This weekend, we had a family outing to a special restaurant that has been talked about for weeks. This restaurant was praised as a delicious place to go – one that had the best bison burgers and unbelievably good freshly baked bread. Three of us had never been the this restaurant before, so after a day of negotiating, trying to convince kids that they weren’t hungry yet, and dealing with traffic, I was ecstatic to learn that we’d be going to the restaurant for dinner on Sunday night. At around 8:30PM, we pulled up to the front of the restaurant and walked in to Ted’s Montana Grill in Sterling, Virginia.
Before I go into our experience at Ted’s Montana Grill, I think I should share with you a conversation that was had in the car ride to the restaurant. One of my friends, who I’ll call GM, was sharing how he and his family had been to Ted’s Montana Grill numerous times – it’s one of their favorite restaurants. They’ve always enjoyed their meals and their experience save for one minor detail. For some reason, he said, it seemed like the waiters were reluctant to give him the free bread. He said sometimes they wouldn’t even bring out the free bread at all! Since their bread has a reputation for being yummy, I hoped that this wouldn’t be the case on our visit.
So we’re walking into the restaurant and the seven of us are seated at the table. A very nice waiter comes up and places the little cup coasters all around the table before taking or drink order. The first thing I notice – no bread. I don’t know about you, but usually when I walk into restaurants that have freshly baked bread, that’s one of the first things they bring out – Macaroni Grill, Bugaboo Creek, Outback Steakhouse, even Cheesecake Factory, they all bring bread to the table within a few minutes of sitting down. “Well, maybe he’ll bring it with the drinks,” I thought, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt. The drinks came a few minutes later. There was no bread.
Finally, after we placed our dinner and appetizer orders, we asked, “We’ve heard great things about your bread. Could we please have some?” And do you know what he did? He PAUSED! That’s right, when we asked for some of their famous bread, he paused and almost looked as if he was going to say, “No.” Finally, after considering that bringing us the free bread wouldn’t cause the universe to implode, he quickly said, “Sure.” I settled back into my chair thinking, “Great! He got the message – we want bread!”
Five minutes pass by, eight minutes pass by, our appetizer arrives, and still no bread. Again, hoping to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, I thought, “Well, if they’re baking the bread fresh, it’ll take some time.” And that might have been the reason until the waiter brought out the bread. Now normally, my experience with free restaurant bread is that they usually provide you with more than enough for everyone at the table to enjoy. Not the case at Ted’s Montana Grill. That’s right – they didn’t bake (or bring out) enough bread for everyone at the table to have their own piece of bread. Two of us had to share. What? Share free bread? What in the world is going on? Not only that, but as soon as he brought out the plate of bread, he booked out pretty darn quick – like a cat that had accidentally walked into a dog convention. Maybe he knew that he didn’t bring enough bread and maybe he didn’t want us to say anything. But we caught the shortage immediately (hello! we can count!) and called him back.
We asked him for another batch of bread and he paused again before saying, “Sure, I can bring some out in the middle of your meal.” Wait, what? You gave us six pieces of bread for seven people and you didn’t even think to start baking another batch of bread? You didn’t anticipate that we just might want a piece for everyone and you didn’t think that after telling you in advance that we’d heard that Ted’s bread was so good, that we might want more than half a piece?
Now, I must say that after biting into the bread, my friend was right. The bread is DELICIOUS! So much so, that if more bread was there, I would have eaten it and eaten it happily. Sadly, I couldn’t since within a matter of seconds all six pieces of bread were devoured. When the waiter came back, we again raved about the bread, now being able to speak from personal experience. I boldly told him, “Whatever you have in the oven – double it! That bread is so good.” He politely laughed and said, “Sure.”
As promised, about midway through our wonderful bison burgers (again – top notch!) the second round of bread came. Just to recap, the first batch of bread came about 20 minutes after sitting down, and the second batch of bread came about 40 minutes after arriving. The second plate DID have enough bread for everyone, although just barely. He brought out eight pieces. Doing some quick math, he either ignored my “double it” request, or he actually did double it and only had four in the oven from the start. Either way, when a customer says, “Keep the bread flowing,” you’d expect a little more generosity with the bread.
I imagine some people will say that I’m making a big stink about something that’s free, but I do believe that many restaurants that serve bread (if not all of them) actually have the cost of the bread built into the menu price. Meaning the price of your bison burger is also covering the cost of bread. If that is true, then free bread is really my right as a customer since I’m actually paying for it with the rest of my order. As I’m retelling this story, maybe I’m missing something. Has the cost to bake bread gone up? Are restaurants making an effort to enforce the Atkins diet by prohibiting carbs? Are they boycotting free bread to reduce waste? Or is Ted’s Montana Grill just stingy with their free bread? If it’s the latter, it’s such a shame because it really was the only blemish on an otherwise wonderful dining experience.
why don't you find out the company policy on the free bread, contact the manager or the company–who knows, maybe they'll send you an incentive to come back. ;)if it's supposed to be free, you shouldn't have to “beg” for it; if it' not, they should be up front about it instead of just giving it to those who ask.
why don't you find out the company policy on the free bread, contact the manager or the company–who knows, maybe they'll send you an incentive to come back. 😉
if it's supposed to be free, you shouldn't have to “beg” for it; if it' not, they should be up front about it instead of just giving it to those who ask.
I'm sure the cost is figured into the meals they serve.Maybe the waiters want to have tons left over at the end of the night so they can take it home to eat.
I'm sure the cost is figured into the meals they serve.
Maybe the waiters want to have tons left over at the end of the night so they can take it home to eat.
Corporate Headquarters Ted's Montana Grill 133 Luckie Street Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Phone: 877-76BISON 1-877-762-4766 Fax: 404-233-6717.
Corporate Headquarters
Ted's Montana Grill
133 Luckie Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Phone: 877-76BISON
1-877-762-4766
Fax: 404-233-6717.
Thanks for the suggestion Denise! We just might since it's been a repeated occurrence.
HAHAHAH! The bread is so good, the waiters want to keep it all to themselves! 🙂
Thanks for the suggestion Denise! We just might since it's been a repeated occurrence.
HAHAHAH! The bread is so good, the waiters want to keep it all to themselves! 🙂
As an employee of the company for over 6 years I can tell you precisely the issue with the bread. We are a made from scratch restaurant. That means just about everything in our restaurant is made in small batches daily. This means the ONE oven that is used in our restaurant is almost always full, prepping to replinish the potroast, prime rib, etc. Keep in mind we are a small restaurant. Unlike most restaurant, we do not automatically serve bread to the table. The bread you're talking about is actually what we use at our restaurants as a garnish roll and as a company protocal it gets paired with entree items (1) upon plating and is used for the bar none slider appetizer (4) and kids mini burgers (3). There are 24 rolls in a tray that gets cooked (which can take 15-20 minutes). Given how many entrees and kids mini burgers and bar none appetizers goes out in a course of an hour, it's easy to see how keeping the rolls stocked for just our traditional uses is a challenge enough. Of course if the guests ask we do our best to accommodate. You see, if a table asks for bread and there are only 6 pieces left yet there are 3 kids mini burgers about to come up and ready for plating I can't very well take the rolls. The reason being? They need to be used for the guests food that is getting ready to go out so it can be delivered on time. The guest has paid for the bread because it's built into the cost of the item it's actual intended use is for. I explain to my guests that our rolls are used as a such, a garnish item, and that if they would like some, I may have to put some in the oven for them and it could take up to 15-20 minutes, that is if there is room for them in the oven. On a busy weekend night, there may not be. Although I understand the bread is good and something that most typical restaurants serve as a free starter…it should be noted that what we are known for and to serve as our “starter” and for free is our half sour pickles which we have readily available for such cause. I have given out bowls upon bowls of free pickles to tables quickly, efficiently and they've never had to go without. Bottom lime, although our bread is complimentary (also worth mentioning—so is unlimited amounts of extra dressing or condiments, which most places charge for) it's not something that we're trained to give out, nor prepared to give out to every table and in large quantities. It's designed specifically to accompany entrees as a garnish and used soley as the buns for our miniburger and bar none sliders. As far as having tons left over at the end of the night? Hardly. We make everything in small batches daily. I know most restaurants provide an unlimited supply of bread, but they're also the ones that don't make everything (we even make our own salad dressings) from scratch. So although the bread may not be automatically provided and readily available I think that's a small price to pay for a restaurant who's only freezer is for their ice cream.
As an employee of the company for over 6 years I can tell you precisely the issue with the bread. We are a made from scratch restaurant. That means just about everything in our restaurant is made in small batches daily. This means the ONE oven that is used in our restaurant is almost always full, prepping to replinish the potroast, prime rib, etc. Keep in mind we are a small restaurant. Unlike most restaurant, we do not automatically serve bread to the table. The bread you're talking about is actually what we use at our restaurants as a garnish roll and as a company protocal it gets paired with entree items (1) upon plating and is used for the bar none slider appetizer (4) and kids mini burgers (3). There are 24 rolls in a tray that gets cooked (which can take 15-20 minutes). Given how many entrees and kids mini burgers and bar none appetizers goes out in a course of an hour, it's easy to see how keeping the rolls stocked for just our traditional uses is a challenge enough. Of course if the guests ask we do our best to accommodate. You see, if a table asks for bread and there are only 6 pieces left yet there are 3 kids mini burgers about to come up and ready for plating I can't very well take the rolls. The reason being? They need to be used for the guests food that is getting ready to go out so it can be delivered on time. The guest has paid for the bread because it's built into the cost of the item it's actual intended use is for. I explain to my guests that our rolls are used as a such, a garnish item, and that if they would like some, I may have to put some in the oven for them and it could take up to 15-20 minutes, that is if there is room for them in the oven. On a busy weekend night, there may not be. Although I understand the bread is good and something that most typical restaurants serve as a free starter…it should be noted that what we are known for and to serve as our “starter” and for free is our half sour pickles which we have readily available for such cause. I have given out bowls upon bowls of free pickles to tables quickly, efficiently and they've never had to go without.
Bottom lime, although our bread is complimentary (also worth mentioning—so is unlimited amounts of extra dressing or condiments, which most places charge for) it's not something that we're trained to give out, nor prepared to give out to every table and in large quantities. It's designed specifically to accompany entrees as a garnish and used soley as the buns for our miniburger and bar none sliders. As far as having tons left over at the end of the night? Hardly. We make everything in small batches daily. I know most restaurants provide an unlimited supply of bread, but they're also the ones that don't make everything (we even make our own salad dressings) from scratch. So although the bread may not be automatically provided and readily available I think that's a small price to pay for a restaurant who's only freezer is for their ice cream.
I work for Ted’s and the bread is not free. They are one of the few restaurants that don’t give out free bread they give out their half sour pickles. You can have all the pickles you want. But for future reference next time you go in, when you order your food ask if you can have rolls with your dinner. You will get 4 rolls and some butter.
Wow AJ, I really had no idea that the bread was not supposed to be free. Even though we had ordered it multiple times, we never saw it on the bill and it was never once mentioned that there was a charge for it. Ultimately, we found a waiter who “got” how much we liked the bread and from that day on, he kept us bread-happy.
Not sure if it’s just me, but I definitely prefer free bread over free pickles. 🙂 Thanks for the info tho!
Hi Barb,
I really appreciate your comment. It is important for us non-restaurant folk to understand all the work and planning that comes with providing “free” bread. I do suspect that not all restaurants serve menus that are as fresh as your restaurant sounds (are you in the DC area? haha) I would not at all be surprised to find out that Ted’s just throws some pre-made dough courtesy of some food distributor into the oven.
I can understand that wait for fresh bread and would be perfectly happy to wait for the bread. The reason it even came up as an issue with Ted’s was the attitude that the wait-staff had when bread was requested. It’s much harder to wait patiently if the waiter makes it blatantly seem like we’re being a pain in his rear.
Also, I should note that when another person we knew went to the restaurant, they were ALWAYS brought bread. Go figure.
I too work at TMG. Honestly, you are being a pain in the rear. And honestly, if you ask me, a freeloader as well. It’s annoying when people come in and assume they get free food. And trust me, those rolls have a life span of about ten minutes. If i really wanted to keep them all to myself, i’d take an uncooked tray home. Posts like these make me sick. especially coming from someone who’s posting on a WiC site and then here you are demanding free rolls that aren’t there for you. Disguting.
I do not work at Ted’s Montana Grill and I, too, think you are, not only a freeloader, but rude. Ted’s offers bread with chili, and other orders. They do not offer “Free Bread” to a table of 7. They do place some greens, cucumbers (?) on the table. Try them, they are less calories and they are tasty. If you want to load up on ‘free bread’ find a restaurant that place “free bread” on the table. This is not Ted’s policy. When I order chili I often request additional bread and have never had an issue with getting it. They never bring a load out for my party to enjoy. I is great bread, but don’t fault Ted’s. Is it poor manners on your part or poor business on theirs? I vote you. Sorry.
I waited tables at Ted’s Montana Grill for years and can’t resist my urge to respond to these comments. I have no idea where this notion of “free bread” comes from. The bread is intended for the entrees and mini-burgers only. We bake in small batches as needed, and I grew tired of customers believing that we had this unlimited supply of dinner rolls (nowhere is it listed on the menu that you automatically get bread). If we had extra bread available, we would honor that guest’s request. But why do you believe you’re entitled to eat what was prepared to accompany another guest’s paid dinner? I’m gonna let you in on a little secret. That server probably had to run back to the kitchen and put that bread in the oven himself just to satisfy your request. And you sit here bashing him and the restaurant on the internet. There are in fact restaurants that serve bread almost immediately after you’re seated. Ted’s isn’t one of those places. Look around and notice the other tables and you’ll see that they get the cucumber/pickle cross instead. Hope this helps you to see that, in the midst of your complaining, this server actually went over and beyond for you.
First of all I don’t feel the person that initiated the question was being rude. Perhaps they just don’t go out much to different kinds of restaurants. A person out and about in the world knows to look for the culture of the place they are in before snapping to judgements. This person just seemed to honestly not know and wondered something to which they were accustomed to at other places. You all need to be more sensitive to the different level of intellect people are on and have more compasion. Not everyone in this life has been fortunate enough to eat at nice places that do things differently then the everyday average restaurant. Barb was very kind in her detailed explanation. The bread is very good. I just experienced it tonite with my crab cake meal. Staff at Ted’s really do stop and go all out for their customers. Their attentiveness and attitudes are appreaciated. It is was makes places that are higher end and quality stand out. We are fortunate to eat at such places. Be grateful.