There's Peanut and I, standing outside our favorite Girls' Day Out restaurant Red Robin. We had just finished a great lunch, and was about to embark on our journey for some serious Retail Therapy.
Before I get to that, though, I want to take a quick second to brag on Red Robin. I don't do that very often, brag on stores or restaurants, but I like to throw some free advertising out there when I feel like service has gone above and beyond the norm.
I already liked Red Robin. I've eaten there a few times, and each time we've gone, I've had great food and great service. The last time I went, I even got one of their "loyalty cards" that gives me coupons and stuff. For my birthday, I was given a free burger. I had the month of February to claim my birthday burger, so Peanut and I thought we'd cash it in yesterday.
When we got there, the place was PACKED. Like, people were waiting to be seated. Usually, I'm not a person willing to stand and wait to eat.. especially for lunch.. but the server assured me our wait time would be no more than 10 minutes. Well, our wait time was about 3 minutes. We were taken to a small booth, and a server was there immediately taking our drink order.
In a matter of 10 minutes, we had our drinks, placed our order, and was eating the appeitizer Peanut and I had ordered. Not too shabby for a place that was little packed to the max. Not just that, but our appetizer was hot and fresh. Not something that was ready and waiting to be scooped up for anyone to order.
Within 20 minutes of being there, we were eating our meals. The food was amazing, just like it's always been when I've been there. And, Peanut and I even decided to devulge in a little dessert, being that I had saved about $10 with my free burger. We both ordered hot fudge brownie cake with ice-cream.
The desserts were delivered a few moments later, and when I went to put my spoon in to the HOT chocolate cake, there was a problem. My spoon wouldn't go in to it. The cake was frozen solid! Peanut, not one for wanting to complain, just shoved her spoon in to the cake and picked it up like it were a chocolate popsicle and started eating on it. She said it tasted like ice-cream cake. I wasn't really happy about the situation so when the server came to check on us I had to mention the problem. I mentioned the cakes were frozen and she immediately asked if she could replace them. I was pretty stuffed by this point, so I asked her if there was any way I could get a refund on mine... but not to worry about Peanut's because she had eaten most of hers in the process of acting like it was some sort of ice-cream cake.
She agreed, and disappeared to correct our check.
Not even 2 minutes later, the manager was at our table, apologizing profusely over the problem. I told him not to worry in the slightest, and that the quick, extremely friendly service and amazing food we'd eaten prior would not hinder our thoughts of the restaurant..and we'd be back. But, that wasn't good enough. He told me that he was going to credit me for BOTH of the desserts (despite Peanut eating most of hers) and wanted to offer us free milkshakes to take with us. I, again, was so full from eating I refused graciously. But, Peanut took him up on the offer and the manager handmade her a milkshake to take with us.
I was completely blown away with the service, especially when it was so busy. I understood a minor mistake, no harm done. But, for the manager and our server to do what they did was far above and beyond what I would have considered acceptable for the situation.
Not only will we definitely be going back, but they earned me sharing my story with everyone and promoting the place. If you want a FANTASTIC burger, amazing steak fries, and AWESOME service.. go to Red Robin!! It really is YUMMMM!!
OK, back to my story of our day...
So, after eating, Peanut and I had some calories to burn off. What better way to do that than by SHOPPING??? We hit up Ross, in search of our "semi-formal" dresses for the Winter Formal taking place in a couple of weeks. We had no trouble finding tons of options... all for less than $20!! Can't beat that, right?
Peanut picked out a handful to try on, I picked out a handful to try on, and after some serious back and forth in the dressing room we both made our choices. Peanut went with a strapless hot pink number that is knee length in the front, but ankle length in the back. BEAUTIFUL!! I teared up seeing her in it. So grown up. *Sniff*
I tried on a few longer options, but couldn't adjust my focus from the spare tire protruding around the middle. Motivator #364 of why I need to lose some serious weight... and don't think I didn't think about that Red Robin lunch while looking at myself in the mirror with those dresses on.
Finally, I picked out a knee length dress, and figured with a good pair of Spanx, I'd be able to pull it off without too much embarrassment.
After we had our dresses, we were on the move in search of shoes and accessories. We hit up the mall, and discovered that Rue 21 was having a MAJOR sale. $12 boots, $3 shirts and dresses, and $7 jeans!! Peanut went nuts. Kinda. She picked out a couple pairs of boots, a couple pairs of jeans, and decided she had enough shirts and really didn't feel like wading through the $3 racks when there was no real organization to style and size. She's kinda like me in that sense. I HATE digging through clothing racks looking for stuff... espeically when they're not really organized by size.
Another promotion gave Peanut a bottle of perfume and 30% off of our total... so she really got the perfume for free, and saved me a couple of bucks off the original price. I was happy with that.
After Rue 21, we perused a few more stores, went to Walmart to pick up a few things, and then it was time to head home.
Upon getting home, I realized that we had several bags in the trunk, yet the only thing I had bought for myself was the dress. Peanut had a great time, and picked up quite the bounty, but I was stuck with the bill and the dress. That's it.
Not much retail therapy was thrown MY way.
So, Hubby, being the amazing guy he is, told me we should have another crack at it today. Except this time it's going to be him and I... and it won't involve much clothing. I'm really not a fan of clothing shopping. I prefer stuff for the house, my classroom, and for my crocheting endeavors. So, we're going to get out and about today for a while (before doing our usual weekly grocery shopping) to do MY kind of retail therapy.
Plus I get some time out with Hubby.
Win, win? I think so!!
Retail Therapy Take 2!!
Have a great Sunday, everyone!
I HATE digging through clothes racks--one of my pet peeves! I had a similar customer service experience at Zio's in Springfield. I wasn't really happy with the taste/consistency of the chicken in the dish that I had ordered. Zio's is my absolute favorite restaurant, so I was a little disappointed. I mentioned it to our server who offered to adjust our check. I refused and told her that it was really no big deal, I just wanted them to know. In a minute or two, the manager was at our table--apologizing and asking to comp the bill or give us dessert. I again refused and told him that Zio's was my favorite restaurant and that we would be back and not to worry about that. He thanked me and showed back up at the table as we were getting ready to leave. He had a HUGE bottle of their Olive Oil and 2 loaves of fresh bread for me to take home. I was fairly impressed to say the least.
ReplyDelete