First off, thank you to EVERYONE who voted for us this year. There are simply no words for how honored we are to have been chosen as Best New Restaurant - seriously. THANK YOU.
We'd also like to take a moment to give a big thanks to everyone who helped us make it this far: Steve, thank you for believing in our dream (and giving us the money to make it happen.) Mike, thank you for handling all that legal paperwork we pretend to understand. Jeff, thank you for slaving away all summer getting our remodel finished. And for working in the kitchen the first few months. And for being our go to handy-man. And for...everything! Mary Lou, thanks for being the best mom/mother-in-law/friend in the world. We could not have done this without you - you're amazing. Thank you to Sadie, for doing all the things we don't seem to have time for. Thank you to our families, for supporting us, for being our most loyal customers, and for being some of the most patient people in the world. This industry is a tough one and we are made stronger by your support. And thank you to our awesome customers - clearly, we wouldn't be here without you. Thank you for your patience in that first month when we were still figuring out what the heck we were doing. Thank you for telling your friends. Thank you for coming back again and again. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
This next year is going to be an exciting one - we're still working on that vegetarian patty, we've got some great new specials in mind, we're going to have outdoor seating once this rainy Oregon weather goes away and...well, you'll just have to wait and see!
Peace, Love and Burgers -- Nate, Sarah, Rob and Janet
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Wow, congrats on being voted best new restaurant. I must say I am slightly surprised. I came in to your restaurant last month and was very eager and excited to try your burger. I arrived at noon on the dot, was seated by 12:10 and ordered by 12:15. At first, I was very impressed because of how busy you were and how limited the seating and parking was. Then, the clock watching began. I work for a very large business nearby and had to return by 1:00. Sadly, I ended up leaving at 12:46 because my food never came. The waitress never consoled us or apologized for the amount of time it was taking. Eventually, my friend approached her and asked what the issue was. One by one we watched others that arrived after us, get their food. Once I returned to work I called to express my concern for the poor service. The manager took my name and number and the owner called me back and left a message. In her words on my voice mail, she said "I looked back through the tickets and did not see where anyone had much of a wait". I did not bother returning the call because clearly excuses were being made right off the bat. I am sad I never tried a burger and even sadder for the feedback I gave my coworkers when I returned to work hungry and unsatisfied. The office I work in is very large; several people knew I was going to try a burger. What do you think I told them when I returned to work? Customer service is a powerful thing. And honestly, how long could it possibly take to make the simplest burger on the menu? I incorrectly assumed my hour long lunch break would be sufficient time to enjoy a good burger.
ReplyDeleteAmanda
Thank you for the congratulations.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to your poor experience, let me first say I’m very sorry. It’s our goal to make sure that every single person leaves our restaurant satisfied and obviously in this case, we failed.
The voicemail that was left for you wasn’t a manager making excuses – it was a manager that was confused, since you called the Willamette Noodle Company to complain about the service at the Willamette Burger Company. I know for a fact that the manager there went through every single one of their tickets to try and figure out what happened with your table and when they couldn’t find it, since it wasn’t there that you ate, they called to get more information about your experience.
Again, I’m sorry that your visit with us was so poor. But I do remember the day that you came in, so let at me at least explain exactly what happened. When you and your party arrived, you were at the tail end of a rush. Meaning, when you sat down at a table that was in the midst of being cleared off, nearly every single table in the restaurant had also just been seated. And half of those tables had yet to order. So even though you had your ordered taken rather quickly, you were in line behind a dozen other burgers. While this is so certainly no excuse for not communicating this better with you, it certainly wasn’t anyone’s fault that we were so busy. No, it doesn’t take very long to make the ‘simplest burger on the menu,’ but we have a very small kitchen and in turn, a small space to prepare our food. We can only prepare so many burgers at a time, which can make the wait time a little longer.
If you have any further questions or wish to talk about this more in private, please feel free to email me at sarah@willametteburger.com – I would love the opportunity to re-make this burger for you (on us) and set things right.
Sarah Crawford