Foodler

The shift to summer has me off.

I come home from work, do the "How was school?" routine, change clothes, flip through the mail.  I may take a call from my sister, do a bit of door to door (the next election is closer than you think), or just relax by watching my DVR'd Judge Judy all the while warning the kids about the foolishness we witness.

I look up and dang it - It's almost eight and I haven't even looked to see what's for dinner.

TGFF Thank Goodness for Foodler.

Foodler is a new service that allows busy people to place an order online to their specifications, pay by credit card (always a plus) or cash, while choosing between delivery or pick up. Upper Darby is limited to the amount of places that deliver.  Couple that with the torrential rain and it was easy to decide on the only place that delivered, South Style Pizza & Deli.

Foodler is super easy to use.  When placing an order on line you have the choice to customize your order, making it the way *YOU* want.  I can avoid trying to yell over the bustle of the kitchen on the other end, no misunderstandings because I put the order in (translation - if I get the wrong thing, it's likely because I screwed up), and I was able to use the web browser on my Kindle to place an order.

Order placed, I waited for dinner to arrive at my door. And wait I did. My order didn't arrive until an hour and twenty six minutes after I had placed it.  I did miss a call from the restaurant to confirm the order, but once I connected, the young lady on the other end was very cordial.  After we made the connection,  I was told the order would arrive in thirty minutes.  Here I have to add that it seemed to be a bit of a delay in the time I hit send on Foodler to the time I was contacted.  I placed my order at 7:42 PM and didn't get a call for confirmation until 8:01 PM. The food arrived and there was confusion on the driver's part.  I split my payment.  I used a $20.00 Foodler credit (known as Food Bucks) and made up the difference with cash.  South Style Pizza & Deli didn't recognize that I had paid a portion with the credit.  I showed the driver my confirmation receipt and offered to print a copy if necessary.  He took my word for it, and left with a sincere 'thank you" and told me to "have a great night." Acknowledgement of my patronage is always a plus. I really do like Foodler.

Playing around with the Take Out option, my choices opened up:  there are Asian, Mexican, Indian, and Japanese to name a few. I recommend Foodler for those busy people who want to grab a bite to eat without the wait.  If you're like me, you know weekends are busy.  This upcoming Saturday will be another weekend of driving all over, attending activities for the kids and the community, and trying to find a few minutes.  Foodler offers an option to place an order for future pick up.  So if I get a taste for sushi in the morning, I can order dinner between errands an pick it up at a time that fits my schedule.

I can eat around the world without the travelling around the world.  Sweet.

******Disclosure*****

I was compensated to review this business

Toot, Toot Tootsie...Goodbye!

The black lines are a customer who didn't want to be photographed

After such a sucktasic, horrific, awful, effed up day The Mister decided that what we needed was time out of the township.

Sometime over the summer, he took advantage of an offer from Living Social and snagged a coupon that gave $40.00 off of a meal at Ms. Tootsie's Restaurant.  The coupon was due to expire soon, so we gathered the kids, explained to The Teen that she would not be the driver, and headed out for dinner.

If you have hunkering for soul food and like me haven't quite mastered that art, this may not be your best bet if you're hungry, in a hurry, or like hot food.

We arrived at the restaurant about 6:45, 6:50 PM and were seated immediately.  The place describes itself online as casual and it is.  If I was on the dating scene and 17, this would impress the heck out of me!  It's dark, adding to the ambiance of being a chill spot.  But try reading a menu to a tea light candle.  That's a challenge.  The Mister and I, both connesuier of Bar Rescue and Kitchen Nightmares, both felt that Ramsay would have had a conniption if he saw the decor.  It's not ugly, but, as my Teen says, it's EXTRA.  .

Our waitress greeted us before we could shrug out of our coats, and asked if we were ready to order.
She began to rattle off specials, including a Grown and Sexy iced tea that wasn't quite as grown or sexy as I'd have liked.  Since we hadn't really had an opportunity to look at the menu, we ordered drinks and The Mister ordered wings and fries as a starter.

The waitress came back with a plate of muffins that crumbled when it was buttered, and The Teen said her muffin was soggy.  The Mister found his muffin just right and ordered another round.  It was explained that the first set was complimentary and $.50 for additional muffins.  He grumbled, but ordered another anyway.

After deciding, we placed out orders, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The children noticed that two tables who came in AFTER us were eating their meals.  The Mister ran out to put money in the meter, and the busboy came by.  I asked if he could get our waitress and he finished my sentence by saying "for the check?"  And began to clear our table of our silverware and napkins.  I explained that we hadn't even eaten yet and just wanted water.  He laughed and said that we had been there so long he assumed we had eaten.

Forty seven minutes after being seated, I flagged down the waitress and asked I asked when we could expect our meal.  She said that there was a delay because of my Tilapia was being fried, and that everyone else's food was ready.  "So you plan to serve us cold food?" I asked her.  She blanched and said she would bring everyone else's meal out.  She then went on to tell us that the smothered pork chops The Mister ordered were mistakenly given to another table.  She did seem genuine when she apologized for the delay.

Apology aside, I watch too much TV to know I could have possibly gotten my meal for free.  I only asked for a percentage to be taken off of my meal.

When we eventually received our food, The Teen tested a portion and said it tasted like it was reheated.  The food was lukewarm.  The Boy and I ordered Mac and Cheese and you could see the cheese congealing because the food had cooled.

My meal.  The greens were tasty and my food was hot due the last minute frying.  The Mac & Cheese was lukewarm and congealed:

The Mister's meal. The pork chops were tough and The Mister said he could taste that the yams were from a can.

The Boy's meal.  He said his salmon was rubbery. Note the congealed cheese on his Mac and Cheese.

Salmon Caesar Salad

The Teen's meal.  She said her turkey wings were cold and the rice was crunchy.

Baked Smoked Turkey Wings

As our meals were brought out, the busser explained that all three floors were opened and the kitchen was backed up.

This made me thoroughly annoyed.  We watched the staff standing around chit chatting, talking on the telephone, and the music on repeat made me lose my appetite.  Whatever happened to customer service?  As one who spent 13 years in customer service I know how a customer is supposed to be treated.  My money comes by hard work.  I don't like people fooling with my money!

We did get free dessert and a percentage off of the bill, however Ms Tootsie will never have to worry about me spending another dime in that place.




On a scale of 1 to 5 stars Ms Tootsie gets a ** (two star) rating.