Pele's Wood Fire - Park and King

[Kay]

Went Friday night for dinner and thought it was fabulous.

[tufsu1]

and I was there Tuesday night....had a great pizza (crust was baked perfectly).

I also talked to the owners while there....they recently dropped breakfast as it never really caught on

[ChriswUfGator]

Couldn't pay me enough to eat there again...

[ben says]

Couldn't pay me enough to eat there again...

+1

[urbanlibertarian]

Couldn't pay me enough to eat there again...

+1

Don't you guys believe in redemption?

[cline]

Couldn't pay me enough to eat there again...

+1

So, why did you bring up a dead thread if you clearly have no intention of giving this place another chance?

[exnewsman]

Are they still operating a booth at RAM?

[ben says]

Couldn't pay me enough to eat there again...

+1

So, why did you bring up a dead thread if you clearly have no intention of giving this place another chance?

I have eaten there again, since my first judgment. Been there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Last time was 2 weeks ago. All meals were 1/5 stars. I brought up the dead thread to see where everyone stood after 1-2 months. Restaurants change. For me, this one hasn't changed, but I'm always open to hearing others experiences.

[Kaiser Soze]

I want to like Pele's.  I like the interior and the bar setup.  I really enjoy the pizza.  I have been there probably 6-7 times and always come away thinking the same thing: (i) the service is not good and we typically wait at least 10 minutes for a drink after sitting; (ii) while the food is good, it is way too expensive; (iii) for probably a few bucks more, I can go to Orsay and get great food accompanied by great service; and (iv) they are out of pretty much 50% of what we have ordered from the bar.

[funwithteeth]

I've been a couple times. Never had a problem with the serviceâ€"both times I went I sat at the bar, so I don't know if that makes the difference.

I only ate one of the times. The pizza's OK; I'd like it better if the sauce wasn't so sweet.

[ChriswUfGator]

An interesting thing happened yesterday...

I got a call from Matt, the guy who owns Pele's, I dunno how he got my cell number, but he called me out of the blue and apologized for the experience I had there, which I'd posted about earlier in this thread. Said he'd fired the manager who I'd described as a dick (and I was being polite). He said that the guy had been responsible for a tsunami of customer service problems and lost business before they'd realized it, and they're trying to pick up the pieces. I don't think they knew how bad it was until it reached a certain level.

Said they'd hired the former manager of Morton's to replace him, and that they're really working on fixing the customer service. As everybody probably remembers, that was really my whole issue with the place. The food was good once they got it right, I just didn't appreciate the snotty lecture on how I must know nothing about prime rib or else I'd have shut up and been happy with the burnt piece they gave me. Apparently that was the manager's standard response to any complaint he got, the guy was basically a human wrecking ball for the restaurant.

I was pretty stunned by the phone call. Normally restaurants with an attitude like what I'd witnessed there will ride their superiority complex straight into bankruptcy court convinced the whole way down that it's the customer's fault. I've watched it happen a half-dozen times in and around Riverside. But this seems to be an exception to the rule. Said he didn't know how bad it was until he read this thread and all the stuff on urbanspoon, and that he really wants to make things right with everyone. He asked anybody who had a bad customer experience to please come back in and ask for him at the front desk, he really wants to have a conversation and to have the chance to make things right.

I was pretty thoroughly impressed, he seems earnest and didn't pull any punches on the issues, he was honest about what was wrong what he's done to fix it. I've never had a conversation like that with a restaurant since I've lived in Jacksonville. This city is kind of well-known for bizarre restaurant owners, normally when something goes wrong it's like a bad broken record of "deny, deny, deny, and by the way it's all your fault, fuck you very much." Going on my 12th year of living in a place that routinely offers such highlights as a restaurant kicking everybody out who doesn't like Fox News, and watching coffee shops argue over whether you're allowed to sit on a chair or use the wifi if you don't buy refills, this was really quite a breath of fresh air.

He offered to mail me a gift card. I told him not to worry about it, that I respected his apology, and that I'd come back in and shake his hand in person. In my book, anybody who fixes the problem and then takes 30 minutes to personally call and apologize for it is good by me. So I guess I spoke too soon when I said you couldn't pay me enough to go back there, although to be fair, this wasn't really about the money it was about the apology for me.

I'm relaying this on to everyone, as I know a lot of you had similar experiences. The owner seems genuinely concerned and wants to make things right.

[Dog Walker]

Wow, just wow! 

Heard that the owner was a good guy from neighbors near him and what you have experienced just seems to confirm it.  He's having his employees park a distance away from the restaurant in commercial spaces so that they aren't parked for hours in front of houses.

[blizz01]

+1

[mtraininjax]

I'm relaying this on to everyone, as I know a lot of you had similar experiences. The owner seems genuinely concerned and wants to make things right.

That is real customer service! i just wish I could have seen a manager at Bistro Aix in the 2 hours we waited for our food. I don't mind someone telling me I don't know anything about food, I just ignore them. Hard to do when you don't get service.

Pele's is here for the long haul, they invested a LOT of money in that building and they have the resources to keep it going, and rightly so. Its a great location, good food, and there is no excuse for piss poor people. I hear that from Frank at Bluefish all the time.

[ben says]

I'm relaying this on to everyone, as I know a lot of you had similar experiences. The owner seems genuinely concerned and wants to make things right.

That is real customer service! i just wish I could have seen a manager at Bistro Aix in the 2 hours we waited for our food. I don't mind someone telling me I don't know anything about food, I just ignore them. Hard to do when you don't get service.

Pele's is here for the long haul, they invested a LOT of money in that building and they have the resources to keep it going, and rightly so. Its a great location, good food, and there is no excuse for piss poor people. I hear that from Frank at Bluefish all the time.

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I must ask: what the hell is going on with Aix lately?! Had the same experience one too many times lately. They used to have the best customer service around.