Tonight the Roadies had nothing special planned, and since it WAS Friday nite, they decided to go check out the Chandler Hill Friday Nite Winter Special. Obviously many others did as well, because when they arrived at 7:08, the place was full, and no tables were to be had. Sad for the Roadies, Good for the Winery. At any rate, a cozy spot on the snug and warm patio was available and since the sign said Seat Yourself, they did. Twenty minutes later, still no wine in site, inquiries were made at the bar. Yes, they were assured, there was a happy hour, yes wine could be had at $3.50 per glass, as well as $5.99 Appetizers and a nice Fried Chicken dinner for $9.99. No, they were told, you could not order at the bar, to do that, you had to go through a server. The Roadies politely asked if a server could be directed their way, and returned to their seats. 10 more minutes passed, no server.
Aha! A table opens up, inside, by the roaring fire! Swooping in on the table, willing to take it in spite of the fact that it had not been bussed yet, the Roadies settled in. Surely, they would be waited on here, right? Well, not exactly.... Over the course of the next few minutes, though, a waiter DID clear the table. A good sign? Maybe! Well, not exactly....
Over the course of the NEXT 20 minutes, no less than 6 servers passed by their table. The Roadies made DIRECT eye contact with 4, including the server that had originally bussed the table for them! Hello? Table for two, no wine, no food, see anything wrong here? Apparently, they did not. After drinking the glass of iced water that they had helped themselves to, and waiting for over 50 minutes from the time they came through the front door, I am sad to report, the Roadies left.
On the way out though, they complained, to the bar tender that had originally promised service following the initial complaint. Did he offer to have them sit back down and attempt to remedy the situation? No. What he did do is avoid eye contact and offer weak, muffled, "I am sorry's" and "We have been so busy's" .... Not cool.
I have to say, in this Tiger's humble opinion, Chandler Hill's Friday Nite Winter Special, WAS NOT VERY SPECIAL. Especially as they had driven an hour to get there, and still had had nothing to eat or drink.
Of special note, after driving an hour back to Washington, El Charro saved the day. As always, warm, delicious, inviting and they seemed to genuinly like the Roadies! Thumbs up, El Charro never disappoints!
Update - After a written complaint to the "contact us", at the Chandler Hill website, we are pleased to announce a very timely and gracious apology from one of the owners, and as way of making amends, a free lunch and bottle of wine for two. Nice, very nice, we will post results of this visit soon!
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