Kitchen Corner

John Marwood

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Roland said:
We visited the Kitchen Corner this lunch time and we were very disappointed!

1. Staff didn't say hello or goodbye or show any interest in us whatsoever
2. Although it was quite the service was very slow, I was ready to walk out even though I had already paid
3. It was cold, the place needs to be warm and inviting
4. there were two dogs in the café and they weren't guide dogs
5. The steak in the steak and onion sandwich was in two thick tough slabs and very hard to cut/chew. I am used to a steak sandwich having small strips of steak not slices.
6. My wife was given a knife, fork and spoon to eat her soup!

We won't be going back in a hurry when there are better, more welcoming places to eat in Stafford.
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TheKitchenCornerLtd

TheKitchenCornerLtd

A few posts under my belt
EasMid said:
Went in on Saturday at 1-30. Unfortunately the lady taking orders seemed completely out of her depth. We weren't in a rush but I'd never go in during a lunch break if the service is as slow in the week as it was then. We asked about the pasta as it wasn't on the menu, she then argued that they'd never done pasta & didn't seem to understand that maybe it should be taken off both boards outside.
A family came in & ordered at the counter. It took about 10 minutes for their small order to be written down & the bill worked out. Most tables had to wait & ask again for their drinks, one couple must have waited for about 20 minutes for 2 lattes.
It's a shame really because the town centre needs a place serving the kind of food they do & I hope it's a success.
A couple of suggestions.
The menu sheets are a bit "all over the place" & look a bit "transport cafe-ish".
Change the big tables for some 4seat tables that you could push together when needed.
Train the staff to pass the orders through when the pad is filled in & put table numbers on the orders. No one seemed to know who'd ordered what.
When there's a queue at the counter have someone making drinks while another takes the orders & familiarise the staff with the prices etc so every single item doesn't need to be read from the menu.
Put the prices up a bit & employ a couple of youngsters at busy times. Every table, including us, had to wait a long time for drinks. (The prices really are very cheap)
Turn the microwave up a bit, the soup tasted ok but was lukewarm.
When customers arrive & leave get the staff to at least acknowledge them.
Other than that I really do hope the venture is a success.
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Hi @EasMid .. .

Sorry if service was slow on this occasion. We are a new business and are constantly trying to improve our staff and processes.
We have taken all your comments on board . . .

Pasta removed from 'A' boards
Staffing levels reviewed (Saturday 4th was our busiest yet)
Menus will be updated in March with new options
Food is always cooked fresh to order which can take time

We'd love to see you again.
If you'd like to return there will be a FREE "piping hot" bowl of freshly made soup for you.

Please get in touch via contact@thekitchencornerltd.co.uk to let us know.

The Kitchen Corner Ltd.
 
TheKitchenCornerLtd

TheKitchenCornerLtd

A few posts under my belt
proactive said:
I popped in here for lunch with a client last week. We weren't acknowledged as we entered and after 10 mins nobody had bothered to approach us and ask if we actually wanted to spend any money there.

We got up and went next door for burgers instead. Delicious and with excellent customer service as well.

Won't darken Kitchen Corner's door again.
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Hi @proactive . . .

Sincere apologies if we didn't give you enough attention.
We'd love to see you again to remedy this.
This is uncharacteristic of us as we are a small family run business with lots of regular customers.
Our process is to take orders at the counter and we will be making this more obvious to new customers.

The Kitchen Corner Ltd.
 
TheKitchenCornerLtd

TheKitchenCornerLtd

A few posts under my belt
Roland said:
We visited the Kitchen Corner this lunch time and we were very disappointed!

1. Staff didn't say hello or goodbye or show any interest in us whatsoever
2. Although it was quite the service was very slow, I was ready to walk out even though I had already paid
3. It was cold, the place needs to be warm and inviting
4. there were two dogs in the café and they weren't guide dogs
5. The steak in the steak and onion sandwich was in two thick tough slabs and very hard to cut/chew. I am used to a steak sandwich having small strips of steak not slices.
6. My wife was given a knife, fork and spoon to eat her soup!

We won't be going back in a hurry when there are better, more welcoming places to eat in Stafford.
Click to expand...

Hi @Roland . . .

Apologies to both you and your wife if your visit to the Kitchen Corner was an unhappy one.
I was particularly disappointed to hear about the steak as we use a lovely cut of frying steak from a great local butcher.
Our process is to take orders at the counter and we will be making this more obvious to new customers.
Food is cooked fresh to order and can take time.
We are officially a dog friendly cafe. We take every precaution to ensure there is no risk of contamination.
Sorry if you were not aware of this.

On this occasion if you contact me via contact@thekitchencornerltd.co.uk I am prepared to offer a full refund.

The Kitchen Corner Ltd.
 
Last edited:
proactive

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
As the owner of a business I can tell you that you only get one chance to make a first impression. Seemingly things have not gone well for a few of your guests.

Personally, it could have been worse if I'd taken I new client who didn't know me and might have thought I was a fool for going somewhere with such bad service. As it was it was a client I know well so no harm done.

I won't be taking the risk again though.

Hope you get these issues sorted and manage to do well though :)
 
TheKitchenCornerLtd

TheKitchenCornerLtd

A few posts under my belt
proactive said:
As the owner of a business I can tell you that you only get one chance to make a first impression. Seemingly things have not gone well for a few of your guests.

Personally, it could have been worse if I'd taken I new client who didn't know me and might have thought I was a fool for going somewhere with such bad service. As it was it was a client I know well so no harm done.

I won't be taking the risk again though.

Hope you get these issues sorted and manage to do well though :)
Click to expand...

Thanks @proactive

Sorry if there was any possibility of negative effects on your business.
Things are going well and we have an increasing band of regular customers.
One problem we do have is matching staffing level to our growing popularity.
Thanks for raising your concerns and we will do our best to rectify any issues we encounter.

The Kitchen Corner Ltd.
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Kitchen Corner said:
We are Launching our new Spring/ Summer menu today!
We've kept the popular items such as Oatcakes and the All Day Breakfast however after much demand, Salads and Jacket Potatoes have been introduced along with much more. Why not pop by and see for yourself!
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Noah

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
At least they know the difference between filter coffee and Americano and have filter coffee.

Brie
 
John Marwood

John Marwood

I ♥ cryptic crosswords
I think I left a pound note, could have been ten shillings, when I went to the opening night of Waltons. If anybody sees it ....
 
E

EasMid

Well-Known Forumite
Well, just to update.
We decided to give it another try on Saturday at about 3pm. I'm pleased to say there's been a massive improvement (it looks like every one of my previous "recommendations" have been carried out). It was quiet but the service was far better all round (the same lady was taking orders as last time, she's got the hang of things now) & the drinks were served very quickly. Good to see they do jacket spuds, Mrs EM had one & was very happy with it. I had a cheese& bacon toasted sandwich & it was quite good. Nice to have somewhere doing that type of food in a comfortable setting.
Overall we were very happy & will be back. Well done everyone.
P. S. I was a bit too shy to ask for the free "piping hot soup" I was offered after my previous post :bravo:
 
K

kilmaccumsey

Well-Known Forumite
We have been in here a few times and its a lovely friendly place ,only tried the jacket potatoes and sandwiches both were very good , recommend you try it and support a local business. oh and you get a free biccy with your cuppa ,nice little touch.
 
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