Ahhhhhhhh ... the maintenance of the 'ole blog when it comes to The NorCal6.
Sometimes it's effortless, other times not so much.
June and July were mostly non-events. We hit The Melt in Folsom and Danette's Brick Oven Pub in July, the latter having been visited in a previous year. Both? Were adequate when it came to food and atmosphere.
No drama, no surprises and it was agreed we'd return again.
Now ... Rocker Oysterfeller's in downtown Placerville last month? Different story all together. Oh, the drama ...
The food was rather good. I partook of Louisiana Hot oysters (even though I know it's rarely a good idea to order seafood far, far away from the sea) and some Blackened Gulf Shrimp Tacos. Tasty stuff indeed, despite being a bit on the pricey side. (And, truth be told, I was kind of pressured into ordering oysters ... but I really didn't mind getting hornswaggled in that department.) Pete and Missy ordered the same thing, Smashburgers. Pete said his was delicious. Missy's was a letdown, she said - overcooked and not very tasty. My failing recall forgets what Laurie ordered but I do remember Grant got the Molasses & Bourbon Pork volcano Shank which he enjoyed right down to the very last.
So, overall, the food worked. The appetizers? They did start off the evening with any sort of anticipation once served ...
A plate of Bear Battered Onion Rings was proffered while we were all talking and, by the time I got a chance to take a gander at them, there were 3 rings left ... and pretty anemic looking ones at that. I didn't remember seeing anyone going for them so I surmised the order was a singular half dozen rings, all told.
"What happened to the rings?!?" I asked. With I would have nabbed a shot of them for evidence. Grant ordered some Cheesy Jalapeño Pull-Apart Bread and, if I didn't know any better, it came from the middle of Death Valley. It was that dry. No dipping sauce or butter or other was offered with it, so butter was requested ... but by the time it got there it was too little too late. (Skip this item if you go there. Trust me.)
And, in the mix, was our waitress who was not only scatter-brained but appeared out of sorts with the entire concept of waitressing.
The first couple beer orders I attempted weren't available. On the third try - a Henhouse Stoked! Hazy Pale Ale I ordered with emphasis on the "Stoked!" because of the exclamation point - she asked me "The dessert?"
"The dessert?!?" I responded. "No ... the beer." I had not idea what she was talking about. And, apparently, neither did she.
It took an inordinate amount of time for the drinks to come but the food came in relatively quick order. But ... most of it was served to the wrong person. As noted: Our waitress wasn't the sharpest took in the shed.
Interestingly and at one point ordered an additional brew ... and I attempted to so same. But each time I was spurned, ignored as if I was a ghost. This was rather amusing to Grant but let me flabbergasted. I could see our waitress' tip diminishing to a trickle as the moments ticked by.
And then when all was said and done the checks came ... complete with automatic 20% gratuities already attached.
On the inside? I was slow burning, on the way to fuming. But ... on the inside.
I wasn't going to allow the substandard service of this gal get in the way of everyone's enjoyment of the get-together nor was I going to expose my inner asshat.
But come on ... an automatic gratuity for a "large party" as detailed on the receipt? Since when did 6 people encompass a large party? I buried any comments I wanted to unleash and pleasantly paid the bill without incident.
Tasty food (though a touch pricey), terrible service.
It's going to take convincing to get me back there, this I know.
.......... Ruprecht ( STOP bad, ditzy waitressing )