Now THIS is a gyros sandwich!
The little restaurant opened the same year my wife and I moved into the neighborhood. It specialized in yummy Greek fare like gyros, souvlaki, and Greek salads, but also made terrific hamburgers, subs and pizzas, and quickly became our reflex fall-back when we were too tired to make dinner or wanted a treat for lunch. The place was a family operation: the tiny, spunky middle aged woman who seemed to run the place—taking the orders, filling bags, taking the payment—had a Greek accent that reminded me of my grandmother and all of my relatives from her generation; her husband, silent, imposing, who was the chef; and over time, the two children, both of whom worked there when they weren’t in school.
The food was consistently delicious, fresh and authentic, but it was also satisfying to see an old-fashioned family business growing and thriving. A restaurant consultant would probably have said it was too old-fashioned, for the menu never changed, the faded prints of the Parthenon and the Aegean coast were the only decorations in the place, and it dealt only in cash. Still, the little Greek lady greeted you with a knowing smile when you walked in the door, and you knew you were going to be treated like a neighbor.
Then suddenly, the family was gone. The couple decided to sell the place and retire, and a long-time employee who had worked in various jobs over the years took the restaurant over. I knew him, of course, and we talked often. He’s a nice guy, determined, ambitious, hard working. He threw himself into the job of making the business boom. Now the restaurant accepts credit cards and delivers, is open on Sundays, has daily specials, and sports a newly-painted and (somewhat) less austere decor. He also jacked up the price on everything.
The new owner’s formula for success worked almost immediately. The restaurant, he told me, has almost doubled its business. The problem is, as my family gradually discovered, is that the entirely non-Greek staff, including the owner, has no idea what their food is supposed to taste like. You know you’re in trouble when the entire staff mispronounces everything on the menu, (It’s GIR -Os, hard G, not, ugh, “JY-row,” like the name of the goose inventor in Donald Duck comics), but it’s worse than that. The feta cheese in the Greek salads, which are suddenly mostly iceberg lettuce, is scant and low quality. The once-marvelous cheese steak subs are bland; the onion rings are charred, and every now and then a carry-out order includes something inedible, like the freezer-burned veal parmigiana I had a few months ago. The owner was apologetic, but his candid “I thought that meat looked funny when I microwaved it” didn’t inspire confidence.
After several months of disappointing experiences with our old standby, my wife and I resolved that the next bad meal there would be our last. It arrived soon thereafter, when a so-called gyro sandwich came covered in ton of shredded lettuce without onions or the mandatory sauce. The young woman who was running the kitchen that night argued with my wife about what the order was supposed to include, saying “That’s the way we always make a “jy-row,” causing my wife to correctly note that NOBODY makes gyros buried in lettuce and with no sauce.
“Well, maybe you should find another restaurant then!” she said, the snot.
Bingo. We haven’t been back since, and I have been wrestling for weeks over the question of whether I should tell the owner 1) that his food is really bad and unreliable, 2) that these two long-time customers won’t be coming back, and 3), even if the fare was the best Greek food on the East Coast, I wouldn’t set foot in his restaurant again until the woman who argued with us was taking unemployment checks.
The Golden Rule dictates that I talk to him. I would want a good and loyal patron to tell me if my business’s quality was declining. Still, he’s clueless. If he was capable of making the food better that now was, he wouldn’t have let it get this bad to begin with. And why would he listen to me? He’s getting more business than the old place ever got. People will pay for crap, and most customers can’t tell an authentic gyro from souvlaki. I’m just going to upset the guy, and he’ll dismiss me as a crackpot. Yes, he should know about the young woman’s miserable manner, but how can he not know now? Ultimately, it seems likely that confronting him will be a futile gesture, and I know it will be an unpleasant one.
Or am I letting the latter factor dissuade me from my duty as a member of the community? Surely the restaurant can’t continue to thrive as its product declines, can it? As I review the reasons for not telling the owner the truth, they are all rationalizations, with one major peice of selfish reality: I do NOT want to eat any food from there again. I don’t trust the staff or even him., and I can’t have that conversation without agreeing to give the restaurant a second chance.
What would you do?
Ethics Alarms 
Send him the column; you’ve described the dilemma in sensitive terms, and at this point are under no obligation.
Isn’t that kind of cowardly though? He’s about four blocks away. Isn’t this a mandatory face-to-face, especially since I know him?
You answered your own question…
“And why would he listen to me? He’s getting more business than the old place ever got. People will pay for crap, and most customers can’t tell an authentic gyro from souvlaki. I’m just going to upset the guy, and he’ll dismiss me as a crackpot. … Ultimately, it seems likely that confronting him will be a futile gesture, and I know it will be an unpleasant one.”
Send him the link to the blog; you respectfully didn’t publicly name the restaurant in your blog but tell him it was about his restaurant. Send him the link and let him either learn from it or dismiss it.
Some things are not worth the additional aggravation of an unneeded personal confrontation.
By the way; it sounds like your wife has already had a face-to-face about the food. Send the link and move on; seriously.
I used to go out of my way to offer unsolicited help when I had expertise apparently needed in a situation; the past few years I have found that this is not usually appreciated and sometimes actively rejected. This rejection has made me rethink what is originally a kind impulse.
I would not confront the owner face to face. Not my job. A letter, or email to the company customer service address, would be my way to go these days.
Just my personal 2 cents
Note: I still believe in stopping to help a stranded motorist (particular elderly or female) or offering help in a serious situation. Just find many folks these days don’t want your input.
I’m not sure you need this advice, but just in case it’s useful to someone, I’ll post it anyway.
Often it depends on how you present the advice. If you interject without asking, people may a) get confused because your advice requires them to mentally backtrack, when they barely know what they’re doing right now, b) assume, correctly or not, that you don’t know that the way they’re doing it won’t work, c) feel annoyed because they wanted the experience of figuring it out for themselves and weren’t ready for someone to tell them, or d) something I haven’t thought of yet.
As a helpful, arrogant, and often inept person, I’ve learned the above firsthand from both sides. If you casually ask people if they want your help, ask questions about what they’re attempting and what they’ve tried, and allow them to explain the situation to you to their own satisfaction (not necessarily in that order), they’ll be much more willing to accept your help than they would have been otherwise, because in their world, you came in through the door marked “patient and understanding” instead of the door marked “know-it-all interloper”, regardless of which one you actually are at the time. It’s a greater and faster proof of trustworthiness to be able to enter through the understanding door, since a real know-it-all interloper would rarely think to do that, and one who did would stop being a know-it-all in the process of going through the door.
Once you understand what people are looking for, you can give it to them, so they will be more likely to react the way you hope they do.
Hope that helps.
Good stuff, EP.
I agree.
The key is the bottom line. Until sales and foot traffic deterorate the assumption will be that a few disgruntled customers cannot accept construct and postive change. As you said: Business is booming.
Small or large the secret to a business – especially a restaurant – is feedback and that means positive and negative. The review sites that have proliferated online are often a nice window of opportunity especially when the owner/manager respond.
I would use the techology present to register my disatisfaction.
If you are concerned you at least should call him or write him an email, maybe even go down there.
Is the place by the theater?
No, but not far.
I never walk of a restaurant, store or business unhappy, without telling the person in charge why. They are not mind readers, and if I never show up again without having made my point, they will never notice that they lost a customer. On the contrary…after speaking up, I more often than not note that things improve considerably – not because I am so powerful, but probably because others have said the same things.
Invite Gordon Ramsay
We were thinking the same thing!
Small quibble though… Hard “g”?
The litte Greek family- a sister and brother who had emigrated pronounced it with a heavy Y bordering on hard G but not enough to actually call it a G so it more or less pronounced “yih-roh”.
They were just outside Fort Knox and I ate there often enough that the new when I was coming in and my story and I think one day may have even tried to finagle the sister’s daughter into my life. Then when I was reassigned tk Knox 3 years later, they were gone. Moved to Louisville (about and hour drive from Knox). So I checked on them. Still recognized me and were very emotional about my return.
Tex,
Ft. Knox; I spent a really short time there back in the mid 1990’s. Remember the marching/running road hill called “misery” west of the BCT training barracks on Eisenhower? If my memory serves me correctly, I think it was out Porter River Rd somewhere just off main post area, of course it could have been on “Poorman” Range Rd too; man it’s been a long time.
There was another named marching/running road hill too; do you remember the name of that one?
Fort Knox was blessed with many hills that were cardiac arrest inducing nightmares. I’m only aware of three that ever got named. Though the soldiers often named them en route a variety of colorful terms on the ascent.
The three I’m familiar with are:
Agony which starts around 37°54’32.48″ N, 85°54’22.97″ W and ends around 37°54’52.91″ N, 85°55’09.88″ W.
Misery which starts around 37°54’20.37″ N, 85°54’40.64″ W and ends around 37°54’19.42″ N, 85°55’16.01″ W.
Heartbreak which starts around 37°51’26.66″ N, 85°54’51.79″ W and ends around 37°51’46.18″ N, 85°54’39.73″ W.
Those I recall charting on MapMyRun as soon as we ran or roadmarched one of them and I thought I heard one of the leaders mention it’s name. So I assume this is accurate. I could be in error, but then again, Knox was full of killer hills.
Agony, Misery, and Heartbreak; aaaaaa yes; a swift kick in the rear and my memory is in full gear! Too much time has lapsed.
Thanks. 🙂
I think it was either ’94 or ’95 that I was at Ft. Knox, I just don’t remember which it was; I’d have to dig my 201 file out to determine which via my old orders; yup, I’ve still got absolutely everything.
I lived in one of the old barracks buildings over on Nevada. The last time I swung by there, all those old buildings were gone.
That is why I liked the Navy. You took your bunk and mess hall along and when you deployed the “boat” moved not you.
Orin T. Larson said, “That is why I liked the Navy. You took your bunk and mess hall along and when you deployed the “boat” moved not you.”
Yup, that what you get when you’re a piece of that part of the military that supports of the “real” fighters. Poke, poke, jab, jab. 😉 😉 😉
Oops. That 2nd paragraph…
I failed to complete the sentence. That little Greek family…yadda yadda… That ran a restaurant I frequented….
Send in Gordon Ramsey?
No really…I’d be tempted to write them a letter. A face-to-face discussion could go downhill, especially if Miss Smartypants is involved. You can outline all your points; if you try to talk to them about multiple issues, the discussion could well get sidetracked.
Lots of people will go to a new or refurbished place just because they’re new. That’s not true success. It looks like it, but it’s the repeaters, and a growing number of repeaters and referrals that spell success. Once the novelty wears off, and enough people have bad meals, reality will set in. That might be a good time to contact them. It would be horrifying, from what you described, if the place actually became successful with what they’re selling now!
And, thanks for the pronunciation tip! I never knew how to pronounce ‘gyros’, and for some reason never looked it up. Good to know.
I had a local Italian restaurant that also served gyro sandwiches, they actually did a pretty “reasonable” job at it until just recently. A couple of weeks ago I ordered gyro (to go) for lunch, took it back to my office, open it up and immediately noticed that the sauce was different and not in a good way, it was questionable with the smell test and it was really, really thick and would have stuck to the ceiling as a glob if I had thrown it up there, I figured I’d at least give it a try, after the first bite I scraped ALL of it off and ate what I considered a naked gyro. Luckily the sauce was in a little container and not dumped on the entire sandwich for take-out orders, this is standard for this place and take-out orders. In my opinion, the sauce was just nasty! To be honest I had no idea if the sauce had gone bad or if they had intentionally changed the sauce, so I called when I was done eating my naked gyro. I asked if they had changed their sauce, they replied yes, I told them to change the sauce back or they will be chasing customers away – me being one of them. The next time I walk in there with the intent to order a gyro sandwich, I’ll ask if they’ve changed the sauce back to the original sauce; if they’re still using that nasty stuff, I’ll turn and walk out the door and never consider ordering a gyro from there again.
One thing I’ve learned from my recent gyro experience is that the sauce could destroy the sandwich. One thing I’ve learned from Jack’s experience is that change in ownership can dramatically change the quality of the food even in long standing restaurants. Now I’m going to order all my gyros with the sauce on the side from now on even from my absolutely favorite greek restaurant that’s some distance away and I don’t get to frequent as often as I like.
Live an learn.
I think it’s going to depend on how you interpret your previously declared advocacy regarding the duty to confront.
Since the guy in question is running the place, he should at least know about the incident with your wife. His employee should not be telling dissatisfied customers to go somewhere else.
You should try Vasso’s
Talk to the guy face to face. Be brief and direct and non-confrontational. Don’t engage in an argument. Speak your peace, shake his hand, say “Adios and good luck,” and walk out. You’ll feel better and it will only take fifteen minutes.
I say tell him, if it were me I would want to know, and you WOULD be helping him
> Still, he’s clueless. If he was capable of making the food better that now was, he wouldn’t have let it get this bad to begin with.
He can hire someone who is better at cooking and just be the business manager, or maybe he can take cooking classes or hell even just do research online how to make yummy greek food.
>And why would he listen to me?
If he does, great, maybe you help him make business even better. If he doesn’t, who cares, you did the right thing.
>He’s getting more business than the old place ever got. People will pay for crap, and most customers can’t tell an authentic gyro from souvlaki.
If they’ll pay that much for crap they’ll pay that much for good food too. Also you may not be privy to insider information, he may be leaning on loans and actually business might be not so great, partially due to the food quality.
It’s a difficult thing to do, but the more I read the article the more I’m convinced you should tell him. Best case, you get your great local Greek place back. Worse case, he calls you an ass and you don’t speak again (you’re abandoning the place anyway as an eatery so big deal). I disagree that writing a letter is a good idea. Face to face is so much better, body language and tone of voice are important when you’re confronting someone with negative news.
Second.
Ελληνικό φαγητό είναι σημαντικό.
My God, AT, your comment truly is Greek to me. Literally. A first. Hah!
It was an attempt to say ‘Greek Food Matters’. Very hard to find a word for the verb ‘to matter’ in modern Greek. So I went with ‘is important’.
It is an interesting word in English:
[Middle English, from Old French matere, from Latin māteria, wood, timber, matter, from māter, mother (because the woody part was seen as the source of growth); see māter- in Indo-European roots.]
That’s funny.
Jack,
You might want to check this out; I think someone has hacked Alizia’s account; both of the comments posted by Alizia in this thread are way out of character.
Jack, should you have opportunity to speak with Zoltar please to inform him it is merrly a confluence of circumstances. One, I am a foody and Meditteranean food is my delight; second I am reading Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ that was recommended here (to develop Nietzschean interiority though ’tis doubtful ye would have describe it as such). Since Dickens does not stop talking about food it has gotten me hungry. I am going to cook those squash fritters this evening for the gang. Yet offer them before the temple of some God of Macedon in solemn ritual. Please also tell Zolty ‘hi’ for me.
I was concerned that your two original comments didn’t come anywhere close to your usual 500 word minimum count containing your usual verbose verbiage and now your subsequent #3 & #4 comments really didn’t either.
I know my opinion is very important to you; so, I approve. 😉
(Sarcastic look and a subtle snicker from the throne of Zeus)
Ο Δίας είναι τρελό, αλλά εγώ τον συμπαθώ.
Using Google Translate; Zeus and Jupiter translate into Greek the same but they only translate back into English as Jupiter. 🙂
There is reason for that:
Greek; see dyeu- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History:
Homer’s Iliad calls him “Zeus who thunders on high” and Milton’s Paradise Lost, “the Thunderer,” so it is surprising to learn that the Indo-European ancestor of Zeus was a god of the bright daytime sky.
Zeus is a somewhat unusual noun in Greek, having both a stem Zēn- (as in the philosopher Zeno’s name) and a stem Di- (earlier Diw-). In the Iliad, prayers to Zeus begin with the vocative form Zeu pater, “o father Zeus.” Father Zeus was the head of the Greek pantheon; another ancient Indo-European society, the Romans, called the head of their pantheon Iūpiter or Iuppiter—Jupiter. The -piter part of his name is just a reduced form of pater, “father,” and Iū- corresponds to the Zeu in Greek: Iūpiter is therefore precisely equivalent to Zeu pater and could be translated “father Jove.” Jove itself is from Latin Iov-, the stem form of Iūpiter, an older version of which in Latin was Diov-, showing that the word once had a d as in Greek Diw-. An exact parallel to Zeus and Jupiter is found in the Sanskrit god addressed as Dyauṣ pitar: pitar is “father,” and dyauṣ means “sky.” We can equate Greek Zeu pater, Latin Iū-piter, and Sanskrit dyauṣ pitar and reconstruct an Indo-European deity, *Dyēus pəter, who was associated with the sky and addressed as “father.” Comparative philology has revealed that the “sky” word refers specifically to the bright daytime sky, as it is derived from the root meaning “to shine.” This root also shows up in Latin diēs “day,” borrowed into English in words like diurnal. · Closely related to these words is Indo-European *deiwos “god,” which shows up, among other places, in the name of the Old English god Tīw in Modern English Tuesday, “Tiw’s day.” *Deiwos is also the source of Latin dīvus “pertaining to the gods,” whence English divine and the Italian operatic diva, and deus, “god,” whence deity.
(From ‘The Free Dictionary’ by Farlex, a great app!)
Jack, this is a case where the answer varies. You’ve met the Owner, you’ve talked to the Owner. Will speaking or giving a link to the post get the better reaction? Is this someone who will thank you for your honesty and your courage in choosing face to face or someone who will become defensive? Would seeing the post and the rest of the blog do a better job of making your case and let both parties save face by avoiding in-person conflict?
What does your gut say?
“What does your gut say?”
I wonder if the Golden Rule really requires that you explain to him how to do his business — that is, cook food?
If you were a known gourmand or had the kind of credibility with food and the food business as you do with ethics, then by all means would be appropriate to inform him of his failing food quality. Absent that kind of credibility, he is unlikely to benefit from your advice, as sound as it is. So in this case, I’d let his soon-to-be declining sales numbers speak for you and his other unhappy patrons. Nothing speaks to a business owner quite like declining sales.
As a business owner myself, I always appreciate other business owners giving me advice when it comes to generic business things like accounting, etc. But if someone in the food industry tried to tell me my manner of packaging was wrong, I’d be unlikely to take his advice — I’ve been doing this for 25 years, after all, and a person in a completely different and unrelated industry is unlikely to convince me to change.
My counsel would simply be to move along, unless he solicits your advice. As far as the behavior of the server goes, I’d certainly complain to him about that. Identifying poor service quality is something anyone can do.
Tell him, but in a way that is lower stress. Food places go astray so fast, he may not listen. His listening depends more on his ethics than yours, does he really like good greek food or is it a profit center only?. Better you not stress out over being the messenger than he think everything is hunky dorey.
I think if you’ve talked about it on your website, you owe it to him to tell him your grievances in person. It will be better that way, no matter how bad it goes, than for him to hear it from someone else who sees this. If it was not important enough to confront him about this, it would have to be also not be important enough to make this post.
Tell him. Nobody says you have to get lunch at the same time.
Restaurants who have ownership changes like this often have surges in business in the short term. A curiosity honeymoon of old and new customers gives them a bounce. But when issues of quality, service and price creep in, that honeymoon will not last long. I think the test of whether he is savvy enough to consider what you have to say is an initial note/email, starting with the very poor customer service issue you had, and the offer to speak with him about it. If he doesn’t respond with genuine interest, then he is a lost cause. But if he shows genuine concern and wants to sit down with you, that is an excellent sign that customer service and satisfaction is very important. If I had to make a bet, I’d say anyone who cheapened their products and service the way you describe will be in the former, not the latter group.
I think if you find a moment at a time when he isn’t bustling about business, you should do it face to face. Offer him the link to the blog for more detail and clarification. If he takes the information to heart, he’ll reach out to you and offer a free meal to measure his success on improving the quality.