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DaveO

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  1. DaveO
    I think one of the best bartenders I've run into for customer service/ knowledge helpful tips is at Fireworks in Arlington. Her name is Gina. While she took our bartending course that has nothing to do with her abilities. She is simply great. Not long ago I ran into some Fireworks employees elsewhere and referenced her. They raved about her also. Before her I didn't think much at all abt the bartenders there. Not helpful, energetic or knowledgeable. That is a place where knowledge could help. They have a huge variety of beers and wines. Huge. Is she a spectacular mixologist? I have no idea. She gives incredible service and is tremendously helpful.
  2. DaveO
    We had a good number of grads hired there over the years. Haven't seen their name much recently in that regard. We'll take their name off our contact list. We also had a lot of grads that liked that place.
  3. DaveO
    Our bartending school has been running a "furlough special" discount. (good for everyone except members of congress) Actually quite a few furloughed people have taken advantage of it, including govt workers and contractors. One of the furloughed students is taking a free refresher having taken our class last year and worked his first event at last years 2 day inaugural balls that we staffed. First event--> he made bank that weekend. Now he picked up a part time gig at a slowish hotel bar, which is a great way to start. Per our conversations some are fed up with the problems. Some of the furloughed folks are long time feds, some newish. They all want to earn extra money. They have gotten a price break on classes and it appears that at least they are having fun while in class and doing something more constructive than totally killing time. A few were spending a lot of time at bars during the first couple of days!!!
  4. DaveO
    One other little piece of info abt Hard Times per this former manager at two of the Hard Times'. They are extraordinarily independent with different people owning different Hard Times' and essentially no corporate controls or quality controls on what they put out. I went back through this thread to 2006 and earlier and people were remarking on the inconsistency between locations. Evidently the different locations have been very independent for a long time which could explain the differences in quality from place to place. Hard Times indeeed. Its hard to find a Hard Times with consistently good menu items across the board and similar to what you might find at a different Hard Times
  5. DaveO
    Cheers to you guys for adapting. Incredible changes.
  6. DaveO
    @Don: This is for you. I was speaking w/ new students at the bar school today. One used to work at Hard Times and in fact said he opened one of the branches years ago. I started telling him my fave dish there and before I could finish he cut in and said......chicken alamo. Yup spicy chicken atop spaghetti with ranch dressing!!!!! He loves it too. he also suggested variations with jalapenos or bacon. Its a great contrast in flavors and tremendously tasty. But make sure they don't bake everything together. That totally screws it up. He also told me his cost of ingredients. oooooooooooooh. There is a good bit of $$$ there for rents and salaries and insurance and phones, etc...but you have to sell a lot of them for the restaurant to make a profit. @ Don: you have to try it before you knock it.
  7. DaveO
    We were at Rays TT3 the other night. It was a burger and cheese steak night. Fries, shakes. Your typical teenage/boardwalk kind of dinner. Of the folks sitting next to us one of the diners returned her burger. They received some complementary fries in the interim. The burger came back and was rejected again. The diners were upset. I do believe they had that burger removed from the check and the folks left somewhat unhappy. Sort of interesting to sit so close to such unhappy folks. Meanwhile we luxuriated on terrific food. Mouthwatering burger. Great greasy cheese steak. Fries were terrific and two shakes to boot. Now if only Rays TT3 had some sand and an ocean. It would be so cool.
  8. DaveO
    I have a digital subscription but don't always access it. I got hit by the nag screen today. Its still in effect. I didn't focus on this sentence the first time. Geez. I so value reporting, investigative reporting, and a source with some credibility as opposed to the flood of nonsense that is all over the web from completely unreliable, non credible, non responsive, non accountable sources. I hope the Post and other sources of journalism continue for a long time to come.
  9. DaveO
    I like the line on the place setting: "Send a Salami to Your Boy in The Army". When I went away to college my mom used to send down salami's. Of course as a kid we also had this randy pet dog that would burst out of the house when he could and race around as much as possible till he got tired and hungry. We used salami to entice him back into the house and so we could grab his collar when he was gallivanting around outside. The dog and I had similar tastes!!!
  10. DaveO
    those are astounding mouth watering pictures. After what seems like a lifetime of pastrami and corned beef I weaned off them. Now I have a terrible jones for pastrami on good rye w/ mustard. oooooh my stomach is grumbling in agony.
  11. DaveO
    First off great pictures above. Can a sandwich be a work of art??? Those two above look good enough!!!! My grandfather, a brother, and some brother in laws had businesses in the lower east side on grand street. My dad, uncle, aunt, tons of distant relatives and all my cousins worked there for periods. Oh man, my dad loved Ratner's and we were there quite a bit. We ate at Katz's also. But frankly so many terrific deli's. There were a lot of good places to get great pastrami or corned beef in my memory...but far fewer dairy restaurants like Ratners. Certainly blasts from the past. thanks to both of you for referencing these long time institutions!!!!!
  12. DaveO
    Chris: I had the burger at Willow a while back. First time. I was expecting "the best" or "one of the best". Didn't blow me away. Was it in top 5?? I guess. Must admit I really enjoy the Wellington burger w/ its toppings at brgr joint. Juuuuuuuuuuuuicy!!!! hm. But ever willing to do more research and must make it to Dino's as it gets such unqualified raves here at DR dot com. Of course between burgers and cheesesteaks at Ray's ...those are also delectable juicy alternatives!!!!
  13. DaveO
    From the past: a retrospective http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2013/10/fine-dining-in-washington-dc-in-1950s.html
  14. DaveO
    Interesting. The vast majority of typical political attacks on WashPost describe it as a liberal "rag". You have identified every single opinion writer from the Conservative/Right political perspective as a reason not to read the Post. ya just can't win. Is it impossible to present balanced perspectives or at least if one doesn't consider individual perspectives "balanced" a smattering of perspectives from across the political perspective? ....and now back to food.....................
  15. DaveO
    Nizam: Ben's Next Door is a very different operation than Ben's Chili Bowl. Can you describe the challenges and what you learned in opening and operating this restaurant/bar.
  16. DaveO
    The DC bar school is offering 25% off, or $445 off available through the end of the furlough, with a payment program. Make a deposit and set up a start time that works for you. Govt ID's necessary. I personally agree with Dean on who should get specials and who shouldn't. But not all staff agree So we graciously to continue to offer all members of congress the program for 3x the normal cost with extensive training in customer service.
  17. DaveO
    We are going to do an email blast from the DC bar school for a discount for people with government ID's to former contacts. We're probably going to offer the program to members of congress also although we'll offer it at 3x the normal price as we'll have to give remedial classes on customer service.
  18. DaveO
    I thoroughly enjoy the quality of the Washington Post, its reporters and writers. Its been sad to me to see the Post and all Newspapers die a slow painful death. Bezos closed on the Post today and now owns it. I do hope the quality of reporting is maintained.
  19. DaveO
    Great choice. Terrific long term DC institution and interesting to see them first expand into the sports venues and now open new retail locations. Good luck to the family with the expansion(s) and I look forward to seeing what he has to say. ...and btw: terrific story about your mom and a former student. It must have made you feel terrific. That is an beautiful testimonial. I invited a former teacher to my wedding. They can be so inspirational!!!
  20. DaveO
    I too have had the french press. Its terrific. Wonderful coffee, perfect for sharing. A real delight.
  21. DaveO
    that is a great reference. In a different journal it generated these limericks and a strong challenge to the big firm's legal attack:
  22. DaveO
    Hoo boy, having worked in the commercial RE world in DC that excuse for delay makes me cringe. Not knowing that one is supposed to get permits for a 12 story exhaust duct in a city w/ endless permits and inspections; ooooof....not knowing. hard to believe. I worked through some occasional big problems w/ construction. Somebody(s) messed up big time somewhere down the chain. Moreover if they were thinking restaurant on the first floor with a 12 story duct....somebody is giving you the ole' buffalo shuffle. Oh well. Good luck. My antiquated knowledge of zoning suggests that 12 stories has to be located somewhere centralish in the downtown city and K street as opposed to Georgetownish or nearer Capitol Hill but zoning laws and trading air rights and newer rules I know nothing about and stuff like that could suggest more location possibilities. Where is this new restaurant to be? And good luck. and btw: whatever menu you are considering a top quality protected duct of that nature should accommodate the big and greasy popular samwhich. I suspect that would be popular whatever the menu.
  23. DaveO
    Here is an article referencing consumer perspectives on quality of information and rating different review sites: http://screenwerk.com/2013/09/24/in-reviews-we-trust-or-not/ Two different studies somewhat different results. With all the bad publicity yelp gets I was surprised by the results in the second survey as it's results were rated relatively high compared to some other review sites.
  24. DaveO
    I agree. At times the comments and snarkiness are pretty funny. Nick's article was simple and right on. With regard to some of the comments, I know our long experience with bartenders and what they earn, was that the $1/drink tip was a fairly standard measuring stick for many years around DC for bartenders for everything, beers and mixed drinks all mixed together. Clearly drink prices have risen in many places as have beer prices. I would expect bartenders to earn more on higher prices; but it was interesting to read the reactions, the resistance to Nick's comment and the reasoning from customers. I suppose there is a lot of resistance to higher prices that surfaces in comments like those. Meanwhile plenty of bars with helpers such as barbacks do tip out to the barbacks. The busier the bar, the harder the barbacks work, its smart for the bartenders to tip out the barbacks handsomely. If a barback services multiple bartenders and one tips out better that bartender will end up getting more help from the barback. Same policy that Nick wrote about for customers applies to treating the barbacks appropriately.
  25. DaveO
    Frankly eating that many hot dogs in a day leaves me feeling very ill. If you are in the mood for a culinary adventure near the big apple, this excursion seems to be a real treat: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/dining/dog-ziggity-new-jerseys-own-hot-dogs.html My fave line from the article: ........"making a gut bomb of indescribable proportions"
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