"Warm Flashes"

On Vacation!

Alright, so I've been out of town for a while. I went on vacation ("holiday" for you Brits) this last week. While we were there, we of course ate out a lot. The experiences were mixed.

I should explain, that when I go out to eat at a restaurant, I always read the menu. I don't like to ask a bunch of unnecessary questions. I also don't like to be that guy... you guys know what I'm talking about.

I should also say that I when I eat out... I'm not going with the intention of judging my server. I'm not the guy who walks in with a dry erase board and pen looking to give a 1-10 rating. I actually try not to do that... but you can't help but notice things, you know?

Anyway, the first place we ate dinner was a chain seafood place. Total tourist trap, but I was ok with that. The group I was with wanted to go there, and I was alright with it. I try and stay laid back and kind of just go with the flow, you know?

Our server was a 20-30 something lady. She was nice, but rather short in speaking to all of us. She had a very laid back waiting style. Very causal. A little frumpy, but this place was not white shirt/ black tie. So no worries. Overall, it was pretty good for what it was.

The next server that comes to mind was awesome! A guy in his late 20's or early 30's. He worked at a small coastal brew pub. The atmosphere was great, and he was totally cool after I mentioned that I was also a waiter (which came up after his surprise at my macro brew knowledge and questions). He recommended some awesome stuff for the group and was way cool. This was by far my favorite restaurant experience on this trip. The menu was also amazing at this establishment.

The place we dined next was a seafood/Italian cuisine joint. It looked like a little mom & pop joint, made from a converted house. Our waitress here had a bit of Restaurant Rage for sure. She had to repeat herself a couple of times and point to the menu (due to a few in my group who weren't paying attention). This place wasn't the best service, but thank God for their Chef (or kitchen staff). The food they put out made up for the snotty server. My guess... lots of tourists that day or she just simply needed to get some (possibly both).


The last place we stopped today, took the cake. We were eating breakfast due to the fact that we were leaving town and needed to get home by the early afternoon. She greeted us in a quirky manner. That's pretty admissible in my book, since it takes a special type of person to work in this industry. She must have been in her 50's or so, but looked at least 10 years younger. The reason I assume this, is because she walked by, grabbed her shirt just below the neck, and did that fanning motion people do when they are hot. She looked at us and said "Sorry, Warm Flashes." Then rolled her eyes up and stuck out her tongue. Confused, we all kind of shot each other the "what the f*ck?" look that comes without words. She awkwardly wait on us for the rest of the meal, and add "Whew... warm flash," here and there. It got to the point of being very annoying mixed with some super weirdness. We still tipped well, and left as soon as we could.