EMME

Council Member Gonzalez is supportive as well.

With the rest of the gulf coast about to be ravaged by this oil spill, this may be one positive that lands in Galveston's comeback lap. Possibly a good time to invest in Galveston.

It was not a kickerish place. It was a kind of cooler disco type. Dance music but not necessarily disco music. Popular top 40. Most dance clubs back then didn't allow athletic shoes. They weren't yet "cool". Cooters was kind of a casual, unpretentious dance club in a time of flashy/trashy dance clubs. The people that worked there were like family, the owners took care of their employees. I'm betting that if you find one long time bartender to contact, they are still in contact with alot of the other employees. Long time friendships were forged there. When Randy's opened in west HOuston, alot of the Cooters people jumped over there. I don't remember if Cooter's had had a change in management or not, but Randy had been I think a long time GM of Cooters and was much loved.

it seemed like the thread was turning into the dog lovers versus the kid lovers and no middle ground. the city has health regulations that don't allow dogs/pets inside a restaurant. i don't care if someone sits out front with a nice dog and eats their meal. will i give the dog water? yes. will i give the dog a treat? yes

what if it's a big huge pit bull with tatoos and scares every kid that walks by it? i'm not sure and understand the parents who are concerned.

bike rack: yes

tables and booths: yes, both

counter or full service: counter

byob: yes

grassy play area: yes

coke or pepsi: coke

thanks for all the feedback, i got a lot of emails from the mama mafia and the heights kids club blog. the info was great, we are looking forward to opening this summer and meeting everyone in the area.

dream

Please don't discriminate against the pitbull based solely on it's looks and tattoos, unless you do the same with Samoan and tattooed humans. If you have a pitbull barking and snipping or a dachshund barking and snipping the behavior is what should get them thrown out, not their breed (race).

Jenni's Noodles will be welcomed in the Heights by all those who don't need to have complete control over every aspect of their environment, including the noise of children, the grimaces of the judgmental and the happy faces of dogs.

Lightening up leads to Peace!

Too narrow a niche. Dumb idea.

Not really. Mac n cheese can have all kinds of meats, seafood and vegetables. Has mega possibilities of pastas. Fettuccine alfredo is a sort of mac and cheese. I, for one, can't wait.

YE..HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Status: Pending Continue to Show

Hope it's going to a modernist. :-)

Word on the street...buyer loves the house.

Hope that's true.

Heights proper is not corporate/big box friendly, so this is where they go. I am glad, I don't want them in the Heights, but I do want them. I think it is a great use of the space. I would be a regular if there was a LaMadeliene or Cafe Express. I frequent, the Target, PetSmart and Washington Heights Veterinary Clinic, and often run by the TacoBell/KFC there (which I never ever do other times or other places). I have been to the Chili's and the Freebird.

I am so glad Bryan has opened his Southwell's there. His food is fabulous. He grew up as a Houston Country Club manager's son, so he learned the need for quality ingredients early. I stopped in on Friday last to do an adoption contract for a dog, and they were very kind to let us non-purchasing people use a table. When I bought a coke to "pay" for the table use, he was very nice and said I didn't have to do that. They will do well there. And they have alot more than burgers, although the burgers are fab.

And as an aside, the PetSmart would do well to replace its general manager. With as many dog lovers as there are in the area, he is the one and only reason that store is not packed. The only reason they get my business is its proximity to the veterinary clinic next door.

citykid is right though, there are a few select areas where Houston builds for aesthetics. The Galleria is one, but downtown, the city's main centerpiece could do a better job.

The city doesn't build the Galleria towards aesthetics...the Uptown Association does a lot of that through it's own funding.

Any comments or opinions on Dessert Shoppe on 19th street ? What about Whats up Cupcake ? located corner of 14th street and Sheperd street empty lot ?

It would be nice if the Heights had a great selection of ice cream,pies,cakes ,or homemade sweet desserts.

I have heard good reports on Dessert Shoppe which is in its soft opening. There is a dessert shop of some sort opening on White Oak but that may be a ways off. Pie in the Sky on 19th has a help wanted sign out, so they should be pretty close to opening.

Doubting the Mardi Gras beads helped him any.

Several months ago, I called the police on my neighbor when he was beating up his live-in girlfriend. For the next several days, each time I would walk down the street to go to my other neighbor's house to feed her dogs, he would yell at me from his porch, "stay out of my business" or "stay off my land." I ignored him. Then one day, I rushed home because I was very late for feeding her dogs, and my street was lined with police cars. They were there to protect the young lady while she got her things out of the house. I parked and as I was walking up the street, lo and behold, said neighbor did his usual yelling at me...so I turned to the officer in the car that was at that time, right next to me, to simply ask what I could do to stop the harrassment. His immediate response was, "Maam, if you don't get in your house, and stop stirring up trouble, I am going to throw you in jail." I walked on up the street to take care of the dogs, and when I wanted to walk home, I was fearful they would arrest me. I called 911 and asked the sargent on duty come to the scene and he was very apologetic, explaining the officer had listened to only one side of the story.

I was livid at the time, but seeing this video and hearing your responses, I realize that indeed they need to keep control of the scene. This guy could have stepped several feet or yards back and continued his videotaping. He just really wanted to push his own agenda, IMO.

As an aside, a couple days later the mystery was solved about him telling me to stay off his property when I never go near it. He called the police telling them that when he leaves his house, "I go in it and go through his things." Now, I will grant you that I can be and am usually a pretty nosy neighbor, but I don't go that far. HA!

Joe Stack: Antitax 'terrorist' or solo IRS-hater?

Anti-Tax, IRS hating Lone Wolf Terrorist.

Narcissistic...not ill or unbalanced. Methodical and manipulative. I know mentally ill, I know despressed, I know narcissistic. This one was narcissistic. Didn't take responsibility for one thing being his fault. Blamed others for everything and left his family further in debt than they were evidently about to be. Total disregard for others' wellbeing and without empathy. Whole different thing. These are the Timothy McVeighs, UniBombers, David Koresh, Eric Rudollph. Smart. but no feelings. His imperfections were about to show and that was more than he could take...not all his other ramblings. so he chose to try to cover them up in a "grand manner" and linked it in his selfish little mind to nobility.

I think that pretty well sums it up....He went crazy thinking he could change the world and make the IRS pay, and the only people who are going to end up paying for his actions are the poor family of the IRS agent he killed, and his family, as they spend the rest of their life trying to dig out of the financial hole he left them in the bottom of. Its not a good situation for anyone.

As to his motives, if anyone has ever spent any time actually dealing with the IRS, it is a very frustrating, unpleasant experience. The IRS, at the level this guy likely dealt with, is chalk full of idiots with no desire to really help you or hear you out...whose sole job is to make you pay what someone higher up told them to get from you. You can plead your case to them all day long, and all they do is play solitaire while you sit there talking to them. When you are done talking they repeat their initial response and then tell you the ways that they can make your life miserable if you do not pay.

I was audited when I was in college because I took summer school one year and did not work, so I filed a very small return. The previous year, following HS graduation, I had worked part time as a waiter, and actually made pretty decent money for a college bound kid. That next year I started college and then took summer school first year to get some pre-req's done....filed a return with nothing but UGMA gains....got audited.

The IRS agents I dealt (4 different ones) with were so unpleasant it made you want to crawl over the desk and strangle them. They got enjoyment thinking that in my head I was plotting revenge, that I would never carry out. It took me nearly 2 months, several office visits, a CPA, and a hearing in front of 3 agents to prove to them I did not work that year. My previous employer never even filed hours for me...they just thought I was pocketing cash tips and not reporting any income and that I was in cahoots with the restaurant, who they allege did not want to pay the employment taxes on me (Restaurant was Gradys American Grill, they closed up but were essentially a Chilis...owned by Chilis)

They acted like I was hiding things b/c I did not keep pay stubs, or anything else from the time periods I was not working...it was a very very frustrating time, and you do feel powerless. You are essentially talking to a wall. The person has nothing to say and does not want to help you. To them, they did not mess up, you are a criminal and they are just trying to prove it. If they cant prove it...its not that you did not do it, its just that they did not find it, or could not prove it.

You leave the IRS feeling incredibly powerless, and like they just put your life through the ringer because they felt like it. And I wont even get started on the estimated taxes ballgame....I dont think there is a CPA in the world who can tell you what your really need to pay to avoid penalties especially in down times when you do not want to use the 110% safe haven because you are making less. Its very frustrating.

That rant of mine, in no way is intended to be any justification at all for doing anything that would hurt another person...but I can certainly see how he felt powerless and like his country was turning on him. In his mind, deluded as it is, he had been paying taxes in excess of what he though most people paid, and for all that money he was sending he felt that the government was using it against him to get more from him. He went crazy with that delusion and it all came crashing down.

HA... my friend that I quoted is in the middle of dealings with IRS on several years worth of audits. So while he condemns Stack's actions, he does believe the IRS should be audited for their heavy handed tactics. But he believed that before Stack's actions. Stack didn't tell anybody anything that wasn't already known. He just killed a father of six to lay blame for his own failings. Thank God it wasn't more.

One other point...I understand feeling powerless in the types of situations that MARKSMU refers to, but this guy didn't want to pay any taxes. His beef was that he didn't want withholding taxes withheld. Withholding taxes would actually have saved him money rather than doing the quarterly taxes, unless you don't plan on paying quarterly taxes. So the necessity of his dealings with the IRS were all self created.

My friend summed it up thusly and I fully agree, but would add...classic narcissist.  

my guess at this guys narrative.

probably back in the 80's he gets with some people to b*&^h about the tax code.

they find an inconsistancy and decide to try to apply it to themselves.

he gets hard headed about it, becomes somewhat obsessed and drives friends and family crazy.

all during this time, life keeps happening with all it's assorted crap.

the irs has consistently rejected his application of the tax code.

over the years interest, penalties, and enforcement actions pile up.

then we have the crash, bailout and recession. the irs steps up it's enforcement and collection actions across the board. (i believe the budget increase is something like 50%)

the goofball is on the verge of losing his family and all his stuff because of the recession and the irs.

he comes unhinged and wins bonehead of the month.

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

( EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

· · "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

· · "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

· · "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a thousand dollars about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy thousand dollars up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

Wow.

Better off dead I say.

Any bets on when the News reports are going to ask "WHY was he able to get a plane with no flight plan?" and make up some idiot rules involving small aircraft?

Once again, closing the door after the sheep have left the barn.

It was his plane. http://www.aircraftone.com/aircraft.asp?tn=N2889D

Wasn't there a similar chain named Copper Kettle???? Toddle House was definately ther best though.

Dobb's House

So sad. I worked at the Laff Stop from 1982 - 1987, half in Houston, and half in Austin. Lots of great memories.

That is where HEB was considering putting a market similar to the one on Buffalo Speedway. They did a focus group on it a month or two ago.

When did the city start switching to the current white lettering on green street signs from the old concrete posts and blue and white tile curb signs?

In between the "old concrete posts and blue and white tile curb signs" there were smaller black background with white lettering street signs similar to the green ones.

While this may or may not be arson, I don't think it was done by "the arsonist". This was during primetime. Weren't all the other ones set in the wee early hours of the morning. Also, I read somewhere that the guy they arrested confessed to the one but said that there are others also setting the fires. My take: Is somebody paying these guys to start these fires?

I guess it's the way you were raised. White trash usually can be lousy tippers and stiff on occasions where they were "taught". Waitstaff at restaurants should be treated just like bartenders or taxi drivers - they are both low skilled service jobs that depend on tips. Stiffing waitstaff (when someone comes to the counter or your table and takes your order and then delivers the food/bev to you) will get spit in your food or worse - I've seen it (not done that). In fact I even know someone who stiffed on a credit card tab - the waiter used the credit card number to buy a couch and sent the couch to the house of the guy that stiffed him. Next time you go into a place where you stiffed someone and you get a really really really friendly welcome back...

Having waited tables and bartended for 13 years, I can tell you these people do exist, but they are the minority. Most waitstaff is honest and moral and would not spit in anybody's food. I did hear of a fine dining establishment where the waiters went back and urinated on a certain customer's mink coat for past misdeeds, but that could be all talk. They are no longer in business, I don't remember who told me so don't come asking.

Ended up chipping up as much as possible, refilling, and sanding. After staining it blended pretty well.

PICS PLEASE!

My tipping rules:

Satisfactory service gets 20% on food tab plus $2 per drink. Exemplary service gets >20%. Unsatisfactory service is a quickly sliding scale. If I'm slightly dissatisfied, maybe 15% and $1 per drink. Anything greater than slightly dissatisfied is 0. I do not hesitate. Our tip box is our carrot or stick, depending on the server.

Counter service, 0. Take-out, a dollar or two because they have to bundle up the plasticware, put it in a box, etc.

Some places blur the line. Order at the counter but a server brings it to you. I'm still working on a system for this...

Pappas made me so mad when they started the deal where you stand in line to order, then a waiter comes to your table and reviews your order with you, then from there, normal table service. When I go to one of these places, I walk up to the nearest waiter and ask him to take my order at my table and they have never turned me down. I was a waiter/bartender for 13 years and I always tip where appropriate, but I expect full service for full tips. Pappas started that crap to be able to pay the below minimum wage to their employees. Now they do it at Luby's. Pay your danged employees or have full table service where your employees can make decent tips.

Lola doesn't have a tip line on their charge receipt so my assumption is they are not soliciting tips. My further assumption is they are paying their employees.

I love the Creek (Dry, Onion)concepts but have never liked the food or the service. And 11th Street Cafe has been bad for a long time. What gives me hope is that the quality at Pink's and Dragon Bowl is good, so I am going to give them another month to work out the kinks and try again. After that, I'm done.

I love the original floors, love the location, and yes, the servers are friendly. I too don't tip when I have to order at the counter but at least they don't seem to have an expectation as say at a Pappas Burger or now LUby's .

I really really want this place to get in gear. Please guys? We're pulling for you.