Nobody likes a sad, skinny baby...nobody!

Whether I’m ordering a meal at a restaurant or cooking up something at home, enjoying what I eat brings me immense satisfaction. On the other hand, being disappointed in a meal sends me into tantrum mode.

I expect certain things out of a dining experience. I’m realistic about the standards I hold for each place, from the local taco bar to the five star steak house. What I've decided is that it's about a perfect balance between service, food quality, ambiance and price. That may seem like a lot to juggle, but Houston is a big city with a plethora of restaurants to choose from. There’s no reason to expect anything less than the best.

If you strip my needs down to the bare essentials, you'll find I'm very much like a baby; I love tasty food and I love to be happy. If an experience doesn't generate a sense of fulfillment for those two basic needs...you're gonna hear me cry.

Nobody likes a sad, skinny baby...nobody!

Wildflower- Made Me Cry (Bastrop, TX)

The Skinny: We were there for over an hour and we left hungry.

The Fat: I'm a Houston gal, but we drove into the Bastrop for the weekend to attend a friend's graduation. On Sunday, six of us headed downtown to grab some breakfast. Were were actually on our way to Maxine's when we ran into some friends that suggested we try Wildflower. They said it was less crowded and less expensive so we thought we'd give it a go.

When we walked in the door the place was about 50% full and there were three servers standing up by the register. No one greeted us, so we looked around for a place to sit and just assumed we could choose for ourselves. Just then one of the waitresses nodded for us to take any table.

Our dull waitress took about 10 minutes to even greet us and give us menus, then another 5 minutes to take our drink order. We knew this was going nowhere fast so as soon as we got our beverages, we made sure to order our food.

We chatted and waited, took pictures and waited, watched people come in- waited, watched people leave-waited... Finally, I took my friend's 8 year old son out for a walk downtown while we waited. If I was getting bored, I knew this poor kid must have been.

After about 45 minutes we went up to our server and asked how much longer it would take to get our food. She said we were next in line. This place had 3 servers and and only about 7 tables occupied...what, exactly, was the problem?

About 10 minutes later she burst out of the kitchen with steaming plates of food. We all sat up straight in our chairs, moving napkins and drinks to make way for our feast. Too bad that food was for a table that had arrived AFTER us! When our wait hit the 60 MINUTE MARK, we politely asked to pay for our beverages and we left.


P.S.: Good Service and basic communication can go a long way. Had our waitress said "sorry, the kitchen was backed up", offered some bread, offered some friendly service, or (after more than 50 minutes) even offered to comp our meals - we may have been more empathetic and toughed it out.

Instead we walked right out the door, right across the street to (the very busy) Maxine's and were seated & eating our meals in under 15 minutes.

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