soda closing?!
Comments
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Mr. Krohn - please tell me what bar(s) you own so I can drop in for a beer with a side of kvetch.
Many posters are full of ideas - little to nothing on execution.
When I worked on the (unrealized) Prospect Heights Arts Festival we had what I called the "ninny" factor. They would show up all full of ideas for one meeting and never showed up again.
Think you can beat Toly at his game? Half is still up for rent. -
"Nothing on execution"? What is this, a commune? Here's the execution: the service at that place sucks so very badly that I have stopped going there at all. I am not rooting for a shitty establishment to stay open.
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I LOVE Soda and ain't afraid to say so. Sure, sometimes the service is lacking but we simply mention what we need to our server and he/she is always happy to help out. We have made good friends there from Toly to Lauren to Shelly to Phil...and we have been treated as such. We will make our voice heard by stopping in this week and offering our whole-hearted support to Toly and his staff.
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Hillary, give me heads up when you go.
devincf, don't like the place and you don't go there - looks like were in agreeance. It just gets my goat when someone thinks that they can do the job better. If you think you can do better there is money to be made in PH. -
I've seen chimps who could run that place better.
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Get those chimps to run Half. I'm tired to looking at that empty storefront. -
Do we have details yet about what's happening? I went in tonight for a drink -- at 7:30 -- and was told they were not opening for another half hour. Huh?
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hillary, with you on that sentiment. have been going to soda since they opened (we're talking pre sarah-rose days. anyone remember kylie, the cool australian chick, or even before her, the shortlived west indian chick who told us that 'base' was available on tap?), and now we go with our child (and to baby music class on saturday mornings, too!).
anyhow, we were there yesterday and left after waiting more than 20 minutes for two stellas - 1 came and the other came twice in the same wax-crusted glass. i think that the waitress had been pressed-ganged back into service as we hadn't seen her for more than a year. also, alarmingly, bobby has been missing for a few weekends now.
god, this is like the only pub in the 'hood. hope it all comes together as good weather and long, ale-quaffing evenings are upon us. -
phil&ted wrote: hillary, with you on that sentiment. have been going to soda since they opened (we're talking pre sarah-rose days. anyone remember kylie, the cool australian chick, or even before her, the shortlived west indian chick who told us that 'base' was available on tap?), and now we go with our child (and to baby music class on saturday mornings, too!).
hear hear.
anyhow, we were there yesterday and left after waiting more than 20 minutes for two stellas - 1 came and the other came twice in the same wax-crusted glass. i think that the waitress had been pressed-ganged back into service as we hadn't seen her for more than a year. also, alarmingly, bobby has been missing for a few weekends now.
god, this is like the only pub in the 'hood. hope it all comes together as good weather and long, ale-quaffing evenings are upon us.
anyone up for dinner at noona sometime this week? -
Ditto. I hope this isn't true. If so, I will have to find a new bar for my horrible, intractable, screaming kids to run around in.
Amen Muk. Anyone desiring saccharine but prompt service and fake atmosphere try TJ Fridays or Applebees or just move out to the LI suburbs. -
Subject: a tome poem
a tome poem
[ahemmm, the sound of bar glasses and he rusling of feet]
so sad soda bar
you've become too popular
now no one goes there -
I went to Soda last night with friends at 7:30 and was told it wasn't opening till 8:00. They were still cutting up lemon wedges.
We went to Beast instead, which I've never been to because it looks to me from the outside like a weird old man bar, and we had a great time. The staff was lovely, turns out the menu is fabulous, and the whole bar smelled like yummy home cooking. Beast is my new local. -
asb wrote: Amen Muk. Anyone desiring saccharine but prompt service and fake atmosphere try TJ Fridays or Applebees or just move out to the LI suburbs.
Yes. Heaven forbid that an authentic, local place have good service. -
Sushipants wrote: I went to Soda last night with friends at 7:30 and was told it wasn't opening till 8:00. They were still cutting up lemon wedgesl.
A perfect 70-degree, sunny afternoon, and they weren't even open for happy hour!?!?! :shock: Unacceptable. -
Mateo wrote: [quote=asb]Amen Muk. Anyone desiring saccharine but prompt service and fake atmosphere try TJ Fridays or Applebees or just move out to the LI suburbs.
Yes. Heaven forbid that an authentic, local place have good service.
Exactly. I don't think anyone wants waitresses with 36 pieces of flair. The truth is that service at Soda can sometimes be rude and/or slow. There's nothing wrong with wanting them to improve their weak spot. -
I don't get it. I had a bad experience once at Soda about two years ago when the back deck was slammed on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, the service is pretty good. Perhaps its because I'm there about three nights a week and tip pretty decently.
I think the people on this blog are just whiney. See also the Delacacies posting. -
Duke of Flatbush wrote: I think the people on this blog are just whiney. See also the Delacacies posting.
It's not whiny to have an opinion. People give kudos where kudos is due. People like Pintchik, they like Beast, I like the Indian Place (although I dunno how they stay open being always empty), and I liked Delicacies as it was. But things that are sub-standard get tagged as such.
I used to go to Soda quite a bit (and yes, tipped for every drink as well :roll: ). But cut down once they got rid of the pool table and basically cut it out after some really terrible, terrible service one night. The waitress was just a bitch. And slow. And insulting. And I don't think anyone should feel bad expecting good service out of a service industry.
Besides, it's not just one person or one incident. There's a number of reports here on the same thing and what's the Chris Berman saying? Once is an event, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a trend? -
The sqeaky wheel gets the grease. I don't think it's just a fluke that there are so many people who have had bad experiences and so few who have had good ones (and seem to be vastly outnumbered). If Soda were truly a great bar with occasional service flukes they probably wouldn't find themselves closing. Lord knows there is certainly a market for what they offer, but for management reasons or whatever, they failed to provide.
For my money, Flatbush Farms is a few blocks away, has a better burger, a gorgeous backyard, and the staff have always been lovely. -
erikka wrote: If Soda were truly a great bar with occasional service flukes they probably wouldn't find themselves closing. Lord knows there is certainly a market for what they offer, but for management reasons or whatever, they failed to provide.
If they are in fact closing, i still believe it's entirely due to internal management problems and has almost nothing to do with poor service or rude employees. That place is always packed on weekends. Everything is there for them to run a successful establishment. As I said above, if only poor service and rude, lazy employees led to businesses' closing. That'd be true justice. Unfortunately, in most instances, asshole staff members only change when leaderhship demands better, rarely when customers do. -
Well, there's always Well Lounge. ](*,)
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Subject: no steven covey books at soda
izisharp wrote: If they are in fact closing, i still believe it's entirely due to internal management problems and has almost nothing to do with poor service or rude employees.
sorry to begin the post and then abandon the thread, but it's really been "mayday!" at work.
anyway, if soda closes, based on what i know from a [hopefully not rude to you] staffer there, it indeed would be due to partnership and managerial problems.
i don't go there often, but, slow and sometimes rude staff and all, soda has its place in the area. it's good to support local businesses, they do have an excellent BLT and good burgers, and it's a nice space that has a lot of frontage on vanderbilt. it would be too bad if it closed and all that ended up there was another bank of america. or a place competing with the well lounge for seekers of "bottle service". -
Soda closing...we could only wish. Unless you want to bring your bratty child there to hang with all the...ah-hem "coke-a-cola" dealers. Get yours while you can, I heard that its turning into one of those 24/7 bingo joints with illegal cosmetic surgery in the dimly lit rat infested basement. Actually, if you don't have your own child, I'm sure you could buy one there.
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Gotta say, I'm with ya Duke.
Background: from way, way back in the Kylie/Ina/Dan/Sarah-Rose days I always showed up a lot, tipped pretty well, and was genuinely interested in talking to and getting acquainted with the staff. I got to know almost everyone including Toly who, himself, frequently takes my first born for "field trips" around the bar. Some Soda staffers/friends have even *gasp* been to my own home! WTF!?
Like Duke, I have had close to zero service issues.
Coincidence?Duke of Flatbush wrote: I don't get it. I had a bad experience once at Soda about two years ago when the back deck was slammed on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, the service is pretty good. Perhaps its because I'm there about three nights a week and tip pretty decently.
I think the people on this blog are just whiney. See also the Delacacies posting. -
While it's all well and good that the really regulars get good service, seeing you there a few times a week shouldn't be a prerequisite for good service.
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WhyFi wrote: While it's all well and good that the really regulars get good service, seeing you there a few times a week shouldn't be a prerequisite for good service.
I couldn't possibly state this better myself. -
Soda. Great place. Will go there to show solidarity. Maybe they can reserve a premium service space for people who have unresolved affection issues against a cover charge.
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Jesus, did Muddy Waters lady become a co-owner? Covers? That is dumb.
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I'm, obviously, with the folks below. before a lot of management difficulties, I never had a problem at Soda. and, once the shit began last year, knowing a server or bartender's name always helped.
Toly, who, frankly, has suffered a lot of abuse as an owner of that bar on this board, hooked our last Soda happy hour up with tequila shots. he genuinely likes folks who live in the neighborhood and want to hang out at his bar. unfortunately, things aren't going well for his business right now.
and yes, many of the regulars and employees have also been to MY home. I love them all dearly and wish them the best in their (hopefully) lucrative endeavors at the moment.
I agree that the table service always left a bit to be desired, but I still enjoyed the environment, the friendliness, and the neighborliness of the establishment. I also appreciated the dedication of both Toly and the employees to promoting the arts of the neighborhood: local film maker viewing nights? classic indie film viewing nights? local DJ's? beautiful, in my opinion. I wish Toly the best and sincerely hope that the former and old school, but still working at Soda employees the best. did anyone read kitchen confidential? what wonderful, lovable, careful people (with families to support) do you think are cooking the delicious burgers everyone appreciates?Muk wrote: Gotta say, I'm with ya Duke.
Background: from way, way back in the Kylie/Ina/Dan/Sarah-Rose days I always showed up a lot, tipped pretty well, and was genuinely interested in talking to and getting acquainted with the staff. I got to know almost everyone including Toly who, himself, frequently takes my first born for "field trips" around the bar. Some Soda staffers/friends have even *gasp* been to my own home! WTF!?
Like Duke, I have had close to zero service issues.
Coincidence?
[quote=Duke of Flatbush]I don't get it. I had a bad experience once at Soda about two years ago when the back deck was slammed on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Otherwise, the service is pretty good. Perhaps its because I'm there about three nights a week and tip pretty decently.
I think the people on this blog are just whiney. See also the Delacacies posting. -
Toly has a comforting and kind nature, but he might be one of the worst business owners in the neighborhood. Have you ever seen someone buy something from Sole?(He and his wife's "shoe store" across Vanderbilt from Soda?) And also, why do you think that so many people have quit working for such a well established business (Soda Bar) in such a short amount of time? Sure....Toly has a troll of a business partner, but he has no spine, cannot stick up for employees or patrons, and he is full of excuses to the neighborhood. By the way, what is going on with his wife and that guy....I think he tucks his sweatshirt into his jeans and has two hoop earings?!?! I've seen her boobs in his face while sipping red wine in the lounge.
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Subject: poster child
after consulting the elders and examining these postings again
i have come to this conclusion
the postings are not whiney
the posters are
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