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If there’s one thing to be learned when reviewing restaurants, it’s that not all units have the same vibe. This is what was learned when my husband and I went to Javier’s Mexican Restaurant in the Irvine Spectrum in Irvine, CA.
There is another, very fine Javier’s in Laguna Beach. No one seems to mind the hard time they have finding a parking place when they enjoy an evening there. But the sibling at the Irvine Spectrum doesn’t seem to be cut “of the same cloth”.
My parents suggested that we all go to the Spectrum to celebrate our anniversary. They based this on their enjoyment of the food, service and atmosphere in Laguna Beach. Having been there on many occasions they figured this newer location would be a good place to go. All of us love Mexican food and the location was central.
Evidently being busy isn’t the same as knowing how to treat your guests. Being a large party (10), we knew we’d have a wait. The hostess wasn’t pleasant when we asked for a “guesstimate”. She groused that it should be about 30 minutes. When 45 had passed, my husband went up to ask if we could expect to be seated shortly. A different hostess nearly bit his head off. Finally after an hour we were seated.
It didn’t improve. The host literally threw the menus at all of us. 10 minutes passed before someone acknowledged our existence. My parents couldn’t believe how horrible the service was-they said if they had known that it was “a 180″ from the older restaurant, they would have never suggested it.
We had to almost physically grab someone to get our order taken. Our dinners were loudly plunked down in front of us, some weren’t even close to warm. To correct this-my teenage nephew went to the host desk and asked if someone could help us. They were actually rude about having to warm the food.
No one came by to apologize, ask us if we needed anything or how it was once the cold plates came back.
The food was mediocre and greasy. We at no point were given refills on our waters or coffee. Not one of the myriad of waiters who threw the food at us asked if we’d like dessert. Then suddenly we got some attention! The staff whisked our plates (finished or not), chip baskets and silverware off the table and one of the staff handed us the bill. She had the first smile of the evening. I guess she thought it would help her tip.
The tip was “bring the manager over”. We explained how we had been treated and why we weren’t leaving a tip. He curtly said “fine” and walked off. Maybe it was that we didn’t order any alcohol. We thought maybe this was just a really off night.
However, it wasn’t. Our son and his girlfriend gave it another try a month later. Same treatment. Our daughter and her husband tried it a few nights ago-they said they had never had such awful service or less appetizing food.
Why is it still able to pack in the crowds? Maybe drinking at the bar for an hour before you’re seated makes the bad service and unpalatable food less noticeable.
Carine Nadel is on The Reader’s Advisory Panel of Woman’s Day magazine and has had numerous articles and recipes published both on various websites and print publications. To read more of her work, log onto: http://www.Carine-whatscooking.blogspot.com
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