Two Brothers Roundhouse still working out kinks...I hope...

I mentioned in the Leopold Dinner thread how merciless I was on waitstaff who, for some reason, fall short in their duties. I was at Two Brothers Roundhouse yesterday (formerly known as Payton's Roundhouse) and I was less than impressed.

(1) My buddy (a fellow-brewer) and I sat down at the bar and were immediately greeted by a particularly garrulous dude who - we would learn - was the only one to leave the Warrenville Two Brothers operation to head up the Roundhouse. He was pretty darn excited about the whole operation but he was so busy talking about hiring/firing, his chef, and major renovations hours before opening, he didn't pay attention to the fact that I said that *I* would take a Cane & Ebel and he served my friend the same, exact thing without even asking him if that's what he wanted, too (strike one).

(2) We were talking for quite a bit, even told him we were home brewers, when he told us that the huge 35 barrel system they have next to the main dining room was going to a guy in Mexico City. After I made a joke about American craft beer's potential not to take off in Mexico city (where the weather and food are hot) he ran to the kitchen for something but not before telling the guy behind the bar, "Set these guys up with another one and I'll be right back." My friend and I were both thinking, "Awesome! Getting comped a beer!" Nope, they were on our bill. He did, however, bring us back some esophagus-obliterating jabanero salsa and did give us a couple free 2 oz. samples; but of Cane & Ebel, what we had already ordered from him! (strike two) He simply wanted to prove the point that hoppy beer and spicy food work well together (my point was not the American hops but the malt bills of American craft beers that wouldn't necessarily catch on in Mexico - ain't no one down there sippin' on a porter with their chicken mole!).

(3) I was there for a meeting and so when the others arrived my buddy went to the bathroom but left his satchel bag as well as a half-finished beer on the bar. When he returned, his beer was gone; the guy behind the bar had dumped it. He was apologetic, poured my buddy another of whatever he wanted. It then showed up on the tab! (strike three)

(4) The only time during our lunch meeting we saw the server (the same guy who was behind the bar) was at the beginning of the meal when he took our orders and even then he had to run to the kitchen to check on what kind of soups they had; we even had to go up to for our own pitchers of water! (strike four)

This is where my impatience with poor service comes in. Even if I give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he just didn't want to be rude and interrupt our meeting/discussions, he should have *articulated* that to his customers! (strike five) He should have said either (1) "I see you're having a meeting and I don't want to interrupt more times than I have to. So, if you need something, just flag me down."; or, better yet, (2) "I see you're having a meeting but forgive me when I interrupt periodically. I just want to make sure you guys are happy and have everything you need."

I went up to the bar for four more samples after the meeting and this is when the server (who was again behind the bar) decided to be nice: he gave me four $2.50 samples for $5. Nice gesture but too little, too late.