Have you ever gone to one of those restaurants where it has a lot of potential to be "the cool" place you envision it be but it's lacking something? We have a restaurant like that here in Pigeon Forge called The Blue Moose. I've just learned they don't have a web site after searching for it in Google. I can add that to my list of things they're missing.
We've eaten here about 5 times. The first time, we were excited to try their wings. They boast about them and have a ton of different sauces for dipping. The sauces were GREAT, but the wings were slightly over cooked and not very meaty. It took them a while to get our food to us but, they were a new restaurant so we gave them the benefit of the doubt.
It was a while before we went back. We took some friends with us this time and everything was perfect. I had the chili dog which has to be the best in town. Absolutely delicious. The service was great as well. After our second experience, we were ready to go back.
Our third visit was with my dad who had come in to town for the weekend. Again, great food, good service.
Fourth time was just a trip to the bar for a few beers during happy hour. The bartender was really nice. Her attentiveness to our "needs" was impeccable.
Our fifth time was earlier this evening. We were meeting some friends there. It took us a while to even get a hostess to seat us. Our waitress was friendly but very slow. The cheese for the nachos came out cold. She forgot an order of onion rings...not as in left them in the kitchen, but forgot to put them in so the kitchen knew to cook them. Our drinks went empty on more than one occasion. In her defense, she was also working at the bar. Not as the bartender, but helping out in that area. The place wasn't really busy.
We're not picky when we go out to eat.I promise. I think the cheese was the second thing I've EVER sent back to the kitchen and we eat out A LOT!!
Towards the end of our meal, the manager came by to ask how everything was. We like the restaurant and want them to succeed and they can't if we don't tell them what's wrong. She listened to our complaints, apologized and even took the nachos and onion rings off the tickets. We told her we didn't mind paying and weren't looking for a free meal. She explained that it was something she wanted to do for us because she wants us to come back. We accepted, paid and left. And yes..I left the waitress 15%. I have NEVER stiffed a waiter or waitress. They could be having an off night. Even if it's the worst service ever, I still give them 15%. I know..some of you will say if you don't tip them, they'll never understand. Well, we voiced our complaints to the manager and it's now up to her to address them to our waitress. Leaving no tip wouldn't solve anything in this situation in my opinion.
The atmosphere of the place is sort of cool but a little cold and uninviting. The sports memorabilia hanging around the place gives a feel of a sports bar and grill, but there's just something missing that I can't quite put my finger on.
Our restaurant of choice here in Pigeon Forge is the Smoky Mountain Brewery. See, because they have a website, I hyperlinked it. : ) They've even got a MySpace page.
If I find out what's missing at the Blue Moose, I'll sleep better at night. It's got great potential....it's just missing something.