Pele's Wood Fire - Park and King

[MusicMan]

Well sorry you two don't like it. The customers I've seen are enjoying the place. It was absolutely packed last night. Let's check back in 6 months and see what the rest of Jax thinks.

[ben says]

Well sorry you two don't like it. The customers I've seen are enjoying the place. It was absolutely packed last night. Let's check back in 6 months and see what the rest of Jax thinks.

I don't think it's just "us two"....again, look at their reviews (even their Facebook page). Furthermore, having a packed house, this early in the game, means nothing to me. It was packed when I went two weeks ago...presumably, like me, the others were trying it for the first time.

And I don't know why you're apologizing for them...unless you own/run the place, no need for apologies. I want them to succeed like everyone else.

[MusicMan]

Just blogging on here what  I see in the restaurant. Not apologizing for anything. Like I said about The Brick, it is a money maker but I don't go. You can have China Joy, I'll take Pele's.

[Lucasjj]

And I don't know why you're apologizing for them...unless you own/run the place, no need for apologies. I want them to succeed like everyone else.

I really miss the smelly old pharmacy...........................................................NOT.

What a transformation. I am proud to say I introduced Matt to the owner (of the building) and therby facilitated, in some small way, his presence in our neighborhood. Cannot wait to enjoy my first beer and pizza there, it will be the first of many.

[Rumblefish]

I've been there three times and have had a very enjoyable experience all three times.  Is the service perfect?  No, but I never expect perfect service from a newly opened restaurant. 

[bill]

I can assure you i is by no means undercapitalized

Then it is certainly under experienced

wouldn't that be somewhat expected/normal for a non-chain restaurant that has been open less than a month?

Not if they know what they are doing

[iluvolives]

Carmine's had about the worst service of anywhere I've ever eaten the first 3 times I went there right after they opened...but, they came around and now are a popular spot in the hood. I think the same will happen with Pele's once they've been open awhile.

[MusicMan]

I had the exact sale experience at Carmines. The first couple of times were just plain bad, but it has gotten better since then. That being said, my neighbor went to Kickbacks the other day and waited 45 minutes for his hamburger. When his wait person went by he asked, "where is my burger?" Answer, "Oh its done. We are waiting on fries. "

Kickback remains popular despite the completely inconsistent service. People like it so they keep going back. Pele's will develop it's own clientele, no doubt.

[ChriswUfGator]

You have to completely ignore the price point to compare Pele's to Carmine's or Kickbacks.

I don't care if Carmine's takes an extra 20 minutes to get something out, it's a neighborhood pizza joint and at the end of it, I'm going to walk out having sucked down ample quanties of beer or wine and an awesome pizza for $40. Pele's is a different ballgame. I went and tried it, for what I spent there I could (should) have gone to Orsay. And the service at Pele's sucked. Sucked so badly, I won't even spend the hour it would take to belabor you with the story.

The highlight that I'll share is, I actually got lectured on how the medium rare cut of prime rib I'd asked for was impossible to deliver. Of course, they'd just served two plates of prime rib at our table, mine roasted to a crisp, and the other was exactly the way it was supposed to be. I just kept pointing to the other one and saying "oh really, well ok, then explain that one then."

Finally the snotty douchebag of a house manager, unnaturally hyperactive and dolled up in a burgundy silk shirt from 1986, comes over and gives me the lecture of the century, saying verbatim that it was not "guaranteed" that the prime wouldn't come out however the hell it comes out, and that if I'd known anything about prime rib, I should have known that. Nevermind, of course, that I've been eating prime rib (endcaps, center, you name it) for 20+ years. The way he acted, you'd have thought I was actually insecure about the single-wide I'd parked in front of the restaurant.

He even carried back the plate of overcooked prime rib I'd already sent back, thinking he was going to talk me into taking it back. Talk about barking up the wrong tree.

When the douchebaggery didn't have its intended effect, the silk-shirted time-warp got so angry he was literally red and shaking. To give credit where credit is due, the chef saw what was going on and came over, and admitted it was overcooked and then immediately replaced it with a cut of the correct temperature. Which actually pissed me off worse, since the manager had just spent 20 minutes arguing it was a total impossibility. Regardless, I have to give their chef credit, for doing the right thing even when it probably worked to his detriment. He also comped one of the pizzas at the table, which was a nice touch. Even if it only lowered the bill for 4 to a bargain $170.

I wouldn't recommend this hellhole to my mother in law. I don't know how it even has a 50% on Urbanspoon. My bread is buttered about as far from the restaurant business as you can get, I have no dog in this fight. Just being honest. So go and make your own decisions. I'm just giving everyone fair warning. The food, when they get it right, is not bad. But the attitudes. Just. Wow.

[RockStar]

@Chris - Just out of curiosity, date and time of your visit?

[ChriswUfGator]

@Chris - Just out of curiosity, date and time of your visit?

January 11th, about 7pm-8pm, somewhere around there. You know, around dinner time.

I should point out that our waiter, Alex, was fine, he wasn't the issue. He was just going to go get me what I wanted and be done with it. The problem was 100% the house manager, who grabbed the plate and marched it right back to the table to launch into an argument over how I don't know anything about prime rib, and shouldn't have sent it back since Pele's makes "no guarantee" on the temperature, and that it was impossible to get a medium rare cut, and I was going to have to be happy with what they gave me.

Which went over like a lead balloon, when the other plate of the same dish they brought at the same time was a perfect medium rare. So I made full use of that exhibit and kept pointing to it, and he kept getting madder. He is just in the wrong business. And like I said, I have to give the chef credit. It's an open kitchen and we were in his line of view, so he noticed the argument and came over. He didn't see WTF the big deal was and just went and came back with the cut I'd originally asked for. He apologized and comped a pizza for the table, so I guess I should be happy, they did try and make it right. But the manager was just such a dick it really left a bad taste.

[Jimmy]

Chris, I'm afraid to say that I had a similar experience at Pele's on Friday night, at around 8:30.  Not being remotely connected to any restaurant business myself, maybe I don't understand the way things work.

We had a large party - I guess?  6 of us.  I ordered a pizza, my better half got the prime rib, and others got pasta dishes.  We ordered drinks and dinner.  It was taking a while, so we asked for bread.  While waiting for the bread, my pizza was delivered to the table.  I didn't particularly want to eat before the rest of my party, so my pizza had to sit on the table for the next 20 minutes until the other dishes began to arrive. 

The bread was okay, I guess, but the olive oil mixture was abysmal.  My table companions said it tasted cheap.  I didn't even try it, since I'd experienced it in an earlier visit.  Oh, and whatever you do at Pele's, don't let your pizza sit for 20 minutes before eating it.  By the time I finally got to eat, the crust had the consistency of hard taffy, or something else that's unpleasant to chew.

I would have complained about the experience to the server, but the man was deaf.  Literally.  I'm a little hard of hearing and I know my own limits.  This server kept shouting at our table "I can't hear you!" and trying to lean across the long booth to hear requests being shouted to him from those of us sitting by the window.  I think he missed 25% of what we said to him.  It was ridiculous.     

People keep telling me it's a destination restaurant.  Seems more like a dead end to me.  Or a culinary cul-de-sac that manages to combine mediocre food and a service staff that is literally deaf to customers' concerns. 

[ben says]

Chris and Jimmy,

Same experience here. Party of 6, everything came out at different times, bread and evoo sucked (can't think of a better word).

One of the worst parts about it was when the waiter brought out a soggy Margherita pizza with watery sauce, and taffy-like dough, and I asked if he could make it crispy....he gave me the "clearly you don't know anything about neapolitan pizza" talk...and I have to explain to him I've been eating the same pie for 2 years and it's never been like this.

Also, I understand they are using reverse-osmosis water for their dough, but I don't necessarily agree with them using it for drinking water. Everyone at the table thought the water tasted horrible.

[Charles Hunter]

Come to think of it, when I was there a couple weeks ago, my pasta dish came out several minutes (I didn't time it) before my companion's pizza.

[ben says]

The Pele's olive oil had a really bad aftertaste that reminded me of aluminum foil. 

Couldn't have put it better.