The 4th Street Bistro....on 4th Street of course, next to Reflections. 4th Street Bistro is gay owned and operated as some may know. Here is what they offer:
Market driven, fresh, sustainable, local, seasonal, with most of the menu featuring local, organic farm produce. Inspired by the great chefs of the world. (according to their website)
I must say that I have dined @ 4th Street a couple of times and their food was great, pricing a bit high for the market, and their service overall has been good.
My issue...well I didn't have one until I was on the other side of the spectrum. Instead of being a customer, I switched roles and today I wanted them to become my customer. Sales people can sometimes be a pest, I wasn't exactly that, I was promoting a non-profit. I was looking for gay support. Who can you count on if you can't count on your family, although I wasn't expecting anything. I know that the economy is tight and I just wanted to give the necessary information so that they could make an informed decision. Gay or straight business....this was the most unwelcoming, non-freindly place to be. I almost busted a tear because they were so unkind.
The first person I ran into was the owner /chef (we'll keep names out) I said my friendly hellos and explained my purpose for being there. She was somewhat personable. She then directed me to her partner, owner /general manager, who makes the financial decisions. Wow, was I blown away when owner #2 finally came my way. Me and my "hey this is a great cause speech" was ran out of there in seconds. I said hello, she walked away (sure you're busy, but say so). I followed, because I understood their preping needs, dinner was to happen soon. She headed to her car to pick up some wine and I proceeded to mention the cause because she asked what it was about. She walked away again spilling some rude energy and spoke words of ..we have already done enough I'm sick of giving handouts....blah blah blah rude rude rude...! I was so caught off guard by her unpleasant behavior I cannot even remember her exact wording. I had no words to return and I walked stiffly back to my car and drove off frightened.
The moral of the story....BE NICE and if you're not interested...say "no, thank you"! Maybe I caught them on a bad day, but that's still no excuse. Give respect and you get respect. When someone has a good experience, it reaches about 25 people. When someone has a bad experience, it reaches 10 times that. I'm not going to support a business when they have little or no respect for anyone else or the community that puts money in their pockets.
The End