BEWARE of Chicago Pizza!!!

[ChriswUfGator]

Many stories are imbellished to make for good reading, or  maybe, a book deal.

the same can be said for some stories/posts on this website

Ah...I love the smell of unintentional irony in the morning...

[ChriswUfGator]

well there was an article in the Business Journal last week....it mentioned that during the recession, about 200,000 square feet of office space in downtown has been given up....also mentioned the expected move by Adecco leaving its 130,000 square feet in the Modis Building.

So, doing some math....Addeco has 375 people in 130,000 sf = about 350 sf per person
downtown lost 200,000 sf of occupied space X 350/person = 570 people

This would imply that it is hardly realtistic to think that urban core employment has dropped by 10,000+ employees (as has been insinuyated) over the last 4 years.

But the truth is that it has.

And that article didn't even mention all the square footage that has been demolished in the past two decades to make parking lots, parking garages, and many other inappropriate low-density structures.

And you're yet again being unintentionally ironic, since you've just acknowledged that Modis only had 375 people spread across 130k square feet at the time they vacated the building, which is ridiculously sparse. They evidently had already cut the space down to a skeleton crew and were just waiting for the lease to expire.

So in the other thread, you are arguing there were 2,000 people working in the Modis building, but now you're acknowledging that the building's main tenant which occupied over 20% of the building's leasable space only had 300-something employees there. So even assuming the building didn't have a single other vacant space anywhere in it (which is far from the case) you've just blown your own prior 2,000-person argument out of the water based on that density level.

Why's it so hard to just say you were wrong and move on?

[tufsu1]

Why's it so hard to just say you were wrong and move on?

good question...I've been wondering the same thing 

[ChriswUfGator]

Why's it so hard to just say you were wrong and move on?

good question...I've been wondering the same thing 

You sitting in front of a mirror as you type that or something?

[ChriswUfGator]

Why's it so hard to just say you were wrong and move on?

good question...I've been wondering the same thing 

You sitting in front of a mirror as you type that or something?

perhaps he's just writing a book or making bizarre statements for dramatic effect.

You know, like when you were just making up that the developers in springfield were trying to demolish a couple of historic structures for profit. Boy, Ill never forget the way that TUFSU called that fantasy out for the exageration that it was!

LMAO, I totally forgot that he was the main one trying to call B.S. on my non-B.S.

I don't know why he's still arguing the downtown density thing. Anyone with a pair of eyeballs who has ever been down there knows Tufsu's density estimates for DT are total bunk. DT (a/k/a Raccoon City) is dead as a doornail.

[ljimmyrd]

I want to clarify some facts about the 15% gratuity added to checks at Chicago Pizza. Chicago Pizza believes that everyone in America has the right to earn enough to support their family. The service industry has accepted subpar performance for too many years. A server or bar-tending position 30 or 40 years ago was considered exciting and profitable. People were professionals. That time has passed. Serving and bar tending has become a place that people end up on their way to or from another profession. We want to change all that. Chicago Pizza wants to inject professional back into the service industry. A company cannot recruit or retain professional service personnel when the prevailing attitude presents a gauntlet of unrealistic expectations a guest uses to reduce the amount of tip to give someone. I have watched people stiff servers because their soup wasn't hot enough. It is true that you probably tip well but there is a significant percentage of people that don't tip at all for any reason. We cannot allow this to continue. There are many other reasons that make our decision to think out of the box on this issue. 1. We can calculate and pay tax on earnings that before were almost untraceable. The IRS has established that over 50 million in taxes are not being collected on cash tips in the USA in one year. We will pay our share and so will our employees.2 Servers and Bartenders have major problems buying things like houses and cars because they can provide proof of income. Ours can. 3. We will have to provide health insurance for our staff by 2014. How can a company that has a turnover rate that is as high as the F&B industry navigate those waters? By the way how do you deduct insurance payment from people that get $40.00 paychecks? When companies take the federal tip credit they pay their employees $4.25 per hour plus tips. Taxes have to be paid on the tips so the check amount is minimal. We pay our servers $7.25 per hour. We love our customers. It makes sense to take care of our employees. They take care of our customers.

[finehoe]

Chicago Pizza believes that everyone in America has the right to earn enough to support their family.

So institute a no-tip policy and pay the employees a living wage.

[copperfiend]

It makes sense to take care of our employees.

You are taking care of your employees by charging customer 15% automatically?

[TooncesTheCat]

My service experience at Chicago Pizza (only been there once, probably won't go again)...

Our server refilled our sodas without pouring out the old soda and replacing the ice...the result was a cup full of watered down coke.  Then brought back our sodas and gave the soda I was drinking to someone else at our table (I knew because my lipstick was on the straw).  Yuck!

He brought our food at all different times, so by the time a couple of us were just taking our first bites, someone else was finishing.

Guess what, I still added to the required tip to make it 20%, because I know it's a tough job.  He didn't earn it though.

A tip is supposed to inspire a server to provide great service. If the tip is already added, what incentive is there for a server to provide better than average service?  You EARN your tip.  And what usually happens is that with the one cheapskate that doesn't tip, there are several other tables that tip more than 15% to compensate...Required that the server is actually providing exceptional service to their guests.

It is not right to require the patrons to pay your server's wages...which is essentially what Chicago Pizza is doing here.  A tip is optional...all servers know this getting into this line of work.  

[JSquared]

Chicago Pizza believes that everyone in America has the right to earn enough to support their family.

So institute a no-tip policy and pay the employees a living wage.

Or, if you insist on keeping your automatic "gratuity" policy, clearly disclose it to your customers before the bill arrives.

[Johnny]

I agree, it should be noted prior to the bill and I'm not sure, but would assume it may be legally required.

That being said, if that was noted, I don't see a problem with any of this. I am fairly confident that if the service was pitiful, the manager would remove the 15% and allow them to coach an employee immediately while receiving feedback from their customers. I also disagree that it should affect your tip. I consider myself a very good tipper 20+%, sometimes much higher. When I've received this type of check in the past for either large parties or in another restaurant with this policy, I have still added additional tip. You shouldn't punish the server if they deserved 30% tip because the restaurant already calculated 15%.

I've never had bad service at Chicago Pizza @ the landing myself. The food's always been good. I think their beer selection is pathetic though.

[Jaxson]

Chicago Pizza believes that everyone in America has the right to earn enough to support their family.

So institute a no-tip policy and pay the employees a living wage.

Or, if you insist on keeping your automatic "gratuity" policy, clearly disclose it to your customers before the bill arrives.

Amen!

By the way, I think that it is a cop out for restaurants to assert that customers can opt out of having to pay the automatic gratuity.  This 'option' puts the diner into an awkward position.  Thankfully, I have not been to these kind of restaurants.  I usually try to tip 20% or more.  I will sometimes order less expensive items on the menu so I can afford a decent tip...

[Bativac]

Jimmy while I appreciate hearing all about the financial challenges involved with restaurant workers, nobody appreciates being forced to tip. Especially since there is some anecdotal evidence (in this thread, at least) that Chicago Pizza may have some service-related "challenges" to overcome. Bad service would -- and should -- negatively affect the amount given as a gratuity, and customers should be allowed to comment on the level of service received by adjusting their tip as they see fit.

[JMac]

I wanted to like Chicago Pizza and have been to all three locations, but they have consistently dissapointed me, especially considering the prices they charge and the slowness of the service.  The last straw was the crappy $8.00 turkey sandwich they served to my wife at the Landing location.  The sandwich was literally one slice of generic brand pressed turkey with some wilted lettuce on a giant, dried out bun.  It was a bigger version of those little sandwiches they give you on Continental flights.  I will not be back.

[RockStar]

Chi Piz whole philosophy stinks.

I've witnessed them allow non paying guests hang out and watch t.v. at the bar...and serve them waters!

The service is mediocre on a good day. What I think alot of people are missing is that it's the MANAGER's fault that the service is bad. In my entire visit, I couldn't find the MOD (manager on duty). MOD didn't stop by and do a table visit to inquire about our experience. It is the MOD's responsibility to see that service standards are being maintained. If you leave lazy kids who don't care about their own appearance (girls not made up, uniforms dirty, etc) to run your restaurant, then you will get slow bussing of tables, slow service and a dirty restaurant. If the MOD's not leading by example, then there's no example. If the MOD's not checking on the kitchen to make sure soup is being held at the proper temp, then he's leaving it up to the cook to make sure that proper food handling procedures are being maintained with no oversight. Yikes!

The lines about the job not being exciting anymore, maintaining staff etc are all misguided. The job is fine. Many people love the service industry. People quit because management is poor/mean/jerks/harassing etc. Sure, money is important, but a manager who tracks sales and staffs appropriately can make sure that his service staff earn money as well as ensure that service standards aren't being compromised.

Management is at fault, here. And it's the server on the front line who gets to be embarrassed by having to explain to every table about the 15% policy. How sweet of them.

I'd fire the lot of them, change their operational philosophy and make that place fun. It should be. As it stands now, I don't enjoy going in there...and I like their pizza.

Just saying.

~j.