We try, though sometimes it’s impossible or just too hard, to stick to our “eat at no place we have back home” rule when traveling. When traveling, however, sometimes, the only thing on an exit that even looks remotely appealing IS one of “our own chains” and thus we give in.
Big Boy, though, is not one of our chains … thank goodness.
We stopped here somewhere in Kentucky I think … it was NOT a pleasant experience.
I am hard on wait staff. Yes, I know that. I expect they will be good at their job. If they are not, their tip % goes down. In any case, this waitress got 0. Why? Oh let me count the ways.
First, she brought us drinks, but hadn’t been the one to take our order and in doing so got my drink wrong and never introduced herself. Not a big deal in and of itself, but it was definitely the precursor to a seriously bad stop.
Then, she RUSHED us on our order. I was ready, but I had questions and needed to adjust the kids’ dinners and every time I’d take a breath, she’d move on to the next person and ask them what they wanted. That alone was STRESSFUL! Argh!
Kudos to the cooks in the back — they actually got it right.
Third, she brought our dinners, set them down and then never came back. I don’t mean never as in 10 minutes, I mean NEVER. Not for the entire rest of the meal did ANYONE come check on us. Nada.
Once we were finished — without some much needed condiments — we went up to the cash register and the guy there had NO idea what to do given we had no ticket. 🙂 See … she NEVER came back!
About 5 minutes later — after he essentially ignores us and deals with other people — in she walks, REAKING of cigarette smoke and hands us our check.
So … tip? No way no how.