My family and I visited the Upper Providence Grille for dinner based on positive past experiences that they have each individually had. The waitress was very accommodating and polite, and provided us with helpful suggestions on menu items, drink choices, etc.
The problem lied with the food itself. The appetizers were just ""okay,"" but after waiting well over an hour for the main course, the real nightmare began.
The Chicken Francese came out tasting extremely bitter. It was, simply put, inedible. The Chicken, Shrimp and Pasta and Shrimp Scampi dishes came out bland, devoid of any flavor. It was highly unusual , but the watered down monstrosity that they called Shrimp Scampi was also hard to choke down.
I can count on one hand how many times in my life I've complained and sent food back, simply put; I don't do it. Another thing I don't do is lie, so when the waitress asked if everything was alright, we told her our issue. She understood and went to the back to explain the situation. After the waitress left a gentleman sitting close by came up and said he felt the same thing about his dinner, he thought it was tasteless and inedible.
After the waitress came out, she said she would only remove one meal from the bill. The only things eaten on the Scampi and Chicken and Shrimp dishes, were the shrimps, and it was obvious that we weren't trying to pull a fast one, we just didn't eat.
After we expressed our displeasure, the waitress agreed to take the Chicken Francese off of the bill. Seeing as how neither the Scampi or Chicken Shrimp and Pasta was eaten, we didn't accept their ""peace offering.""
After asking for whoever was in charge, the waitress then sent out a clearly pissed off gentlemen in a sweat suit. After standing at the head of our table and placing both fists down, he proceeded to tell us that he cooked the dish, and that he felt that only one complaint, in regards to the chicken francese, ""was real."" In my experience as both a server and a customer in the restaurant industry, there is one golden rule, the customer is always right.
He then suggested that the only reason we were all complaining was because of a chain effect. As in; the first person complains, then the second person decides somethings up with their meal because of what the first person said, and so-on. The fact that my family was psycho analyzed by this man was insulting and rude. It was only then that he finally introduced himself as the ""Owner, Jim.""
In the end, ""Jim,"" only charged us for drinks and appetizers, even though we offered to pay for the three edible dishes. However the fact remains that the Upper Providence Grille left a bad taste in my mouth both literally and figuratively.
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