A few months back, the planets and stars aligned and I was able to travel to Portland, Oregon for a few days of visiting breweries, famed donut shops, and comfy coffee houses. I was especially excited to go to the Rogue Brewing Public House, as it is one of my favorite breweries. Unfortunately, we had less than an amazing time. It was so disappointing that I decided to take the time to send some feedback to Rogue, as I was certain they would be interested in learning about the experience we had, as well as make an attempt to offer a correction. The following is the brief letter I penned on Rogue's website.
I was EXTREMELY excited to have the chance to visit a real, live, Oregon location! I'm a chef myself, as well as a food blogger, and as I read the online version of the dinner menu to my wife, we were both salivating over the Kobe burgers. She was also happy to learn of the activities available for our 2 year old son while we made the hard decisions about which brews to enjoy. Unfortunately, our experience was less than anticipated.
We were seated quickly, which was nice - even if it was the table right next to the server's station where food is coming off of the line. We quickly asked our server for some some crayons and paper to color, to give our kid something to occupy himself. While our server went off to retrieve our beers and crayons, we were treated to one of the cooks lambasting a server about their order, to the point of using profanity. Now, I've worked in commercial kitchens before and I know some cooks get a little hot under the collar and need to express themselves, but they shouldn't be doing it within earshot of the restaurant patrons. Minutes passed and our beers arrived, sans crayons. Our server said he'd go get them again. They finally did arrive, upon our second-round of beers, and again having to ask the server. The beer was as anticipated - FANTASTIC. I was now eagerly awaiting my $14 Kobe burger, ordered med-rare. I watched as a cook opened a bag of potato chips and dumped them on a plate - probably not what you want customers to observe. Then our burgers arrived, and I was ravenous. Much to our dismay, BOTH of our hamburgers were VERY well-done. If there was any Kobe beef in them, it was charred and cooked out. By now, the wife was not happy and wanted to leave, unwilling to even send the meals back to be redone, given the time that it took our server to simply get crayons. We paid, tipped, and left a little let-down. We both agreed that the beers were fantastic, fresh and delicious, but we definitely won't be coming back for food.
This is not meant to be a rant and rave, simply some constructive feedback from an experienced diner and chef. I will continue to be a proud Rogue Nation member, and I look forward to enjoying what comes out of your fermenters, but I'll pass on what comes out of your kitchen.
***
About 24 hours later, I had a response in my inbox. It was from none other than Jack Joyce, the founder and creator of Rogue. He's been a dominant force in the craft brew industry for several decades, and prides himself and the company on being "different" from every other commercial and micro-brewery. I was shocked to received a reply from the CEO of the company!
His response to my letter was simple and succinct. He offered a quick "Thank you" to open, then cut right to the chase by asking if I had a description of the server, cook, and if I could tell him the date and time I visited? Sure, Mr. Joyce, no problem. I kept my receipt as a painful reminder of what happens when you set your expectations to high. I quickly responded with the requested information, and then waited. And waited. Waited some more. Days passed. Weeks even. Still, no additional response. I decided to again e-mail the CEO to see if I should be expecting any further conversation, but alas, that message apparently fell upon deaf ears.
This experience could happen to anyone, and it likely will if you eat out often enough and take notice of the service you receive, as well as the quality of the meal. The thing that bothers me is that I LOVED this company and it's message it tries to convey to it's customers. It looks like that might just be a solid marketing concept and a bunch of hot air. Maybe the CEO is too busy opening additional breweries and should not be responding to customer complaints. Then again, maybe the CEO is the EXACT person who should be going out of their way to ensure that this doesn't happen again, and that the "Rogue" brand is not tarnished by an indifferent approach to customer service.
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