LATITUDE 33

dawn69's picture

As assistant manager of Latitude 33, I'd like to thank everyone for your input on our new establishment - positive and negative. We need your comments in order to make the appropriate changes. Anyone who has ever taken a risk to try something new and difficult understands that we may need a little time to work out the kinks but I promise we will. Any criticism is taken as constructive and given consideration.

I would like to address the salad issue:
We do cut our own lettuce, wash, and spin. I don't like bagged produce either.
We have a young staff. Our servers are all great people - a little green though.
I am personally working with them to transform them into better servers. Even I am learning a thing or two - you're never too old to learn or to maximize your potential.
I want to thank everyone who has braved this new frontier with us and hope you will continue to support us. I hope to see you all again soon.

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Latitude 33
Submitted by Richard Ford on Mon, 03/03/2008 - 6:58pm.

Dawn,

My wife and I visited Latitude 33 on the advice of a friend and I would like to say that despite some pretty harsh comments on this blog we had a really enjoyable meal.
The food was, in my opinion, wonderful and very well prepared and the prices were comperable to any other establishment in the area.
The only critique I would have would be the waitress staff. They were extremely prompt and courteous, but they need to have a better understanding of the menu items and what is availible. I feel like that as your business grows this will become a non-issue.
I look forward to returning and would recommed your place to anyone.

Rick Ford
Fayetteville, Ga.

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To Rick Ford
dawn69's picture
Submitted by dawn69 on Mon, 03/03/2008 - 9:41pm.

You bring up a very good point. The wait staff, in general, does not have the knowledge yet that they need to adequately answer questions about the menu. I have recently set up a wine training for the staff (we feature 11 different types of wine representing 20 wineries). I want them to taste the wine and know, for example that the Riesling is a sweet fruity white wine, etc... The idea; however , that they needed more "seafood" training escaped me. You are correct...they need specific knowledge such as where the oysters come from, that the scallops are fresh size 10 sea scallops that are shipped to us packed in ice, the shrimp comes from Bangledesh, and so forth. Much of this information, particularly regarding the oysters, is necessary not only to satisfy the consumers curiosity but for health concerns as well - they need to know that our coolers are kept below 41 degrees in compliance with state health regulations.

It was your blog that led me to the realization that this needs to be addressed expeditously. Thank you for the feedback and I am truly pleased that the rest of your experience was positive.


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itzme
Submitted by goodlife on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 8:57pm.

Shannon, you asked for feedback so I just have to ask. If you are going to open a new restaurant in Fayetteville, why would you open one just like LongBranch? We have so few nice restaurants in Fayetteville, why didn't you offer us something different? Even your menu is almost exactly like their menu. They have been around for many, many years and are well established. With their food and service, I think you may find it hard to compete with them. I don't get it. Can you offer an explanation?

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Latitude 33
Submitted by skyspy on Tue, 02/26/2008 - 11:13pm.

Just had dinner there tonight with a group of friends. Great food, great service.

The crabcakes were to die for.

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Thank you, skyspy. I am
dawn69's picture
Submitted by dawn69 on Thu, 02/28/2008 - 12:15am.

Thank you, skyspy. I am glad you tried us and enjoyed the dinner. I agree, the crabcakes are one of my favorites. One of our cooks, Mike, prepares them from scratch (though we sometimes have to resort to the frozen ones in times of rush).

We are very fortunate to have such a competant and creative kitchen staff. Our head cook, Robert, makes an amazing scampi sauce for the shrimp. While Claire is not being used at her full potential at the moment, she is fresh out of culinary school and I feel will be a very valuable asset to the restaurant in the future.

Yardman- I was told tonight that Claire is your daughter. You have a great girl. We all like her so much. I like that she stands her ground and is not afraid to speak her mind - it shows a solid upbringing.

I want to extend to you my sincerest gratitude for your patronage. See you soon.


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Latitude 33
dawn69's picture
Submitted by dawn69 on Mon, 02/25/2008 - 11:51pm.

We are currently open from 3:00 - 10:00 for dinner, but will be opening for lunch the first week of March. We simply felt that we had to concentrate, in the beginning, on the problems with dinner service before we tackle another shift. Hope to see you for lunch & dinner soon.
Sherri-
Thank you so much for all your feedback. We have, as you noted, been dealing with more volume than we initially anticipated. I don't feel that we were prepared for the overwhelming support from the community. But hey - it's a great problem to have! Also, I wanted to let you know (in case you came in and asked for me) my name is Shannon. Shannon was taken as a user name so I went with my middle and the year of my birth.
Spring is around the corner and the patio seating should be wonderful. We hope to get someone to come play the guitar - there just isn't enough space for a band. If any of you know someone who plays clean, family-friendly music, let us know.
Yardman - thank you so much for your nice comments. I feel that this is an excellent forum for which to get the feedback we need. With all the modern resources at our modern fingertips - I can't imagine a business that wouldn't keep up with online blogs. It can be checked from the quite comfort of my home and allows for a personal response that often gets overlooked during the hectic pace of a dinner rush.
AGAIN - THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT.


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Latitude 33
Gamma Sherri's picture
Submitted by Gamma Sherri on Mon, 02/25/2008 - 10:54am.

Dawn,

It may have been that you guys were so busy the night I was there. We came in at the end of dinner rush hour, and it may have been you guys were running low on salad; I don't know. I do know you ran out of baked potatoes at one point, but managed to find a couple for us.

Having been in a restaurant family, I understand how hard it is on you personally, and your family, running a business. By what I saw the night that I was there, you guys are doing a good job, just rushed. Keep up the hard work, and I apologize if the salad issue hit you hard. I just have a thing about my salad being crisp, and although I'm glad to hear you don't use the bagged stuff, you might want to figure out a way to keep the lettuce crisp, which is the reason why I brought it up -- it wasn't crisp.

We'll be back in, don't worry. I'm sure you guys will get your legs up under you and keep going. Good luck!

Sherri


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Hours?
Submitted by momma on Mon, 02/25/2008 - 9:00am.

What are your hours? Are you open for lunch?

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Thank you...
yardman5508's picture
Submitted by yardman5508 on Sun, 02/24/2008 - 8:53pm.

for coming into this forum and contributing. I have been to your establishment and was pleased, overall, with the experience. I appreciate your willingness to be open and honest with your customers and look forward to watching you grow in our community. Keep the faith.

Democracy is not a spectator sport.


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