Alex & Ika is a "recommended" area restaurant to
visit while in Cooperstown. As a matter of fact, we had been treated to brunch by friends at this
restaurant in early December, 2012.
The food was very good, service was good, but we almost choked when we
saw the bill for mimosas, coffee, juice, fries and eggs for 5. $189.00 before tip.
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| Check shows an order for Floridian (*Special Order - scrambled) |
 |
| $7.00 glass of juice |
However, we did enjoy the food, so we decided to treat our friends to brunch on
our September trip. The only redeeming
thing about this visit was our waitress.
She was great. Unfortunately,
everything else was a total disappointment.
We
specifically came in for Sunday brunch. Upon walking into Alex and Ika’s, we were
promptly seated and presented with dirty menus, littered with cruddy dried
pieces of food on them. There was an
overwhelming number of flies in the building.
Another party of 5 or 6 women at a table next to us were also complaining
about the dozens of flies flying around.
At this point, we really should have walked out.
The brunch menus from last year were replaced by
a single card on each table with 4 entrees to choose from, 3 poached egg
dishes, one Florentine-ish dish, stained as well.
 |
| Dirty, stained menu card on the table. |
As my
husband does not eat poached eggs, he requested the Floridian eggs benedict, but
with scrambled instead of poached eggs.
This exact request was
accommodated in December. (And shown in the photo above of the bill).
The waitress took our orders and immediately the
owner, Ika, came over to tell my husband they ‘would not’ do scrambled eggs.
He asked why, it was done for us previously. Her answer was that they only do it their way. He could have something else from the
menu. Again, at this point, we should
have walked out. Our friends would have
left too, but my husband knew everyone was hungry and he just ordered a BLT on
wheat. Our friends and I ordered our Floridian eggs benedict and two
orders of fingerlings (fries with aioli dipping sauce) to share. When our order came, the chef had forgotten
to make the fingerlings and my husband’s sandwich was on rye bread, not
wheat. They rushed the fingerlings,
which were a small portion of fries that were presented to us undercooked and
soaked in grease at $9.00 per order. They
were awful.
We literally had to cover our food and silverware with napkins
so the flies would not land on them. I
can only imagine how many flies were in the open kitchen if there were literally
dozens buzzing around the dining room. Additionally,
as we sat, we looked around and noticed the walls were filthy and scratched up
and we even saw cobwebs around the ceiling areas. Inexcusable.
After the check was paid and we left, my husband
stopped to speak with Ika. He said, ‘You
know there is an overwhelming amount of flies in here.” She replied, “yes I know”. She said they had
some sort of machines to kill them (which obviously weren’t working). She admitted that the other table complained as
well. My husband said that he had been
in business for over 25 years, and usually businesses try to cater to their
customers. She curtly replied, “No, we don’t do that.” Are
you kidding me? My husband asked
for a substitution of scrambled eggs on a check that was over $100 for
breakfast for 4. As a former waitress, I
did not see this as an unreasonable request, AND it had been accommodated in
the past. Customer service is clearly
not a priority in Alex & Ika Restaurant.
Ika could care less. Nor is
cleanliness a priority as is evident by just looking around (and seeing what’s
flying around).
From the time I worked my first job at McDonalds,
to working in retail clothing stores, to waitressing at both pizza joints as
well as a fine dining restaurant, customer service was always drilled into my
head. “The customer is always
right,” the managers and/or owners would say. And while I do not 100% agree
with that statement, the bottom line is that businesses need to make their best
attempt to cater to the customer. Within
reason. And when this basic principle of
customer service is so blatently disregarded, in a more 'exclusive' restaurant as Alex and Ika claims to be, I truly am shocked.
We visit the Cooperstown area 2-3 times per year
and I can guarantee you that we will never eat at Alex & Ika again.
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