A Colorado Restaurant Review

I had decided that I would use this blog to share books and movies that I love with others. After all, the best part of being a bookseller was introducing people to something new. I review for Bookbitch.com and if I dislike something that I've read, you'll read about it there. I don't see a need to slam a book on this page simply because I didn't enjoy it. 

I have to break from my mold for a moment to give a bad review, though, and this one on a restaurant no less. See, I have no other place to express this opinion and my experience was such that I think it warrants sharing. 

Here goes!

Saturday I accompanied Mike to Colorado Springs where he was helping a friend of ours move some stuff into his new apartment. Afterwards we headed over to the Craft Lager Festival. Now, I'm not a beer drinker in the least, but I put my brave face on and at least tasted everything. It was fun and some of them weren't that bad to a girly drinker like me.

Since we were in CO Springs I wanted to take advantage of the trip and eat at Edelweiss, a German restaurant that I had heard about but had never had the chance to go to. The set up at the restaurant was a little odd and after a couple of minutes of confused wandering, a waitress found us and sat us. Our own waiter was in training and was a bit of a goober, but was doing fine for a beginner. Our food was quite tasty and the prices, though high, were reasonable for the large portions that were served. Overall, my experience here would have been fine were it not for a conversation that I overheard between the person in charge (owner or manager, I'm not sure) and another patron.

See, a man got up to ask about a charge on his bill. It was a three top, he, his wife, and a person I assumed was their teenage daughter (they also had a baby with them). They ordered drinks (not free water, but actual $2.25 drinks) and he and his wife shared an entree. These things are ginormous and I know that they can't be the first people to have opted for sharing. The restaurant charged them. I'm not sure what they charged, whether it was a couple of bucks extra or an entire entree extra. Nowhere on the menu or anywhere else that I could see was there anything indicating that guests sharing an entree would be charged and extra fee. Nowhere that I have ever eaten before, have I ever seen this happen. The patron in question pointed this out to the person in charge who tried to justify the extra charge by saying that even though they only ordered one entree, they asked for a second empty plate and someone has to wash that plate and the waitress waited on the whole table. 

Is anyone else here utterly flabbergasted at this point? It seriously ruined my dinner. Again, had I not heard this, I would have no complaints. I did hear it, though, and frankly I will never be returning to the restaurant. Any business that treats its customers like this doesn't deserve any business at all. This restaurant claims to have been in business for over 40 years. Again, if this policy was posted anywhere, at least they would have a leg to stand on. It would still be an unreasonable policy in my opinion, but at least if it were clearly posted, you couldn't say you didn't know. I personally just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible and hated the fact that I, by being there and eating, was going to be adding to their profits. 

There was a bit more to the convo. The PIC appeared to basically be accusing the patron of being a cheapskate rather than someone who had a valid complaint. The PIC also didn't seem to believe that no other restaurant anywhere in the universe charges patrons for an empty plate. It's not as if the whole table came in and ate free bread, drank water, and left. It was simply the sharing between two people of one $20 entree, plus whatever their daughter ordered and their drinks as well. The restaurant wasn't getting ripped off by having a table taken up by people who didn't place an order. They were still coming out on top by making their profit off the food that was served. 

From now on, I am confident enough in my own cooking skills that if I have a craving for hearty German fare, I can make it in my own kitchen and use as many plates as I want for no extra charge. I will not be returning to Edelweiss nor will I be recommending this restaurant to anyone that I know.