(SpoCOOL) A Spokane Blog

Customer service, Rocket Market-style:

Us: "You wouldn't happen to have any bottles of Black Butte XXIII in the back?"

Employee, looking oddly annoyed: "Black what?"

Us: "Black Butte XXIII."

Employee, looking and sounding downright angry: "How is that any different from Black Butte?"

Us, probably looking mildly uncomfortable: "... it's a special release... #23..."

Employee, wondering why we aren't just picking up some PBR which in his mind would be pretty much the same thing:  "So what? We don't have it."

A few points:

When you go shopping at a place like Rocket Market, you're shopping for premium groceries at a premium price. With that you expect premium service; professionalism.

The fact that this clerk knew jack about beer was one thing, although he should at least know their inventory as Rocket specializes in libations.

Another thing all together was that he couldn't be bothered checking in the back for the beer, or calling someone for help. Being a rude douchebag about it didn't exactly make the situation better.

In terms of business it should be straightforward: Take care of the customers and they will come back. Be a jackass and they won't.

And we won't, at least not for a while. This kind of lack of customer services doesn't fall just on the employee, it falls on the management. Why be treated like dirt when there are plenty of other options? Huckleberry's (where we received great service when asking the same question), Main Market, JB's, Enoteca, etc. etc.

With the Facebooks and the Twitters, bad word travels quickly these days. In less than an hour, thousands could read that Rocket Market has bad customer service. That doesn't mean much as far as a one-time incidence goes, but if people start noticing a pattern...

How can a local business prevent that from happening? Train your employees. Make sure they show common courtesy. Respect the customer.

(Original review of Rocket Market.)

It's 4th of July weekend, and 4th of July means you'll drink beer, otherwise the Communists will win. And you could be a traditionalist and drink something like Budweiser, but as it is owned by InBev, it's not American anymore, and thus drinking it would mean you hate America.

You don't hate the America, do you?

Of course you don't, and therefore you should enjoy these fine beverages this holiday weekend:

Big Sky Summer Honey Ale: This is a sweet, golden ale, one that definitely will be a hit should the 4th against all odds be warm-ish. Our serving suggestion: A good chicken salad.

Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-Down Ale: You won't notice the almost 10% ABV under the florally sweetness, so drink carefully. But drink it all the same, as it's really quite good, booziness aside. I'd pair it with a flavorful salmon.

Northern Lights Summer Wheat: Nothing says America like doing it local (just look at Wal-Mart) and this hefe... Well, it's local, and it was pretty good last year. Local! Serve with a nicely seasoned chicken.

Ninkasi Radiant Summer Ale: A citric ale, good for sipping with a cheese plate. (Though not with American Cheese.)

Cap it off with some DOMA coffee, and you'll have yourself a good holiday.

I think there is a place in the world for MacKenzie River. This is the type of place you can lump together with the Applebee's of the world, but still holds a higher standard than the national chains. It is owned by the same company that runs Ciao Mambo, and that's... Well, not something to instill confidence, but I'd say MacKenzie River is better.

It is, of course, painfully average, and a parade of guilty pleasures-ish. It's the type of place you can take your grandparents and still find something vaguely decent for yourself, as long as you leave your snob-hat at home. As far as fancy upscale-American-fast-food goes, it's probably as good as it gets.

We tried the Lodgepoles™, which basically are breadsticks with cheese, served with a rather bland marinara. It is what it is, and soft breadsticks with melted cheese are rarely downright awful. 

The hot wings aren't particularly hot, nor are they awful. They're pretty much chicken wings with a sauce that is not entirely unpleasant. OK, that doesn't make me want to jump up and down of joy, but whatever, I've had worse.

Despite the averageness of everything else, the one thing that really hits home is the Mack Lovin', which is more than an awesome name. Two chocolate chip cookies topped with ice cream and hot chocolate sauce? There is nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes you need to do average, if only for necessity. And MacKenzie River does average right.

Usually we call a spade a spade and go ahead and review any spot we visit. Why not, really? It's a visit, a visit that costs money, and a visit we feel we should tell our four readers about. It's how we roll. Usually.

So why is Brews on Washington any different?

Brews, we found, served us good espresso drinks, but is also a place we really want to check out further, because it is promising well beyond just being another coffee spot. This could very well be the type of place Spokane sorely needs.

The coffee is as mentioned good. Very good, in fact. They use Tom Sawyer's Country Coffee, based in Spokane, and my Americano was of a higher quality than many to most downtown shops. This is a good thing, though frankly only a handful of spots downtown reaches a level I'd consider passable.

The former Cabin Coffee space has been re-tooled nicely, with a look some might call urban. It sort of reminded me of a spot we visited during our last trip to Granada, Spain.

Brews is open, we've been told, until at least 9pm in the evening and they also have a small but excellent selection of beers on tap, as well as a good number of bottles. They also carry Washington wines.

And all of that are things we want to try out, as the place feels like it could have a great vibe during the evening. Add to that a creative menu of sandwiches and other small plates, and we are intrigued. This seems like the type of spot downtown really has been in need of.

We're optimistic. Therefore we will be back at a later date, hoping that it will be exactly what we want it to be. For now, we'd recommend checking the place out. The coffee is good, if nothing else.