As owners of Blue Sky Foods, we note that we have responded to ""randilp1"" via their personal email last night and have refunded their money.
We also note that they took time and effort to write a bad review of our restaurant online - they failed to say, however, that they never took a moment to ask a single question about what they were ordering. A key question to ask ""What is in your Pacific Beach Shrimp Taco or Fish Taco?""( as the dish is listed on our board) would have prevented this misunderstanding. (Pacific Beach is a part of San Diego). One simple question.....and then a simple explanation of our version of a Cali-style taco - and all this could have been avoided.
We are often asked about our dishes as customers on the East Coast can be unfamiliar with some of our cuisine (""what's a fish taco? what's a po'boy sandwich? what's jamaican jerk chicken? what;s a muffuletta?"" etc). For 16 years we have gladly educated our customers about these different items and if necessary try to accomodate their dietary restrictions or allergies the best we can.
We cannot read people's minds when they order nor can we list all ingredients on our special boards (we are not a chain restaurant) - in fact we find most people don't read signs. That is why we hand-write each order (rather than using a computer), cook meals to order and often customize orders to a customer's requests. We often make tacos with sour cream (or salsa) on the side or without it entirely or serve burgers or chicken without bread, for example, for those on Adkins diets or with gluten problems ... the customer just needs to relay their wishes as they order and we will advise them accordingly. Sometimes not do-able; often times it is.
When we offered to remake these tacos without sour cream, we even asked Randi if she wanted to know what else was in the taco -- she declined - very interesting. The characterization that this was an ""angry"" exchange and that our service and food is bad is certainly an embellishment.
When she offered to pay , we took it as a gesture to recognize that they then realized they should have asked about ingredients initially and that we, as a small business, should not have to absorb the cost for their failure to do so. We could not read her mind at that time either as it now seems her offer to pay was an insincere gesture. We did not seek payment before redoing these tacos as a ""special order"" -- the meals were redone and promptly redelivered.. There was nothing wrong with our food - many recipes for fish tacos include sour cream and/or yogurt. We are still unsure if this was a dietary issue or just a personal preference. We also note that we checked on these customers, they indicated that everything was ""better"" and that the second dishes were completely consumed. .
Our restaurant is a small beach cottage eatery - yes, ""a bit of Key West with a sprinkle of Nantucket, a dash of N'Awlins and the spice of the islands thrown in for good measure"" quoting our website - not exclusively Key West. Our food is ""coastal cuisine"" .a.k.a. ""beach food"" Selling Cali-style tacos and burritos fits our motif -- they have, in fact, been our biggest seller since a trip to San Diego last October.
As we mentioned in our direct email to Randi, please, if you are unsure of what you are ordering, just ask questions to seek proper information. To say that our restaurant has ""gone downhill"" because you are ""anti-sour cream"" is sad and unnecessary. We have refunded your money as we misunderstood your offer to pay as a sincere effort to compensate us for making special dishes. We are unsure as to how that can be considered rude. We also told you that we would have preferred to do this in person rather than via your email and online sniping. But if you prefer to use the internet, we will respond accordingly.
Michael and Deb Kuszaj, owners
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