Wilco takes a second hit as it appears they have managed to lower their level of service. TED reviewed them not that long ago. In today’s review, associate food blogger Cori appears to be saying Wilco is a “will not” be going there ever again.
Associate review
Yesterday was my birthday, and my husband wanted to take me out for a nice meal. He recommended Wilco – he’d tried it once with some colleagues and thought it was pretty good. I’d heard that Wilco’s food and service were NOT good from the Kitchen Liaison, but I was willing to try them anyway since my husband had a good first impression.
Nope, the service really IS that bad. And the food is sub-par. If you’re paying $13 for a burger or $18 for a plate of pasta, sub-par is NOT acceptable.
We arrived at about 8:30. It was pretty empty… maybe 3 tables besides ours. First impression going in the door was “hip.” Modern decor, cool giant clock, attractive tables, etc. It’s obvious that they cater to the younger, university crowd.
But then no one greeted us. We stood just inside the door waiting for someone to tell us if we could seat ourselves or to take us to a table. Finally a guy behind the bar all the way ACROSS the room shouted at us to pick a table. Hmmm… ok. We found a nice table by the window and sat.
Then we waited some more. Finally, someone came by to give us menus and glasses of water. He said our server would be by soon, and left.
The menu looked interesting. One side had lots of cheese and meat selections. Prices seemed a bit high. On the other side were their sandwiches and full entrees. They all have cool names, but I had to laugh that their “Niman Meat Balls” entree was essentially just spaghetti and meatballs… for $17. Those better be some amazing meatballs.
Server came by and asked us about drinks. She seemed friendly, but once we declined liquor and ordered a soda and a “lavender” lemonade, she noticeable cooled off. Took about 10 minutes for our drinks to get to our table (and again, the restaurant wasn’t even 1/4 full).
I’m not sure if this is part of their “hipster” vibe, but their sodas are just coca-cola cans that they bring out with a cup of ice. If I wanted that, I could do that at home. The Lavender lemonade was interesting – a bit bitter, followed by intense sweet. Wouldn’t get it again, but it was certainly unique. But it was also $3 for essentially a tall shot glass. My husband and I polished it off in about 5 sips. No refills were ever offered for either our soda or the lemonade. Good thing we had water.
Food was ok. The “bun” was actually an English muffin. Relatively unique and tasty as a hamburger bun. But I could NOT taste the Gruyere cheese at all… Burger was also definitely on the well side. I didn’t see any pink. Fries were good… an herb fry, with a definite hint of rosemary. Those were my favorite part of the meal.Food was delivered by someone else (again, server was too busy schmoozing the 6 top). It was warm, but certainly not piping hot. We also were given NO utensils. I had to flag down a different server to get utensils. He came back couple minutes later with the utensils, then asked if I needed mayo or mustard. Yes, mayo please, I asked. Guess what? Never saw him again. Guess no mayo for me.
My husband’s Sonoran Dog was interesting, but we were both expecting something literally exploding with flavor. All you could really taste was heat from something in the sauce. Also very messy, which wouldn’t have been a problem if we had had utensils… lol?
We didn’t see our server until we were nearly finished. She ignored or couldn’t see me trying to flag her down a couple times to get more ketchup. When I finally got her attention and asked for more, she just said “Yes” rather abruptly and then appeared about 5 minutes later with the ketchup. Mmm, I love cold fries with ketchup.
Finally came back around to ask if we wanted dessert. Said no thank you, and boom, there was our bill. She was also extremely prompt grabbing our CCard, and then returning it. Wish she could have been that fast during the rest of the meal.
We paid the bill and left. No thanks for coming in, no acknowledgement. Nothing. So much for ambiance.
Finally, I will say this: I used to be a server. I don’t blame servers for food quality, or time that it takes for the food to be cooked. They have no control over it. I also don’t blame them if the restaurant is really busy and they aren’t able to stop by as often.
But when the restaurant is dead and the server has only one other table besides us, that type of neglect is not acceptable. Our food wasn’t delivered hot (probably because it sat in the window for a good 5-10 minutes) but just above lukewarm. And making sure your table has basics like utensils and refills is pretty much Server 101… or it should be.
Conclusion: I “Will NOT Go” back to Wilco. Horrible service and disappointing food. I’ll spend my hard-earned cash elsewhere, thanks.
Thanks for contribution and update Cori!
Based on our last review giving them a 2.5 out of 5, and that the highlight was the service, it would appear WILCO has managed to put itself in the 0.75 stars range.
P.S. It always pains us to pan a local business. There are copious reviews on all kinds of sites telling Wilko, for months now, that their food and service is not good. As an owner you don’t have to listen to those reviews, but you could look into the room and see your staff ducking customers and pick up a fork and try your food every now and again.
Wilco-round 2 turns out to be a will not
Tags: Crappy, Dinner, gastropub, Price High, tucson
Wilco round 2 Tucson
Wilco takes a second hit as it appears they have managed to lower their level of service. TED reviewed them not that long ago. In today’s review, associate food blogger Cori appears to be saying Wilco is a “will not” be going there ever again.
Associate review
Yesterday was my birthday, and my husband wanted to take me out for a nice meal. He recommended Wilco – he’d tried it once with some colleagues and thought it was pretty good. I’d heard that Wilco’s food and service were NOT good from the Kitchen Liaison, but I was willing to try them anyway since my husband had a good first impression.
Nope, the service really IS that bad. And the food is sub-par. If you’re paying $13 for a burger or $18 for a plate of pasta, sub-par is NOT acceptable.
We arrived at about 8:30. It was pretty empty… maybe 3 tables besides ours. First impression going in the door was “hip.” Modern decor, cool giant clock, attractive tables, etc. It’s obvious that they cater to the younger, university crowd.
But then no one greeted us. We stood just inside the door waiting for someone to tell us if we could seat ourselves or to take us to a table. Finally a guy behind the bar all the way ACROSS the room shouted at us to pick a table. Hmmm… ok. We found a nice table by the window and sat.
Then we waited some more. Finally, someone came by to give us menus and glasses of water. He said our server would be by soon, and left.
The menu looked interesting. One side had lots of cheese and meat selections. Prices seemed a bit high. On the other side were their sandwiches and full entrees. They all have cool names, but I had to laugh that their “Niman Meat Balls” entree was essentially just spaghetti and meatballs… for $17. Those better be some amazing meatballs.
Server came by and asked us about drinks. She seemed friendly, but once we declined liquor and ordered a soda and a “lavender” lemonade, she noticeable cooled off. Took about 10 minutes for our drinks to get to our table (and again, the restaurant wasn’t even 1/4 full).
I’m not sure if this is part of their “hipster” vibe, but their sodas are just coca-cola cans that they bring out with a cup of ice. If I wanted that, I could do that at home. The Lavender lemonade was interesting – a bit bitter, followed by intense sweet. Wouldn’t get it again, but it was certainly unique. But it was also $3 for essentially a tall shot glass. My husband and I polished it off in about 5 sips. No refills were ever offered for either our soda or the lemonade. Good thing we had water.
Food was ok. The “bun” was actually an English muffin. Relatively unique and tasty as a hamburger bun. But I could NOT taste the Gruyere cheese at all… Burger was also definitely on the well side. I didn’t see any pink. Fries were good… an herb fry, with a definite hint of rosemary. Those were my favorite part of the meal.Food was delivered by someone else (again, server was too busy schmoozing the 6 top). It was warm, but certainly not piping hot. We also were given NO utensils. I had to flag down a different server to get utensils. He came back couple minutes later with the utensils, then asked if I needed mayo or mustard. Yes, mayo please, I asked. Guess what? Never saw him again. Guess no mayo for me.
My husband’s Sonoran Dog was interesting, but we were both expecting something literally exploding with flavor. All you could really taste was heat from something in the sauce. Also very messy, which wouldn’t have been a problem if we had had utensils… lol?
We didn’t see our server until we were nearly finished. She ignored or couldn’t see me trying to flag her down a couple times to get more ketchup. When I finally got her attention and asked for more, she just said “Yes” rather abruptly and then appeared about 5 minutes later with the ketchup. Mmm, I love cold fries with ketchup.
Finally came back around to ask if we wanted dessert. Said no thank you, and boom, there was our bill. She was also extremely prompt grabbing our CCard, and then returning it. Wish she could have been that fast during the rest of the meal.
We paid the bill and left. No thanks for coming in, no acknowledgement. Nothing. So much for ambiance.
Finally, I will say this: I used to be a server. I don’t blame servers for food quality, or time that it takes for the food to be cooked. They have no control over it. I also don’t blame them if the restaurant is really busy and they aren’t able to stop by as often.
But when the restaurant is dead and the server has only one other table besides us, that type of neglect is not acceptable. Our food wasn’t delivered hot (probably because it sat in the window for a good 5-10 minutes) but just above lukewarm. And making sure your table has basics like utensils and refills is pretty much Server 101… or it should be.
Conclusion: I “Will NOT Go” back to Wilco. Horrible service and disappointing food. I’ll spend my hard-earned cash elsewhere, thanks.
Thanks for contribution and update Cori!
Based on our last review giving them a 2.5 out of 5, and that the highlight was the service, it would appear WILCO has managed to put itself in the 0.75 stars range.
If you would like to see our previous review, it is here. https://tucsoneatsdinner.com/dinner/wilko/
P.S. It always pains us to pan a local business. There are copious reviews on all kinds of sites telling Wilko, for months now, that their food and service is not good. As an owner you don’t have to listen to those reviews, but you could look into the room and see your staff ducking customers and pick up a fork and try your food every now and again.
Share this:
Like this: