What's In a Name

On Saturday Joe and I had the opportunity to try out two restaurant chains that we were completely unfamiliar with. In hindsight we could have passed them by and not missed much.

The first place was called "Friendly's". It seems "Friendly's" main claim to fame is ice cream but they serve all meals. Joe and I decided to have breakfast there. Well we were greeted by the hostess and seated. She asked if we wanted coffee and we said yes. Well, saying yes apparently doesn't mean you will actually get coffee. After approximately ten minutes, a waitress came to our table. After giving us menus, she asked if we wanted coffee. Again we said yes. Well fifteen minutes later the coffee finally arrived. As we placed our order, I noticed that under the waitress's name on her name tag it said "Vanilla". So I asked her if vanilla was her favorite flavor. Logical, no? Apparently no, as she told me her favorite flavor was double chocolate chip but that she was just given vanilla. Well, what the hell sense does that make? If the company isn't going to list an employee's actual favorite flavor, why bother at all?! How "Friendly" is that?

Things only got better at the next place. Later that afternoon while we were driving, I kept seeing billboards for a chain called "Duchess" featuring hotdogs. So after a while I asked Joe if we could stop at a "Duchess" restaurant as I wanted to try a hotdog. Far easier said than done. Two times we took the stipulated exit and drove around and around without finding a "Duchess" restaurant. There was absolutely no signage once we left the highway. The third time turned out to be the charm. After we exited there was signage at the roundabout indicating the location of the restaurant - success! Well, finding the restaurant was the high point. We parked and entered the restaurant only to be confronted by the largest menu I've ever seen in a fast-food restaurant. My question is why they only advertise the hot dogs. At any rate the young man working at the counter seemed to be fighting hard to stay awake, he was possibly the most low energy person I have encountered in a long time. Joe and I both ordered the hot dog special but he only rang up one. When I pointed out that we both wanted the special, he seemed surprised. I guess we probably woke him up as he seemed to be falling asleep standing there. So the order was placed and that was when our looooonnnngggg wait began. The only other customers were two men with a child who were attempting to pass the time waiting for food by playing that game which features a little crane that you have to use to pick up stuffed animals. They were already in the game for about twenty dollars at this point - maybe this is how "Duchess" makes it's real money.... It was amusing to watch orders of fries come up to the counter until they became too cold to eat but no sandwich or other food would appear. At this rate they better install a lot more money making games because thet are losing quite a bit in the French Fry division. After about 30 minutes we were given our food but the beverages were missing. When I pointed this out to the young man at the counter he was surprised, almost incredulous. I honestly wanted to shake this guy awake. God help him if this restaurant is ever full on his shift. I can only assume that the name "Duchess" was chosen for it's allusion to royalty, you know the old "treating customers like a king" and all that. They either need to rethink their name or do a whole more in the management of their restaurants - it's not like they are the only people serving hotdogs.