[katerogers]

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.

[rockyisle]

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.

[Sagitarius 6]

Originally Posted by PennBF

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

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.

[ilovetv]

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.

[missypie]

Originally Posted by rjm1cc

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

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

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by karostay

1 guest check or 32

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

[downtheshore]

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.

[dgammon6]

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.

[BarryRX]

Originally Posted by justjim

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.

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!

[gjbl8114]

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....

[Microcodeboy]

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...

[AriaGrandparents2013]

Originally Posted by Sagitarius 6

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.

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.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by eweissenbach

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.

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.

[Bogie Shooter]

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?

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by downtheshore

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.

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.