Has any answer come up on the 128Q identity crisis thing? I asked about it in the menu topic, and it's come up again here. What's the deal?

I went in the afternoon during Welcome Week. It was pretty quiet, so we went and sat down. A server went to the table beside and in front of us at least 5 times, didn't even look at us. We went and got a menu, asked if we should order at the bar, and were told that a server would come over. Eventually we just left and got food in La Piazza.

Funny how the only positive experiences are from SRA/IRC members.

It doesn't take experience to greet people when they first enter and then seat/take their order as soon as possible.

Ultimately, I think it would be best to just wait a week or two to see if they get their act together. I think that after everyone has been working for a month, it will be much smoother, and there won't be anymore problems with servers taking too long, or food taking too long.

I also don't care how long they've been open. I don't like hearing about these service issues. A properly run business would have dealt with issues like this within a few days at the most.

I've been hearing about these service problems ever since faculty day (at which point 1280 was open/serving people for a few days already). I'm going to be bringing this up at the SRA meeting this Sunday. I'll be asking the question in Question Period, forcing the VP's to speak to the issue and have it public record. If anyone is interested in attending the meeting and seeing what it's all about by the way, it will be at 6:30pm in GH 111 (council chambers).

I'll also be including the question of the 128Q thing during question period, which in my opinion was a stupid, stupid, STUPID decision by whomever approved the design of the menu. Quarters is supposed to be finished. How am I supposed to appear credible when I'm told one thing (ie Quarters is gone forever) and I communicate that message, and then things like this pop up?

Again, thanks everyone for speaking. Please keep talking. I'm listening, even if I can't speak for everyone else.

Originally Posted by micadjems

I dont CARE if the servers are new! They should have served before if 128Q wanted good servers (ie. with experience) and even for a new server, letting people sit there is UNACCEPTABLE!

I would have been fired from that at the old restaurant I worked at!

This is complete bullcrap and exactly what I expected.

They're using a Q for the 0? I never even noticed that, until just now.

Originally Posted by deadpool

The capacity has increased from 80 to 150 on the restaurant side of things. Yet, the kitchen is no bigger and the staff size has not increased, nor has it really changed. This is a huge thing to note as the quality of the food has increased exponentially and they are putting out food for double the amount of people last year in the same amount of time.

That's really strange... You would think that if you double your seating you would have the ability to be able to serve that many at once. When somewhere are half a million dollars is spent on renovations you think that some of it would be used for something functional rather than purely aesthetic.

- I went earlier today and it took over an hour for lunch for two people, which I believe is unacceptable. I don't understand why there isn't a rush lunch menu which gets you served in 10min. You know basic sandwiches/salads/fries etc... That would be perfect because one may think that one hour is not enough time to sit down and eat and get out.

- Service was slow. They forgot what our order was twice. I mean new servers is one thing, but new servers that are not using pens and paper to remember orders is another. Patrons don't cafe if you write down the order or not, as long as it is filled properly. Folded menus were ignored when we were ready to order. Plates with napkins on top were ignored for pick up.

- Payment was very slow. There's only one credit/debit machine going around and it has trouble working. Now seating was 80 before the reno and now it is 150. Again I can't stress this enough functionality is required over pure aesthetics.

- 128Q... I think that has been addressed enough. I don't get it. Quarters died.

- Menu was fairly straight forward. Decent enough variety to please most students. I myself had the ribs and was pleasantly surprised. They did not taste boiled and the outer coating was nice and crispy, which I appreciated very much.

- As for the look. It was very clean and brightly lit. It was going for an outdoor feel. Booths were like sitting under awnings in the outdoors... but, It lacks an identity. With the bar and the widescreen tv's playing sports, beer advertisements hanging from the walls along with the mason jar cups, 1280 loses its identity. What is it trying to be. It looks like a nice cafeteria with a sports bar, in a bed and breakfast. I have not seen the club side of 1280 so I cannot comment on how that looks with the bar and what have you.

- Finally the last thing I could think of was maybe trying to add some coat hooks to the pillars by the booth. They're wide enough and may make people have more comfortable seating when the winter rolls around.


I would probably say that it would be unlikely that I would return to that establishment (But I also like to cook...)

Originally Posted by jmgk

- As for the look. It was very clean and brightly lit. It was going for an outdoor feel. Booths were like sitting under awnings in the outdoors... but, It lacks an identity. With the bar and the widescreen tv's playing sports, beer advertisements hanging from the walls along with the mason jar cups, 1280 loses its identity. What is it trying to be. It looks like a nice cafeteria with a sports bar, in a bed and breakfast. I have not seen the club side of 1280 so I cannot comment on how that looks with the bar and what have you.

When it's a club night, the part of 128Q near all the windows is basically out of bounds. All the chairs are stacked in there and it's wasted space. The pillars make no sense at night, except to be ugly and yellow.

Oh, and speakers fall onto the dance floor.

Originally Posted by micadjems

When it's a club night, the part of 128Q near all the windows is basically out of bounds. All the chairs are stacked in there and it's wasted space. The pillars make no sense at night, except to be ugly and yellow.

Oh, and speakers fall onto the dance floor.

Sounds really well thought out.

...

One more thing I would like to add.

Would it not have been a smart idea to try to negotiate a short term contract with Mac Express for the usage of meal cards at 1280? I just figure that if since 1280 is "new" you could get first years hooked on 1280 with cheap food and good service so that they would want to come back. When the contract ends don't reapply, and hopefully get those students to continue to come in their upper years.

Just get people hooked early and hope they come back. Now I don't know the logistics of this but I wonder if the avenue was ever explored.

Originally Posted by jmgk

One more thing I would like to add.

Would it not have been a smart idea to try to negotiate a short term contract with Mac Express for the usage of meal cards at 1280? I just figure that if since 1280 is "new" you could get first years hooked on 1280 with cheap food and good service so that they would want to come back. When the contract ends don't reapply, and hopefully get those students to continue to come in their upper years.

Just get people hooked early and hope they come back. Now I don't know the logistics of this but I wonder if the avenue was ever explored.

Mealcard is there, just not integrated into the POS yet.

So now that I actually have some dining experience there, I think I'll add a bit to my review.

During Welcome Week (the Saturday) we had a couple of hours to kill, so four of us figured we'd go down to 1280 to eat, and maybe catch a nap later on. That turned out to be wishful thinking- we spent most of that time waiting for a server, waiting for food to be prepared, waiting for the bill to come, etc. If this had been during the school year there is no way I could eat there, it would take far too long to fit into a class schedule that only gives 1-2 hours for lunch.

Anyways, eventually the food came, and it was decent. Nothing special, and a bit overpriced for what we got, but compared to Quarter's it was absolutely spectacular. In terms of choices for vegetarians there wasn't an exorbitant amount of choice- there were enough that you could probably find something you would like, but not enough that you could eat there regularly without quickly tiring of the options. I don't think thats a huge deal though when you consider how many options Mac already has for vegetarians.

Overall, I would not eat there regularly, or suggest it as a place to go. If I was getting lunch with a group of people and they all wanted to eat there, I would go with them, but mainly so I wouldn't feel left out =/

Fingers crossed for the service improving, so that we don't wind up with another Quarters.

I have some questions for people.

1) Do you tip, if yes, how much compared to what you would tip at Boston Pizza?

2) Do you have any serving experience? If yes, what would you do operationally at 1280 that you think they are not doing?

3) Does the time you wait at a bar night for a drink affect your overall impression of 1280?

4) What do you consider a proper price point for a 6oz burger and fries?

awww, my post in the other thread was deleted.

Rohan, 1-Yes, I tip. The same amount as Boston Pizza. NOTHING! muahahahahaha
2-nope, I do serve people regularly, but it's more of the "you got served" variety
3-Sure why not.
4-As cheap or cheaper than Commons/CreationX burgers

Originally Posted by deadpool

2) Do you have any serving experience? If yes, what would you do operationally at 1280 that you think they are not doing?

I do!

If my old work taught me anything, it's that servers should NEVER be standing around idly! There's always something to do. At Emma's we were always sweeping, cleaning, even helping prep in the kitchen if there were no/few customers!!