Customer service, Bottles-style:
Us, on the phone: "You wouldn't happen to have any bottles of Black Butte XXIII?"
Employee: "Yes, we have a case and a bottle left."
Us: "Could you set the bottle aside for us?"
Employee: "No problem, it will be behind the counter when you get here."
A few points:
This is how proper customer service works. Not this, but this.
It's the little things: Knowledge of your stock. Common courtesy. A tad of business acumen. Things any reasonable Better Taster should expect.
Of course, it is kind of funny that Bottles is owned by Rocket, but hey -- we never called for any boycotts.
And the service at Bottles is top notch. It's the type of spot where, when we brought up a couple of bottles of the XXIII, the guy behind the counter got excited and started lamenting that the XXII was never bottled. That's my kind of clerk, and a good reminder to go back to Bottles again.
Our review of Bottles still stands, and this a place that stands among the truly professional spots in town.