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"An Open Letter to Restaurants" - Written by Stacey Ballis on ChicagoFoodies.com


JDawgBBall9

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From ChicagoFoodies.com

Saw this somewhere else and figured the discussion would be good here. Focuses solely on experience and not the actual food itself.

The chair comment made me laugh. I am really short and so many chairs and barstools are just horrendous. If I have to worry that planning my mount/dismount from a barstool might cause the thing to tip over (and therefore requires a spotter), I am not coming back. In general, it seems that places who have the least "creative" seating often have the most comfortable seating. Nothing wrong with a "captain's chair" barstool, or a plain, lightly padded banquet chair.

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I wish people would just wear tee shirts that say "Clear when I am done" or "Clear all plates together" so I would know. When I read Yelp or Open Table reviews, we get criticism from "I had to sit in front of my dirty plates until everyone else was finished" or "they gave us the bum's rush by clearing plates as we were done". We try to follow the rule when the plate is pushed away or the silver is on the plate, we clear. Stacking plates is a good sign someone wants their table cleared.

Same thing with the pouring wine question. I will not go to a restaurant that will not let me have the bottle on my table and pour it myself. I have actually had an argument with more than one DC area well known restaurants over wine service.... and have not been back to either!

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The chair comment made me laugh. I am really short and so many chairs and barstools are just horrendous. If I have to worry that planning my mount/dismount from a barstool might cause the thing to tip over (and therefore requires a spotter), I am not coming back. In general, it seems that places who have the least "creative" seating often have the most comfortable seating. Nothing wrong with a "captain's chair" barstool, or a plain, lightly padded banquet chair.

Amen. It takes more effort to gracefully climb up onto a bar stool while being charming and looking good than people over 5'4" realize. Add in a couple of strong drinks and we deserve medals.

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There was a restaurant that I reasonably liked, (which is no longer around) and wherein I liked the owners. But the danged plates were way too big for the little tables, always minimizing the utility and comfort of the restaurant experience.

So as an adjunct to the comments about bad chairs, fat butts and overall comfort with the advise to test everything first before you start using it...do the same not just with the chairs but all the elements that make up the dining experience. Make sure the chairs and other elements that make up the space work right!!!!

Test, test, test, test!!!

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#3, without a doubt. "When you pretentiously give us a list of ingredients and expect we should Karnak them into a delicious dish in our minds, you just look like you care more about the graphic design of the menu than the content of your plates."

Totally agree. Those minimalist menus with no clues on preparation, etc are not appetizing at all, and make me feel like I'm reading the script for an episode of "Chopped".

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