I have been an avid fan of Pete's Place and have been going there for years. I always suggest to others this restaurant whenever someone wants great food at a resonable price. That was until now...
The last time I went into the restaurant, I came with my daughter and two of her friends. I ordered a BLT while my daughter ordered a Tuna Sandwich with a side order of french fries. It was very busy in there but the food came in a reasonable amount of time and my sandwich was delicious. My daughter, however, kept complaining of smelling "something bad" and could not place where the smell was coming from. She smelled everything including my sandwich and hers and could not find the smell. We all kind of ignored her and continued eating until finally she asked me to taste her french fries, asking for my opinion. I really thought that I would find nothing wrong with them, thinking that maybe she was imagining this smell. I went ahead and took a fry from her plate, dipped it in ketchup and tried it. At first fine, but after the ketchup taste was gone, the most rancid, terrible taste I have just about ever experienced came to my mouth. I had to drink my cola immediately and still no way to get rid of the taste. I do not think it was the greese, but tasted more like potatoes gone bad.
My concern when calling over the owner was not getting any compensation on the meal, but more of a concern that if there was something wrong with food being served, she would want to know right away. When I calmly told her the problem and asked her to taste one, she quickly got defensive and basically said that it was impossible that the fries were bad because she just served fries to the table next to mine and they experienced no problems. Additionally, the fries come from a big bag of fries and she would have had someone else complaining. Surprised at her reaction, I insisted to her that my intention was not in getting anything free but to warn her of the possible danger of bad food being served. She grabbed the plate and said she would return my daughter's sandwich on a new plate, and never tasted the fries. That was it. That was the extent of concern she showed over a customer alerting her to a potential problem.
Unfortunately, it does not end there. After paying my bill, which turned out to be the full price of the meal even though the majority of the fries were thrown out; I asked to speak to her on the side. Again, calmly as I could, so as to hopefully reason with her in understanding my reason to alert her, I explained that it was not the money or credit I was interested in. (I thought at this point she may believe me since I already paid the bill.) Again, no response or concern seemed to be conveyed. I insisted that I thought she should take the situation more seriously and that I feel she handled the situation poorly. Although I was calm throughout this whole incident and certainly did not make a scene, my reward for trying to help was the statement "you think I handled this incorrectly- well that's your opinion!" Shocked and dismayed, I left the restaurant planning to never return again. My advice to those traveling here is: you may receive good food and even some superficial good service, but beware of the dangers that may be lurking in a restaurant run by an owner who in my opinion, thinks that she is too successful to care.