I’m sorry Mrs. Wilson received poor service at Blacksmith’s. My family and my brother’s family met there for brunch after church this past Sunday. We asked for a table for nine and they were quick to oblige.
Our server, while laid back, was attentive and courteous. Despite being a full house, our drinks were refilled promptly, our food came out in a reasonable time and, most importantly, it was fantastic! There wasn’t a single person in our party who didn’t absolutely love it.
It has a nice, quaint atmosphere and everyone was friendly. I hope that the Wilson’s will not judge a restaurant by one bad experience. I know that if I did, I would never be able to eat out again.
Mike Willingham
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Geeze Ms. Wilson. I don't know you and you're probably a very nice person, but I'm with Mike. I think you're jumping the gun a little here.
Having tasted Blackie's magic several times, I honestly believe you should have grabbed the waitress by the neck instead of walking on a chance at the taste of "Braised Beef Short Rib with mashed potatoes, snow peas, pearl onions, Chantrelle mushroom sauce and parsnip chips for $21 and Pork Chop with Chantrelle mushroom sauce for $17."
Yikers! I haven't even seen those dishes and look at me. I've slobbered all over myself again.
I know what Mr. Smith is capable of in a kitchen, and you should give them a second chance. I've walked out of restaurants too and for good reason, but I think you're off the mark here. This is a unique restaurant and I can't sit back and watch a great small scale entrepreneurial effort (lots of personal $$$ and time and heart involved in anything like this) get slammed based on the apparent cluelessness of one employee.
Mr. Smith & Co. know their way around a kitchen, and if you don't get a chance to eat some of his creations, you will be the loser.
Savage Glascock
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In Chattanooga, you can't always judge a restaurant based on its servers. Especially recently opened restaurants.
I frequently read Janet Wilson's restaurant reviews and am usually aghast at what a horrid couple of customers she and Wayne must be to serve. If her primary goal is to review a restaurant, then she has several categories: food, service, quality, value and setting. If she is a true foodie, then she should know how to tactfully maneuver around bad servers and get to the food, and maybe a new server.
Her recent review of Blacksmith's Bistro and Bar is my case in point, and the tip of the iceberg. Why couldn't she have spoken up and said 'Excuse me, Ma'am?!' to get the server's attention? My favorite is a moderately loud, 'Are there any specials today?'. When the server is cleaning the table right next to you at a bistro and bar, then it would be acceptable to actually talk to, not just order from, your server while she/he works. Servers work because they need money, not because they enjoy taking orders from finicky eaters who can't cook for themselves.
I have worked in food for 12 years and the customers that look straight into the menu and only say 'water, filet, check please' during the course of the meal are the worst. If you don't look up and speak to be heard, then you won't be taken seriously. And, by the way, you're out to eat at a bistro and bar, don't be so serious. Order a beer, read The Pulse and chill out.
If Janet and Wayne want their water orders taken within two minutes of being seated, and their appetizers placed when the drinks arrive, and their salads to arrive no more than five minutes later, then the entrees must arrive no more than 10 minutes after salads, then they need to stick to Applebee's. These have been Janet's critiques of many restaurants in Chattanooga in the past and she needs to back off. I need a picture of her so restaurants post it in the breakroom with the headline, Beware.
Janet should have stuck it out at Blacksmith's and asked to speak to a manager. She should have stayed around to eat the food and give a "real' critique.
If Janet Wilson wants to rant about a singular bad experience at a local restaurant, then she should post in the rants section of Craig's List. If she wanted to try a new restaurant, then she needed to speak up and be heard. I know the management would have made amends had they known. Don't just scowl, share your bad feelings with the table next to you and walk out. Speak to the management and don't write about it in the Chattanoogan as if you are some 'official' food critic. Because you're not.
And, for Pete's sake, don't use a timer in a restaurant.
To the Chattanoogan.com, please find a better restaurant critic. I'd rather read a menu than Janet Wilson's whining.
Rhiannon Maynard
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If this place is supposed to be so nice and accommodating, why don't they keep a better eye on their help? The people who work there are there to serve. If they don't do their job, they need to be replaced.
There is no excuse for poor service in any kind of business, and you shouldn't have to flag people down to be waited on. It just shows you how much they appreciate you or they don't.
No one owes Blackie their patronage, and if he doesn't appreciate your business more than that, he needs to close down.
As for Mrs. Wilson, I read her reports each week and find them truthful and informative. Every restaurant I've visited after her review was just exactly as she said. I appreciate her columns just as much as I do Ann Braly's in the Times. Thanks, Mrs. Wilson.
Arlos Dempsey
Walden
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Hey Janet,
I think your review was right on the money. You went to this place to review it and in order to do that you need food, right? Well, if you haven't at least had your order taken in 30 minutes, you take your hard earned money and leave. The only thing I see wrong is you gave them about 15 minutes more than they deserved.
That's the whole idea of giving a restaurant review: a totally unbiased account of your dining experience. That's what you did, no apology necessary. If everybody's replies are putting a big guilt trip on you, you can always give them a few weeks to get things sorted out and try again.
Wes Ellis
Hixson
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Anyone that reads the Chattanoogan on a regular basis knows that Janet gives a very unbiased review exactly as it happened on their visit.
I have followed her trip to many restaurants and found her to be right on. Many times we have had the same experience before it ever gets published in the Chattanoogan.
She directed me to the now closed New Orleans Extension and her write up was a perfect description of everything from the kids playing to the excellent food and nice family atmosphere. Some of her experiences around the Chattanooga area never make it to print.
Janet please keep your opinions coming because I know that I can always trust my visit to be pretty close to what you experienced.
Not a foodie or reviewer but someone that likes to try all the restaurants around the area.
Mike Layne
mik772@aol.com
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I agree with Janet, as a matter of fact, I would have walked out long before she did. I have been a server for over 25 years and I can tell you right now, this server totally ignored Janet and Wayne.
The first server that came by should have at least got their drink orders. If I was the owner of this bistro, I would want to know why the two customers just walked out.
I once had a manager that fired a server because she chose to ignore a table of customers and they walked out.
This place may have good food but it sounds like the service or the servers could use some improvement.
Patty Shirley
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I think it is unfair to single out Janet Wilson; I find her reviews very entertaining though I agree with Rhiannon's assessment. I think that the only valid reviewer I have read in this town is the guy who does the drive-through column in the Pulse or Enigma. I feel that the reviewers I have read need to pick up a copy or two of the New York Times or Atlanta Journal and some food magazines like Bon Appetit or Gourmet and study their food writers.
Reviewers should not have a picture of themselves in the columns - they should not announce they are reviewers in the food establishments they visit. Stealth is what you need, unless you are James Claiborne.
Do not go on paragraph after boring paragraph about your personal problems or life unless you can write like Garrison Keillor. A little bit of personal touch is good and makes for interesting writing but we mainly want to know about the chef, the restaurant, and the food. This is food review, not autobiography. Write a book like Kitchen Confidential if you want to go on about yourself. Let your good writing entertain. Don't take yourself so seriously and have fun, but readers want to read about the food.
Please tell us a bit about the surroundings, the decor, etc. but not 75 percent of the column. This is food review, not interior decor or architecture writing.
Eat the food. Eat there more than once at different times and days and eat a variety of the menu items. Invite a few friends and sample their plates to save money if you must. Don't eat the same few dishes at every place. Don't review food if you can't or won't eat a wide variety of food. I don't want to hear about the euphoric expression on your "co-hort's" or partner's or husband's or friend's or distant relative's face - tell me about the food you ate. If you want to review vegetarian dishes in the meat-loving South, do a vegetarian article, don't tell me how fast your carnivorous dinner mate shoved the meal down.
Eat at a wide variety of places and don't review fast food chains unless it is a fast food review column.
I can go to any food establishment and read the menu myself. Often, you can go online and read the menu. It's nice to know about what you will spend to eat at a restaurant, but a general guideline is good, not a blow-by-blow report. Again, you can read a menu or look online for that.
Don't expect a good restaurant to function like a fast food restaurant. If you want food cooked while you wait and not slopped out of a big pan that's been sitting there since 11 a.m., be willing to wait. Plan an evening out. Americans seem to want food fast and furiously and don't take time to savor it as much as shove it down. Relax, chew, savor and think about the food, what is that ingredient that sets the dish apart and makes you want more? Tell us about it.
Food places thrive because customers become repeat customers; they know they can go and get the best clam chowder consistently each time they go, so what if the place looks like a dive and the waitress is mean as a snake. One really good place to eat in Boston is on a Pier, you stand in line breathing smelly bad pier smells while you wait to get in for incredible fish chowder and bread.
Certainly beautiful decor and perfect service is desirable and generally preferred, but the food should be the main thing. It should look and smell and taste better than what you can cook up yourself. And if the food is awful and made you sick, certainly tell us that too.
Diane Moore
Chattanooga