I live and work in downtown Los Angeles now. The number of restaurants, stores, bars, etc. Are increasing all of the time, and I don't ever have to drive, which is nice. The California Pizza Kitchen locations at the Wells Fargo bank building and at the 7th St. Marketplace are frequent choices for business lunches and dinners, especially with my wife, who is an executive, as well. It is just nice to be able to walk to work, walk to the store, or walk to the local restaurants.
Last night, we visited, for the last time (!), the CPK at 7th St. It was amazingly dirty, a disturbing trend that continues to get worse in most of their restaurants. My salad had a chunk of glass in it... It was replaced by the server (good service!), but, well, it got me to thinking. There is an old saying that, "... If the front of the house is dirty, the back of the house is worse." I had begun to notice the floors and tables at these locations, but it just didn't strike home until last night. Ugh. We had a bottle of wine (about $30) and a salad to share, two entrees, and a dessert. With tip, the cost was $80.00. Now, I am not a skinflint, but as I think about it, that just seems really expensive for dinner, at a place that won't clean up or even give me a cloth napkin!
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