There's a jazz club in Orange County that we frequent with some of my friends from work. They have excellent jazz combos every night of the week, and until now there was no cover, just a two-item minimum purchase per person. (No big deal since the food and drinks are great.) What better place to take your high school friend Laura, who happens to be in town on her birthday, right? That's what I thought, but I had my first misgivings when they sprung a $10 cover on us. That's right, $10 per person out of the blue. Their website said nothing about it. Then they seated us where we couldn't see. That's not such a big deal, except that when better seats were available, we had to close out our bill just to move to a different table. Then we had to wait almost 45 minutes before we were able to order the desserts we wanted. Now, these things are annoying, but nothing to get super upset about as long as there's good jazz to be heard. I started to get a bit peeved, though, when they carded Laura (after she'd already bought and consumed a drink at our *first* table), and not only refused to accept her New Mexico drivers license as ID, but peeled the hologram coating off the front just to prove it was fake, which it wasn't. Now no one will accept it, because it will look even more fake without the holograms on the front.
Maybe I'm over-sensitive, but that just seems rude. I can understand refusing to serve someone alcohol because you think she's underage. Restaurants have a responsibility to be cautious. But you don't go and destroy your customer's ID to prove it.
Then, after at least a half dozen people scrutinized Laura's drivers license, and after she finally did get her drink, she pointed out that none of the people who'd been staring at the birthdate on her ID for half an hour had noticed or commented that it was her birthday. Nice touch.
Don't go to this place. It's Steamers Jazz Club and Cafe in Fullerton.
Posted by waltondammerung at June 6, 2004 3:53 AMTell Laura a belated happy birthday. Sorry it was such a downer.... Hope you had a good visit anyway.
Posted by: Mom at June 6, 2004 5:20 PMWould this be Laura Clor? Hope she managed to have some happiness on her birthday!
Maybe the club is under new (and worse) management.
Posted by: Peter at June 6, 2004 7:10 PMOkay, it probably wasn't quite as bad as I made it out to be. And maybe I will actually go back again. I was just incredulous that they actually would actually destroy Laura's ID. And, yes, it was Laura Clor. She's working in the Mojave desert for a few months studying caves. She was very bored, lonely, and hot up there in the middle of nowehere, and so she came down here to keep my company while Josh was out of town and to see the sights of Southern California. It was great to see her again! We both got a little sunburnt, but sometimes that's the badge you wear that shows you had a good weekend. :)
Posted by: Amy at June 7, 2004 1:23 AM