Customer Feedback - Specifics

My last post was of a more general nature, but I'd like to get into some more specifics. I mentioned feedback from customers. For the most part, this has been extremely positive, though there has been negative as well, and I want to talk about samples of both.

Obviously, no restaurant can produce food that can make everyone happy, there are too many palettes out there, and as I have learned from our short time in business, there are a few people out there that NO ONE can make happy, in fact, it seems to me their only happiness seems to come from making others the opposite. That's too bad, and I really can't help those kind of people, though I do my best trying. I have had only a few customers who do not fit into this category of "unpleasable" but HAVE complained about various items, to food not being quite hot enough to the music being a bit loud, or service not quick enough, etc, but they are always polite, and gracious, and understanding. I have even had (especially when we first opened) customers who told me to seat other parties who were not ahead of them because they could see us struggling to keep up, and our limited number and arrangement of tables, and overall very understanding about wait times (which we have drastically reduced.) I can't tell you how nice those kinds of things are to see and to know that for some people, it's really about that - people. Selfless acts can be small and have a big impact. More of those, and the world would definitely be a better place.

On the other hand, this small population of people who seek to make other people miserable. It is very hard to deal with. I have had people tell me how horrible their experience was or the food terrible (when a table next to them with the identical dish has praised it up and down without solicitation.) Interestingly enough, often these same tables that have blasted the quality of the food end up taking their leftovers home. I have also had people use the word "inedible" for something as refined and exotic as our Malanga soup, something we see consistently come back with bowls all but licked. Personally, malanga is not my favorite root vegetable, but I tried the soup and really liked it. I understand if you have a different palette than someone else, but I really feel the word "inedible" is taking it a bit far. Simply ask for something else. We will gladly accomodate that request.

Then, as I have recently discovered, there is the small population of people that not only want to make you miserable, they also only have the guts to do it from behind a computer. I really do not understand their motivation. As an example, on Urban Spoon our food was recently described as bland, both the waitresses and the sophistication of the entire Athens populatation insulted, etc. We are pretty good about keeping an eye on all of our customers. I know for a fact this particular customer did not complain while he was in the restaurant, either about the food or service, but simply waited until he had exited to blast us. How do you respond to that? You don't. And I don't need to. It has nothing to do with the success of Sol. It's in the real world, not the cyberworld where that success takes place. Where we talk to the customers who are praising what we do, watching them laugh, have a good time, enjoy the music, even breaking out in impromptu salsa dancing during their visit.

Anyhow, enough about the negative responses, I'd like to talk about some of the positive responses. First off, we have had many Hispanics from various countries (Argentina, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, etc, and of course Cuba) come to our restaurant. Consistently we have received praise for the authenticity and flavors of the cuisine. I mention this first, because, it helps us to know we are on target with how the food is supposed to really be. In other words, its being eaten by the people who know what it is supposed to REALLY taste like. If it was wrong, they’d know. We could be making food that tastes great, but has no authenticity, and that authenticity is important to us. Locals have praised it as well, and so now we know we can make it authentic AND they'll like it too.

A young woman was in the other night with one of my regular customers, and he told me she wanted to talk to me about something. It was the Sol steak. She said she loved it and that it was one of the best steaks that she'd had, and that every bite was edible and delicious. I had a short discussion with her about how we'd met with suppliers and cooked and eaten boxes of steaks to make sure we'd have the best product out there. I understand the disappointment in getting a steak that is not only inconsistent, or improperly cooked, but that you end up having to cut off 1/3 of it and set it to the side of your plate. It's not satisfying to only eat 2/3 of something nor is it appetizing to have to look at the remaining 1/3 all discombobulated on your plate. We KNOW this and we approach everything based on our own experience, and how WE would like it to be. So that specific feedback was very good. It is EXACTLY what we are aiming for.

Several people have stopped by the kitchen and told us how good everything was, or asked to talk to Tuti on her nights in the kitchen, when they see that she has had a chance to take a break in the dining room.

We have received lots of compliments on the dining room, and what we’ve done with the space. People share their experiences in the Keys, Cuba, etc, and understand exactly the feel we were going for. Again, all of this confirmation from customers makes us feel very good, and lets us know our vision for the food, the environment and the service are all being executed as we had hoped. It is always fun to hear about how a customer has found us and the surprise they have when they open a door in an alleyway and find this almost secret place. While I enjoy hearing about their surprise (and I often actually see it on their faces when they open the door, unsure they are even in the right place) I am ok if the “secret” gets out. The more people that know the better!

Of course, as I recently mentioned in a response to an online review, we are not resting on our laurels. We are constantly reviewing everything we do, asking for customer feedback, and striving to correct mistakes, and achieve a very high level in everything we do.

If you’ve come to Sol already, and had a good experience, we’d love to hear about it, Urban Spoon is a good place, also our Facebook page, or even here on the blog. While we do talk to as many people as possible, we do not get the chance to talk to everyone, and we like to hear your comments. It’s also been my experience that most people only comment on sites like Urban Spoon when they want to express something negative, and I’d like to see that balanced out by the positive feedback I get in the actual dining environment. While I know most everyone is having a good time, and I have no worries regarding that, it would be nice for out of towners to find us online and not be influenced by unbalanced online reviews that do not accurately portray the overall experience most people are having.

I will continue to share customer comments here, and again, we appreciate so much everyone’s patronage of our restaurant and really enjoy seeing you all have a good time. That’s what it’s all about!