(no subject)

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

I've been enjoying brunch at Sound Bites in Ball Square occasionally for about 7 years. Now, of course, everyone who knows Sound Bites also knows and puts up with their trying to rush you out the door. The breakfast is great, and so you put up with the fact that they drop off the check practically with the food, and whisk your plate out from under you the minute you put your utensils down. Okay, I'm used to that. They're a small place and turnover is the key to their making money. Fine.

Yesterday, however, they reached a new and disappointing low, and lost me as a customer in the process. While I was dining with a friend, the host stopped his running around and said to us, "Less talking, more eating!" When I looked at him with what must have been a rather dumbfounded look, he went on to say that they had a long line, and that here, people eat more than they talk, and there's no time for talking, and people are waiting. "You have 20, maybe 30 minutes here, max." At that point, I'm pretty sure I looked as shocked and offended as I felt, and he said, "Don't get mad. I'm serious, that's just how it is."

Now, honestly, I've always liked Sound Bites, even with the varied quality of service, and even though I've felt rushed in the past, it hasn't been so bad that I wouldn't go back, especially because it's such a great neighborhoody feeling place. But I hate to feel rushed, in pretty much any situation. Even more, I hate to feel rushed when I'm eating, which I think is a pleasure that should be savored, not to mention that the rushing of food is just generally unhealthy and bad.

I told the host on my way out that I wouldn't be back. It seems unlikely that he cares, given that there's always a line and I haven't been a regular in a while, but I figured he ought to know that he lost one in that exchange, anyway. The food is good, after all, but there's no reason to be outright rude to your patrons.

Comments

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

Ok, so the attitude you're showing here is utterly inexpilicable.

Me, I'm in my {shudder} late 30s. I've been eating at Sound Bites on and off for the past 6-7 years.

The food's always been good, plentiful, and fast.

I /don't/ find it worth a wait, especially in bad weather, and usually try to go there only on the off hours.

I'm also quite fond of Kelly's, and sometimes of Johnny D's, and a number of the other places around Davis, and will express those feelings as appropriate, but I don't need to call the people who like somplace I don't names.

But you seem to find a need to be abusive towards me (in the abstract, as I haven't commented yet about them), and towards anyone else who might happen to like soundbites. What's up with that?

[lidiya6.livejournal.com]

jbsegal don't try to deny it, we can all see clearly from your userpic that you are a preening 20something yuppie.

[ellf.livejournal.com]

There's a bit too much vitriol in my original comment, agreed.

My issue is not with people who like Soundbites -- it's with the incredibly long lines of folks who stand around on Sunday morning, pushing and shoving to get in, for what is (to me, at least) mediocre food.

My impression of the whole affair is that there's more image than hunger going down, here. Brunch became chic, and it's become nearly impossible to head out and grab a bite in the morning on the weekends, because everyone else in the area wants to do the same. Combine that with abuse from some guy who thinks that he owns the best restaurant in the world, and it becomes more than I can take.

That said, I over-generalized. It's not easy being a cynical curmudgeon, you know.