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Ray's the Steaks and Retro Ray's (Next Door) - Michael Landrum's Steakhouses in Courthouse - Closed


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About 3 months ago helplessly trapped on a stupid little usair plane waiting for those dumb busses to show up to take us to the terminal, one word was spoken. Ray's. That was all. Nothing else was necessary. We went there straight from the airport with luggage in tow (which they kindly stored for us) and Michael was there. It was a Sunday night.

It also turned out to be the best single word spoken in months. Steaks were phenomenal and service impeccable. Nothing has changed. We also tried the appetizer that has a huge scallop, huge shrimp and a shot of bisque. It was excellent as well.

I note that I was in there again a few weeks ago and they had bar stools at the bar in the back room (the retro room?). I don't recall seeing those there before. Nice option for a solo diner craving a good meal.

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Does anyone know what the menu for Retro Rays is???  How is it different from Ray's?  I couldn't find it on his website and menupages seemed to have the same Ray's the Steaks.

And now a very belated response to this question.....

Retro Ray's is "there".   Like Kate I had noticed that Retro Ray's, which did have a "separate menu" a bit ago, had not added it to the site.  I'd think that Michael Landrum doesn't pay much attention to the website.  He may simply not be thinking about it, or alternatively has other reasons for not posting the details.  I wouldn't know.

I had meant to stop by, copy the menu, and post it here.  Haven't gotten around to doing so.  The menu featured different dishes at significant discounts off of typical Ray's fare and some different items, I think scallops wrapped in bacon as an example.  Possibly I'll get around to it this week.

Although looking at this response...the following response to the question above....did not, sadly, I must report, come from my efforts, nor was it accomplished on a timely basis.   Alas!!!!

Anyways here is Retro Rays or what is now called the Bistro's menu...per a newish website that I happened to chance on today....

post-2-0-35693700-1440771612_thumb.pngpost-2-0-15233600-1440771626_thumb.png

You can work your way through "starters", lighter fare, and the old traditionals;  certainly more informative than some months ago.

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And now a very belated response to this question.....

Although looking at this response...the following response to the question above....did not, sadly, I must report, come from my efforts, nor was it accomplished on a timely basis.   Alas!!!!

Anyways here is Retro Rays or what is now called the Bistro's menu...per a newish website that I happened to chance on today....

attachicon.gifScreenshot 2015-08-28 at 10.32.03.pngattachicon.gifScreenshot 2015-08-28 at 10.32.18.png

You can work your way through "starters", lighter fare, and the old traditionals;  certainly more informative than some months ago.

Thanks very much for posting the menu!

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I remain unclear on what the Bistro is.  Made reservations at Ray's for dinner last Saturday, at 6 p.m.  What I think of as the main dining room wasn't full but we were placed all the way in the back, past the bathrooms, which I thought was the Bistro?

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BTW:   In the last week I was able to pop in to Rays and ate in the Bistro or Retro Rays (whatever it is called) at the bar.  I had one of the smaller portion steaks, sides and wine.

Just a superb meal, and priced reasonably.  Service was "fun" actually with some banter.   It was a wonderful and well priced meal.  Kudo's to Rays.

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I saw this and am passing it along:

"Ray's the Steaks Affiliate Seeks Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection" by Rebecca Cooper on bizjournals.com

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Here's hoping for a good result and a soft landing.

Nooooooo!!

(In the restaurant business, does filing for Chapter 11 usually mean the restaurant is closing?  I so hope it doesn't.....for Landrum's sake, and also after losing our regular Mothers' Day spot this week in Willow, I would be so sad to lose my son's and mother's favorite birthday spot!!!)

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Chapter 11 for a smallish company is a crapshoot. Might come in for a soft landing and continue, might crash and burn. Memo to self, check filings, but not right away. The real action doesn't come soon after filing. Wait until the creditors have their say, and the judge starts ruling.

Group dinner to support Michael would be a lovely gesture. Pennies in the pot, realistically, but showing love for Michael is a Good Thing.

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Had a recent dinner at Rays the Steaks.  Two apps, (cups of crab bisque), two small portion steaks, the sides, two glasses of wine, one beer, and one dessert and coffee.   All was fine.  We left very happy, satiated and overly full.  They were full dinners for two people without big appetites.  Average checks came to mid $50's before tax and tip.  Neither of us are wine experts or big drinkers.  Otherwise we could have spent considerably more.   We could also have dined for considerably less.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meal.

Before going I glanced at some steakhouse menus, in one context simply to compare prices. Specifically I looked at Bobby Van's and BLT, as those were the two steakhouses that gained some infamy for accumulating about $168,000 in revenues from the campaign expenses of now ex Congressman Eric Cantor.  I was curious on two levels.  How do prices compare....and how could those pols spend so much money at those steakhouses???

On those points:   On web based menu prices both Bobby Vans and BLT list prices.  Comparable steak offerings are significantly higher.  I'm sure everything is higher.  By a lot.   Interestingly I looked a bit deeper at some other web menus for DC based steakhouses.  Many of them no longer have prices.   No prices.  Dang that is irritating.  Fiola Mare and the Grill Room have prices on their menus, but a good number of the steakhouses don't consider it necessary.

Steakhouses.  They are the epitome of expense account restaurants.  When the business is paying who cares about the price.   But consumers do want to visit these places.  No prices.  I find that insulting.  (From the context of reviews in this forum, wherein price and value are frequently mentioned, they place themselves out of the conversation.)

As to the political "thing".   I found a webpage (which I now can't source) that listed almost $600,000 in food expenses for the Canter campaign in its last year.  It broke them down, place by place, and type of expense.   I was hoping to find outrageous examples of meetings at expensive restaurants.

But it was the opposite, at least in the above example.  The expensive meals at the steakhouses and some other fine restaurants were always catered events, possibly fundraising.   The meals associated with meetings came from many everyday establishments.  Of course there was a lot of it, as evidenced by that total amount, but Canter isn't that different in that regard from many politicians.  Some do spend enormous sums on food.   DC/Politicians/restaurants and food-->  Its really a very "healthy" industry.

So, my "investigation" didn't turn up a price comparison between Ray's and other steakhouses, but its quite obvious there is a huge difference in costs.  From about 1985 to '95 I was a fairly regular "host" for clients at DC and Tysons steakhouses, often at lunch, less frequently at dinner.  They weren't exactly expense account dinners, as my colleagues and I (as commission based brokers) took expenses off the top of transaction income and split them. (so I paid some attention to costs)  I do know, though that some of those "expense account dinners" were coming in at significantly more than mid $50's/per person before tax and tip....and that was at minimum 20 years ago.

Steakhouses--> ridiculously expensive and so connected to corporate business they don't even feel the need to post prices.    Ray's--> in my mind, completely similar in quality of steaks, and at a fraction of the cost.  I'll take Ray's.

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Ray's--> in my mind, completely similar in quality of steaks, and at a fraction of the cost.  I'll take Ray's.

I'd be (pleasantly) surprised, based on the apparent financial issues, if it isn't sold to a local restaurant group within the next six months.  Hopefully, they work everything out with their creditors and keep it going as-is, but if the creditors balk I'd guess that's where things are headed.  There's too much goodwill in the business for it to simply close.

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Stopped by the other night to sample dishes from the new menu that features seafood, burgers, and lower cost fare aside from steaks

Shrimp scampi dish features grande grande firm beautiful shrimp.   My preference are scampi overwhelmed with garlic and lemon flavorings.  While these didn't hit the kind of "excess" I favor they were quite flavorful, huge, firm, and well prepared.  Sides of asparagus spears and mashed potatoes were quite impressive.   The salmon, which I only tasted was similarly impressive.   We also saw a huge burger being consumed by a nearby diner.  Everything else par for the course, which I consider quite nice.   I like the choices from the cafe menu.  More diversity, different price points, nice additions from my perspective.

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Went the other night for Hubby's bday.  I thought the wine list wasn't what it used to be, but everything was tasty, as usual.  Although the crab bisque I thought was a little thinner than it sometimes is, but still very good.  The place was so hot though, I am not sure why they didn't open the doors and let some cool are in, it was stifling hot.  

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Went the other night for Hubby's bday.  I thought the wine list wasn't what it used to be, but everything was tasty, as usual.  Although the crab bisque I thought was a little thinner than it sometimes is, but still very good.  The place was so hot though, I am not sure why they didn't open the doors and let some cool are in, it was stifling hot.  

Due to proximity and convenience I eat there sporadically.  Sometimes the crab bisque is a bit thinner.  Most of the time its thicker.  I prefer it thicker.  Taste remains the same.

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We had dinner there last night.  My SO ordered the long bone ribeye (a.k.a. tomahawk chop).  The server said that it is a new item that they just started carrying this week.  Well marbled and charred.  He looked like Fred Flintstone but had a blast eating it.

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My thoughts during and after the DR.com dinner:

New Yorkers who frequent most food web sites are a smug lot. They smirk at us safe in their knowledge that their little island holds the best haute cuisine temples, the best pizza joints, the best Jewish delis, the best bare-bones steakhouses.

But I've got news for them. Ray's the Steaks is our Peter Luger. Sure, they have their different approaches, but look at the similarities.

Peter Luger's is all about the meat. And it is magnificent meat. Aged on the premises. Cooked the way you want it at high temperature. Deep, buttery flavor and texture. But Ray's is about the meat too. All the same praise that has been heaped on Luger's porterhouse can be said about Ray's strips or their other cuts. Maybe some will give Luger's meat a slight edge, but maybe that's just because they pour butter on their steaks right before serving them. Cheating? You tell me.

But give me Ray's crab bisque and scallops and Key Lime pie any day over Luger's tired tomato and onion salad. Ray's does more than one thing well. Luger really doesn't.

Granted, Luger has a 115 year head start on Ray's. But arguments can be made on both sides.

If only Michael would add an appetizer of thick sliced bacon, I'd never have to go to Brooklyn again.

The DR.com dinner at Ray's back in December 2005 (above) was in fact my first formal date with my (now) wife.

We've been back fairly consistently over the years, but tonight was the first time in about three, since Ray's East is closed and we were overseas from 2008-2010 and 2013-2015.  We of course took our two anklebiters, 8mos and 3yrs respectively.

The meal was excellent.  Our eldest partook quite well of the kid's sirloin ($7.99, ordered medium).  We shared the onglet and the black and bleu NY Strip, both outstanding.  The crab bisque recipe hasn't changed much, and features lumps of crab larger than I've seen nearly anywhere.

A word on the service.  Before becoming a father I was much more... insensitive to good service, being that I had fewer time and patience restrictions.  Now it is a big deal, and Ray's did not disappoint.  Thank you for being so very kind, and for the utterly unnecessary comp on the delicious key lime pie we had to close the meal.

We leave the U.S. again in June and need to ensure at least one return to Ray's.

P.S. whatever happened to BilRus?

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On December 22, 2016 at 9:58 AM, DonRocks said:

DC is not a big steak city; it's a big *chain* steak city. Other than Ray's the Steaks, what do we have? One local steakhouse does not a steak city make. 

Does anyone even remember how *good* Ray's the Steaks was when it had Landrum, Hartzer, and Slipp in one small restaurant? Granted, that was a temporary situation while Michael was prepping to expand, but it still lasted about a year. I may have even raised Ray's the Steaks to Bold for a period of time, because the side orders had gotten so strong; those days are gone, I'm sorry to say.

I was just discussing this with a friend the other day: We trail New York, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas for sure, and maybe some other cities, too - I think it would be a badge of honor to be considered "a steakhouse town" if it was organic product; this overpriced chain stuff is no more impressive than Seasons 52.

I remember having lunch at the Hell Burger followed by dinner at Ray`s on the same day. It was a great day :)

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It's been some years since we've been to Ray's the Steaks but we were tired of our usual rotation restaurants and decided to revisit.  It's still good and still a good deal!  I think the wine has gotten more expensive, but the $26 malbec I got was just fine!  Wine was a perfect temperature too (rare these days!) Crab bisque, hangar steak, steak au poivre, sides same quality as before.  Service still good.  I think only cholesterol concerns will keep me from adding it to my regular rotation, but I've added it to my once in a while rotation.

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Was back for the first time in awhile on Monday for my daughter's 6th birthday. For her birthday dinner, she said she wanted to go to a steak restaurant.  This would be her first experience with steak in a restaurant, except for steak kababs, which don't really count.  Otherwise, her prior numerous experiences with steak were off of the grill out in the backyard.  Derek and company treated her fabulously - and she loved her kids sirloiin.  It looked like about a 6oz cut.  Both girls (the other is 4 years old) liked the crab bisque, but it was a bit more watery than I remember it.  I had the NY strip, brandy mushroom cream; wife had the salmon diablo; other daighter the kids burger.  Both kids also liked the mashed potatoes and somewhat surprisingly the creamed spinach.  The kids menu was a great deal - definitely will be a consideration for more regular meals now that the girls are older.

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Anyone know what's going on with Ray's?

Had dinner there a few days ago, and the place feels like they have given up. The nicer of the two dining rooms is closed off and looks like it's being used for storage, boxes are piled up on the host station, and the website is now bare bones, and reads, "please enjoy the internet without us."

It felt like the place was about to shut down. 

Which is a shame, because we had a typical excellent meal...the filet, strip and bavette were all wonderful, the crab bisque delicious and filled with lump crab, and the bill was still drastically lower than we'd see at any fancy steakhouse. 

I sincerely hope this isn't the end for Ray's the Steaks.

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38 minutes ago, mtureck said:

the website is now bare bones, and reads, "please enjoy the internet without us."

Ray's has *always* felt like it was about to shut down. :)

When you go to Hell-Burger in City Vista, you're like ... 'Really?' But the burgers are amazing!

I went to their website a couple of months ago, and I'm pretty sure it said the same thing.

That having been said, I would not assume Michael Landrum needs to be toiling away the rest of his life - that man is no dummy.

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2 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Ray's has *always* felt like it was about to shut down. :)

When you go to Hell-Burger in City Vista, you're like ... 'Really?' But the burgers are amazing!

I went to their website a couple of months ago, and I'm pretty sure it said the same thing.

That having been said, I would not assume Michael Landrum needs to be toiling away the rest of his life - that man is no dummy.

I hope you're right, but I've been there many, many times...and it's never felt/looked like this. 

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We were there last night. There was a sign posted near the front dining room that said it was temporarily closed, and will be reopened as something new that will allow diners to enjoy Ray's in a more casual setting. No idea what that means, and doubt we'll be getting any hints. 

The food was solid as ever. Their dry-aged ribeyes on special are my favorite steaks in this area.

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Posted without comment - a story from a reliable friend of mine about her visit earlier this week.

Quote

We had a reservation for tonight. Me and two of the five in our party arrived. The other two were coming from the metro.

Group in front of us asked to be seated without the whole group being there. Guy says no. They say but she’s 30 seconds away. Guy says ok and seats them.

We ask to be seated. Guy says no. We say our other two are just a block or so away. He says no, it’s the policy blah blah I can’t seat you.

Ok I say but you seated the party ahead of us and they didn’t have everyone.

Guy says it’s up to me I don’t have to seat you at all. Friend tries to intervene says we just want to get a drink and get settled can we get a drink while we wait. Guy says no we don’t do that blah blah we have been doing it this way for 15 years... etc.

Me: again, you seated the people before us so we were asking to also be seated.

Guy: you are getting frustrated and I can refuse you service.

Friend: yes you mentioned that.

Me: makes face like oh hell no you wouldn’t

Guy: you know what I am not going to seat you tonight. Have a good night.

Me and Friend: texting our other friends what’s going on.

Guy: i am asking you to leave. He goes and opens the door for us.

We leave.

Oh, and this was all conversational tone of voice - no voices raised on either side.

 

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Wow. I feel like Michael Landrum would want to know about this interaction. That is not the hospitality that Ray's has shown over the last how-ever-many years it's been in this location, and it does not sound acceptable. Did your friend email the restaurant to describe this? (I understand if she didn't, since she may have figured that she'd never go back there if she'd been treated like that - an offer of something like a free meal might not be that welcome if she had to face that same host.)

This is one of our go-to celebration spots, and I thought we would likely take our son there to celebrate his graduation next month. But not if I have to worry that we'll make a reservation and then be kicked out if the host feels we're "getting frustrated" by treating his different groups differently, and/or doesn't like an expression on someone's face.

Edit: I can picture a host being frustrated that he'd made a change in policy for one party and now regretting it. But taking it out on a customer who wasn't being disruptive or raising her voice when she asked for the same change in policy, and immediately jumping to 'I don't have to seat you...I can refuse you service...I am not going to seat you tonight" is a huge escalation, and sounds completely unwarranted and a far worse precedent to set.

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21 hours ago, Genevieve said:

This is one of our go-to celebration spots, and I thought we would likely take our son there to celebrate his graduation next month. But not if I have to worry that we'll make a reservation and then be kicked out if the host feels we're "getting frustrated" by treating his different groups differently, and/or doesn't like an expression on someone's face.

I don't think it's fair to reconsider it as one of your go-to spots because of one data point. I'm a big fan of RTS, and continue to be so, and probably should have had that disclaimer in my original post. I'm hoping it was just a one-off interaction, but I also wanted to make sure my friend's voice was heard.

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1 hour ago, DanielK said:

I don't think it's fair to reconsider it as one of your go-to spots because of one data point. I'm a big fan of RTS, and continue to be so, and probably should have had that disclaimer in my original post. I'm hoping it was just a one-off interaction, but I also wanted to make sure my friend's voice was heard.

I hear you, and I usually don't make my decisions based on one data point, but this was a pretty extreme one.

I'm just potentially reconsidering it for a specific celebration where I would not want a damper put on it by this kind of behavior by the host. Not for all time.

It is one of my son's favorite places, so we may still go.

Edit: I just hope Michael Landrum takes action so this doesn't happen again.

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You only got one side of the story and the person was pressing the host.  I think the host was having a bad day, but he wouldn't have refused service without the pressing.  I understand people should be treated equally in general but sometimes circumstances warrant exceptions - allowing the elderly to get seated comes to mind as an worthy exception espoused by our esteemed member Tom Sietsema.

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People are just so late, now. I hate that policy, but I'm an on time person and then friends are late and we can't get seated. It's hard for the restaurant. 

It must have been really annoying to see someone else get seated despite the policy. But, it also sucks for the restaurant to have tables not fully seated for long periods of time. 

People should really work on being on time! (Doctors, too!)

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My issue isn't that he refused to seat the second party until they were all there, it's that he kicked them out of the restaurant.

They had a reservation. He disagreed with them about a policy, and he was within his rights to do so (I imagine he was regretting having made the exception for the first party when it led to this). If he'd just done that, I wouldn't have a major issue, even though he'd made an exception for one party and not the other. But then telling them he wasn't going to honor their reservation seems like a big and unwarranted escalation. They'd planned and made a reservation, had people arriving there to meet them, and now they had to go find someplace else on no notice. 

We will still go there sometimes, and I appreciate having such a great steak place so near, but I'm worried that if one of my party gets frustrated about something before we're seated, that we could get kicked out when we'd planned a celebration.

Edit: I agree that the customer was pressing the host when he'd already said no. That must have been annoying for the host. But I'm sure customers do and say annoying things while waiting, and part of customer service is being patient and diffusing that kind of thing ("I understand that you're frustrated, and I'm sorry that I can't seat you yet. I made an exception which I really shouldn't have, and I can't let it become a change in policy for everyone. As soon as your party is here I will seat you.") Not kicking people out who have a reservation.

Edit #2: Customer service is really really difficult and I don't have to do it in my daily life. I feel badly when I see customers treating waitstaff or hosts (or retail workers, etc.) rudely or blaming them for policies they don't have control over. I make a strong effort to treat waitstaff/hosts/retail workers with courtesy and I know it must be extremely frustrating for them when customers don't do that.  In this case, I would likely have asked to be seated (since an exception had been made), would not have pressed the point as far as this customer, but would have been annoyed at the inconsistency. However, I could have people in my party who would be more upset about the inconsistency and would have pressed this far (though they would not have raised their voices, and this customer said that she did not do that either).

And I agree on the lateness. Last night we went out for a belated Mothers' Day celebration, and I arrived on time but the rest of my party missed a train and arrived a full half-hour late. After 15 minutes of waiting at the table by myself with a drink and reading the menu, I went to the host stand and said that my party was late and was still going to be a while, and asked if he needed the table.  He said no, they were fine, but he appreciated me asking.

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On 5/16/2018 at 9:12 AM, Genevieve said:

My issue isn't that he refused to seat the second party until they were all there, it's that he kicked them out of the restaurant.

Please don't doubt your initial opinion. I would have either not left, or spat in the person's face and *still* not left.

I would also like to hear both sides of the story (actually, I'd like the person who wrote the initial letter to chime in - it doesn't make any sense that they would obediently leave, and then that's that).

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I agree that we have only heard one side of the story.  After re-reading the story, my question:  if the remaining party was only one or two blocks away, why not just wait for them to arrive?  Sounds like it would have only been 3 minutes.

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2 hours ago, hopsing said:

I agree that we have only heard one side of the story.  After re-reading the story, my question:  if the remaining party was only one or two blocks away, why not just wait for them to arrive?  Sounds like it would have only been 3 minutes.

They weren't given that option. They saw the incomplete party ahead of them get seated, asked for the same treatment, and after just a minute or two of calm exchange were asked to leave.

This was a (non-DR-member) friend of mine who I trust. She posted it on Facebook, I asked a couple of qualifiers and got her permission to post it here. I don't think she's really interested in following up on it.

If anyone from RTS still hangs out here, I'd be happy to put them in touch with her directly. The email address I had for ML is no longer active.

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Sometimes people don't know what their voices sound like, or how aggressive their body language can be, or even how repetitive the exchange has become, when they believe they are communicating calmly regarding a matter in dispute. Especially when they believe with some justification that they've been 'hard done by,' as the English say.

That said, even in the face of some emotion, a host who has made an exception to a long standing rule and then denied that same exception to a party who was standing right there and witnessed said exception, should have more in his arsenal than "You know what, I'm not going to seat you." Perhaps his true calling, which I'm sure we all hope he finds, lies somewhere outside the host/maitre d' arena.

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8 hours ago, Pat said:

How many people have worked there 15 years?

Are you raising the possibility I think you are? ("No comment" is a perfectly acceptable reply.)

Call me blindly naive, but I can honestly say that not once did this occur to me.

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8 hours ago, Pat said:

How many people have worked there 15 years?

7 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Are you raising the possibility I think you are? ("No comment" is a perfectly acceptable reply.)

I will go ahead and say that I was pondering whether to raise that possibility, knowing of the restaurant only what I have learned by reading this site for many many years.

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