Q. One of our “You’re the Boss” bloggers suggested that if you raised prices, you would make more money and have fewer but happier customers.
Ms. Esparza: That goes to an elite crowd and we’re not after that.
Vitesse98 wrote:But again, this is pizza we're talking about, and freshness of ingredients aside, it's not rocket science. I haven't been here yet, but at least I know I can.
boshow48111 wrote:Thinking about going to GL soon, does anyone one know what the specialty pizza/pizza of the month is? or has on it? Chorizo? Pancetta?
Vitesse98 wrote:Cue the inevitable "if you don't like they way they do business, then don't go there" post. Or the "if it's so bad, why is it so busy?" post. There's a lot of middle ground to be explored here.
Vitesse98 wrote:By middle ground I meant something like, I don't know, a heat lamp outside in the winter. Something that ultimately affects them not one bit but shows they care.
ronnie_suburban wrote:Why can't obsessive dedication to making fantastic pizza be enough to show customers they care?
ronnie_suburban wrote:Why can't obsessive dedication to making fantastic pizza be enough to show customers they care?
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teatpuller wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:Why can't obsessive dedication to making fantastic pizza be enough to show customers they care?
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sounds like customers are incidental to their goals/objectives.
Katie wrote:. . . if their accountant says they're doing fine, what about hiring a hostess?
ronnie_suburban wrote:Maybe so and that's definitely not the way I run my business but with the cat out of the bag, why is there still such longing for them to be something they're not?
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teatpuller wrote:. . . I haven't been there and never will . . .
ronnie_suburban wrote:teatpuller wrote:. . . I haven't been there and never will . . .
I think I know the answer but why have you ruled it out?
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Vitesse98 wrote:Just a philosophical question here: if a restaurant offers great food, and great service, and goes to extra lengths to make the customer happy without a decrease in quality, is that place superior to a place that doesn't? If the food is all that ultimately matters, then how much weight should one ever accord service/accommodation? Is good service just incidental? A nice bonus? Because expanding the discussion beyond pizza, there are any number of absolutely great, high quality dining experiences throughout Chicago, at different price points - even a few infamous ascetics and eccentrics - and few of them seem as put out by the modest demands of the people who frequent them. Or maybe they just don't give as many high-profile interviews to the Times?
Why is it something for you to discuss if you haven't been there, never will, and don't care what they do? That's like me talking about the East Saskatchewan Junior Varsity Curling Team and how they really should change their warm-up routine, if I've never seen them, never will, and don't care about curling.teatpuller wrote:I dunno. I would guess most people don't lose sleep over it, but it's something to discuss. Personally, I don't care what they do. I haven't been there and never will.
No. That's their point. Great Lake is a pizza business, in the pizza industry. You come in, you pay them, they give you delicious pizza. They also offer a place to consume said pizza, which is somewhere in the spectrum between Harold's on 53rd and Alinea (no offence intended to either).Vitesse98 wrote: Look, a restaurant is a service business in a service industry.
I'm sorry that it's sad for you, but the reality is that you can't have the best possible product in the city with the convenience of McDonald's drive-thru windows and the warm disposition of my Grandmother (she's very nice) at an affordable price.Vitesse98 wrote:But it's sad to me that for a place that specializes in making, perfecting and providing the best possible product in the city, for once it's not price that's prohibitive but just the practical aspects.
Have you noticed the theme that the people yelling the loudest about how bad it is, haven't actually been?robert40 wrote:Under the circumstances I can't conclude there's anything wrong with the service. This thread is full of those who claim there is a problem and those who claim not. Just depends on which side of the fence your on to determine which view you focus on.
dansch wrote:Why is it something for you to discuss if you haven't been there, never will, and don't care what they do? That's like me talking about the East Saskatchewan Junior Varsity Curling Team and how they really should change their warm-up routine, if I've never seen them, never will, and don't care about curling.teatpuller wrote:I dunno. I would guess most people don't lose sleep over it, but it's something to discuss. Personally, I don't care what they do. I haven't been there and never will.
teatpuller wrote:dansch wrote:Why is it something for you to discuss if you haven't been there, never will, and don't care what they do? That's like me talking about the East Saskatchewan Junior Varsity Curling Team and how they really should change their warm-up routine, if I've never seen them, never will, and don't care about curling.teatpuller wrote:I dunno. I would guess most people don't lose sleep over it, but it's something to discuss. Personally, I don't care what they do. I haven't been there and never will.
hmm. wonder why the new york times would run a big article in the business section about a restaurant that 99.9% of their readers will never go to.
I think it would be equally silly for someone to say "I love Great Lake! They're such nice people and make me feel warm and fuzzy inside" if they had never been there. When one saysKhaopaat wrote:Such is human nature (and, in my interpretation, the underlying message behind at least a few posts in this thread): if you haven't been somewhere but say something nice, you'll be welcomed into the discourse. If you say something negative, however, you'll be told to shut your hole.
teatpuller wrote:I find them pretentious and irritating
Vitesse98 wrote:Just a philosophical question here: if a restaurant offers great food, and great service, and goes to extra lengths to make the customer happy without a decrease in quality, is that place superior to a place that doesn't?
Vitesse98 wrote:If the food is all that ultimately matters, then how much weight should one ever accord service/accommodation? Is good service just incidental? A nice bonus? Because expanding the discussion beyond pizza, there are any number of absolutely great, high quality dining experiences throughout Chicago, at different price points - even a few infamous ascetics and eccentrics - and few of them seem as put out by the modest demands of the people who frequent them. Or maybe they just don't give as many high-profile interviews to the Times?
teatpuller wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:teatpuller wrote:. . . I haven't been there and never will . . .
I think I know the answer but why have you ruled it out?
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I suspect it might lead to increased stress and aggration in my life.
That, and:
- hard to get to from Oak Park
- life with little kids requires less "risky" situations
- stronger preference for being treated well over a desire to consume "perfect" food
- I find them pretentious and irritating.
You asked!
dansch wrote:teatpuller wrote:I find them pretentious and irritating
I think it implies that you have some first-hand knowledge of their disposition.
-Dan