Monday, March 16, 2009

Maybe that's a California thing

Being an urban pioneer in Dayton, Centerville is a wild and far off place. Therefore, when I was supposed to have a lunch at Meadowlark on Monday, I was surprised to find out that Meadowlark is not open on Mondays and that I did not have a good backup spot ready to go. My lunch companions came up with a restaurant that I had never heard of before, Flavor's Eatery, http://www.flavorseatery.com/.

My lunch companions told me that it’s Dayton's only California style restaurant. I guess that is why it opened up late that morning (rim shot!).

The other annoying thing was that they charge extra for people purchasing with credit cards. I understand a minimum purchase for credit card transactions and I have a self-imposed minimum purchase limit but I do not understand charging extra. Don't people spend less when they hand over cash? To see how strongly they believed in their policy, I asked them to waive the fee since my purchase was over $40 (it was for four people). They were shocked at my request and replied that they get charged by the credit card company $1.19 so they have to pass along the cost. Refrain: "Maybe that's a California thing".

The menu is online http://www.flavorseatery.com/menu.htm and is long. My favorite thing that I had is not on that menu. The vanilla chai latte was giddy-up good. It was big and had freshly made whip cream. I would go out there again just to get a chai there. My Indian-Food Buffet Partner is a huge fan of chai with a shot of chocolate and I really want to try that there.

Did you notice that the online menu does not have prices? Neither does the prices on the menu in the restaurant. I spent $47 on a lunch for four and I have no idea how much anything cost. That's shady. [Refrain]

My order was a turkey hummus wrap. There was a mix-up with one of my companion's orders and I kind of thought that they screwed up mine too. My wrap was filled with veggies and I could not find initially find the hummus and the turkey. I eventually found the turkey but the hummus was not inside. I was looking forward to the hummus but only found my daily allotment of vegetables. [Refrain]

I have done nothing but complain so far so I do not know why I enjoyed myself and would go back.

1. The portions were huge; but, as you can see from my bio, they were not anything that I could not handle.
2. The food was good. My entire table was happy with their lunch orders. I even liked the veggie filled wrap that was not a turkey-hummus wrap.
3. I appreciated the uniqueness of the menu (and I am not talking about the lack of prices). The pizza options are especially different and tempting to try. They have a lot of very healthy options and those are handy to have if you have a vitamin deficiency.

I will give the food 3 lunch hours out of 5 but that is a very tenuous grade that will almost certainly be changed up or down upon a later visit that involves me having a pizza. I will give the atmosphere 2 lunch hours out of 5. I like quirky but they just had some things that were annoying. [Refrain]

5 comments:

  1. Flavors used to be in Englewood. I think it's Artisan's Cafe now. I haven't been there since high school and didn't know it still existed. It looks pretty good, but I'd probably still go for Meadowlark if I had the option.

    I thought it was a violation of the credit card companies' terms to charge extra or require a minimum payment. Maybe it's changed?

    ReplyDelete
  2. The PDF menu (http://www.flavorseatery.com/FlavorsMENU.pdf) has prices.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm intrigued by your assertion of their superior Chai... I may have to seek this place out next time I find myself forced to drive to the southlands.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I went to Flavors on a business lunch, and was sorely disappointed with the service and quirky "rules." The food was delicious. But, the cans of soda, practically having to beg for an extra side of sauce and the general attitude of the staff? Boo. I'd get takeout if I lived nearby, but I doubt I'd ever eat there again.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It definitely is a violation to charge a fee for cc purchases. You can offer a discount to pay in cash though :)

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment.