Great burgers-poor policies

Blogging is where we go to vent, right?
We have a very popular hamburger bar/grill in town named, 'Koppe Bridge'. It has been voted best burgers in town. We went there for the first time in April. Not only did we like the food, Caleb loved his grilled cheese sandwich and those of you who know Caleb know he only eats about 7 things. There are even many, many deserts that he does not like. So as you can imagine, we were thrilled that he was adding one more food item to his list.

We went back to Koppe Bridge just a few weeks ago and we ordered 2 adult baskets and 2 kid's baskets. Each basket comes with tons of fries. Caleb scarfed down his grilled cheese and begged for another one. Stephen asked how much it would cost to get another sandwich and they said we would have to pay the same as buying another kid's basket, $4.95.

Are you kidding me? $4.95 to melt a piece of cheese between 2 slices of bread? Well, we did not buy one and Caleb cried until we left.

Today I finally got around to writing a letter to the owners. Here is my letter:

To Whom It May Concern,
A few months ago my family of 5 ate at your Wellborn location for the first time. My husband and I were amazed that our 4 year old son loved your grilled cheese sandwich because he is an extremely picky eater who only eats 5 or 6 things. My 5 year old and 4 year old often asked to go back to your restaurant so we returned a few weeks ago, after the birth of our 4th child. My husband and I each ordered 1/2 pound baskets and our son had the grilled cheese basket while our 5 year old daughter shared her basket with our 2 year old daughter.

Our son ate his grilled cheese in record time and asked for another one. My husband asked if he could just get a grilled cheese sandwich and the employee at the counter asked the cooks. We were told we would have to purchase an entire grilled cheese basket or pay the same amount just for a sandwich.

We were dumbfounded. Why would you charge someone almost $5 for 2 pieces of bread with a slice of cheese? We told our son that he could not have another one and he cried until we left.

I do not know if this is your policy, or just something your cook made up as he went along, but I wanted to bring this to your attention and give you the opportunity to respond.


And her reply:

Hello Mrs. Arnold,

Thank you for your email and the feedback regarding your experience at our restaurant on Wellborn Road. Our kid's grill cheese meal is indeed $4.95; however, a grill cheese ala carte with chips/fries is $3.50. The kid's grill cheese meal comes on regular bread, while the regular menu grill cheese is prepared on Texas toast. Two slices of cheese are used on each sandwich.

Our product pricing is set up to reflect many associated costs, that including the actual cost of the product as well as various direct and indirect expenses associated with the restaurant business. Based on those factors, we do not sell a small grill cheese sandwich as a side or regular item. My staff was correct to state that the item is not available for pricing as you requested, and the alternative suggestion the staff should have given you was to order the regular size grill cheese for your son. Unfortunately, we cannot do a double sandwich option on our kids meal. I am including a link to our on-line menu.

Thanks again,

Glenda Ross
CFO/Owner
The Koppe Bridge Restaurant Group

http://www.koppebridge.com/id15.html

SERIOUSLY?

I guess we'll be trying some of the other burger joints in town.