Bloggers note: Johnnie Does is apparently channeling his inner James Carville as he was so hot, he almost spontaneously combusted because of his lunch visit. Below is his account.
I visited Rubio’s on Bruceville Road on Friday 6/7 for lunch. Rubio’s is a chain, known for their fish tacos. The menu is a little pricy but that’s ok as they are known for quality. They operate as a fast-casual place, meaning you order at the counter, take a place at a table, and the food is brought to you.
I ordered a bacon and shrimp burrito. It comes with rice, beans, the aforementioned (great word by the way) shrimp and bacon as well as guacamole, which I declined. As the Blog Father can attest, I never order sour cream or guacamole as I am severely allergic. Yes, as in it could kill me; apparently, I had a health episode as a kid and have never touched it since. I even say no guacamole or sour cream even when the entrée doesn’t come with it just to make a point of my major food allergy. To continue, I placed my order and found an empty table. It was filthy, not with food remnants, but dirt and grime. Wasn’t this place closed for 11 weeks?
Continuing onward; I waited for about 20 minutes. I don’t mind waiting because I would rather that my food be fresh and made to order as opposed to a fast food, quick serve place where they have it precooked. As the lady brought the burrito out, I had a feeling something was wrong; especially when a side of guacamole in a small cup was accompanying it. She set the burrito down in front of me, to which I inquired… “is that guacamole?” pointing to the top of the burrito at a green, ¼ inch thick coating. She responded affirmative. I told her I am deathly allergic and asked for it to be left off. She said they would remake it, but only after checking my order ticket. I knew there was a problem here…. customer is allegedly always right, why the checking of the ticket?
So, the young lady promised to have it re-made After a 10-minute wait (again not a big deal), she came right back to the table… with the exact same burrito just face down. The same guacamole conveniently located now on the downside. When I pointed that out, the young lady apologized saying they would make it a third time…. funny she said third because it was never re-made.
Look, I know kitchens are reluctant to remake or scrape off, margins are thin as it is, but when a food allergy is involved… it was their error.
I declined a third attempt as I have a schedule to keep at work, one must earn a living you know. She told me it would take her 1 minute. Again, I declined. It was 1:22 and my lunch is over at 1:30. She insisted. I kept saying I have to get to work, let’s just refund the transaction, I never blamed her. She said she didn’t want me to leave without food, it’s a nice gesture but it was too late. I told her I had to go. She said, let me write your name down and come back later to a free entrée…. keep in mind I already paid for one that was never made correctly. I told her I would not likely be back for dinner, to which she offered just come to the counter your name will be written down whenever you want, like some sort of will call. When I declined, (let’s face it, Johnnie used to be a common name) I don’t want some other jamoke to grab a free entrée because they are a namesake.
This is when it got odd, they would not refund me my money. I used a valid credit card; it should have been easy. She kept insisting on this will call thing, which I was not interested in. I was told no refunds, but I could charge back my credit purchase. Funny, this is likely due to places of business being “protected” when charges are under $25. This means the business does not lose the revenue, yet I am made full.
Rubio’s, I will never visit your weak-kneed establishment again. Twitter followers pin this and retweet as I am in disbelief. They may have messed up on my order, but to re-serve it face down knowing someone could potentially get very sick and/or die from a food allergy is a wild move. To add, seems like your location has several cockroaches there, and I am not talking about just your kitchen, I’m talking about in your bathrooms.
Gross.
Avoid.
Johnnie Does