matteo1973's Profile
Service Charges and Tipping?
I was surprised to see how much attention this thread has received in the last several weeks. I thought I should take a moment to update everyone. I never did get around to contacting the restaurant to inquire about the tip. And, as I mentioned before, it really wasn't something I was going to lose sleep over... I was fine with the prospect of the server receiving an "extra" tip for working on the holiday.
That said, I happened to check my card statement when I got back from my Christmas travels. I noticed that the amount of the charge on the statement was the pre-tip amount, and did not include the additional 20% that I had added on to the slip. Since the statement was generated about three weeks after the initial charge/authorization, I am assuming that what I saw on the statement is, in fact, the final charge. So, in spite of my error, the folks at the restaurant were conscientious enough to not charge me the additional amount.
Service Charges and Tipping?
I will definitely ask next time I'm in doubt. I'm not going to agonize over the extra money I spent, especially since it was a holiday and I'm delighted that my waiter got to take home a little extra. But it does bother me a little bit that the surcharge was not listed anywhere on the online and offline menus/promos for the buffet. I may call the place tomorrow and ask about it, just to make sure that I wasn't charged in error. Even if I was, I'll tell them to keep it... I just want to know for my own satisfaction. Thanks everyone.
Service Charges and Tipping?
Ok, I feel as though I should know the answer to this but I do not. Had dinner at a restaurant housed within an upscale hotel/inn.
The dinner was a buffet, so we served ourselves, though there was a waiter who brought our soup, wine, water and coffee to the table, and who also took away the dirty dishes.
When we got the bill, there was an 18% "service charge" added on to the cost of the meal. I assumed that this was in lieu of the tip. I gave the waiter my credit card and when he came back with the slip for me to sign, I noticed that there was also a line for "Tip" and "Total." Being unsure of how to handle this, and not wanting to short the waiter any money, I gave him a 20% tip on top of the 18% service charge.
It wasn't a big deal, but between the tip and service charge, we paid almost 40% of the value of the meal itself. That struck me as being a bit excessive, but I could be wrong.
So here's the question... when charged a service fee/service charge, should you also tip the wait staff? Or is that what the service charge is intended for? And if you are supposed to tip on top of the service charge, should your tip be a percentage of the food and drinks, or should it be a percentage of the total (food, drinks, service charge)?
Thank you!
Casual Dining in Southern Maine and MidCoast Region?
LOL, yeah you are right. I had Eddie Bauer on the mind as I had just ordered a couple of shirts from them right before posting that message. Yes, we did in fact visit LL Bean. Thank you for the correction.
Casual Dining in Southern Maine and MidCoast Region?
We did Scratch Bakery this morning (their final day in town before heading down to Boston) and then a quick visit to the Portland Headlight, before they left.
Yesterday, we only made it as far as Bath, but it was fine as they've already resolved to make a return trip next October. We got a late start out of Portland, stopped in Freeport and had lunch at the Broad Arrow Tavern. I'll confess that my initial reaction was one of disappointment, as the menu looked like a whole lot of nothing special at some fairly high prices. Even many of the sandwiches were in the $12-$15 range. My guests, who were on a budget, were a little taken aback by this as well. In the end, we opted for the buffet ($16.95 per person, not including drinks) and were very pleasantly surprised. There was a very nice selection of food and it was all of a pretty good quality... fresh fruit, soup, salad, pasta, flank steak, mashed potatoes, meatballs, etc... we ended up having a very nice meal. Since the prices were a little higher than what we expected to pay for lunch, we just resolved to have a bigger lunch and a smaller, less expensive dinner. Anyway, after eating lunch, we made the obligatory trip to Eddie Bauer. By the time we done there (including some photos in front of the legendary giant boot), it was well after 3pm, with only about an hour of daylight left. I told them it wouldn't make much sense to drive up to Rockland or Camden at that point since there wouldn't be a whole lot to see in the dark. They agreed, and we decided to make a quick run up to Bath where we did a little bit of shopping before coming back to Portland. The early sunset really did a number on them (they are from Western Ohio, which is on the Western edge of the Eastern Time zone, where the sun is still setting at around 5:30pm) so we had a quick rest and then went to a movie.
By the time the movie ended, we had all worked up something of an appetite again, so I suggested that we visit Local 188 and try the tapas plates. Mixed results there... while I enjoy Local 188 for brunch, I'm not sure that I would do tapas there again. We loved the meatballs, but we weren't bowled over by the flatbread or the tortilla del dia (basically a quiche). We also ordered razor clams (one of their specials) and they were really pretty bad (I've had them several times before so it was not a matter of not knowing what to expect). In hindsight, I probably should have sent them back but I did not. The sangria was terrific, though, and many of the dinner entrees looked amazing. In the end, it didn't exactly end up as a "cheap" meal, but it was still fun to try.
Anyway, that's basically the end of our brief adventure. I took them down to Boston this morning, where they will stay until Sunday. I think if we had to rank our culinary experiences (from most satisfying to least satisfying), I would do so as follows:
Sandwiches/snack at Duckfat
Dinner at Street & Company
Lunch (buffet) at the Broad Arrow Tavern
Bagels/coffee from Scratch
Drinks at the Armory Lounge
Dinner/tapas at Local 188
They also had pastries and coffee at Mornings in Paris, on Exchange Street, and said it was rather pleasant.
Thanks again for all of the information, everyone. We're already making our list of places to visit for next year!
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Broad Arrow Tavern
162 Main Street, Freeport, ME
Scratch Bakery
South Portland, ME, South Portland, ME
Armory Lounge
20 Milk St, Portland, ME 04101
Local 188
685 Congress St, Portland, ME 04102
Casual Dining in Southern Maine and MidCoast Region?
Thanks for all of the replies, everyone. We had a great day today, with a mid-afternoon lunch at Duckfat (my friends were pretty skeptical of the duckfat poutine, but they loved it... we devoured an entire large portion!), drinks at the Armory (at the Regency Hotel) and dinner at Street & Company. I have yet to find anyone willing to share the Lobster Diavolo with me. The only portion size they offer at Street is for two people and both of my guests were a little intimidated by the "diavolo" aspect, even though the waitress said it really wouldn't be a big deal to dial back the heat a bit. Instead, friend #1 had the lobster pasta and friend #2 had the scallops. I had one of the specials, a Portuguese Stew, which was divine. We also did an order of the calamari putanesca, which was pretty good.
Tomorrow, we are setting out for Freeport at around 11am. We'll probably let the day and the sunlight dictate where we stop and how far up the coast we get. I'm still entertaining the idea of stops in Bath, Damariscotta and Waldoboro (I'd love to take them to Morse's Sauerkraut) as well as Camden and Rockland, but I know we won't be able to do everything.
I think my friends still want to do a traditional steamed or boiled lobster dinner, so I'll probably check out the Lobster in November thread for ideas of places to go on Friday before I take them down to Boston.
Thanks again so much for all of the feedback. I'll let you all know how the day goes tomorrow.
Casual Dining in Southern Maine and MidCoast Region?
Any recommendations for Camden?
Casual Dining in Southern Maine and MidCoast Region?
Hello everyone,
I'm going to have a couple of friends visiting me in Portland next week. I've asked them about their dining preferences and they said that they definitely want lobster/seafood but they don't want to go to tourist traps... that they want to see and do the things that "regular" Mainers do.
Of course, the irony is that most Mainers (at least in Portland) don't exist on a year-long diet of lobster and blueberries. So while if I was to take them to some of my favorite joints (the Front Room, Caiola's, etc.) they are probably going to come away feeling a little underwhelmed in the seafood department.
Anyway, I've decided to take them to Street & Company on their first night here. That should give them a good dose of seafood (including lobster) without feeling too "touristy." I had considered DeMillo's but I think that is probably too much of the touristy feel they want to avoid. Anyone agree or disagree?
On their second day here, I'm probably going to take them over to Scratch Bakery in the morning, and then to the lighthouse in Cape Elizabeth. Yes, it is touristy, but I take everyone there as I feel it is a "must see."
Around late morning, we're going to head up to Freeport to see the LL Bean Store. I would welcome any lunch suggestions in the Freeport area (or nearby locations).
Then, in the afternoon, I'm thinking we'll work our way up through some of the coastal towns, ending in Rockland. I know that this falls a little outside of the purview of ChowHound, but if anyone can recommend any towns/shops to visit in this area, I'd greatly appreciate it. I'm thinking along the lines of Belfast, Bath, Camden, etc... Again, I'm kind of straddling the line of being too "touristy" but I'd love to show them some of the prettiest coastal towns.
For dinner, I think we'll try to eat in Rockland. The two places at the top of my list right now are John Conte's place and Primo. My only concern with Primo is that it seems a little pricey and I know my guests are on a budget (I'm picking up dinner on the first night, so that helps alleviate things a little bit). Plus, I'm not sure what kind of attire is recommended... we'll be dressed pretty casually... blue jeans and decent-looking shirts, but I'm not sure if this place is more of a coat-and-tie establishment. Conte's is a place I've always wanted to check out, but I'm just wondering if it will be too much of the same, since we are doing Street & Company the night before.
Any thoughts/advice/feedback would be very much appreciated. Thanks!
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Scratch Bakery
South Portland, ME, South Portland, ME
Caiola's
58 Pine St, Portland, ME 04102
Front Room Restaurant & Bar
73 Congress St Ste A, Portland, ME 04101
Thanksgiving Dining Options in Portsmouth, NH?
Wow, thank you so much for going to all of this effort! I'll let you know where I end up! Thanks again!
Thanksgiving Dining Options in Portsmouth, NH?
I'm going to be in the Portsmouth area on Thanksgiving Day and will be dining solo. Can anyone recommend some good Thanksgiving Day dining options in the area? Individual/bar seating is a plus... dining alone on Thanksgiving is awkward enough. Sitting alone at a table for four in a restaurant packed with patrons is even moreso.
Pai Men Miyake - Noodle Bar In Portland
A couple of developments:
1) There is now a sign on the front door stating what the restaurant's hours are for the first week of business.
2) The pork buns are, in fact, $9 for two. A friend confirmed this for me, and she noted that they are spectacular.
3) I'm told by same friend that Masa was there tonight overseeing things. She said that neither she nor her date had anything bad to say about the wait staff. They were a little bit on the quiet side, but polite. She said she did not witness any diva behavior whatsoever.
4) Lastly, she tells me that when she was there (6pm-8pm'ish), there was plenty of seating available, both at tables and the bar.
So hopefully this bodes well for Pei Men Miyake. I'll be the first to admit that I can get a little blustery when I'm irritated, so now that I've had a day to cool down, I will probably give them another shot. I've never had anything but good things to say about Miyake, so I'm willing to chalk up my earlier complaints to being a fluke.
Pai Men Miyake - Noodle Bar In Portland
Nobody was "camping outside" the restaurant, portlandeats. I CALLED and asked about their hours and was told 12-12 (Joe mentions these hours in his blog, as you note, but I got the hours straight from the restaurant itself). And when they weren't open, I CALLED the Miyake location and was told 4pm. Since it was (apparently) only going to be a 10-15 minute wait, I didn't mind waiting outside. And then when the place still wasn't open at 4pm, I ASKED the waiter inside what time they opened. Its not as if anyone (me or the family I mentioned) just showed up and blindly expected them to be open. Get a grip, please.
Honestly, this wouldn't be such a big deal if not for the lousy attitude of the staff. And it sounds like I'm hardly alone in that sentiment. For me, that was the difference-maker in terms of deciding whether or not to give Pai Men Miyake another shot (actually it would be a first shot since I never even got inside the door). I don't care if you've been open for 3 days or 3 years... there is NO excuse for behavior like that.
Pai Men Miyake - Noodle Bar In Portland
I actually spent much of my evening drafting a letter to Masa highlighting my concerns. I included in the letter some links to some of the complaints I've seen online, including the ones on this board. I've met Masa a few times, and I know he takes his business very seriously, so I have to believe that the kind of nonsense we both experienced at Pai Men Miyake is taking place under his radar. Of course, if that's the case, it begs the question of why he doesn't have more of a presence there and who HAS he trusted with that responsibility. Anyway, I'm sure he'll get to the bottom of it... I would just hate for his new spot (which is easily my most anticipated restaurant opening of 2010) to get a bad reputation because of a few bad apples who think they are Gods' gift to wait staffing.
Do you have a favorite I'm-alone-now-so-nobody-will-know favorite dish?
Yup. Tuna Helper Cheesy Pasta with cooked bacon mixed in.
I have it about once a year... and I always feel like pure white trash when I eat it. And after I've eaten it, I feel like i want to vomit. It is my secret shame.
Longshot---any place to get a good Italian beef in Portland/Southern Maine area
I'm in love with Morse's. Stopped there one day over the summer and ordered a couple of hotdogs on pretzel bread, with this amazing sweet mustard. I also got a side order of macaroni & cheese, which was out of this world. I need to get back up there before winter arrives.
Longshot---any place to get a good Italian beef in Portland/Southern Maine area
Hi foodquest. I'm just now seeing your topic for the first time. I wish I'd seen it sooner as I would have warned you off of Chicago Dogs' Italian beef. As you undoubtedly know from the Man vs. Food episode, real Chicago Italian beef is slow-cooked for hours, sliced paper thin and then dipped in an au jus type of liquid before it is placed in the bun and accompanied by peppers and giardiniera. At Chicago Dogs, the beef (which is frozen and cut much too thick) is tossed on a grill to cook. When I ordered it awhile back, it didn't come with any peppers, juice or giardiniera. The meat was tough and very gristle-y.
Unfortunately, I don't have any great answers for you on other places to try for Italian beef. I've looked everywhere and come up short. I've even tried making my own, but its just not the same. Unfortunately, Maine is just not a great place for the type of food that Chicago does so well (deep dish pizza, italian beef, etc...). I lived in the midwest for almost ten years, and had many, many great food experiences in Chicago. I grew up in Western New York, so I am also always on the lookout for places serving beef on weck, but that too is extremely hard to come by. This state also struggles mightily with hamburgers, but that's a story for another day. Anyway, have you looked online to see if there are any places that will ship the italian beef to you overnight? I've seen a few places that will ship chicago dogs and deep dish pizza, but its very expensive.
PS: I have seen the "Man vs. Food" episode to which you are referring. The segment on Al's Italian Beef always makes my mouth water. In fact, it was just on the other night and after watching it I went to bed. I woke up at 3am hungering for deep dish pizza!
PPS: To give some credit to Chicago Dogs, their hot dogs are pretty good... still not as great as the real thing, but not too bad for Maine.
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Chicago Dogs
285 US Route 1 Ste 3, Scarborough, ME 04074
Pai Men Miyake - Noodle Bar In Portland
Epic fail. Restaurant is supposed to be open from 12-12... or so they claimed. I skipped lunch and was starving by 3:45pm, so I decided to hit Pai Men Miyake for late lunch/early dinner before the evening crowd rolled in. Arrived to find the doors shut and locked, and a wait staff that would not come to the door or window when I knocked (in hopes of asking what time they opened). I got on my phone and called over to Miyake in hopes that they could provide me with answers. Got a clueless, Tommy-Chong sounding guy on the phone who eventually was able to tell me that Pai Men had run out of food and closed after the lunch rush but that they'd reopen at 4pm. Figuring that I could wait a few more minutes, I hung around until 4pm and tried again. Once more, the doors were locked. I knocked on the window and the same waiter who was folding napkins continued to ignore me. Finally, when it became apparent to him that I wasn't going to be ignored, he came over to the door, literally rolling his eyes at me. I asked him what time they were going to open and he seemed to have no clue. He asked someone at the bar and then told me that they were now opening at 5pm. I was so annoyed that I didn't even bother to ask him why they didn't open at 4pm. At this point, I was on the verge of just calling it a night, but against my better judgment, I decided to wait the extra hour out over at Local 188. An hour and a couple of beers later, I tried Pai Men Miyake again, only to see a family of four being turned away from the door. I asked them what was going on and they told me that the place wasn't opening until 5:30pm. (They had gotten the same runaround as I had received, as they had called earlier in the day and were told that the place was open from "12 to 12.") At this point, we all decided that our money would be better spent elsewhere.
What a fiasco. I understand that restaurants sometimes experience growing pains in their first days and weeks, but not opening on time (and treating your customers like dirt when they have the nerve to want to know when you WILL be open) is extremely unprofessional. Masa is better than this... he needs to rein his staff in and put and end to the nonsense and their juvenile attitudes. Much has been made of the fact that he took his staff down to various noodle houses in NYC... looks like the only thing they brought back to Maine with them was the pretentiousness.
BTW, the description that johnnydj wrote is word-for-word from the Portland Food Coma blog, whose author works at Pai Men Miyake and who has been playing it up for months. So johnnydj is either that person or he did not correctly attribute what he copied and pasted to the correct source.
Places to stop between Boston and Portland
Its a somewhat cliched suggestion, but you could try the Maine Diner in Wells, ME.
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Maine Diner
2265 Post Rd, Wells, ME 04090
Havana South (Portland) anyone?
I've heard great things about it and hope to be able to provide you with a first-hand account in the next week or so.
Finding the Perfect Hamburger Bun in Portland, Maine?
I visited both Standard Baking and Big Sky this morning... neither yielded much along the way of results.
Big Sky had buns in stock, but there were small, almost slider size, and did not look very appealing. The buns did not seem very firm, and I wonder if they can even support the weight of a hamburger patty w/toppings, or if they'd simply fall apart. I passed altogether.
Next was a visit to Standard... they do carry hamburger and hot dog buns on Fri, Sat and Sunday but I was told that they wouldn't be available until after 2pm. I may head back there this afternoon but, with the people traffic and vehicle traffic being as heavy as it is this holiday weekend, I'll likely wait and try again in the future.
For this weekend's burgers, I've picked up some sesame seed buns from Whole Foods. They don't look like anything special, but they do look more appetizing than the monstrosities served up by Shaw's and Hannaford. Will report back early next week to let you know how they hold up.
Finding the Perfect Hamburger Bun in Portland, Maine?
Thanks for the reply, and the excellent information. Big Sky's Woodford location is very nearby... I'll wander over there sometime this week to check out their offerings.
I'm also a regular at Scratch, though usually on Sundays or Tuesdays. I'll have to make a note to drop in on Thursday, though I suspect that you're probably correct about the buns being ciabatta-like.
I will let you know what I turn up in my search.
Thanks again.
Finding the Perfect Hamburger Bun in Portland, Maine?
I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions of any specialty stores or bakeries in Portland that sell good quality hamburger buns. I don't have a particular style in mind... brioche buns are great, and I also love buns topped with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.
I've been buying my hamburger buns from Shaw's and Hannaford (e.g. the bakery section, not the bread section) but I often find them to be bland and unremarkable. And too often, I've come home with buns that were stale.
I had a glimmer of hope a few weeks back when I saw a poster promoting foods that are local to Maine. It featured a hamburger and then it detailed where each element of the burger was produced. The bun (which looked pretty appetizing) was said to come from Rosemont Market & Bakery. I was skeptical, since I'm at Rosemont at least 2-3 times per week and have never seen hamburger buns there. Sure enough, a follow-up phone call revealed that they don't produce hamburger buns. (I'm assuming that the bun featured in the poster was produced specifically for the poster.)
So now I'm back to square one. I like to think that I do some pretty creative things with hamburgers, but the bun selection consistently leaves me feeling underwhelmed. Who can save me from burger bun boredom?
Maine Really Needs it Own Board
Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this comment, but I feel strongly that Maine really merits its own message board, as opposed to being lumped in with Northern New England. Portland alone has an many dining options worth talking about as some states, and then when you add in all of the wonderful dining spots along the mid-Coast and Central Maine, it just seems like a no-brainer to me. I hope that if the Chowhound Admins see this, they'll seriously consider setting up a board for Maine.
Boston: Mother's Day Weekend?
My mother will be flying into Boston for Mother's Day weekend. Her birthday is actually the day before Mother's Day, so I'm looking for places to take her on both Saturday and Sunday nights.
The one "catch" for Saturday night is that we will be at the Yankees/Red Sox game in the afternoon. The game starts at 3pm and will probably let out around 6-6:30pm. And then it'll be another 15-30 minutes as we scramble to find a cab or other transportation out of the Fenway area. Since we'll likely want to eat at around 7pm (and certainly no later than 8pm), there won't really be time to go back to the hotel to change. So I'm hoping to find a "casual" dining option for Saturday night... someplace that we could go wearing jeans or shorts without feeling out of place.
Thank you!
3 Nights in Portland, Looking for best places to eat
I've enjoyed watching a few ballgames from the bar of the Front Room. Nice menu, too.
When you say "traditional New England far," one assumes you are talking about seafood. I think I'd probably check out Street and Company for that.
Maybe try to fit in a brunch at Caiola's.
And if you can, take a morning to pick up bagels and coffee at Scratch and then drive another mile or so to the Cape Elizabeth lighthouse to enjoy them.
Beef on Weck in Portland?
Anyone been to Lexies Joint down in Portsmouth? They have a beef on weck on their menu... it sounds delicious!
Beef on Weck in Portland?
Update on 158... I called and, sure enough, the woman who answered said they "used to" serve a beef on weck sandwich there, and might be doing so again in a few months. But not currently.
While I'll definitely be checking out 158 again in hopes of seeing beef on weck on the menu, I'm pretty sure that the restaurant I saw online was not 158. So there might be at least one more local restaurant out there that serves this sandwich.
Beef on Weck in Portland?
I stop in to 158 on occasion. I don't recall seeing beef on weck on their menu. They are closed for the day, but I'll either stop by or call tomorrow AM to inquire.
