Post #430214 by tikibars on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 11:21 AM

Let me clarify something that seems to have been misunderstood and/or accidentally twisted:

I stated that everything about the new Trader Vic's is rockin', except for that I had consistently poor drinks.

I have gleefully imbibed Trader Vic's mai tais in the following cities: Chicago (v 1.0), Atlanta, Scottsdale, Destin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Emeryville, London, Tokyo, Seattle, and probably a few more.
These mai tais, on three continents, have all been reasonably consistent.
When I sat down at every one of those bars, I knew what to expect, and I was served more or less what I expected, every time.
What I was served in Chicago 2.0 wasn't even close.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:
I stated that I was confident that the problem was that bartenders were all new and that I was confident that the situation would improve.

Somehow, this statement was lost, as were my praise for the service, the food, the decor, and how freaking amazing it is to have a Trader Vic's back in my hometown.
My sole significant criticism (among a sea of praise) ought to have been taken as constructive, not as an excuse to begin a flame war.

When and if Trader Vic's management ever read this thread, they will now see two pages of bickering and snippy bulls**t instead of the enthusiasm and praise (tempered with a few bits of constructive advice) that they OUGHT to be seeing.

With no further rebuttal (i.e. rabble-rousers please refrain from adding more damage than you have), can we get back to making this thread an enthusiastic celebration of something that we're all rather happy about?

For example...

There will be an announcement about a grand opening party very soon; I have had some conversations with Pallava (General Manager) about the entertainment and some other details. Looks like it will probably be on a Thursday in February (subject to change).

I expect to see you all there (maybe some of us can offer couches to those coming from two hours away - or further), and I am also confident that the previous two pages of this thread will be rendered obsolete when we are all served cocktails that definitely conform to the baseline standard exhibited in all of the other Traders world-wide... a situation, I am sure, which is already in place here in Chicago (after all, my visit was a few weeks ago already, and the guys behind the bar seemed like enthusiastic and fast learners).

EDIT:
The drinks there are, and have been, fully up to snuff, as predicted, since January. :)

[ Edited by: tikibars 2009-06-10 22:48 ]