We decided to go to Saffron Patch in the Valley for lunch today. I had a good experience last time, it was the first time we went after they moved across the parking lot to a bigger facility. And I found quite a few things that I liked. So when Leo asked if I want to go this morning, I gladly said yes.
So after we went to Bestbuy and got a 2 TB internal drive for his UBUNTU system, which is a long story, we drove to the valley. The first thing we saw when we reached the door is a piece of paper taped to the door that says “Coupon is not accepted for lunch buffet”. We looked at each other and wondered if GROUPON is considered a coupon. So when we went in we asked the receptionist about it, she wasn’t sure. A guy that looked like he’s in charge of something was busy talking on the phone and signaled to us to wait. We waited. After a few minutes, a third person was signaled in to confirm that as the note on the door says, coupon is not accepted for the buffet and that means GROUPON also. By this time, I just wanted to be seated and don’t really care whether we can use the GROUPON or not. I guess there were people that left when it was turned down maybe and that’s why they wanted to clear that before they seat us.
We were seated on the side at a two person table by the aisle. Went and got our food and sat down to eat. During which time there were people up and down the aisle like they were workers for some project in the restaurant. They did not carry tools, but they were in and out the restaurant constantly. There were also 3 serving staff that are busy waiting tables. By this time, I was getting a bit rattled by the number of people walking by, whether it was the customer going to the buffet table or the servers wandering around or the workers coming in and out taking people to the back. If I expected a relatively quiet lunch, it wasn’t going to be. I have been there before though, and it was not like this. Maybe it was where we were seated, which is right by the aisle that everybody seemed to use.
So I started to pay attention to those that passed us. The workers probably went in and out at least 10 times and at last I saw them going to the buffet to get food. hmmm. One of the servers just seemed to be wandering around mindlessly. She may be new there, she was trying to pay attention to the customers at the tables, but she would walk up and down several times before she brought a water pitcher out, go back, come out and wander a while before she noticed the empty plate at the table. In the end, she passed our table several times when we were done and the plates were gone and we just sat there and she walked on without asking or bringing our check. We waited at least 5 minutes and asked for the check and waited another 5 minutes before someone else brought our check.
All in all, it was not a good experience there for me. I don’t usually complain a lot at the restaurant. And I didn’t either when we were there. But it just was too hectic there today. I don’t mind if other customers were going for the food, but it was the workers and servers that are distracting the dining experience. This is the first time I realized that a well run restaurant and its staff can give you a very well taken care of feeling without looking ‘busy’. But a not so efficiently run restaurant makes you feel busy and hectic just sitting there trying to eat.
Hopefully, it was just a one time experience. Otherwise, I will have to think twice about going again.