thing, to go out to dinner before the show. Started off simply enough. Picked up my friend at her place just before six Saturday evening and we headed downtown to a popular (ah, maybe the key) place on the waterfront. Made sense, you see, to eat in that vicinity since we were going to the coliseum for the KSO Pops concert.
It was the crowd of folk outside the restaurant, at the end of the line going in the door that indicated it could take a while to get dinner. Then the bus in the parking lot was the proof that they were pretty busy. We drove away, trying to figure out where to go.*
Because the driver (ok, it was me) wasn't paying sufficient attention, we didn't go in the direction intended, but shifted our focus to the route we were on. That took us to a popular (ok, by now we're figuring it out) meat and potatoes place out at K'ville Center. Again, parking lot is full; people are standing outside the door and there's a line going inside.
By now, we were hungry and decided we'd just get something quick so we'd get back downtown timely. Better to not be rushed trying to get to the show. So we swung into the KFC down the street. Parking lot was not crowded and we figured we'd get our food and things would be OK.
Ha! There was a reason few cars were in the parking lot. The folk working in that restaurant (and I use that word very casually here) acted as if we caught them off-guard and they weren't sure they could get a meal together. Although that chain and that site has a 'salad bar' (one of those much-abused phrases) there were only empty food containers sitting there. As far as we could tell, the crew (ok, the bunch of people) behind the counter were standing around, looking uncertain and slightly perturbed.
After confirming the buffet was definitely not available, we ordered a couple of meals off the menu, their standard fare that should've taken very little time. We were told there'd be a seven-minute delay; but that wasn't going to be a problem so we went over to get our drinks.
AND .... no ice in the drink machine. This caused us to stand around waiting for ice to be added and I began to notice that the place really did appear to be about to close, or maybe just opened. AND they're open for lunch, so it was rather confusing.
Finally, with drinks in hand we took seats (quite a few available) to wait for our food. Several minutes later (we weren't counting, but more than seven had passed and we were both staring at our watches), I went back to the counter to inquire about our dinner. The person behind the counter (not the same person that took our order) stared at me and asked me had I ordered in the drive-thru. Sure; that's why I had been sitting in the dining room for fifteen minutes.
Turns out the order was not in the system, even though I had a receipt showing what we requested and paid. This was food that was ready and waiting to be served; they only had to gather the pieces into their standard little box. Yet, it took them another ten minutes.
You know, I think Selma Diamond had it right. She said in a conversation on a talk show many years ago that she didn't complain when a restaurant got her order wrong, or the food wasn't well prepared, or the service was poor. She just told all her friends not to go there; after all, the place is in business to prepare and serve food but just didn't do it well.
So I am not recommending the KFC near K'ville Center. And since it's lunch time right now, I'm not going to tell you the other reasons for my point of view. Just don't go there.
*Seems driving around and thinking simultaneously has become quite
challenging. Could it be that being right at 50-17 has diminished my
mental capacities?
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