Snapshot: Danger, Will Robinson!

If you read the newspapers or online news, you know that this is not a good time to be alienating customers.  As I've feared, Alterra is taking dangerous risks by allowing service lapses at its prominent Bayshore location.  Though it may not always come across, I try to go the extra mile in giving the benefit of the doubt to places I review on this site.  I always assume first that the problem lies with me.  I'd started this post earlier, bemused that my usual House Citrus Salad had arrived after a long delay in a paperboard box and seemed to be missing a couple ingredients.  (The post was lost when I somehow lost my Internet connection.)  Coincidentally, a woman who was sitting at the outdoor table behind me also ordered a for-here salad.  When it arrived in a box, she asked the server, "Don't you have plates?"  The reply was: "Yeah, but we close in a few minutes, and. . ."  (This was about 8:45.)  A minute later, the woman muttered to herself (or her cell phone) "I wanna f*ckin' plate!", then she went inside and demanded a plate.  Good for her!

As I noted in my earlier draft of this post, I'd experienced another lapse earlier this week when the wonderful Tanzanian coffee of the week was served to me having been held too long.  Also, they gave me a paper cup when I asked for it for here, which is no biggie but, in retrospect, may have impaired the taste before they subsequently put it in a ceramic mug.  I think it's safe to say that tonight, they disappointed two customers at two adjoining tables simultaneously, when they weren't serving many more.  They're serving salads at probably the same price point as The Cheesecake Factory's gargantuan salads.  This attitude of "oh, don't make we work" threatens to sink Alterra in this economy if it is not nipped in the bud promptly.  I'm sure they're in a lengthy lease that would be difficult or impossible to get out of.