Firkin and Bull, Wichita, Kansas

This is the email I sent to the "Firkin" company's corporate website email address. Firkin is appropriate because the website is Firkin annoying.

To the President, CEO, and Board of Directors, "Firkin" North American restaurant chain.

It is with absolute disappointment that I write this email today indicating my absolutely deplorable experience at your Wichita Kansas Firkin and Bull Pub and Restaurant.
I will further preface the following letter with the fact that I worked at a similar "themed" bar and grill type establishment for four and a half years while I was a college student as a prep cook and assistant kitchen manager so I am intimately familiar with the In's and outs of the "bar and grill" business.

This evening I decided to treat my wife and daughter to dinner out. As you can imagine, with a plethora of dining experiences to offer in the greater Wichita, Kansas, metropolitan area and a largely depressed North American economy, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to sample fine dining at about any establishment I could choose but I do want to get the best value and dining experience for my hard earned money.

Having seen the Firkin and Bull featured on a program with a local television celebrity, I thought it would be nice to fore go some of our usual haunts and try something new.

We arrived at the restaurant at roughly 5:20 PM, which is fairly early by "dinner rush" standards in this area, and found the establishment to be nearly empty. We waited by the door for a few minutes to be seated before a waiter came by and led us to a table. Although the restaurant was nearly empty we were immediately relegated to a seat in the rear of the restaurant near the restrooms. In my experience this seldom bodes well for the customer when a restaurant is near empty.

I immediately asked for six chicken wings that were on special and we all asked for waters. I knew I wanted to try out the wings after having seen the television program featuring the restaurant's "chef".

The waiter came by three times before our water actually showed up.
I then had to waive him over to put in our food order because I got the feeling he was distracted by his ONLY other table and whatever interesting conversation was going on by the bar that was so important for him that had him distracted when we arrived.

I didn't want to cause an issue. You must understand I am NOT a pushy customer, I tend to be very polite to wait staff as there is always fear of the old adage "rude to the waiter equals spit in your food." Though I have never done this personally there are enough videos of such antics on YOUTUBE to prove that it happens. Likewise if I receive EXCELLENT service I commend the wait staff and offer tips often in excess of the expected 15%.

Our order was a firkin burger, a kids pizza and buffalo blue cheese wraps which were also the Thursday night special. We waited. We watched. The wings came I ate them. We waited more. and Watched. Another table sat, ordered, and received their order before our meals came out.
We waited a bit more. An hour had passed since we walked in the door and 45 minutes since the wings had come, been eaten and their plate cleared. My water was empty. My daughter was hungry. My wife was pissed! I was pissed. I checked to see if I had $3 dollars and change to pay for the wings.

The waiter had said a half hour ago that "our order should be right up. As I checked my wallet for cash, a cook came from the kitchen and filled his drink at the bar. My water was empty and my food was absent but the cook got a drink? What? When I was a cook this would not have happened. This SHOULD not have happened.

My wife and daughter went to the car. I went to the bar and asked for change. Suddenly the waiter was wondering what was wrong? I said where's my food? Never mind I'm paying for the wings and we are leaving. Its obviously so busy with three waiters, a bar tender and a total of 4 tables and two at the bar that your too busy to take care of my dinner. That's cool, I can eat anywhere I want.

The bartender came around the bar, introducing himself as the manager on duty. I don't care about that. I don't care about the food. I just want change to pay for my wings. I ate them. I will pay for them. The waiter is like "Oh they are on me, my bad".

Certainly sir, I worked at restaurants for years. Your bad. Maybe its the location. I had bad service in the same building when it was a Famous Dave's. I don't know why. Regardless, as I told them, since it was SO busy I could understand how they could forget us and since our order was so complicated, being the SPECIAL a BURGER, and a kids pizza how could the kitchen NOT have been overwhelmed?

The bartender just couldn't imagine how this could have happened. That didn't really surprise me considering how the pair of middle aged ladies slurping down their beers at the bar couldn't help but giggle uncomfortably as I quietly and calmly described my wondrous experience at the Firkin and Bull.

I left my three dollars on the bar and left. Six chicken wings and a glass of water later and an hour of my life I will NEVER get back is far more than I had intended to spend.

Fear not, to avoid this situation happening in the future, I will never darken the door of another "Firkin and" establishment again. I am also inspired to start a blog reviewing this experience along with other such positive dining and service oriented experiences in the area. Thank you for that!

Judging by the bumper to bumper and wall to wall customers at the Wichita New Market Square establishment, others have shared in the "wonderful" service that the "Firkin and Bull" provides and I will be further supporting the employees future endeavors in the form of taxes paid into unemployment insurance and higher bank rates thanks to ultimate bankruptcy and foreclosure of the establishment. I think that is probably what burns my behind the most. Bad service, I didn't get what I WANTED to pay for and I will get what I DON'T want in the end.

I do know this. Your staff needs to take a field trip to the Outback Steakhouse in Wichita, or to the Granite City Brewery right up the road. Their staff is very courteous and very customer oriented, and very much in charge of their situation.The manager of Granite City makes a point of visiting at every table in her restaurant to see how you are doing and if your order is to their exacting specifications.

Likewise another chain, Old Chicago (where we eventually ate) had their "stuff" together and had our needs taken care of without question or delay and they were much busier (Indeed bumper to bumper and wall to wall customers). They were happy to serve us and I was happy to spend my money there and leave a substantial tip.

I know you will probably reply with a form letter and if a human reads this there will be another letter telling me how sorry you are, but trust me, no one is more sorry than my family and I that we had to endure a not so fun night out together.

Yours Truly,
Casey W. Christofferson