kcl

I've worked in the business for 10 years, and this is true of quite a few places I've worked in. There are some other factors I've seen that seem to be themes in restaurants as well. Restaurants tend to be full of folks who are professional BSers. In Texas, they'd say they're "All hat and no cattle." As a result, you end up with a staff full of servers who can be smooth talkers, but don't care about the intracacies of service. If you hire managers that fall for that crap, (And a lot of managers do, precisely because they were once professional BSing servers who BSed their way into a leadership role) then there's very little accountability in the dining room. On the other hand, I've noticed that if there's a server who actually cares about good service, little is done to reward that server behind the scenes. The server often just gets roped in with the rest of the derelicts, and is forced to contend with spacey hostesses who don't seat the dining room properly, giving an inordinate amount of tables to other servers. Also, ideas for change -- how to make things better for guests -- are often shunned in many restaurants. Managers just don't listen to the employees enough or encourage new ideas. Serving is increasingly looked at as an expendable job that can be filled by anybody who comes in off the street. If you're going to a restaurant where you're seeing new faces just about every time you go in, you can pretty much be guaranteed that the service there is on a slippery slope. The standards get taken down a notch as managers get more desperate to fill the roles once occupied by competent servers who couldn't take the behind-the-scenes crap anymore. To sum up, I think the bad service I've seen around town (and good lord there's a lot of it) is the result of a lack of vision on the part of management. Just like in any business, you can take eager employees with modest skills and build them into a solid staff. Or you can allow BSers to take over a place and act like they're doing their jobs while the point of service at the tables suffers. Management increasingly sees restaurants as formulaic: You take the drink order, then the food order, offer coffee, drop the check. And there are some things that are formulaic. But service always changes, tastes always change, and anyone who repeats the same act at every table at the start, then disappears the rest of the night, just doesn't get it.

I was trying to figure out where in Bethesda served whole crabs for a long time.Not because I was looking for a place to go to eat them, but I was wondering how close to the Irish pub Ri Ra it was. I used to work at a Bethesda restaurant, and after we got off work Ri Ra was the closest place to go for a drink. It was about 1 a.m. on a Saturday night and I remember walking into the men's room, and there was a crab sitting on top of a urinal with its arm wrapped around the stainless steel pipe. Back at the bar, the conversation was turning to the crab and its odd location. Many of us had a boozy conversation about how the crab got there, but no one seemed to know of a crab place near there. Now I know that someone (probably doing the all you can eat feast) smuggled the crab out of Steamers and deposited it on the Ri Ra urinal. What a joker. I used to have a photo of it that i took with my phone, but that phone is long gone... Wait, just searched a map of where Steamers is, and now I'm realizing it was probably Bethesda Crab house on 4900 block of Bethesda Ave -- much closer to Ri Ra. Good story, though ... I only remembered it when I saw this post about crabs in Bethesda.

I thought Jay Coldren quit Indebleu months ago.Anyone know of where he might be working these days?

used to bartend at two upscale restaurants that charged $1.00 to serve a cocktail on the rocks because it was a 3 ounce pour rather than a 2 ounce pour. I always thought that was a pretty good deal. $1 for an extra ounce of whatever call you were drinking. We did it because anybody drinking something on the rocks obviously was pretty hardcore. We also charged a buck for anyone drinking something straight up because it took a 3 ounce pour to fill a martini glass. In fact, I think the place I work now charges $2 extra for a straight up call liquor because it's a heavier pour. No go on the rocks drinks though, they do a straight 1 1/2 to 2 ounce pour. If you want more than that, you pay for a double.

Gave Praline a shot last night. It's definitely off the beaten path, but it was interesting to see an area I had no ideas was there even though I grew up in Silver Spring. Praline reminded me of why I've always been a big fan of French food. We started with the duck confit served with frisee and a sweet sauce. Straightforward, nice combinations of flavors. The duck was fantastic -- made me wish there was more of it stuffed in that big pastry. We also got the three-cheese plate. It was here I could see the service needed a little work. I asked what was on the cheese plate, and the waiter in his thick French accent was like "Oh, it's a combination of American and French. A soft one, a bleu and a hard cheese." When it came out, it was actually a brie, a goat cheese and a bleu. Pretty pedestrian overall, but very nice sized portion. The bleu was good but the rest were boring. We had a hard time finishing it and had to keep shooing the busser from taking it away. Entrees were the steak with french fries and chicken pot pie. I had the chicken, which was pretty awesome. I half expected it to come out like one of those Marie Callendar bowls with the pastry underneath, but the huge pastry sits on top and the chicken is in a fantastic creamy stew with peas and other vegetables. It was half comfort food, half fine french. Great combination. My friend loved her steak -- it had a huge pat of butter on top, reminding me why I love French food. But the steak was so flavorful -- perfectly seasoned, tender, and the fries were okay. Would've been better if they weren't so lukewarm. On the way out, I saw the chef eating the same steak, but his was with green beans. Maybe I'll try it that way next time. Skipped dessert and finished our cheap Malbec. The wine list tends toward the more expensive, but there were some interesting items on there. I was tempted to get the Hendry Block 7 which I haven't had in years, but at $55 we skipped it. Good experience -- too full of wine and food to get dessert. My only real gripe is with the ambiance. I don't mind restaurants in shopping centers, but this place really, really feels like it's in a shopping center. The white railings, drywall ... just not really keenly designed, I guess. If it was warmer we would've sat on the very nice patio. $82.00 before tax and tip.

Did anyone check out the story in the Post's Sunday Source a few weeks ago that reviewed readers' favorite dive bars? click I've been trying to get around to trying some of them, but time's been a little short with finals coming up. Anyway, since I'm already down the road at U-Md, I thought I'd try out the S&J mentioned in the story, which is just a stone's throw away in Riverdale off Queensbury. I spent five years in Baltimore exploring dives, and I think this place is as close as they come to the greatness of some of B-more's dives. Original oil paintings of Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Dale Earnhardt and the Beatles. Wood paneling. Budweiser-sponsored Nascar schedule wall hanging. $2.50 bottles of beer; $3.50 shots of tequila. You might have to ask the bartender to wipe off the bar for you, but the place is otherwise tidy and tacky with a back porch that is so close to the train tracks you can feel the ground shake every time the train blows by. I've gotta get around to try the rest of the ones in the Post story.

I admit a strong bias toward Fells Point because I lived there for 3 years. Inner Harbor tends to be shunned when you're a local 'cause it's where all the tourists hang out. Baltimore's so full of the old-school divey places, it makes no sense to go to the newer ones. Unless, as you say, you're from out of town and don't feel like fighting the parking situation.

You're right, the parking over there has gotten to be a pain. I think the parking lot you're referring to is about to be turned into a condo development, because the parking lot you refer to is now closed to the public and has a trailer-office set up. I park over at the Kennett street garage which is sandwiched between 13th and Newell streets. Kennett runs parallel to East West Highway and you have to jump over some chains and walk through the sketchy rent-a-car lot, but you'll get there eventually. With the new Gallery restaurant in there and the upcoming condo development, they really need to build a better thoroughfare from the public garage to the Blair Mill arts center.

Samantha's also has some pretty excellent pupusas. Ceviche is always incredible and a very good value for how much you get. Nicer "contemporary Latin" restaurants serve half the portion and charge $3 or $4 more than Samantha's. The neighborhood's slightly sketchy, but it goes with the territory in finding unexpected hole-in-the-wall type places like Samantha's. One odd little gripe, though. I wish they'd make the bar a little more friendly to sit at. They use it more like a server work station with wine bottles all lined up on the edge of the bar, weird little signs posted everywhere. That's my only complaint because I go there to eat alone sometimes and I prefer the bar when I do that.

The original Wharf Rat in Fells Point is far preferable to the place on Pratt. In Fells, the wood, low ceilings and locals fit the bill for a well-worn old school harbor bar as opposed to the touristy new-schoolness of the Pratt St. location. It's not within spitting distance of the ballpark, however, but a short drive to Fells Point is a much better option than any of the more expensive and freshly scrubbed concepts around the ballpark.

I have to say the fries at lunch at Hank's Oyster Bar were pretty awesome. I didn't think to order any because the crab cake sandwich came with some nice greens taused in vinaigrette. But a friend ordered them and I got some evil looks when I stole a whole bunch of fries off her plate.

An early review by local rag the Silver Spring Voice. clicky The Voice seemed to like it, but there hasn't been much comment on this board. Has anyone else checked this place out yet?

To back up Nadya, being someone who also worked at a restaurant where someone rolled in with one of these obtrusive wheeled things... The man on his Segway never mentioned he was on the thing because he was disabled. It's not very obvious to any restaurant worker as they address a man standing on a wheeled object where their head nearly scrapes the ceiling that they are disabled. Especially when they roll in, demand a table, then stand on the thing as their head still scrapes the ceiling, waiting for a table alongside the crowds of other people 24 inches or so below them. Then roll up to the table and dismount. Sorry if I'm a little callous Edited to correct grammar

I think I know this guy! Back in Feb - May of '05, I used to work at Rock Creek Restaurant in Bethesda, and this 60-something man used to roll in with the segway. The owner HATED this guy because he would just come bursting through the door with the thing. It was funny because he would stand there on the thing while waiting for the table and then roll over to the table and dismount. I guess he had a little trouble walking, but I always wondered why he had no trouble standing on that thing for the half hour he was waiting for a table.

Next to 7-Eleven and across the street from the main shopping center in College Park is a little flourescent-lit Chinese restaurant called China Cafe. It's dirt cheap and you order from the counter, but the food is really pretty good. I got turned on to it by the City Paper food critic last semester, and they're able to do a damn fine job with their food for the prices they charge.