Over the years I have had a few strange experiences with packaged food items I have purchased. We have all heard of the story about the guy that opened a can of soda and found a finger in the can. I suppose most of us have found a pit in the bag of dried fruit or maybe a hair in some other food item. Some years ago I had purchased some Andies Candies, you know the one they leave on your pillow at the hotels. This box was filled with peanut butter instead of the mint filling.
I had a party in my home, served the candies as part of the dessert table and after many were eaten found that some had worms in the candy itself. I know you probably would have been as disgusted and embarrassed as we were. So what do you do? Do you throw them out and wash your mouth out with mouth wash? Do you take the remains back to the store and get a fresh box? Or do you do what I did, you contact the company and let them know about the problem.
This happened to me a number of years ago, probably mid 1980s. We didn't have the internet and knowing how to right letters on my Tiffany stationary, I thought I would have a better shot of getting someone's attention, I was right.
I was contacted by the company and I explained my horror at finding the bugs in the candy, especially the embarrassment at our party. They of course asked if I could send the box of candy to them so they could examine it. I never do this and would tell you not to do this as well.
I suggested they send someone to my home so they could examine the candy. I felt once they do this and see the complaint was legitimate I would stand a better shot of receiving deserved compensation. Although in those years, we didn't have lawyers advertising in the media to sue everyone, nor did we have the internet to share horror stories, so bringing this issue to their attention and getting compensation, was something many people just didn't bother to do.
Not to make this a very long story, this is the outcome of my complaint. They hired a local insurance adjuster who contacted me and came over to my home. I showed him the candy and there was no question about liability. He was very nice and told us he would recommend that they offer me a settlement.
I was offered $3,000 at that time, which I suppose is like $10,000 today and I gladly accepted their offer. They explained that the peanut butter filling was a new item for them and they found if they were left on the shelf too long that this could happen. Apparently the eggs of these bugs must have gotten into the candy mix and survived the candy making process.
I probably would have been happy with a years supply of their products, but this incident just confirmed my belief that you need to speak up and let companies know when they or their products fail to meet up to the simple standards we expect from them.
I also assume that they knew of the problem and wanted to keep it quiet. Imagine the recall that the FDA would have forced them to do if they knew this was an ongoing issue. Today we know better and call our local TV station, get reporters out to our homes and then hire an attorney who ends up getting us the thousands of dollars I ended up getting by myself.
Now if you want to read another story about finding another nugget of gold in a food product, read my next post about biting into a nice size piece of wood chip in a box of candy hearts.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Did You Ever Get Someting Strange In A Food Package?
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Forget Turbo Tax This Year, They Really Messed Up!
If you are like me, you may be ready to do your 2007 tax returns, but better consider the software you select this year. Turbo Tax a long favorite has dropped the ball both last year and this year. You can go to their web site and read all the complaints in their Inner Circle or from their customer postings. Here is one I just posted this evening. Will see if I can get a refund from Intuit on this horrible program.
I have used Turbo Tax for so many years, I can't even remember when I started using it. It just seems to get worse each year not better. There used to be a wealth of information you could call on easily to explain difficult situations, now the few videos are almost worthless.
The interview process is so lame and confusing that it took me more time to go through this process then to simply look at the forms and enter the values there. Pages and pages to go through for each question instead of one page where you can simply answer all the values for that question and then submit them.
The handling of stock transactions is so poor that for the first time in 20 years I received a notification from the IRS that I was missing my Schedule B, which never printed (because I was under the $1500 requirement) but IRS still asked for it. Then all the imported stock transactions from Ameritrade came in without the date of purchase or price and I had to complete at least 100 or more manually, only to find out that they never printed properly on the final return and I received a 13 page notice from IRS to supply the basis on my transactions as they didn't receive them.
This year, I noticed that Schedule B didn't print again so I manually printed it and added it to the return. Better to be safe then sorry.
Finally, because many of us now "Trade Stocks" because of Jim Cramer and the way the market fluctuates each day that I ended up with about 500 trades for the year in 3 accounts. I decided Turbo Tax was useless and Ameritrade uses Gainskeeper which is free on my account. It will print out a report of the years transactions with the buys and sells, wash sales, etc. and give you the totals you need.
Then I had to go to Forms to check a couple of boxes that said I would attach my list and I was able to enter the values there. No where in the Interview process did it allow me this option. You have two options, the spread sheet or one by one. With so many transactions it would have been a nightmare, now it took me a couple of minutes to print it from Ameritrade, add the numbers from the 3 accounts, enter it on the form and attach these schedules to my return.
It would appear that each year Turbo Tax takes things that aren't broken and break them instead of adding better functions and ease of use.
This year it didn't import all the data from last years return properly. When I got up to doing Schedule A, it said
it would appear I didn't use Schedule A last year, which was not true so I had to enter the values manually.
For $80, this years Home and Business was definitely not worth the money. I am only sorry I didn't purchase it from Costco where I could have simply taken it back and gotten a refund. Oh yea, when I tried to find a decent customer support line to discuss why IRS returned it all to me and what I should do, I spent over an hour on the site trying to figure out where to find the support.
One last thing about eFiling...forget this option. If you don't physically check your return manually you may not catch some simple errors like entering data incorrectly or something not printing properly as was the case on my 2006 return. If you make an error on an Efile return you are screwed, there is no way to correct it short of re filing a 1040X amended return and paying again to file it. Would you really trust sending a complex return on efile without checking it first? Maybe on a simple return you can do this, but frankly for $17 bucks, why would you. Enough is enough...
You guys better wake up or you too will find that the publics loyalty to this brand will soon diminish and you too will be another company that owned its market and are no longer in business like so many others that took their business for granted.
Len
Monday, September 3, 2007
Grohe You Get What You Pay For...Best Warranty
There is an old saying that goes "You Get What You Pay For." I can tell you that I have always been a bit skeptical about this saying because it was my belief that some items that cost more then others are not necessarily better or worth the extra cost.
This is certainly not the case when purchasing Grohe plumbing fixtures as I have found out over the many years I have had them installed in my home. My first experience with Grohe goes back almost 25 years ago when I purchased a faucet for my bathroom sink. Some years later, we added a second floor on our New Jersey ranch home and once again decided to go with the top manufacturers at that time. The water basins and sinks were made by Villeroy & Boch, all the faucets, showers and tub hardware was Grohe. Now over the years, I have always loved my Grohe items, because the quality is beyond compare. The faucets are made by Grohe in Germany and they have been engineered to last a lifetime and look as good 20 years later as they did the day they were installed.
A couple of years ago I purchased a Grohe kitchen sink faucet, it wasn't inexpensive and I think I paid almost $400 for it, but even the Home Depot units from China were over $150 and they just didn't compare. The chrome finish is flawless and is hard and shiny as a diamond. All you need to do is spray it from time to time with a mixture of plain white vinegar and water and wipe off any white lime deposits. For a higher shine, use a high quality chrome polish and it will look new.
Getting back to my sink faucet...I noticed my water flow had diminished a great deal in the kitchen. A friend who is a plumber took the head off and the water was fine so we realized the head was probably clogged up. I called the Grohe, dealer where I had purchased the faucet and he took care of getting me a free replacement. I didn't even have to send the old part back and Paul Stewart at Richmond Tile was my dealer and he knew me well. Now if you think this is great, wait until you hear this story.
I decided it was time to update my downstairs bathroom again. We actually did it about 12 years ago, but had some water damage and couldn't replace some of the tiles on the wall and had to use different tiles on the fix and it never looked right. Add to this my work changing all the doors on all my downstairs rooms from the flat panel doors to the 6 panel raised doors. When replacing these doors, I had to pull out all the doors and the frames and this ended up damaging the tile floor in this bathroom...so here we go again, doing it one more time.
As I shopped for new tile, vanity, sink, water basin (toilet), lights, fan, etc. I also thought of replacing some of the Grohe fixtures with new ones. The dealer also showed me Jado another upscale company that also makes a great product, but after seeing the cost to replace it all, we decided to simply use the existing Grohe fixtures and just purchase a new sink faucet (Grohe of course) to go with the updated sink/vanity.
As I took the fixtures down and began to demo the walls, I noticed that some of the Grohe parts had worn out. The hot and cold water cartridges were not working properly and were all clogged up with lime deposits. The hose on the shower was showing some wear on the top and a cap on the bottom of our shower bar was not staying in place due to a broken part.
I called Grohe and spoke to their warranty department. Mr. Michael Montalbano who works in their International Customer Support area was my rep and he asked me a few questions about my products and asked me when I purchased them and then asked me to send him some photos of the parts that were not working properly or damaged. Since I am a professional photojournalist and the president of International Press Association, taking those pictures was simple for me.
I shot the photos and uploaded them to my server and send Michael the list of what I needed and a link to the photos. Once he verified I was the original owner of these items, he began the process to replace them. I received the replacement parts in about 3 days total. I was shocked to say the least...how could a company operate so efficiently and really live up to a Limited Lifetime Warranty as Grohe did?
They didn't ask me to return the defective parts, they didn't require me to dig up a 10-15 year old receipt for the product and they didn't take 4-8 weeks to make the replacement as others have done before. The process was so painless and Mr. Montalbano was such a helpful gentleman that I know I will become one of their best evangelists. Not only have they produced quality products and have put their money where their mouth is (their warranty), but in the event a product does not live up to a customers expectations (or theirs), they step up to the plate and make it right.
Now that I have all the parts needed to reinstall the shower and other items in this bathroom, I have gone upstairs to my master bathroom and noticed my shower head shows some peeling on the chrome head and the knob on my shower which is a crystal like lucite has some small defects, so once again I will contact Michael and ask for his help. I am sure he will once again prove the old adage "You Get What You Pay For." So I would recommend that before you go to Home Depot or Lowes, think hard and fast and check out the Grohe line of bath and kitchen items and spend a bit more (or a lot more) and enjoy every day you use you sinks, baths or showers and you will never purchase any one of those rip off extended warranties the stores try to sell you. There is no need to do so with a Grohe product, because this company will take care of you for your lifetime on any one of their products, no matter what goes wrong.
By the way, I asked a bit more about their Limited Lifetime Warranty. Michael explained that it covers the original owner of the product only. If you sell your home, then the Warranty on those installed items is no longer in effect. Glad I decided to continue to upgrade my home over the years and keep it current, nice to know that their are still companies that value their customers and stand behind their products. Kudos to Grohe and their staff for a job well done.
Visit their web site and find a dealer near you.
Special Thanks to Paul Stewart at Richmond Tile, visit their showroom in Staten Island, New York or their web site at: http://richmondtile.com/
International Customer Support
Grohe
Tel: 630 582 7711
Fax: 630 872 5669
Friday, June 1, 2007
Letter To Imperial Healthcare - Neptune , NJ
With the passing of my father, I wrote a letter of appreciation to the people that took care of him during the last 4 weeks of his life. The following is a letter sent to their administrator and one I felt compelled to write.
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May 29, 2007
Mr. Josh Bambergers
Administrator
Imperial Healthcare
919 Green Grove Road
Neptune, NJ 07753
Dear Josh;
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your caring and efficient staff for taking care of my father Julius Rapoport during his short stay in your facility.
As you know, my father at 93 years of age, came to Imperial only a few short weeks before he passed. His congestive heart failure and other physical and mental issues made living in assisted living impossible and his rapid decline made it even more important to have him in a care facility that could keep a keen eye on him. Although we have discussed the hallway near the nurses station as not one of the best solutions, I have to admit, that this temporary fix was one that kept dad in the eyes of your wonderful staff at all times.
It is hard for any family to have to say good bye to a loved one and both Compassionate Care Hospice and Imperial Healthcare helped the Rapoport family get through a very hard time. I can say with conviction that I have never met a more caring and warm group of professionals in all the years I have taken care of my father.
Although I hate to name individuals for fear of missing a few names, I can’t help to mention the exceptional support from Ben ( I felt he was family), Maria, Izzy, Yanni (not the famous singer, but the beautiful aide), Suzanne, Barbara, Robin and all the others, my heartfelt thanks to all of you for not only a job well done, but for your sincere kindness during a difficult time for our family.
In a world that is often motivated by money and greed, it is rare to find people that love what they do and love the people they do it for. I am not sure I could be as noble as your staff, nor be able to meet the many challenges they have to deal with each day.
My father kept his sense of humor to the end and told me how wonderful the staff was to him. I know he blew kisses to some of the aides and Yanni must have received some kisses on the cheek from dad, it was his way of thanking them for their care and kindness.
I hope to visit in the next few days to say thank you once again in person. In the meantime, please feel free to use this letter as one of recommendation to anyone considering a long or short term care facility for a loved one.
Sincerely,
Len Rapoport
President
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
On The Passing Of My Grandfather
By Andrew Rapoport - 3/22/2007
In the last few weeks he was awake, it was apparent that my grandfather's defining quality was likeability and his sense of humor. He defined the quality that we all refer to when we talk about what it means to be a Rapoport. It’s that likeability and sense of humor that we possess that makes us different from any others. He also instilled that natural work ethic and sales ability that so many of us received.
So I cry tears of pride and respect today but I try not to cry tears of sadness.
When I think about the fact that Grandpa was married to the same woman for over 50 years, raised 3 successful sons and had 9 grandchildren. After Grandma left us, he was lucky enough to spend over 15 years with his wonderful young love Arnel (she is 93 years young). When I consider that he was always committed to his relationships and supported his family, when I realize that for most of his life, he was healthy and happy and able to participate; when I remember him, I remember him as a funny but shrewd man, with a voice of wisdom;
I cry tears of admiration and I try not to cry tears of sadness, because tears of sadness aren't befitting of the memory of my Grandfather.
Just as his life wasn't sad, his death isn’t a tragedy. He can finally be at peace because I know that his young mind made it hard for him to endure the last years of his life. It’s rare a man lives a full enough life so that even others can look back upon his legacy and beam with positivity and smiles.
Join me today, not in tears of sadness, but in tears of celebration of a life well lived.
Grandpa we’ll miss and love you and will never forget the great memories we have.
My Father, A Man Of Great Strength
Julius Rapoport
Born 3/14/1916 - Died 5/19/2007
Once again, I stand before my mothers grave now to have her beloved husband, my father, join her in these hallowed grounds.
Not being a religious family, we were however one that cherished many of the Jewish traditions. Although dad was never given a formal hebrew education, nor did many of us, I am sure we often wonder if there really is a life after death.
I want to share a story with you that some of you have heard before. When mom was buried here 8 years ago, I was driving dad back to the Airport. We were on the Garden State Parkway (I remember the exact spot) and we were very distressed and crying in the car talking about mom. I explained to dad that I knew that mom was indeed watching over us and that we should take comfort in knowing that. At that very moment a car swerved in front of us and I noticed the license plate on the car began with the letters FAY [my mother's name].
I was in disbelief and showed dad the car and exclaimed that this was surely a sign that mom was in fact looking at us now and would take care of us. Now for a family that never practiced or even believed in organized religion, this was a sign that there are some things we just can’t understand or explain and just maybe their is another world we all go to when we transition from this one.
In 1931 when dad was 17 years old he made mom’s sweet sixteen party. Mom was his first and only love while they were married and he was truly devoted to her and our family. Of course he was a hard man at times, but we understood this and probably learned much from his strength. After all his child hood was not an easy one. He lost his older brother Freddie when he was very young due to a horse and carriage accident. He watched his father who owned a successful millinery business go out of business and struggle to support his family during the great depression. The Rapoport’s didn’t have much and Ruby [my father's older brother] and dad shared a bed each night while aunt Rose [his younger sister] had her own in the little bungalow they lived in in Coney Island in the 30’s and 40’s. They didn’t have enough food for the table and they used to tell me that bubby Mollie would say to them in Yiddish (when they would grab for some meat on the table) to “Eat Bread, Don’t Stuff Yourself On The Meat”.
Our generation can’t imagine how hard it was for a family to survive, but this is what the Rapoport’s had to endure growing up. So we wonder why they were tough when they had to be. They were all hard workers with a strong family bond and love and ones that never took a dollar for granted. Some may say, dad was a penny pincher, or a man that never liked to spend money and I would agree, he was. Unfortunately this condition was out of his control and was a result of a hard child hood. He knew the value of earning an honest living and even sold confetti during the Coney Island parades each summer to feed his family. Later he would pack up his car, taking out the rear seat to have more space for merchandise and drive two hours to the Farmers Markets in Long Island. He would set up a few tables with his own hand painted signs and sell women’s and children’s clothing that he got from Kiev and Rose’s dry goods store. Alan [my older brother who passed away at age 60] and I ended up going with him on many of those trips and we sold comic books we got from his uncle Lou’s candy store. I will always remember when we arrived home very late at night and my father would throw a big bundle of bills on the table and mom would count how much he made that day. This was exciting times for us and I will never forget them.
Although as a young man he worked as a salesman for a paper distributor selling the local bakeries and stores their wrapping paper or other paper needs, he still gave us a rich child hood. Living in Coney Island, walking to the beach in the summers and enjoying all the rides at Steeplechase Amusement Park was indeed a child’s dream. We never had to go away to summer camp, our lives in Coney Island were better then any camp could ever be and we all ended up working on the Boardwalk each summer. I worked at Shatzkin’s Knishes and Alan worked at the nearby Skee Ball arcade. Alan always gave me free games and extra tickets for prizes they had in their showcase.
Dad was a shy man, a man that didn’t like to go out much and socialize. Mom would be the one to force him out and encourage him to enjoy others. My fathers best friends were his family. His brother Ruby and his wife Yetta and his baby sister Rose and her husband Kieve and all the children in our families. It was all about family in the early days when we were kids growing up in Coney Island. We spent the weekends with our cousins and family. We slept over each others houses, we stayed home and enjoyed the beach and boardwalk in Coney Island or we went away for the summer to the bungalow colonies in the Catskills or to Lake George to spend a few weeks on a real farm. Our family was one extended family and we did everything together.
Dad loved to entertain and invite company to our home. He would take great joy in preparing platters of food and we always had company in our home. We certainly weren’t rich, but dad was a good provider, we had what we needed. When we were old enough to get a work permit, we worked on the board walk in Coney Island and the money we earned was ours to use for our own own needs.
I remember when mom’s, mother, Grandma Dora took illl and couldn’t live alone in Coney Island, my father offered to take her into our home on Avenue P. He was a good father, husband and son-in-law. He would even bail out my uncle Mike who had a tendency to always gamble and get into trouble with the shylocks [illegal money lenders]. I remember my father on the phone with him late at night offering him the cash he needed to stay out of trouble.
We enjoyed a wonderful adult life with mom and dad too. We spent so many happy days in their small home on Ave. P and then when they decided to move to Florida, we spent many cold winters at their home in Tamarac. Dad was a devoted and loyal husband. When mom got sick and her Alzheimer’s became so bad that she was a danger to herself and dad, he finally agreed it was time to send her to a home. I am sure this was the most difficult decision in his life. It was the realization that he would now lose his wife and best friend of over 70 years and it was heartbreaking for him. He did not give up on mom and made sure to visit her every day and bring her something to eat. He often told me that it was important to come each day not only for mom, who at that time didn’t even recognize him, but to let the care givers in those homes know that she did have family that cared about her and would be there each day to check on her.
He would point to all the other listless souls in the room and say to me, these are the forgotten ones, who’s family is up north and don’t come to visit. You now understand why I am here every day. He befriended all the staff and they took care of mom as if she was family. He taught me the importance of being a care giver for a loved one and it was his example that I followed all these years in taking care of dad.
He also met his second great love, Arnell at mom’s nursing home. Arnell was the activities director and would help mom in her exercise classes and keep her mind working as long as she could. She would share stories about mom with me and Arnell soon became the closest of friends and a member of our family. It was this 16 year friendship that I am sure, helped dad live as long as he has. Arnell became his most important contact with the outside world. She became dad’s care giver too and took him to the doctor’s when he had an appointment and offered him the love and companionship that gave him a reason to live.
When mom died after suffering for 8 years with Alzheimer’s it still tore him apart even though he had expected it. Then Alan died shortly after mom and this was the moment that he began to decline in his mental and physical health. Although he was shy, he was a man with great dignity and independence. It killed him to have to depend on anyone to help him do the simple tasks like zipping up his jacket or putting on a seat belt in the car, he wanted to do it himself. “I can do it, I am not a child” he would yell at me. Each time I would ask him how he was doing he would tell me he was O.K. I would ask if he thought he needed to go to assisted living and he said he would tell me when he did. He never did...the same when he was failing and couldn't lift himself out of a chair or bed when I asked if I could move him to a long term care facility and he once again told me...I will let you know when I am ready. He wanted his independence, his dignity and his strength, but these things could no longer be his.
If we were asked to define his life, it would be simply a loving father, a loyal husband and a good friend. He was a man that thought about his family right to the end. He told me many times that he didn’t want to ever be a burden to me. Imagine, he felt guilty about me visiting him or taking him to the doctors. He used to tell me not to visit him so often and that he understood I had a life too. I always told him I didn’t think it was a burden and I did it because I loved him. He kept telling me it was hard getting old and that he would never have imagined living this long. He was tired with the stuggle of these past few years, fighting his heart failure and other medical and physical issues, but never once wanted to be a burden and told me over and over how he loved me and didn’t know what he would have done without me. This is what kept me going when I thought I didn’t have any strength left to give him.
He gave me more then I gave him with his love, support and sage advice. I always felt better after discussing my problems with dad, he knew how to cheer me up and get me back on track. I could talk to him about anything and he listened with concern. He never stopped being my father, right to the end, when he reminded me I was getting too fat. He loved Gladys too and always told me how lucky I was to have her. He thought she was so beautiful and told her this each time he saw her when we went to visit him. He loved his grand children and some years ago told me not to wait to give the children a gift on his death. He said they might need it now and instructed me to send a check to each one of them, no matter how well they were doing financially, this was going to be a gift from their grand father.
He was a charmer to be sure and all the nurses in all the homes he lived in these past few years always told me that “Your father is such a nice man, a true gentleman”. Even at the very end, we saw him blow kisses to the aides and nurses at the nursing home and told me how kind they were to him. He looked at photos of him and mom when they were younger and kept telling me what a beautiful and wonderful woman she was. In his last days, the hardest days for him and us, even in a semiconscious state he still kept his sense of humor.
When Arnell arrived, he was slumped over in his chair and she called to him, Julie, Julie, wake up, I am here. With eyes still shut, he took his weak and discolored hand, put his thumb between his two fingers and wiggled it at her. You know, the gesture he used to do when he said, I got your nose. On one of his last remaining days, he suddenly awoke to see Arnell standing over him and he grabbed her and kissed her. He knew we were there for him even if he seemed to be unconscious.
I only wish this gentle man will now be able to join mom, Alan and all of our other friends and family and enjoy a new life, one without pain and suffering.
Dad please watch over us all and protect us as you did during your life, Rest in Peace Dad, I love you.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Restaurants Some Good and Some Bad!
So you may ask, why am I writing this blog...well, over the past few months two of these restaurants stand out in my mind as the complete opposites and I wanted to share my opinions with my readers.
One of the best local restaurants I go to is called Houlihan's of Leawood, Kansas and has been in operation since 1972. They are one of 81 around the country and this particular store located in Holmdel, New Jersey is part of the A.C.E. Restaurant Group one of Houlihan's New Jersey franchise owner companies. Arnold Runestad president of ACE now has 13 locations in operation in our state with 10 more on the way and is now looking to expand into other geographic areas.
You can read more about Houlihan's by clicking here.
Now Houlihan's is one of the best casual dining restaurants we have dined in and we love to go back to our Holmdel, NJ location often. There menu is full of wonderful choices and I tend to be a picky eater, so this down home restaurant has many dishes I love. Some of my favorites include their Lettuce Wraps, Spinach Dip with Cheesy Lavosh, or their Blackened Chicken and Caramelized Onion Quesadilla for starters, and a hot bowl of their wonderful Baked Potato Soup which I order every time I go there. I like a soup that is thick and filled with goodies and I can tell you this soup will never disappoint you.
As far as their main dishes go, once again I love their Chicken Asian Chop Chop salad and usually order one and share it with my wife (they are huge) and then order either their Grilled Rosemary Chicken, Down Home Pot Roast, Blackened Chicken in a Spicy Cream Sauce over Pasta and a special dinner combo we order from time to time that comes on a huge platter with their Baby Back Ribs, Rosemary Chicken and their wonderful fried Shrimp (all this under $20). Since we often share this dish, we ask them to split it
Their entrees and a salad or appetizer should be shared , because they offer great food and true value to their customers. I won't go into their desserts, but let me tell you that if you do share dishes you can order one and once again, one is enough for two.
Now, why do we love Houlihan's? Well not only is the food my kind of food, the atmosphere is warm and friendly, their staff is exceptional and their manager Mr. Alfredo Rivera is one of the best we have seen anywhere. On occasion things may not go as planned. We might end up with poor service (it can happen anywhere), but rest assured if Mr. Rivera is there , he will come to your aide. He knows just the right things to say, will offer you a complimentary item to make up for your problem and make sure you are satisfied with the resolution and want to come back again and again.
My personal thanks to Alfredo Rivera for always showing us his special kind of hospitality. How can you tell who he is at the restaurant. Simply look for the hardest working man there. He might be showing you to a table or even serving you at a table, when his wait staff is short or in trouble. I have seen him clean off dishes from tables as well. Yes, boys and girls, he is a manager and a hard working one too.
Houlihan's is our top neighborhood pick and the best of the lot (Chili's, TGI Fridays, Olive Garden, Macaroni Grill, Charlie Brown's). Now if all of the above makes you want to visit your local Houlihan's, I have one other Bonus suggestion. Complete the service questionnaire that they put on each table. Make sure to include your birthday, anniversary and your email address. On your special day, you will get an email mail with a gift of a free entree or a free dessert and their are no strings attached.
We tend to order their huge entree with the ribs, chicken and shrimp, share it and the total bill comes to $0.00...you heard me, if you don't order anything else, there is no charge. No restaurant I have ever gone to will give you a free anything if you don't buy something else. Of course we order a soup, some drinks so our last bill on my wife's birthday came to around $5 and change with the tax. By the way, no sharing charges ever, and if you tell them you are going to share a dish, they will break it up in the kitchen, make sure you both have plenty of potato's on each dish and serve it to you. These shared dishes are usually bigger then most restaurants serve as a single order.
Note: Read a full review with photos of Houlihan's at our International Press web site.
So now that we know about Houlihan's and their good food, value priced menu and excellent service, lets look at one of the worst I had the displeasure to visit.
The Okeechobee Steak House in West Palm Beach, Florida is a restaurant that I had the misfortune to go to because of a recommendation from another couple that now live in Florida. Here is something I found on the net that gives you a bit of their history:
Open since 1947, Curtis and Jeannie Lewis have earned the right to call their restaurant a "classic American steakhouse." They cut and dry age all USDA prime and certified Angus beef on the premises. Come for the beef, not the sides, some of which could use updating...
So let me tell you what I hated about this restaurant...everything...
The place was so old and crummy that it looked like an old bar with very old wooden benched booths and old decor, tables and chairs. They were smart enough to keep the lights low or you would have walked out when you saw their menu and prices. I gasped when I saw most entrees ran from $25-$40 or more and they came with virtually nothing other then the main dish. Not being a big steak eater, I knew I was in the wrong place, but with any good steak house like Ruth's Chris, Morton's, Smith and Wollensky or others, you might pay these prices, but they are clean, modern, beautiful restaurants with exceptional service and food. I can tell you that the Okeechobee Steak House is not in this class at all, yet their prices are.
After looking at their prices and their lack of selection, I decided to just write off this one and ordered a $14 hamburger, thinking that at least it would be the best burger on the block for $14. They proved me wrong here too. I asked what came with the burger and was told I could have a potato or vegetable so I opted for a baked potato. I asked if they could put some onions on the grill for me so I could put it on the burger...my friend pointed out they charge $4 for fried onions. I asked if they could just put a slice on the grill for the burger and I didn't want a side dish. The waitress said she would ask.
My wife ended up ordering a fish dish and shared it and the pork chops that my friends wife ordered. I believe the two chops were $28, nothing special here and way overpriced considering none of these dishes included a trip to their shameful and sparse salad bar. Most salad bars are an exciting excursion and usually contain tons of fresh vegetables and some have fruit and nuts (Charlie Brown has a great salad bar), but not this one. Ice Berg Lettuce and a few other items and that was I believe $4.99 extra...can you believe their nerve.
So we passed on the salads, not worth $1.99, got the 1/4 pound dried out hamburger with a crummy small baked potato, nothing else on the dish except some lettuce, tomato and onion on the burger. Now remember, I asked the waitress to have them simply put the onion on the grill, right...well they wouldn't do it. The hamburger bun was nothing special and worse then a McDonald's bun. I think my wife had a glass of wine, the other couple had two drinks too. The check came to around $150 for the 4 of us and I ended up paying $57 including my tip for me and my wife. She had one pork chop, small piece of fish, I had a terrible burger, no ambiance at all, uncomfortable chairs and to top it off, I had to have them valet my car, because their lot was too small to park my own, so of course I had to tip just to get my car.
Now don't get me wrong. If I go to a nice restaurant, I expect to pay for their overhead, their decor, their exclusive location, their exceptional service and great food, but how in the world can this joint get away with this, I wondered. I figured they have to be living off the old customers, that for some reason, have remained loyal. I just can't imagine anyone in their right minds going there and enjoying their dining experience. After all how many people can sit down and eat a 38 ounce steak today, unless they were from the old world and didn't have to worry about eating this much poison in one sitting or paying $50+ by the end of the meal.
I give the Okeechobee Steak House my "Hall of Shame" rating for poor decor and atmosphere, inferior salad bar, overpriced menu, poor sides, and very poor value for the food they serve.
Oh, I forgot to mention, they wanted a $7.50 sharing charge if you wanted to share that huge steak...how is that for Chutzpah!
You know, I now realize why many of the independent restaurants have been unable to compete with the national chains...they just can't compete any longer when it comes for consistency in their menu, value, decor, professional staff and learning the proper way to treat their customers ... No Grilled onion, plate share charge, over priced salad bar and not included in their expensive entrees...Forget visiting this "Landmark Restaurant", their time has come and gone and they should sell out to the next developer that offers them a few bucks for their location.
