Grinders

[Joe Smith]

A 4 pic pano shot that I took last evening.

[Joe Smith]

Here's one of Hungarian George that I also took last evening.

[KCMax]

Here's one of Hungarian George that I also took last evening.

That is awesome.

[jbkc]

does grinders still do a sunday brunch?  didn't see a menu (or mention of it) online.

[elextendo]

Yep, 10am saturday an Sunday till12:30 3.00 mimosas

[trailerkid]

Yep, 10am saturday an Sunday till12:30 3.00 mimosas

Did'nt realize this forum was for advertising

[AJoD]

Not getting why you keep bringing this up, tk.

Previous poster asked a question, what's wrong with answering it?

[scooterj]

My God.   I know Grinders is notorious for bad service, but tonight was the worst I've ever experienced.

I got there at 5:30 and sat at the bar.   There were 3 other customers total sitting at the bar at that time, versus 5 or 6 employees behind the counter.   It took me 6 minutes to get the bartender's attention.

At 5:55 I paid her and moved to a table, as the rest of my group had arrived.    After several minutes we got a server.   Three of us ordered drinks, the other two were skipped over and she disappeared.   About 10 minutes later she returned with the 3 drinks and took food orders.   The other two of us (I was one of them) got our drink orders in.

It would be more than 20 minutes before I would get that drink.

Our table ordered 5 meals and 2 appetizers.   At least 20 minutes after the order was put in, the first appetizer arrived.    About 10 minutes later 4 of the 5 meals arrived.   One member of the party ordered a refill, I asked for some water.

Three of the four meals that arrived were philly cheese steaks.  These were served cold and had completely dried out.   The fourth meal was a pizza, it was the one thing that was good as always.

Shortly after that the second appetizer (tater tots) arrived.   Uhhhh.

One member of our party went inside to get things such as salt, ketchup, forks, mayo, and some steak sauce to restore some moisture to the cold, dry sandwiches.   That in itself took several minutes.

By the time we had all finished, the 5th member of our party still did not have his food.   His drink refill finally arrived, giving him an opportunity to ask about his food.  It got re-ordered and he finally got it about 15 minutes later.   That was at least comped.

I never got my water, and I had been out of anything to drink for about half an hour.   I didn't even want to bother trying to order another beer.

In all I was there for 2-1/2 hours.  To get 2 beers and dinner.   Unbelievable.

To the left of me was another table of frustrated table -- long waits, things coming out jumbled and over long intervals, etc.   Behind me a table sat covered in empty glasses and empty pitchers as people sat waiting for refills, then the server brought them their ticket before being asked if they wanted anything else (they did) and she became huffy when they wanted more drinks.

Honestly, I don't think it was even the server's fault.   It seemed to me more like the bar and the kitchen.   Or, whomever was supposed to be directing traffic among everyone.

They're  lucky the pizza is so damn good, but I think I'll be sticking to carryout.   I have other things I could be spending 2-1/2 hours doing.

[kucer]

This thread has been hilarious over time...a perfect circle.

[Auggy]

Gonna have to say- two of my favorite two servers in KC work at Grinders.

And- service to me makes it or breaks it.  I won't go back to Beer Kitchen because of the horrible treatment we have gotten there.

There is only one person at Grinders that doesn't treat us well- and I avoid her.  Just my two cents- 

[brewcrew1000]

Gonna have to say- two of my favorite two servers in KC work at Grinders.

And- service to me makes it or breaks it.  I won't go back to Beer Kitchen because of the horrible treatment we have gotten there.

There is only one person at Grinders that doesn't
treat us well- and I avoid her.  Just my two cents- 

Hipster, arty servers equal bad service and both places have them

[aknowledgeableperson]

I know Grinders is notorious for bad service, but tonight was the worst I've ever experienced.

Are you sure you weren't at a chain restaurant?

[elextendo]

And the response: Yeah it SUCKS sometimes going out and not getting what or how you want..It also SUCKS living in a day and age where anyone can voice an opinion in a forum and really jeopardize a place. Scooter not sure what you do or where you do it but we have 60 employees that look forward to getting a paycheck, if you have problems you should deal with it on site.. Im not going to make excuses for Grinders yesterday we are still going through changes..its been over a year since we got rid of a partner and philosophy and attitudes have changed..hard to shake some but I also cant fire everyone and start over. Believe me when I say..I do read and handle all issues when we can and do care about the place and the face of Grinders...So how do you like our new patio?

[scooterj]

Love the patio, that made the 2-1/2 hours bearable.    What was sad though was that three of the five people in my group were being introduced to Grinders for the first time, and none of those three want to try it again.      Maybe if they had tried the pizza they could be swayed, but they were the three that got the cold & dry philly cheese steaks.

[lock+load]

It also SUCKS living in a day and age where anyone can voice an opinion in a forum and really jeopardize a place. Scooter not sure what you do or where you do it but we have 60 employees that look forward to getting a paycheck

Seriously?  Some attitude.

[beautyfromashes]

but they were the three that got the cold & dry philly cheese steaks.

::sad trombone::

[chrizow]

the last few times we have been to grinders, we have had great service - although one time the server forgot to enter one person's food order.  she was super apologetic about it though and offered to buy him dinner, no biggie - the patio was slammed.  

service lapses can happen anywhere, but it sucks that the food came out poorly-prepared.  usually grinders food is very consistent.  perhaps there needs to be a philly 101 refresher course for the grill-professionals...

that said, grinders has gone through periods of rather bad service, and developed the reputation for this service.  thus, the sad reality is that someone could go to grinders and have great service 9 times in a row, but if the 10th visit is shitty, then the reputation is somehow reinforced.  the fact that people can discuss their bad service online isn't the problem, however -- it's the service.  Yelp and internet forums enable dialogue about food and drink establishments, and while it should cause operators to step up their game a bit more, internet discussion will not make or break a place.  at this point, grinders is a KC institution, it has been on TV a couple of times, and Stretch is a well-known figure in KC.  if the place somehow goes under, it won't be because of any lack of positive messages about the place.

[ignatius]

i've been several times lately (both sides) and have not had poor service.  grinders has a new fan from jersey btw, a friend of mine is into the cheesesteaks and grinders.  have had bfast at g west a few times lately... still good.  

[mean]

I've been going fairly regularly for lunch lately, and everything's been grand even when super busy. Perhaps I'll drop in for lunch today.

[elextendo]

Grill 101 is of course in effect..I actually have a DVD I just have to find it on how to make the perfect philly. the cooks have been dealt with and same with servers, we always need to dbl check on everything and not take for granted. When mentioned about Yelp, I think thats  different than this forum. Grinders has more than 150k people come through not counting the XRDS and sometimes shit slips passed..We encourage people to try again. But Scooter..Im working on delivery..ha