner's food and then I sat. And sat. But I continued to ask about my meal as my partner finished his (it was soup; we didn't want it to get cold). And I continued to ask. I mean, I was getting something that wasn't terribly complicated. At some point--I think 20 minutes after the other food came--I just told them to forget it. Forget my food, I said. But they brought it out eventually, I ate a bit, and they gave it to me for free. The manager even came over to apologize.

Great story, huh?

You mean, at this very moment, if someone were to ask the bar to take a hamburger inventory, one would find an extra 'unclaimed' burger, just waiting for the eating...

And, if so, it's probably up for grabs. And, that means we have the proper setting for a bonafide race-for-the burger. I'm already out the door. wooooooooosh.

I LOOOOOOVE having fits in restaurants when I get FUBAR service.

Seriously. It's fun.

I turn into Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces when he wants the toast.

24. Best point Will's made in a while.

Look, I'm patient too. I eat out at a lot of restaurants and sometimes food takes a while to get to you. It happens, and it's hardly ever a big deal. But there's a threshold, usually around the 30 minute mark, but definitely when those who ordered at the same time as you are already eating their food, that something's clearly wrong.

Patience is cool, Dan, but recognize that threshold, because when you reward such negligence, you're not only setting a precedent for shitty service that screws you, but all the rest of us that go to these same establishments to eat.

... not that I'll ever eat a meal at Quinns given this and other experiences and tales. I've seen and heard enough to avoid them.

Wouldn't go back there again for a long time. Sometimes you need to remind those responsible for serving / giving you your food to get their act together and find thy order.
At those prices I would hope for a better system and at least table service.

@15
if anyone ever handed me a plastic cup, i'd hand them their arm.

my, this is a fun thread, isn't it?

I can't tell from this picture -- is that a disposable plastic cup or a plastic tumbler?

It looks disposable which I just find so... odd...

I've never paid $12 for a burger in my life, and probably never will. Jesus, what a rip-off!

No, those have the @1 or @2 markers on the bottom, @37, so you can recycle them .... with your borrowed American dollars that are now worth $35 billion less today.

i agree: what the fuck? why go back ever, much less in the same day?

@11: An imperial pint is larger (568 ml), than a US pint (473 ml).

@38: There are some (few?) burgers that are worth it. The quality of the ingredients can make a big difference.

@39: I guess I mean: "Are these cups you use once and throw away or the kind you throw in the dishwasher?"

I'm still waiting to hear more about these pretzels.

Also, props to Dan for repeatedly responding to posts in his thread. I wish more sloggers did that.

That burger's getting tinier by the minute under the heat lamp, waiting for you to return.

Yeah, when I order something and it never comes, that's pretty much the end of it for me.

Good service is a deal breaker. Your food may be the best in the world but I won't enjoy it if I have to eat it while pissed off.

If you get a 10% tip from me it's not because I'm cheap, it's because I feel bad for the busboy.

Oh yeah, and plastic cups are a disposable petroleum product... THAT'S what's wrong with them. If they are going to use disposable stuff it should at least be biodegradable.

I'm normally with you, Monkey. But the place has only been open for lunch for two days, and I've had nothing but terrific service the half a dozen times I've been in for dinner. So I'll be back.

They make their own pretzels, they arrive warm, they're crispy on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside, with just the right amount of large-grain salt coverage, and... and this is the best part... a beer-cheese dipping sauce that is absolutely fucking delicious.

And, I'm sorry, but some burgers are worth $12. And some, of course, are worth $1.50. Enjoying the latter doesn't require you to disparage the former and vice-versa.

@40 He's letting them know he'll be returning so they can prepare the red carpet. Dinner will be on the house, no doubt.

Proper restaurant etiquette entails making eye contact with one of those loitering staff-people no less than five minutes after your dining partner has been served, and intoning:

GODDAMMIT, GET ME MY BURGER!!!

Quinns looks too pretentious (gastropub?) and expensive for me. But then again so did Oasis across the street, and I ate there yesterday. We ate pretty good food, but what I loved most was that the guy running the floor was SO FRIENDLY. My friend had given him a cd awhile back and he put it on when he saw that she had come in. And we got free tea, because they have a couple Free Tea Days a week. He complimented, flirted, asked us back, got us our food in under ten minutes, asked us about karate...

You should have gone there, Dan. Lunch should be a happy occasion, and at the very minimum, you should get the food you ordered.

hm, must try their pretzel.

I'm semi-addicted to the pretzels from the "Continental Store" on Roosevelt, although they are only available on certain days and quickly sell out.

What kind of idiots would see Dan Savage sitting foodless at a restaurant table and not think, "Damn, we'd better get something on his plate before he Slogs about it?" Did they just move to Seattle yesterday? I don't mean this to be rude, but Dan, you're fairly recognizable -- especially on the Hill.

There's something to be said for the terrible service at many (if not just about all) dining establishments in this supposedly food-rich city. In REAL cities, people actually make a career out of server positions. Even -- well, OK, ESPECIALLY -- at "gastropubs."

Dan @47: While I can't say that I've never paid $1.50 for a burger, I'm guessing that gas was about 35¢ a gallon at the time it happened. The best burger in town here, which is a very good burger indeed, will set you back about $8-$9. Maybe your cost of living is that much higher there (if so, you have my sympathy), but that still seems like a lot to pay for a burger.

I just realized that there's a place in Ann Arbor that can totally top these prices. Google "Zingerman's Roadhouse" and check out the menu. We're talking $14 burgers and $17 (!!!!) macaroni and cheese. Sigh.

528: And where is this purportedly-best-burger?

Monkey, I'm the opposite. Bad service is a deal breaker for me.

Best Burger?

Easy. Scott Simpson's new place, Lunchbox Labratory.

Totally nice guy, too.

@55, That would be either the Wazee Supper Club or My Brother's Place (same ownership). In Denver.

Fuck You SLOGGG.. you just made me miss Kristy Yamaguchi on Dancing with The Stars.... how COULD you?????

52. The sort of idiots who know he'll forgive them, come back and pay full price for the next meal anyway.

I have to admit I would have waited an hour without speaking up, too. Of course I'm the shy and timid type. My husband on the other hand is very good at being an asshole when the occasion requires it of him.

Generally speaking we tend to give the benefit of the doubt to our servers. Neither of us can stand it when people are needless rude to the poor schmuck behind the counter.

from some other posts - Dan - you missed a potential chance to puke

too bad

pay and puke at Quinns, so they say on Slob

Well, yeah, I can't stand the belligerent asshole who has to raise hell every time something is so slightly off, or the smartass who puts five dollar bills on the table, says it's the server's tip, and pulls a dollar off the table every time he believes the server screws up.

You don't have to rant and rave. Just say something. Speak up. As Dan implied in the original entry, maybe they just forgot about him. Make them remember.

@62: Likes to troll in free verse. I think it's a conceptual art project.

Dear M,

Yamaguchi ROCKED on DWTS!

Everyone else, pretty much sucked.

Quinn's?

So what if its got a great location.
Ever had a partially full beer taken away from you when the table is cleared. Well...you can enjoy that experience here.

...and not the food is not that great. Six Arms, Crave, Eylsian, fuck it evens Dicks taste better in my mouth than Quinn's! Dig It!