Dennis,
I just got back home from Tyson Corner Center Rainforest Cafe. The lunchtime crowd was brisk indeed, the food excellent, and the service beyond reproach. I had been bothering my head about the $100 000 000 Convertable Bond Secret, but left full of confidence.
At 10:30 AM (Saturday, December 6) I walked, at a rapid clip, into the mall without having to slow down until I got the the space between the Elephant Stand and the Radio Shak across the way--it was crammed with strolers and families taking in the alligator and Tracy despite the fact it was at least an hour and a half to lunchtime. Once past that crowd, it was open space again. Busiest place in the mall! And, what an opulent mall it is!
At 1 PM we returned for lunch and presented our "Head of the Line" pass, thus avoiding the 45 minute wait assigned to NSHP (Non Stock Holding Persons). We wanted the table under the celestial dome, and the staff obligingly manuvered to get it for our party of 5. All tables full when we left at 2:30.
The waiter was especially elloquent in presenting the menu in a manner that probably sells lots of drinks and other extras. On questioning, he told me he had been working there a year and wanted to get into management with Rainforest. However, he thought the opportunities for him to make the move without management experience were slim, so he was applying for management jobs with other restaurants so he could apply to Rainforest, later, WITH experience.
There was a coupon with the passport good only for the day for 10% off in the retail section. Fine print: purchase of $30 necessary. Business was booming in the store. Our waiter diligently reminded us of the coupon and its perishability as we prepared to leave our table.
This was my daughter's 18th birthday party, and it was she who requested we take her with two friends to the Rainforest Cafe. She had been there earlier when we made our initial investigative field trip to the establishment in which we were invested. We virtually NEVER go out to eat; the number of restaurants in which we have eaten twice is small indeed. The draw of the place is considerable, we figure, though it difficult to see why anyone would keep going there repeatedly. The three teenagers in our party may have been the only people in the place not either kids or parent. They are of course very sophistocated, so they thought the place was "pretty good." Like they have Breakfast at Tiffanys all the time!
The receipt number is #53503, the bill with gratuity a shade under $100, not counting retail. I hope there is, or will be, a visible opening for talented salespersons/waitpersons to work toward management positions within the chain, instead of having them go elsewhere for "experience". Too many won't be back!
And I am still wiating for the full story on the Convertable Bond.
Dennis, thank you for managing the center of this thread so well.
JackH |
