Gouging at Wild Salsa

Posted on August 8th, 2011 1:52pm by Tim Rogers
Filed under Uncategorized

I’ve been to the new Wild Salsa place downtown a couple of times and haven’t had any complaints (save for the dance music that drove me nervous). A friend of mine, though, relays some details from a recent meal there that I find disturbing. He went during happy hour to have dinner with his family and to avail himself of the aforementioned hour of happiness. He ordered a well bourbon and was informed by the waiter that happy-hour pricing did not extend into the dining room. Only those seated in the bar area are allowed to be happy. STRIKE ONE. Happy hour is not like a City Council district. It is not meant to be gerrymandered. It’s more of an “at large” situation in my book. Happy hour extends from the front door to the back door and includes the restrooms and kitchen, should you find yourself needing to visit either.

Fine. My friend rushes through dinner so that he can relocate his family to the bar area and order a drink. He orders the well bourbon, Jim Beam, on the rocks. Well drinks are $4 during happy hour. Guess what he finds on his bill, though. He finds that his drink cost him not $4 but, instead, $5. Reason being: he was charged $1 for the ice. STRIKE TWO. We do not live in France. We live in America. And here in America, ice is like suffrage. You don’t get charged for it. Maybe if you’re serving Scotch with those special ice balls made with water drawn from the same spring that feeds Loch Ness, THEN you can charge $1 for it. Otherwise, ice must be free.

Wild Salsa, you’re on notice.

60 comments

  1. The ice thing is at the height of sorriness; however, the “it’s only happy hour at the bar” rule is the norm nowadays. Not cool, but pretty common.

    @ 2:14 pm on August 8, 2011

  2. I’m guessing the $1 “ICE” charge was for his drink “on the rocks”, ie. no mixer, therefore a more generous pour, and not for actual ice cubes in a glass. Tim, you of all people should know this.

    @ 2:18 pm on August 8, 2011

  3. La duni northpark happy hour is bar only too.

    @ 2:26 pm on August 8, 2011

  4. I find it “disturbing” that your friend “…rushes through dinner so that he can relocate his family to the bar area and order a drink.”
    I picture your friend dashing from seat to seat shoveling food into the mouths of family members like he’s on some game show so he can save a fist full of dollars on some c*cktails.
    :o ]

    @ 2:36 pm on August 8, 2011

  5. Ice is a matter of public safety, since it’s 5,000,000 degrees. IJS.

    The whole bar/dining area thing is ridiculous. Every business needs a lost leader.

    @ 2:37 pm on August 8, 2011

  6. Tim it is a common that when you order a cocktail on the rocks you get upcharged .50-$1 and recieve an extra 1/4-1/2 ounce. You sir are on notice!

    @ 2:46 pm on August 8, 2011

  7. what they all said about drinks on rocks being standard upcharge, but i’ve never been to a happy hour where it didn’t apply to rocks drinks.

    @ 2:59 pm on August 8, 2011

  8. Good to know. I’ll stay away for sure.

    @ 3:58 pm on August 8, 2011

  9. As many have previously said, upcharging a dollar or two for a “rocks” pour (typically another 1/2 oz of booze) is standard practice almost everywhere these days… A food blogger on a foodie website should know this before slamming a restaurant for it. Happy Hours not extending into dining rooms is also very common practice these days, whether I, or we, like it or not. Are these guys not advertising with you or something? Seems VERY harsh for a place that just opened…

    @ 4:07 pm on August 8, 2011

  10. Tim, have you ever been to a bar before?

    @ 4:34 pm on August 8, 2011

  11. Thanks for the tip Tim. Have crossed this place off my list of places to try.

    @ 4:42 pm on August 8, 2011

  12. its DRG and they do what they want build what they want; what everybody else wants is their deep pockets to stay in business when most with these over the top concepts they have going wouldnt survive if the money wasnt coming from Dubai. Wild Salsa isnt even open on Sunday for brunch. SHAME.

    @ 4:45 pm on August 8, 2011

  13. Just because some places are pulling this stuff, doesn’t mean folks should tolerate the treatment. Just keep giving us the info, so we won’t patronize those places if we can help it.

    @ 4:58 pm on August 8, 2011

  14. I will stand by my assessment of the happy-hour coverage area. Front door to back door — that’s the way it should be.

    I will yield on the “rocks pour” point. I called the best bartender in Dallas, Danny Versfelt, and asked him whether it was appropriate to up-charge for the ice. Yes, he said. It is. At Al’s, they actually pour nearly an ounce more in a rocks drink.

    @Scagnetti: Unless you’re a bartender, I’m in a bar more days per week than you are. Fact.

    @Wade: Maybe they DO advertise with us. I don’t keep track of who does and doesn’t advertise.

    @BradT: No, no. You SHOULD give Wild Salsa a try. I’ve eaten there and enjoyed it (again, except for the music). I particularly like the tangy green salsa that comes with the chips.

    @ 5:00 pm on August 8, 2011

  15. Whiskey Cake does the same $1 up charge on a rocks order. Annoying, but there is more booze. Been to a couple other restaurants that do the same, but don’t really remember this type of charge before this year. And certainly not at any stand alone bars.

    @ 5:02 pm on August 8, 2011

  16. So sounds simple, albeit a slight pain, but why not just get up from your table and go to the bar for your drink? If the restaurant wants to have a goofy policy about “bar only” then sorry but the waiter gets screwed… If you have 2 drinks with dinner then you could save $10, if you go with your girlfriend, wife, mistress, partner and he/she has 2 drinks you could save maybe $20. Might be worth it for some to just get up and go to the bar…

    @ 5:18 pm on August 8, 2011

  17. I once got charged an extra $1 at The Library for a straight up pour. Reason – we pour more in a straight up than an on the rocks pour. Evidence was gone so I just paid it. That’s a buck that should’ve gone to the piano player…

    Was at Rathbun’s Blue Plate the other day and overheard the bartender make a point to say their HH extended into the dining room. Nice proactive touch. Agree HH should be wall to wall. You’re really penalizing people that are buying food too?? Stupid.

    @ 5:20 pm on August 8, 2011

  18. If you need a dollar so bad there is a Mac Donalds a few blocks down.. They have a dollar menu..

    @ 5:48 pm on August 8, 2011

  19. Maybe your friend should have just called Wild Salsa’s PR director and threatened to make a big mess in the media if the restaurant didn’t honor happy hour everywhere in the restaurant. Or admit his children to the restaurant even though they live outside the district.

    @ 5:54 pm on August 8, 2011

  20. Snarky snark snark, duuuurrrr snarky snark. Tim. If you need a dollar snarken snark, are you a snarkin IDIOT you never been to a bar snark?

    /rereads, feels PRETTY damn good about self, hits “Submit Comment” button

    @ 6:31 pm on August 8, 2011

  21. Just as there are those restaurants trying to leverage out their credit card receivables (what the WHAT, it’s like a 5 day float), there are those trying to entice young, nubile somethings in with an incredible good deal.

    OK, so Tim may not be so young, or so nubile, but it turned out neither was the special. Just saying.

    I had Snark for dinner tonight, it was overcooked. I’m never going back.

    Hiccup, burp, fart. I feel better now.

    @ 10:12 pm on August 8, 2011

  22. As many people have pointed out, this is an unfair article. I’d go so far as to say that an apology is appropriate.

    Is Wild Salsa a bar or restaurant? Happy Hour is a bar special, not a restaurant special. It’s designed to drum up business in the bar in off hours and has nothing to do with dining experiences. Maybe someone coming in as a diner doesn’t want a bar atmosphere and – shockingly – might want to pay full price for a broader selection menu items.

    And as for the rocks pour, yes, the upcharge is for liquor, not for ice. There are standard pours for single, double, rocks and martinis, and prices of these drinks reflect the amount of liquor.

    Totally unfair of you to report this way and accuse a restaurant of gouging. Look how many people have written the place off without even trying it themselves – and that’s just the few that bothered to comment.

    Shame on you, Mr. Rogers, and shame on D. Very disappointing.

    @ 10:36 pm on August 8, 2011

  23. An addition to the comments from Irresponsible and others: If you look around a restaurant that offers happy hour in the dining room, you will probably find that that dining room needs to attract more customers as well. Why would a good business person discount a product that on its own and at its normal price is drawing crowds. So if one’s dining room is full and the bar is not, discounting the Jim Beam in the bar might help fill those seats with people who can get the same Jim Beam next door at a higher price. Extending it to the dining room would be just giving away the money that the customers are already willing to pay. As far as where happy hours “should” and “shouldn’t” extend, that would be up to the person who pays the bills at that establishment, not the D Mag editor sitting in his office, or some bar, writing a blog. As for a “rocks” pour, restaurants and bars often, as a courtesy to their customers, discount their price “rocks”, “neat”, “up” and “double” right from the start. Do the math. Wild Salsa charges $4 for the drink at happy hour, standard pour 1.25 ounces or $3.20 per ounce. The additional .5 ounce would be at $2 per ounce and Al’s 1 ounce is a deal at $1 per ounce. That is already 37%-68% discount over their happy hour price, any complaints with that? Happy hour, or for that matter, drink prices in general should not be at a “going out of business” sale price unless that is what one is trying to do. A closer examination of many bar and restaurants’ receipts woud show that the POS system usually combines the upcharge with the original price to show only one dollar figure, and is therefore less noticeable. Nobody tells Steve Jobs what to charge for an IProduct, if you want one, you buy it at his price or you don’t. If you have to run to the bar to get discounted liquor and then complain that the additional liquor(rocks pour)actually cost money, albeit sometimes less than the business actually paid for it (we haven’t even mentioned liquor taxes paid by the establishment at 14% or license fees). Maybe rather than sitting in a bar, you should pick up a bottle from the liquor store and take it to your front door, or backdoor or kitchen or bathroom. Some place where you can decide where happy hour should be and how much the drinks cost. On a good note the ice is still free at most restaurants and bars, but if you go home you for ice you will have to buy the machine to make it, pay for the water or pick up a bag (for a cost) on the way home.

    @ 1:42 am on August 9, 2011

  24. The HEADLINE of this article is by far what bothers me the most about it… Gouging. Really?!? Then there’s the whole STRIKE ONE, STRIKE TWO thingbut then in a response guests who say they’ve written the place off are told not to do so? The definition of talking out of both sides of your mouth, and totally passive-aggressive. This isn’t the sports blog on FrontBurner anyway, is it? If so, Tim I think YOU are the one who swung and missed here, NOT W.S. Isn’t there someone who edits this stuff before it gets posted? So much informative info on this site, but this was by far a FOUL BALL.

    @ 7:51 am on August 9, 2011

  25. I’m always looking for a good happy hour. Will have to try Wild Salsa — a $5 stiff drink sounds good to me. Happy hour is just that – it’s not intended for the dining rooms at restaurants. More restaurants do bar only happy hours than not.

    @ 8:20 am on August 9, 2011

  26. The fact is, most people don’t like a “bait and switch,” so if it’s not really happy hour, or a $4.00 drink, then don’t tell us that it is. I’ll pay $8-10.00 for a cocktail all day long in the right atmosphere, but no one likes the feeling of being gouged in some casual joint.

    @ 8:23 am on August 9, 2011

  27. Foodie, this is hardly bait-and-switch. Happy hour being bar exclusive is overwhelming common. Had Tim’s friend asked upon entering, he would’ve been told something along the lines of “you can enjoy happy hour at the bar or join us for dinner.” Instead, he chose to assume W.S. just likes discounting everything they sell for two hours a day and sat in the dining room. This is not the restaurant’s foul.

    Anyone who frequents a bar, let alone works around one, knows that the upcharge is standard. Again, he would have gotten clarification if he’d asked, instead of just vowing to use his connections to get revenge later.

    Let’s complain about movie theaters and stadiums instead! Rest assured that beyond Brinker’s level, profit margins in restaurants shrink drastically – there’s no take it to the bank mentality. Overhead and operating cost can be astronomical.

    And it’s double foul for DMag to air this guy’s whining out as an attack against the establishment. Really just awful.

    @ 9:38 am on August 9, 2011

  28. Tim, you’re pathetic. First the complaining about the growler pricing at the Whole Foods bar. Now this?

    Thanks for “yielding” on the rocks charge…is that your way of admitting that you posted without knowing anything about the bar/restaurant business?

    Have you ever thought about researching your rants before taking to the soapbox? It’s hard enough out there for these businesses without your bullsh.

    @ 9:56 am on August 9, 2011

  29. It does seem like punishing the diner who came there to spend more money. Slade, I wouldn’t get too excited about the possibility of brunch if the drink special only extends to people at the bar.

    By the way, if happy hour is now a bar only thing. Do I get happy hour if I order something to eat at the bar? Or does the price of my drink go up because I’m having some tacos, too?

    Right or wrong, common or not, I don’t like it.

    @ 11:45 am on August 9, 2011

  30. Happy hour is usually always a bar only thing. It will be a lot easier to name restaurants with a bar only hh than those that have it throughout the restaurant. A few that come to mind that have bar only hh- kona grill, la duni, maximos, nicolas, ziziki’s. If you want cheap drinks – quit complaining.

    @ 12:00 pm on August 9, 2011

  31. Clearly the people upset at Tim have never read the back page of D.

    In reference to the drinks, it sounds like they need to not have a specific price for drinks during HH, but rather an amount off, like $1-2, etc.

    @ 12:48 pm on August 9, 2011

  32. Another example of a really poor post. A “rocks charge” is not for the actual “rocks” Tim, since you seem to be unable to read the above posts clearly. It is for the extra booze it takes to keep a normal pour from looking meek in an otherwise vacant glass of ice.

    @JI: Cheers for telling it like it is. Pathetic novice BS.

    If you guys are SOOOO into this business, why not take a few Friday and Saturday nights of your life and actually become a part of it instead of pontificating from the outside. Which until then, is where you will always be, on the outside. Work a week in a restaurant and you might not eat foot so often. It makes you sound like any other uninformed Joe that wants free refills on his “EX-presso”. Shoot me.

    @ 1:52 pm on August 9, 2011

  33. Tim, IF Wild Sala was advertising with D Mag before this post it is very unlikely that relationship will continue…

    @ 2:11 pm on August 9, 2011

  34. Bottom line – who are you – who is anyone? to demand a DEEPER discount when the restaurant doesn’t have to offer you one at all?

    In my restaurant career I’ve had plenty of people complain about upcharges, expect upgrades as substitutions with no increase in price, and in latter years, even try and get deals on bottles of wine with a listed price.

    There’s a word in the biz for people who complain about pricing and want to nickel-and-dime: AMATEURS. Any of this kind of complaining is a big red flag where the staff is concerned. You not only make people around you uncomfortable, you turn the staff off to you and therefore devalue your own experience.

    I’ve been fortunate to eat some of the best food in this city, but I can rarely afford to do so on my own dime. You know what I do? I go to Sigel’s and H-Mart and get my money’s worth.

    @ 3:56 pm on August 9, 2011

  35. As a diner, I don’t want a Happy Hour tippler anywhere near my table.

    @ 4:42 pm on August 9, 2011

  36. Unbelievable. Complete lack of class or respect. Customer entitlement is out of control. Someone doesn’t give you the level of discount you feel entitled to and for revenge, you bad mouth them during their opening months?

    This is on the level of worst yelpers, who passive-aggressively seek revenge on businesses by doling out bullets of bad reviews behind the restaurant’s back if they don’t get something for free when they demand it. The motive was blackmail.

    We don’t need business from people like you or your friends — Racing through dinner to save a few dollars?! Restaurants can’t pay the thousands of dollars in rent with customers who don’t know what it means to be a patron, to support individuals and people who have invested money into a concept they believe in. Why didn’t you just call up Wild Salsa management, file a complaint and get and explanation? That’s the responsible dignified thing to do. In fact, as a manager, I actually appreciate the customers who have personally contacted me, expressed their concerns compared to the cowards on yelp.

    What’s next? Naming all the restaurants who DO NOT offer happy hour and giving them a warning? They don’t offer a happy hour to you, so they are “punishing” you, right? (Same way your cheapskate friend felt he was being “punished” for not getting a discount in the dining room)

    What Wild Salsa offers (vs what they “did” to your friend) is not unethical. They are not serving shark fin. They are not violating health code regulations. This is a bad post that has nothing to do with culinary trends, updates or insight into the industry. This is petty.

    @Margie: you are welcome to eat food at the bar at happy hour and enjoy your happy hour discount.

    @ 7:13 pm on August 9, 2011

  37. Tim – Thanks for providing the info. It is off my list, and I’m pretty sure it will be off the list of the 8 to 10 people I discuss this with over lunch tomorrow. Happy hour is Happy hour regardless of where I sit in your establishment. Just be happy I chose to come in. As for the buck extra – I would think that the hassle of explaining this policy, and the ill will (and negative word of mouth) would off set any benefit. Thankfully – there are a lot of other places to try. Keep up the great job!!!!! (btw – I have to wonder how many of these negative digs at you are from people doing damage control of their own joints).

    @ 9:32 pm on August 9, 2011

  38. @paul – please name the places you go happy hour that has it throughout the restaurant. Gloria’s is the only place that comes to mind.

    Your 8-10 friends are pretty pitiful if they decide not to go to a place because you tell them not to based on some random guy’s opinion of the place. Really? Get over yourself.

    @ 9:52 pm on August 9, 2011

  39. …We do not live in France. We live in America. And here in America, reading is like suffrage. You don’t get charged for it. Maybe if you are reading one of those special magazines from Europe, with those fancy foreign words, THEN you can charge for it. Otherwise, D Magazine must be free!

    @ 11:00 pm on August 9, 2011

  40. @Tim Rogers I am not a bartender but I go to a bar 7 days a week so unless you now also get to decide that a week has more days than 7, your “Fact” is no longer factual. Regardless, I wouldn’t be proud of your bar frequency, it seems to be showing in your lack of judgment in regards to responsible journalism. First you have to know what a fact is and then you have to check them.

    @ 11:19 pm on August 9, 2011

  41. Tim, Can we get your email. Now that you are making the rules for the restaurants of America, we thought we’d use our spare time to send you your new “Editorial Rules”. Forewarning, we doubt you’ll like them.

    @ 11:35 pm on August 9, 2011

  42. How about this: Magazine advertising is not like a City Council District. It is not meant to be gerrymandered. It is more of an “at large situation in my book. Magazine advertising extends from the front cover to the back cover, for the same price, and includes any page in between, should you find yourself wanting to be anywhere but the cover.

    @ 11:56 pm on August 9, 2011

  43. To the people writing a place off because you can’t get happy hour in the dining room: save yourself some time and find the nearest Applebee’s. We don’t want you.

    If you don’t like it, open your own restaurant and make a menu with reasonable prices that allow you continued operation and modest profitability, then offer discounts to everyone from those prices to ensure business from people like you and your friends, corner to corner for two hours a day. I do recommend you find a good bankruptcy lawyer in advance, though.

    Ugh.

    @ 12:13 am on August 10, 2011

  44. “Tim – Thanks for providing the info. It is off my list, and I’m pretty sure it will be off the list of the 8 to 10 people I discuss this with over lunch tomorrow. Happy hour is Happy hour regardless of where I sit in your establishment. Just be happy I chose to come in. As for the buck extra – I would think that the hassle of explaining this policy, and the ill will (and negative word of mouth) would off set any benefit. Thankfully – there are a lot of other places to try. Keep up the great job!!!!! (btw – I have to wonder how many of these negative digs at you are from people doing damage control of their own joints).”

    Paul: This isn’t damage control. This is people with vested interests and valid insight into the workings of establishments such as this one you’ve written off for no reason.

    Also, you people who hop on happy hour and expect happy discount time anywhere in the restaurant are very much in the minority. Most people know that happy hour, being something created by and for bars and carrying a very pointed bar connotation, applies only to bars.

    And I can assure you that if your attitude is that a restaurant should bend their rules to accommodate you personally, then no, they are not happy you came into their establishment.

    @ 12:17 am on August 10, 2011

  45. I guess everyone who isn’t Brinker, just opens bars and restaurants out of the goodness of their hearts,since there’s no money to be made according to Irresponsible and a few others who work in bars. If the place is run well, and has a good following, they’re usually a gold mine. The Loon and Primos have been around for a long time, as well as Louie’s and several others. They know their cost in a typical $15.00 pizza is 75 cents etc. Yes, word of mouth does matter, especially in this economy, and with the huge selection of good places in Dallas to choose from. Keep up the good work Tim.

    @ 7:08 am on August 10, 2011

  46. @Foodie: Were you the self-proclaimed “foodie” that Hector mentioned a few months ago on Sidedish?

    And no, a $15 pizza doesn’t cost you 75cents to make at home, does it? What about labor, sales tax, payroll taxes, electricity, gas, training, waste, and more? At the very best restaurants in the world, it’s a miracle to get 25% food cost.

    The reality is that Groupon/Yelping people who are racing around town or across a restaurant to save a few dollars don’t matter, even in this economy. You’re just breaking even with the angry folks who make their own lemonade and demand discounts on top of discounts. Those people, ironically, are the ones who are very bitter when they see buy your best customers a lobster tail. They don’t get it.

    At every fortunate restaurant, there are a handful of people who you can count on to pay your bills. Those people are restaurant royalty. They tip well, they make the effort to treat your servers with dignity, they build relationships, bring you repeat business and they are understanding when mistakes happen. These individuals are not going out to eat only during discount night, specials or Restaurant Week. They know that you need them to keep coming in to survive the rest of the time. At its very best, these customers make it a pleasure to serve them. It’s a honor to earn their business.

    Trust me, it aint Yelpers/Happy Hour fanatics that pay Sharon Hagues, Stephen Pyles and David Uygars bills.

    @ 3:20 pm on August 10, 2011

  47. InTheIndustry, e-mail me: waitersbutt@gmail.com. Just have a couple questions for you

    @ 4:04 pm on August 10, 2011

  48. No I’m probably not the one Hector mentioned. I just happen to know the restaurant biz, and yes, a pizza at the joints that I mentioned, do only have 75 cents in them. I know the owners, and that’s what they’ve told me. I realize there are other costs involved. You need to understand that there is good money to be made in a well run establishment, or no one would ever consider investing in one, or opening a place…….. Pull your head out. Seriously.

    @ 11:05 pm on August 10, 2011

  49. Talk to a banker, you buffoon. They’ll tell you that opening a restaurant is the WORST thing they want to hear when someone applies for a loan. The majority of restaurants fail within 6 months. You think these banks are getting their money back? I “just happen to know” bankers, economists and I deal with my investors and that’s “what they’ve told me.”

    If your “friends” were actual investors, you’d actually hear them confess that some of the leading chefs in town aren’t making them as much money as they expected when they signed their checks… You’d be shocked.

    If there was so much good money to make, banks would be throwing money at pizza parlors. I personally know someone who lost $250K of their own money attempting to open a pizza joint in this town. That’s my 75cents…

    @ 12:50 am on August 11, 2011

  50. @foodie- you’re not friends with Louie. He would have NO tolerance for you, your dbag name “foodie” and he’d never tell you it costs him .75 to make his pizzas. Admit you’re one of Dallas 30k millionaires who wears Ed hardy

    @ 8:10 am on August 11, 2011

  51. Tim,

    I hope you will learn to maintain this silence well into the distant future on this blog. Each post you write is more infuriatingly bogus than the last. Please spare us any more of your nonsense.

    @ 1:21 pm on August 11, 2011

  52. So pho colonial now wild salsa? Can a new restaurant get a break? Very irresponsible costing good people money. You should be be ashamed. I’m starting to lose respect. Nancy what gives? This is beginning to be as bad as the DMN… Rocks pour means more booze fool, not just ice. I would think you knew better than that . Sad day for dmag.

    @ 2:31 am on August 14, 2011

  53. Well, I’ve just returned from vacation and read this thread. I feel the happy hour portion of Tim’s post on Wild Salsa did educate readers to the policies of happy hours in restaurants. He has an opinion about it being offered to the whole restaurant. He is entitled to that opinion. I am disappointed that it turned into a damn-you-wild-salsa fest because it is a common practice in many places. I can not control Tim. The Pho thing is really iffy. I wasn’t there so I can’t speak to the details of how people were treated but I would hope that an reporting opening day faux pas wouldn’t cause people not to try the restaurant. There is an eating frenzy going on downtown. we work there, as do many others, and are excited by the new possibilities. and Cellermaster, what do you mean rocks pour means booze fool? does that mean if you ask for on the rocks you get more booze? Okay, we can continue this discussion for it has been an interesting one.

    @ 5:42 pm on August 14, 2011

  54. Irresponsible, that was so responsible of you to throw Applebees under the bus.

    @ 9:22 pm on August 15, 2011

  55. Who gets Jim Beam anymore? and at a mexican restaurant?

    @ 9:24 pm on August 15, 2011

  56. Yes Nancy, asking for an item “on-the-rocks”, usually means you will be given a heavier pour, usually 1/2 to a full ounce more. Considering that a standard pour is 1.25-1.5 ounces, and given the price of your drink, paying an extra $1 for 66%+ more alcohol is actually often a loss for the restaurant and cheaper for the guest per ounce. Otherwise, you wind up giving the guest the standard pour for the standard price, which without a mixer, looks piddly in a highball glass full of ice. Then you get complaints about the pour being to small. But Tim illustrates how often the guest will complain even if you shower him with gold coin.

    I don’t think anyone on here begrudges Tim his opinion. It is his borderline abuse of what amounts to a bully pulpit regarding restaurants that some of his (fellow) uneducated diners might take to heart. I appreciate that you don’t police your bloggers but perhaps encouraging a bit of decorum might be in order instead of this post first, ask questions last attitude.

    This kind of thing ultimately hurts restaurants in Dallas and aren’t we all wishing to see the restaurant industry in this town take it to the next level? So why not contact the establishment before lambasting them online? This is where the comparisons to snotty Yelpers arise. You know very little…you ask even less… and then you post online trying to slam the restaurant. And if you want to say he wasn’t trying to SLAM Wild Salsa, just read the title of his post and reflect for a moment.

    If people like you and Tim don’t use your public voice a bit more carefully, eventually you may find that you have less and less to talk about. Not saying don’t speak your mind, just maybe ask a question or two first.

    @ 1:51 am on August 16, 2011

  57. Rereading this post makes me cringe. This is one of those moments where you think you sound super smart and turn out sounding really silly. I am now embarrassed for Tim Rogers. You’re’ on notice? Oh boy.

    @ 1:58 am on August 16, 2011

  58. I wasn’t knocking Applebee’s, actually. It’s cheap. Isn’t that what the complaint is, that Wild Salsa isn’t cheap enough?

    @ 9:37 am on August 16, 2011

  59. Don’t be embarrassed for Tim. He’s always on notice. Yesterday I spoke with several restaurateurs and barkeeps on this and I’m going to do a separate post as soon as I can find the time but I think one of the problems of the ice upcharge comes when a customer sees ice=$1.00 on a bill. They feel WTF? Apparently many operators program their bills to print without that and the problem rarely arises. Okay, hang tight. You are all smart. We will reach a conclusion.

    @ 10:19 am on August 16, 2011

  60. Usually, if it’s printed, the charge would read like this:

    JIM BEAM 4.00
    ROCKS 1.00

    Or,

    TANQUERAY 8.00
    Martini 3.00

    Etc.

    @ 4:04 pm on August 16, 2011