Augustine’s 1812 House
 

Just had dinner at Augustines. They are doing a buffet only due to short wait staff. I had stuffed shells meatballs salad topped off by cheesecake dessert. My husband had meatballs, ravioli, and sausage and peppers.

We both thought the meal options were good and flavorful. Dinner was especially yummy.
$15.99 each.

So bad the last time we ate at 1812 I would never consider going back even if it were free. Rude server and clueless manager.

I hate buffets will a passion.

Seems to be going DOWNHILL like the LIGHTHOUSE.

The pandemic, supply chain allegations and short of help have become well worn excuses for many businesses to provide less than satisfactory service/delivery/quality/et al.

I am not saying that is the case at 1812.

Increasingly difficult to sort the reality from the "convenient" excuse.

Florida stopped the Federal Subsidies for UNEMPLOYMENT in June. Nationally the $300 Subsidies STOPPED in September.
It’s come down to Wages, Benefits and Working Conditions.

Since the pandemic, I tend to stay away from open food sources.

I would think it would come down to no income = no food and no shelter regardless of wages, benefits and working conditions. Which begs the question: Just where did all the workers go?????

I hate to trash businesses, especially restaurants in TV, but Augustine 1812 might have been the worst restaurant experience ever. Made a reservation for 5:30 prior to a show at the Sharon, then picked my menu selection from their website. When we arrived, they asked if we've heard about their buffet. We replied no thanks, we'll just order off the menu, only to find out there was no menu. They might have mentioned that at the time the reservation was made. Regarding reservation, they stated they only had 5-5:30 available, which was fine for us prior to the show, but the restaurant was less than half full right through 7:00 o'clock. The "buffet" consisted of a pot of soup, a meager salad station, and 3 pans that were supposed to be lasagna, chicken alfredo, and past primavera. At 5:55 they were "out" of lasagna and substituted tasteless spinach tortellini. The chicken alfredo was watery and the pasta overcooked. There was a pot of meatballs that was the only thing edible, as well as some pizza.
We saw a server whom we knew from other restaurants and asked what was going on. The short story is that they can't get kitchen help---kids right out of high school want to start at $25/ hour with benefits and 4 weeks vacation! Pretty pathetic, especially since this server said the owners are very generous and he was getting paid more than twice as much as his prior job. Does this mean "the kids" that would normally take these entry level jobs are living on mommy's basement couch and playing video games and Instagram all day long??? (probably not, no basements in FL:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:)
Is this our future?????

And why is that???? Please, please don't tell me anyone thinks they can get COVID from food. Please.
If the statement was that people should have stayed away from open food sources for the last 100 years, I might agree, but only since the pandemic.........well, res ipsa loquitur

if there so generous why aren’t people coming to work for them ., many restaurants are doing well and not just big places , tropical smoothie and Starbucks have so many people behind counter there bumping into each other, I wonder why ? Hmmm maybe they pay better

Maybe, but not according to the guy we know who works there, and previously worked at two other restaurants in TV. Let's assume he knows more about it than either of us.

Works where?? And if those 2 places I mentioned then maybe my eyes need to be checked because I’m a regular in both , how about you ???? And not at LSL

The server I was referring to is not a kid, he's about 50-55 and works at what TV considers fine dining establishments. I won't give the names of the 2 places he worked prior, but they are both in the top 5 restaurants in TV, and have nothing to do with kids behind the counter at tropical smoothie or Starbucks, neither of which I frequent. Why is it hard to acknowledge that an experienced, mature server who is actually working at the restaurant in question knows more about this than either of us?

I can’t figure out what your trying to say that this guy can’t make money or can’t get a job which my post wasn’t talking about , I’m out most nights to eat and never cook and frequent the top 4 or 5 places and others lower down the list , I’m friends with many on staff and they are happy and doing well , I mentioned tropical smoothie and Starbucks as an example of places where they seem to get enough help maybe because they pay , I was writing from general observation of what I see and hear , not from one person and we all know that the restaurant business is not kind to older servers

I would think it would come down to no income = no food and no shelter regardless of wages, benefits and working conditions. Which begs the question: Just where did all the workers go?????

I've been asking this question for a few months now. I have worked a couple of jobs that I didn't want in order to get by in the past. Same with my wife. We had to in order to pay the bills.

I really don't know the answer but they have money for basic subsistence somehow.

We ate at Gators in SS last night. Good food but very poor service and dirty conditions due to a lack of servers and other help. We left a decent tip anyway since the lone waitress serving the outside seats was trying hard. Won't go back until their help situation improves.

Starbucks actually has a program that encourages their employees to go to College......they pay for it. ......still means you have to be motivated to do it. Starbucks College Achievement Plan | Starbucks ASU Partnership

Anyway, I also have had lighter, fluffier cheesecake, and I thought there was a bit too much chocolate in the crust for my taste.

Those of you sniping at each other, take it somewhere else.

Did you ever see somebody sneeze, or cough into the food ? or pick something up, and put it back with their fingers ? I did, and will not eat a a buffet , ever !

guess you never worked in a restaurant kitchen? Take what you saw at the buffet and multiple by 10. But what you don't see won't kill ya, right?

And I agree----but that has nothing to do with the pandemic or getting COVID. The first post stated you avoid open food sources since the pandemic.. Now it's "will not eat a buffet ever" which is it????

This thread is worthy of a stand-up routine ...

I was a frequently restaurant patron until the pandemic. I then rediscovered cooking, I know exactly what I'm eating, the freshness of the food and I'm assured the kitchen is clean.
I now only go to restaurant to socialize, if I'm under time constraints or want to give the cook a night off.

I don’t get it. Why are people surprised at all of this? Everybody complains about salaries for non-career type jobs. If McDonald’s is paying their workers $15 an hr, then don’t be surprised the $1 hamburger goes to $2, or your choices at restaurants give you less while paying more for it. Businesses are not going to lose money so everything will be going up. So if the starting wage is $15 an hr now, your buying power will not improve because everything else will be more expensive

Went there after golf a week ago with 11 people for lunch ($7.99). Everyone loved the buffet. Plenty of food, great Broccoli cheese soup, Manicotti, spaghetti, meatballs and a nice salad bar. Loved it.

wages & benefits
 

Being a recruiter and working in human resources for most of my working life I can say with a great deal of certainty that higher wages and better benefits do not equal better retention or better employees.

Agreed. However higher wages and better benefits will get you more applicants! It is then the establishment’s job to train and set expectations which many don’t do. If new hires then fail, show them the door.

Like the light house
 

The Lighthouse was one of my favorites, before these people bought it. I never go there anymore.

I have been there twice for lunch and absolutely delicious
 

I have been there twice and it was absolutely loved it. They have a great chef because everything was delicious
111QUOTE=noslices1;2025859]Went there after golf a week ago with 11 people for lunch ($7.99). Everyone loved the buffet. Plenty of food, great Broccoli cheese soup, Manicotti, spaghetti, meatballs and a nice salad bar. Loved it.[/QUOTE]

There was a buffet line, but you were being served by employees. Like the old cafeteria line.

Restaurants are finding ways to make it work in this tough employment climate. In Augustine’s case, they are making it work by offering a limited menu of quality items offered in a cafeteria style. If this is not your cup of tea, just move on.

I went to the 1812's Sunday brunch for $7.99 last week and I have to say that it was not only a good bargain, but a FANTASTIC MEAL!!!! I'll be doing it every week if they keep it that good. :coolsmiley: :a040:

What you do see won't kill ya either. My immune system has kept me very safe for many years of cruise ship buffets (over 40 cruises worth).

Follow the 10 sec rule

My food dropped on the floor, I leave in 10 seconds

Given that it was hard to get enough people as wait staff and in the kitchen to serve people fast enough with separate orders, I think an Italian buffet is an excellent idea. Don’t think “Eat all I want until I explode.” Think “Salad ready to eat and my favorite Italian entree ready to eat.” It saves a lot of time if you can serve yourself, and things like lasagna are made in big pans and can be baked hours in advance and are actually better the second day. So you save a lot of money and maybe get what you would have ordered anyway, and we keep a good restaurant here instead of it going under. So please support them!

I went to the Sunday Brunch today. $7.99. That’s a good deal. While I’ve been to fancier brunches, they also cost a lot more. Items included, as I recall it, bacon, corned beef hash, pancakes, biscuits with sausage gravy, scrambled eggs, fried onions and peppers, small muffins, and Danish. People seemed to be eating a lot. It was a good-sized crowd. I think it is 10-2, though Im not certain about the opening time. Check it out if that sounds good to you.