CANE GARDEN - Not so good!
 

In spite of Villagers popular opinion, CANE GARDEN doesn't do much for me anymore. My wife and I went there on 3/24/13 at 3:00 in the afternoon. Server was good, food was acceptable. But then I got sick, and I don't mean queasy. I got food poisoning, and I believe it was from the Rueben I ate. I called there the next day, asked for the manager, and after literally a 5 minute wait, someone came on the line and I told them my story. The reply was, AND I QUOTE, "you can't prove it so why are we talking about this...I'm busy" CLICK! We won't ever go back there again.

You should report your illness to the health department, maybe?

We were there Saturday for lunch. I agree. We sat outside and noticed that the birds are now taking over swooping down on tables for leftovers.

Were you the only person at your table that had the same meal? Did you ask them if anyone else reported a problem? Did you go to a doctor? Restaurants will never admit they had a problem and will insist that you had the stomach flu. I would report this incidnt to the health department. Unless you have proof chemical analysis,other people who got sick, etc you will be out of luck. Personally i believe you as my wife and I had been victims of food poisoning, In our situation it was a retirment party and half the people wo had soup got ill.

The manager's approach while no surprise is a real turnoff and suggests that not much will be done to correct any problems

Did you seek medical attention? usually the culprit can be identified. The health dept. can sample the contents of the Reuben. First time being there? I noticed this is your first post. How were you able to pinpoint the culprit? Bad news for Cane Gardens if you're certain that this is what happened. Keep us all posted when the health Dept. concludes their investigation. I'd hate to see this resturant get a bad rap if they were not at fault.

Welcome to the Forum. What a very unhappy thing to have to tell us on your first post.

We haven't had any difficulties there in five years.

Food poisoning bacteria can happen to almost anything left unrefrigerated at home or in a restaurant..



You are right about the birds swooping around outside Rubicon.

We are going there tonight with Kathy and Glgene who are here feathering their new nest and Virtual Geezer is joining us, because he is heading North all too soon.

I am sorry you were sick Luke. I hope your doctor helped you.

very poor response by them to your phone call-that would bother me almost as much as the food poisoning

It's very difficult to pin point food poisoning. I know sometimes people assume if they got sick, it was food poisoning.
Sometimes something we ate just didn't like something we ate earlier & they didn't get along in the tummy.
Not saying this is the case here, but I've had this happen.

I would have confronted them face to face............so I knew who I was talking to. Did the OP really talk to management, or just some employee?

Sorry about your experience
 

Restaurants mostly get away with the fact that their food gave a person/people food poisoning. The response of Cane Garden was typical of most restaurants. You have no proof that it was their food that made you sick so nothing is done. Too bad for you. It's a very frustrating problem for consumers. Both my daughter and brother in law were victims of food poisoning but couldn't prove it. Not that many people would pursue it as its time consuming and you will probably lose in the long run. Sorry for four experience and I wish you could prove that it was their food that made you sick. Maybe if people started pursuing it then restaurants would be more careful,about what they served their customers.

Have a great time and may the Virtual Geezer enjoy his dinner (no bang bang shrimp?)

The really upsetting thing here is that the management/person on the phone made no apologies and actually seemed to be arrogant in dealing with this issue. Good customer service was not demonstrated.

Welcome to the TOTV forum, Luke. It is always a pleasure to welcome such a positive person with their first post!
:icon_hungry:

Doesn't it almost always boil down to management? The situation could have been (and should have) handled entirely different with good management. We had an incident (order all messed up and food spilled) at our table at Havana C.C. about 3 years ago that was handled very poorly by the server and manager. On the positive side, we had a glass of wine spilled by the server at Bonifay and the situation include an apology, cleaning bill, and two free dinners. What a difference management can make!

I've thought Cane Garden is getting shabby and the workers a bit sloppy in manner and dress, but I'd hesitate to declare that it was their food that made the person sick, or that it was food that caused it.

I read that the onset of food poisoning is 6 to 48 hours. The cause could have been something eaten prior to that, or it could have been a stomach flu bug which has definitely been around here.

That said, the manager's alleged response is a bad reflection on how customers are viewed there (expendable and irrelevant).

I have been hesitant about ging to restaurants and now with news about china buffett and Cane Garden I am getting really really concerned

Food poisoning
 

I'm sure that the length of time for food poisoning to occur after eating the problem food can vary quite a bit, but it can definitely occur in 3 hours or less. I've been lucky, and have only had food poisoning once in my life. I went to lunch years ago with five friends at work. Three hours after we ate the first got sick, and four hours later all were extremely sick. Between us, we had eaten several different types of sandwiches, but we all had mayonnaise, which was the culprit.

What about touching the cart handles at WalMart?

Hopefully you're not licking the cart handles.....or are you? ;)

What??

:agree:

Next time you have an issue like this as has been said do it face to face. Over the phone ask for the name of the manager, then ask to speak to them. You may still have not spoken to the real manager, but you do have a name. Then pursue the next level up in the food chain (pun intended :evil6:). Now armed with the name you have what you need to present your case.

If it were me, I would be there in person.

I know that when you get the right person in the management/owner line up you will be treated fairly/appropriately.

We have been going to Cain Gardens restaurant regularly weekly since the day they opened. We rank them as better than most of the other club reastaurants. And we never met anybody that works there with attitude.

Maybe you had a bad day for some reason?

Please do try to get to the real people in charge. And if they resolve it please be as informative to us as your OP.

Welcome to TOTV.

btk

Cane Garden needs a major refurbishing - inside is so dated and dark. I hate sitting outside with the birds coming down and sitting on the tables that haven't been cleared yet. Also the menu could use a good updating. Same old stuff on the menu and not a lot of healthy choices. Cane Garden is not my favorite.

Aren't we lucky that we have an incredible number of restaurants available to us? If we don't like the food or service, we can just vote with our feet and move on.

True - and we've voted with our feet on out of The Villages. In quite a few cases, the country club dining experience is not so great. I was at Havana last night at 6:30 and the place was almost dead. There are some really nice restaurants close to or not that far from The Villages.

We finally gave Havanna another chance Monday night and actually saw an improvement. The service was good, the food came out hot and tasty in a reasonable amount of time. I am encouraged.

so true, barefoot! and we enjoy walking on into cane garden to dine! will not ever dine outdoors antwhere - but have enjoyed a libation on that patio - sans birds and unattended tables! guess that could be a timing thing.

Was at Havana last week around 12:30 for lunch and there were only 4 other folks in the restaurant. Food was okay, service not so good. Do wish this place would get its act together.

That's funny -- we were at Havana from 6:00 to 8:00 last night (Thursday)and it was crowded, Danny and Johnny were performing and many people were dancing and many more were eating. Which Havana were you looking at?

We were there at about 6:30ish on the putting green, and only saw maybe 4-5 tables on the patio occupied. Didn't hear any music either.

Wow that was really RUDE of them. Hope you feel better!!

I guess billjay is lying?

Went there last night for supper, and not very impressed!! Waiter kept on saying, "will be with you shortly' but 12 minutes was shortly. She did apologize. Was looking for some fish (friday) but not many choices, without having fried. Part of the problem today is: much of the food restaurants in The Villages serve, is pre prepared (by delivery companies like Sysco). That means all they have to do is cook it. For instance, like bourbon salmon, it already comes with the sauce on it, and all they have to do is cook it. Even the deserts like pies, cakes comes in already wrapped in slices or pieces. I don't think you get that at Lopez, or Palmers. (Maybe others also) But yes, our tummys feel a little woozy this morning, after eating at Cane. Not going to knock them, just won't go back. I like healthier choices when eating out.

Why would you make a post like that? Just having fun stirring the pot or you get your jollies by insulting people? You are implying I'm lying. Not appreciated. I just stated what I saw and heard when my spouse and I were at Havana. Perhaps the music was on break at that point, and that even though it was a warm beautiful night all the people were inside where we didn't see them. Who knows. Who cares.

We've always had good luck at Cane Garden CC. Their food seems to be the most consistent. 7 of us were there from 4:45 to 6pm and all enjoyed their meal.

Also, we were at Havana CC Tuesday night 6:30-8pm to hear Josh Leggett. New menu since we were there last and the food was good. Great service and entertainment. The manager was on site and constantly checking on customers. Big improvement from our last few times there.

The quality of their productis down trending. They also need to deal with the bird problem

Just in case some do not have this:

The Villages Gourmet Club Restaurant Review Site

The gourment club was very generous with their rating of Bonefish Grill

I like Cane Garden and Friday we had lunch after golf at Mallory. They had just repainted the outside and we were all saying how pretty it is to sit outside even if the birds get a bit frisky.

They have a lunch special and you get a salad or soup and a soft drink and a number of choices including three peices of their great pizza, a half sandwich...can't remember all the choices, but all that for 7.99. It was yummy.

Great service, too.


As I have said before, the country clubs here are not like the country clubs that many of us have left, but they sure as heck aren't that expensive either.

Glenview, Cane and Mallory are my favoites.

Or why would you make a post like that? billjay made a statement and it appears that you were challenging what was posted....were you? If it is Who knows or Who cares....what was the point. Including the sentence "Perhaps the music.................we didn't see them. Would have changed the whole post.
Not stirring the pot or getting my jollies (whatever that means) and not insulting people.:ho:

Your list of quotes is incomplete. I actually posted first, and bill jay made a post challenging what I said. I simply replied back. Again, why are you so intent on making a mountain out of a molehill?

Oh well...............................