Enthusiasm?

[foodtown]

I had dinner at Growlers in Tuckahoe the other night. It is a new place with a great beer selection and a very limited food menu. The place is primarily a bar, but the food was fine if you are just looking for something to go along with the many beers they carry. I hope Growlers makes it because it does offer another place to go in the relatively small dining/drinking universe of Tuckahoe, NY.
I am writing this post primarily to comment on something of a trend I have noticed in new places in Westchester and elsewhere : a lack of interest on the part of new establishments to build relationships with the customers. Growlers was quiet when I was there; other than my wife and I, who were sitting in the dining area, the only other customers were at the bar. The waiter was a nice young man, but he made no attempt to find out how we heard about the place, where we were from, if we had any suggestions about how to improve the menu, our names, etc. He did not offer us an option to join a mailing list of any kind, or suggest when might be a fun toime to return. I had seen a sign indicating that Growlers was going to have a grand opening night soon, but when asked if they were planning anything special for that day , the waiter had no idea, and did not inquire of management about this. I asked who the owners were and he pointed them out, but they made no effort to greet us or engage us in any way.
Am I the only one who has had such experiences at new restaurants, and who finds it very strange? The economy appears to still be pretty weak. Aren't these places eager to build a customer base?

[mrsdebdav]

Yeah, age can be an issue, as can experience, attitude and any number of elements, but it's the owners' responsibility to train their employees and be attentive to any lapses in their (the owners') expectations.

[Shawn]

In the past few years I've noticed that sometimes it's the owners who are the problem. For example, when Tarry Tavern in Tarrytown first opened, my husband and I went there and liked it. We thought it would become a regular place for us. We returned a number of times and each time the owner sat us, yet he was not warm or welcoming, not to mention that people on their way to becoming "regulars" should at least be acknowledged with a smile, a "glad to see you again," or something on that order. But this guy would look right through us like he'd never seen us before. You'd think an owner would actually be glad to be developing regulars, but I guess not. It was pretty off-putting.

[Maryld]

You're right, Mrs. D., but if the owners themselves don't have a sense of urgency about the business, then it may well be doomed. Sounds like a Gordon Ramsay or Robert Irvine episode in the making.

[Maryld]

My impression is that quite a few of today's young things simply do not know how to have one to one dealings in the flesh although they can build and maintain text/computer relationships like nobody's business. Saying that, we're looking forward to going to Growlers. Let's hope the owners shake themselves out of their (undoubtedly hip) lethargy and realize that building a customer support base means survival.