Bad Taste Left In The Mouths Of Our Guests
 

I email this letter to Glenview Country Club on June 19th. Needless to say no response as of today, July 8th, 2013.

On Saturday June 15th we visited the Glenview Country Club and were extremely disappointed with the service. Let me explain. We are a group of up to 30 plus and we travel via golf cart once a month to a nice restaurant in The Villages. We came from The Village of Sanibel to Glenview Country Club since some of us had never been to your establishment. My husband called the restaurant during the week so you would be expecting us on Saturday. We were connected to the Banquet Manager's voice message. My husband left a message explaining we would have close to 30 people for lunch on Saturday. We never received a return call. On Saturday we arrived at Glenview around 11:15. We explained to the hostess we had 23 people for lunch and would like to be seated around 12:15. Keep in mind a message was left for the banquet manager that we would be there on Saturday. The hostess said she would try to accommodate us and not until we all showed up. We asked for tables on the porch and were told a certain room was used for large parties. We asked to speak with the banquet manager and he was standing right there. My husband asked, do you not return phone calls? The banquet manager told us he was very busy and if he had a receptionist calls may get returned! So we had to wait until we all came back to see where we would be seated. We were placed in a large dining room with one oblong table, one round table and a table for 4. When I walked into the room there was a table of 10-12 set up in the center toward the porch area. Sure would have been nice if we had 2 tables of 12 set up for us, even in an L shape. We all would have been together. A few minutes later, 2 more of our people came in. One of the waiters said to the banquet manager, here are 2 extra people and I said no, these people are in our count. She explained to me that the round table could hold 10!!! I asked the banquet manager if we could have another small table to place next to ours and he said he didn't have any more tables!!! Our people at the oblong table moved around so our guests could be seated. Why couldn't we have had 2 oblong tables placed in an L shape??? So everyone’s order is placed and is served in what I thought was a timely manner. Well, I finished my lunch when I noticed one of our guests being served silverware. I asked her if she was just now being served and she said yes. A hamburger and french fries! Four people at the end of the oblong table were being served while others were finished their lunch. Gets better, another couple was served after the last 4. The reason they were being served so late, their french fries were being cooked. Oh they received their hamburger placed on 2 bottom pieces of the roll!!! So what kind of a picture was painted for our group at Glenview Country Club? Twenty three people ate at your restaurant ordering hamburgers, sides, drinks and other menu choices. Nice tab for the restaurant and tips for the servers. Foul tastes left in the mouths of our guests.

Janet Hohenberger

What's Going On?
 

Just a question. It seems that some have not been satisfied at Havana Restaurant, another now at Glenview, some very dissatisfied at Terra Del Sol, and so on. Given that "perception is reality" then it would be a safe bet there are problems with the CC Restaurants? Don't know what can be done but it does suggest some actions would be appropriate.
It is well mentioned as to where can anyone find a good Italian Restaurant and we (fortunately) found a real good one but not in The Villages. We are from an area where there are a number of good Italian Restaurants and kind of recognize if they are good or not. We have had to go outside of The Villages to find one which, in speaking to friends that independently found this Restaurant all agree it is terrific.
I know there will be a number of readers who swear this or that Italian Restaurant in The Villages is good or great. Like I said, "perception is reality" so if those are the ones some like so be it :ho:

I am sorry that you were unhappy with your experience.
I would not depend that a voice message alone to ANY restaurant would be sufficient to arrange a reservation for a party of thirty.

Perhaps it would behoove restaurants to NOT provide voice mail if the calls will not be returned or confirmed.... but I know of no restaurant, in any city that will prepare tables for a large party without actually speaking to the people first.

Perhaps in the future, it would be best to choose places that have a 'party room' area within their restaurant, and secure that room in whatever way the restaurant requires ahead of time when your party is that size. That's a boatload of people to attend to in synchrony.

Why do 23- 30 people have to have seat together?? Your call ahead was an attempt at the right thing to do...but was it received? At best you can talk to 6 or 8 without yelling at someone. Our group of typically 32 visit the local CCs for diner after saturday golf for dinner and we know it is almost impossible to get even a table for 8 without waiting (unless you go to Havana). SO what we do is every 4some breaks up and we get 8 tables of 4...or if there is a larger table available we take advantage of it. If open porch seating is available and its not raining, windy or outright hot/humid..normallly this is not a problem.

If you broke your group up that did not require special seating, you probably all (at 11:15 before the rush) could have sat on the enclosed porch.

BTW I think the banquet mgr should have returned your call or you should have followed up and not assumed he/she received it. You never did speak about the food...typically the Glenview lunches I have had there are very good.

I love Glenview and have always had good service there. When you have a group of 32 even in off season, that is a LOT of folks. I think your expectations were just a tiny bit too high and I am sorry you didn't have the enjoyable experience you were hoping for.

The Banquet Manager clearly should be fired and perhaps his boss. OP'S phone message was never returned and email never answered. This is totally unacceptable and awful business management---exactly the reasons restaurant owners go bankrupt.

Must be the CC have enough customers that they do not have to worry about good service.

Will you give the name of the Italian Restaurant? We too are looking for one.

I don't believe that 30-36 people should be an overwhelming problem for most restaurants / clubs. From the description of events, the group was told there was a certain room used for large groups. That being the case, it would seem pretty easy to get the room prepared in a short period of time.

Two thinks jump out at me -
#1 - If they can't handle or don't want to handle a large group, why have a Banquet Manager?

#2 - The inane policy of not seating the group until everyone is in the building. This has been discussed on this board previously concerning the hostesses at the Glenview podium creating the artificial logjam. If you have a group, going into a specified and specific room, and most have arrived, put them in there and start running the tab. I've got to believe this is better than having two dozen people hanging around the entrance waiting for another few to arrive.

Anyone who has worked in business is aware of the problems associated with employees not returning calls (e-mails voicemails). What could have be done when these folks arrived is anyone's guess and quite honestly moot. If the phone call had been returned the intended preparation by the OP would have been achieved and/or the manager could have informed the OP it was not possible to accommodate. Posters shifting blame to the OP IMHO are mistaken the OP executed her responsibility Mallory did not

Glenview rubi!

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Obviously the banquet manager was in the wrong in not returning your call. What we've done in similar situations, is to go in person to make arrangements, because we've had better luck that way. I hate it when people don't return calls. You really are left not knowing where you stand. Sure sounds like they might have done a better job of getting the food orders done in somewhat the same time frame as well.

While I like Glenview, it sounds like this was a mess from jump street. They should have returned the call, it takes a minute - don't tell me how busy you are it takes A MINUTE! Secondly, when approached about the ball-drop he should have apologized and made every effort to accommodate the group. I don't know who teaches restaurant management customer relations these days but they aren't getting through to many of their students.

1 guest check or 32

Sorry you had a negative experience, but why didn't you make a follow up call to the restaurant? With that many people attending dinner I would have called them back and reiterated that 26-30 people would be showing up to eat. Take the name of the person you talked to and then you can have someone to hold accountable if things don't go as planned. I agree it is unacceptable that no one returned your call.

I have never been to this club and no nothing of their service, but having been a waitress all through college, in every restaurant I worked, the policy was always to seat large groups together. The reasoning behind this is to serve all parties at the same time and because it is easier for the wait staff to process the orders and wait on the party. Granted, in this case the people in this large party were not served together, but, that is why they do it. That is not to say, 30 people should be standing around, clogging up the entrance. Obviously this policy should be more flexible in cases where this happens.

I'm just amazed that you all even bothered to head up to Glenview without a confirming phone call back. There's no way I'd take a group that large, that far for lunch anywhere without confirmation...
We love the Glenview. We've never had an issue with service for our golf league, but we definitely have confirmed reservations before we show up.

I too know good Italian food, I am from RI where there are some of the best Italian resturants right up there with NY and Boston and I am Italian. I would love to know where there is a good Italian Resturant around this area. Please share where you go. I gave up looking after trying a few in this area.

I would not risk taking that many people over there without a confirmed reservation. Restaurants regularly send workers home during slow periods, to save on wages. Without a confirmed reservation they would not be prepared with enough servers to devote several solely to this group.

My experience in trying to make a dinner reservation at Glenview for a group of 14 women a few months ago was this:

I called Glenview on a Thursday and asked for the Banquet Manager. They told me groups like that have to be approved/reserved by the owner only, and he would not be in until Monday. (I was calling 3 weeks in advance.)

I said, "Well can't somebody else check the banquet/party reservations book/schedule, and make a reservation for us?"

They said "No. Only the owner is allowed to book for a party that size (14), and so you will have to call back on Monday. And, if he agrees to book it, you will have to come in early, around 4:00pm, because he wants the tables open for the regulars coming for dinner hours starting at 5pm." (I thought, "Well gee....what are WE: chopped liver???")

I said "forget it". I wasn't going to delay getting plans confirmed and getting the invitations sent out for 4 more days. Nobody there wanted our business as a group, so we went elsewhere! Called Arnold Palmer and got the party organized there and it worked out well as always.

I never see the logic of 30+ people all going out for lunch or dinner all together and expecting to sit at one huge, long table. You can only talk to 4-5 at a time anyway. It's far better to break into smaller tables of 6 or 8 so the restaurant can can accommodate the people along with the regular crowd.

We are a successful business, but each and every person counts. To have enough customers to not worry???? Really???? WOW!!!!

My husband thinks the total $ dollar amount would be too wide to fit on one slip, so it must be separate checks.

It's a shame that the country clubs can't step it up. With maybe the exception of (Lopez Legacy). Most are hit or miss with mostly miss. The managers don't seem to care as they have a captive audience regardless of how bad the food or service is.
Some of the servers try hard and some do not. It's a shame we can't enjoy the convenience of the cc's but until they show some respect for the customer with providing the best they can do, we have to spend our money elsewhere.

Never had a bad experience at Glenview. When our golf group goes there on Saturday, usually 12 to 16, we expect some delay simply because its Burger Mania Day and the place is crowded.

I have to agree. If the banquet manager actually handled the situation as described, he won't have to worry about being too busy for very long. I do think it a little odd though to leave a voice mail about showing up with 32 people, and not confirm the reservation with a real live person. As for my own personal experience at glenview, whenever my foursome plays there we always stop for lunch, and both the service and the food, and the view out the windows has been lovely!

This is a most unfortunate incident however let's keep a couple of things in mind when it comes to CC's and reservations. I have lived in TV's seven years and to my knowledge I am not aware of any CC that takes lunch reservations outside of a catered or banquet event. It is unreasonable for any of us to think that such a large luncheon group of 30 or 27 in this case could reasonably be expected to be seated together during normal lunch hours. It should have occured to the caller when the call was not returned that no arrangements were in order for their arrival. And, I believe that the caller might have suspected that such a request might be out of order and therefore didn't bother to call Glenview back prior to their anticipated arrival.

Having said this, consider if you will how disturbed you would be if you walked into Glenview CC at lunch time and saw a large numbers of empty tables, but, were told that no seating was available at that time? You wouldn't like it. That's one reason why CC's don't take reservations and the other is as another responder has indicated, "they don't have to." The CC's have enough business at lunch time so that it is unnecessary to cater to a group of 30 people.

It would be a good idea if you have a group of this size, that you think carefully about where you want to plan lunch, perhaps at one of the homes of those 30 in the group. Wonder how many homes in TV's could accommodate such a number?

It just seems unreasonable to have such expectations from our CC's or to shift the blame to the manager or other staff. It's just not a smart decision to expect any place to accommodate such a large group without making certain, in advance, (and I don't mean waiting on a return call to confirm your request) that such arrangements are possible.

This, in my opinion, is an unreasonable expectation....

On Long Island, the land of resturants, that place would not be in business long - word travels fast. My son in law manages over 100 hotels and resturants and agreed the place should not be in business and certainly the banquet manager should be fired for the statement to the customer regarding the return call. REALLY???

Yeah for competition!! Only the good should survive...

We're from SE Massachusetts and spend a lot of time in Rhode Island........am curious what are your favorite RI Italian restaurants?

In The Villages we have eaten several times at Giovani's and have some great meals.

I have heard from a fairly reliable source that the person who owns the business at Glenview runs it very well but is a tad bit...impatient and not diplomatic. We always seem to get one of three servers all of the time and they are absolutely the best anyone could wish for. The food is comforting and hot and toothsome and the prices are more than fair. The surroundings look like some of the "real" country clubs back home and the drive there and back is lovely and worth a turn through the nearby Sunbury Village.

I still say expected or not, as busy as most restaurants are here 32 folks are a lot and I can't think of any "private" room other than the porch....which has the worst acoustics of any place I have ever been. It is hard to have a conversation with someone sitting right across from you the sound bounces around so much and it is so LOUD.

Isn't the bottom line......they called and didn't get a call back(why not call again to confirm?) and then just showed up with 30 people......and we're so upset............Really?

downtheshore - don't come back to the jersey shore if you are in search of a restaurant and its staff who give a darn about your wait time, meal and/or service. it's tourist season here and the beach birds have swarmed despite the storm damage that still persists - making it harder to find a restaurant - much less one without a crowd waiting. they know that if you don't come or if you wwalk out - there is someone to step right up and take your place[s]!

we are snowbirds who flock to dinner in the villages country clubs with anywhere from a party of 2 - 8 and i can count the number of times we have felt any one of them should have to step things up to meet our dining expectations. i daresay that some expectations just might be too high or even unreasonable. ours are just reasonable - after all, we're not dining in formal attire, at the palace in new york, morton's of chicago, etc - those days are over. we now enjoy casual and comfortable...and that need the villages country clubs fill easily for us.

Try Hacienda CC. I KNOW that Al will make sure you are happy with the seating, service and attitude of the servers. He will work with you.

Based on my personal experience that's Glenview to a "T". They are the most customer unfriendly place in TV. Try going there with a large (12+) golf group to find out what really crappy service is. The attitude starts at the Host/Hostess desk and reflect the I don't give a s--t attitude of the Manager. Hard to complain since the owner is never there and probably has no idea what his managers are doing to infuriate customers. Yes I have complained and No I never get a response. They simply don't care. PS; don't think the food's very good there either.

I've noticed the same attitude of the hostess there.

The very young and very beautiful hostess?

16 checks, does it really matter?
Janet

Last Saturday our Sanibel Cart Cruisers were highly appreciated and accommodated with open arms at BONIFAY C C. I went a week in advance and spoke with the Manager John. He immediately entered our reservation in the book, in front of me. We had another call during the week to insure our reservation. We had 36 happy Cart Cruisers arriving between 11:30 and noon. Our orders went in together and everyone was served together. We had our own space outside and our 3 tables were set up in a U. Everyone could see and hear as I gave out prizes for our Scavenger Hunt. All of us were very happy with service from BONIFAY C C , John, the manager and his staff.
Janet

era

You must be thinking of a different place.

era

Some actual advance planning...............