Pardes, World's ONLY Bicyclist Restaurant Critic

[jobob]

She made her preferences* abundantly clear. Since the waitstaff and the chef chose not to follow through with her order, they deserve to be panned.


*Edit: "Preference" was a poor word choice on my part; it implies that fulfilling a customer's order is somehow optional and is left to the whim of the restaurant.

[TrekTheKaty]

Pardes, I MISSED YOU! So glad you're back!

I'll ride anywhere for food--just give me an excuse. When I riding a particularly brisk pace, hubby calls it the "must be food at the car" sprint!

I must take a pic of the pub or coffee shop in St. Charles on a weekend--there's no room to park a car, but the bike racks are FULL!

[SadieKate]

Welcome back! Great write-up. We heavily depend on local restaurant bloggers for their opinions and the best ones are the funny ones. I give them more credence for being thoughtful about the meal and service, and not just being cranky.

Poor reviews give restaurants a chance to improve before business can permanently die off. Panning can be a good thing when the owners pay attention and do something about the problems, and blogs give them a public place to tell the critics "come back, talk to me and we'll make it right" before too much time passes.

Let's hope the Eagle Diner owner is eagle-eyed and finds your post.

[pardes]

Pardes, I MISSED YOU! So glad you're back!

I'll ride anywhere for food--just give me an excuse. When I riding a particularly brisk pace, hubby calls it the "must be food at the car" sprint!

I must take a pic of the pub or coffee shop in St. Charles on a weekend--there's no room to park a car, but the bike racks are FULL!

Your husband sounds like a doll!

Please send your photos of the pub and coffee shop and a note or two about it and I'll publish it on Elderberry Rides....oh and Channelluv has plot cooked up for you guys as well. She's off "cooking" right now. Brahhhahahahaha

[pardes]

Welcome back! Great write-up. We heavily depend on local restaurant bloggers for their opinions and the best ones are the funny ones. I give them more credence for being thoughtful about the meal and service, and not just being cranky.

Poor reviews give restaurants a chance to improve before business can permanently die off. Panning can be a good thing when the owners pay attention and do something about the problems, and blogs give them a public place to tell the critics "come back, talk to me and we'll make it right" before too much time passes.

Let's hope the Eagle Diner owner is eagle-eyed and finds your post.

The interesting thing is that at the end of the meal (actually I abandoned it after a few bites), the waitress asked me "How was it?" I pointed to the overcooked steak. She replied, "Honest, I told the chef you wanted it rare."

I replied, "Too bad I'm a restaurant critic." It didn't seem to register on her radar and she replied, "Have a nice day."

[shootingstar]

Oh, this is brilliant! I hope the owner of that restaurant sees this. And I think you need a broader forum. I just looked up the domain name BikeCafe.com on GoDaddy, but it's taken, even though the guy isn't doing anything with it. And Pardes, this is totally up to you because it is your idea, but I was thinking it would make a great blog - we could all contribute blog posts from our various regions around the world. Wouldn't that be fun?

Totally horning in on Pardes' idea, though. You've inspired me, what can I say?

Roxy

I'm just dying to see the end result of your 'cooking' idea, channelluv. You, the writer with ink in her blood. Pardes, loved the review.

Yea, a fun bike-based noshery review blog that's international in scope would be great! I've lost track of the number of times where we try to get restaurant seats so that we can see our locked bikes. We just went to great place ...the owner is a fantastic chef AND regular cyclist. Plus he has bike jerseys that you can buy with his biz logo.

[channlluv]

It's underway. I've purchased domain names and Pardes and I are coordinating efforts. As soon as I get it up and running, I'll let you all know.

Roxy

[badgercat]

It's underway. I've purchased domain names and Pardes and I are coordinating efforts. As soon as I get it up and running, I'll let you all know.

Roxy

I think I love this idea... I can't tell you how many times my boyfriend and I have wanted to bike to a restaurant, but not knowing the availability of bike parking and not wanting to chance it, we end up driving, or walking if it's close enough, and then scoping for racks and poles after we get there for future reference. Definitely sounds like something that'd be fun to contribute to, and read stories from other corners of the world! Keep us posted!

[PamNY]

Pardes, great review. Wonderful to hear from you again.

[katherine]

I love this. Wonderfully entertaining, a fantastic review and a great concept. If you want any reviews from AZ let me know!

[pardes]

I love this. Wonderfully entertaining, a fantastic review and a great concept. If you want any reviews from AZ let me know!

Oh gooooood. Send them to me, photos too!!!!!

[spindizzy]

Hardcore biker said, "Heck, I consider WaWa a destination ride."

..it could be a destination ride.....I thought you were coming to Canada ; a very northerly part of Ontario.....pop. 3,000

http://www.wawa.cc/tourism/

[Serendipity]

..it could be a destination ride.....I thought you were coming to Canada ; a very northerly part of Ontario.....pop. 3,000

http://www.wawa.cc/tourism/

That would be a beautiful destination ride..... very scenic - with some killer hills!

[ColoKate]

I love these types of reviews!

BleekerSt Girl - where can I find info about bike tours revolving around good food/restaurants? That is so up my alley but I'm not having any luck online...thanks!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

BleekerSt Girl - where can I find info about bike tours revolving around good food/restaurants? That is so up my alley but I'm not having any luck online...thanks!

I've never been on an organized tour myself, but I've read of them a lot, and here are just a few leads to gourmet food themed cycling tours all over the world and also in the U.S., to get you started in your explorations:

http://www.google.com/#num=20&hl=en&...ec63d5ff72707a

http://www.google.com/#num=20&hl=en&...ec63d5ff72707a

http://www.google.com/#num=20&hl=en&...ec63d5ff72707a