Cabo Rojo's Piccadilly Restaurant in a Dilly of a Pickle

Jan 27 2009 20:00 by The Insider
Admin

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Replies: 62

Ask most Cabo Rojo locals, at least those who frequent the downtown pueblo, about Piccadilly's. You'll probably get rave reviews. They have great baked potatoes, reasonable prices, friendly staff, and free WiFi Internet. And all of that is true.

However, when I visited Piccadilly's on January 27th, 2009, I was unable to make the jump from new customer to Piccadilly fan. And, I'll tell you exactly why below. In my opinion, it's that small town mentality striking again and again here in Cabo Rojo and in small towns throughout Puerto Rico.

I know you fans are going to say "lighten up"... Piccadilly's has a down to earth, homey atmosphere. For the most part, I'll agree with you. I'm no city slicker... no fast talking New Yorker here.. that's for sure. However, regardless of the atmosphere, I also want to get what I pay for.

False advertising is false advertising, even if accidental, and that's what lead to today's headline... a "dilly" of a "pickle" for Piccadilly's for certain.

At issue:

I walk into Piccadilly's and instantly my eyes are drawn to their combo ad board, which features 5 or 6 different sandwich combos with photos. Great work! I thought: "Wow, this stuff does look good."

I'm a very decisive person. Within 30 seconds, I knew that the Combo #1, a grilled chicken burger was calling my name. The picture showed a perfect juicy chicken breast that looked to be about an inch thick considering the proportions of the photo. You locals can go there and check it out first hand if you don't believe my description is accurate. ;)

So imagine my surprise when I receive something that looked like a re-heated "Sloppy Joe" with a light sprinkling of chicken pieces. Staff assured us that it was a full breast they just decided to chop up. I beg to differ, but the jury is still out on that since I did not come equipped with my scale during this particular lunch break.

After a request, they added a few more bits of chicken. A few more, not a lot more, and certainly did not send it back with a nice full chicken breast hoisted up on those toasty buns.

How was it? Well, it tasted reasonable for a Sloppy Joe style chicken bit sandwich. But it was certainly nothing like I would imagine that inch thick, juicy, white meat chicken breast sandwich (from the picture) that caught my eye and stimulated my salivary glands!

On the way out of the store, we asked to make sure we did not order the wrong thing. I was really hoping I had. Their answer was disappointing, and to the effect of (not verbatim):

We chop all our stuff here up like that. We don't make it like the picture.

Yes - I already figured that much out very quickly!

So the obvious question is: Why do you keep a picture of a beautifully grilled chicken sandwich up on the menu board if you don't serve it?

Piccadilly's Owner/Manager: Please fix your menu. You lost all of my future business today. However, other residents of Cabo Rojo are much more forgiving. Please serve them what they see in the picture or take the picture down from now on, ok?

You  do have a very nice little restaurant, serve great baked potatoes, have reasonable prices, have friendly staff, and offer free WiFi Internet. Now add an accurate menu and you just to the next level of customer satisfaction! :)

The Insider

PS - Friend's Cafe does serve a nice (real) grilled chicken sandwich just around the corner; although they still serve nasty movie theater style nacho chips as the side, which completely ruins the whole healthy vibe you get from eating the sandwich. They have yet to have sense enough to throw out the loitering teenagers so that the "cash bearing" customers can come in and enjoy the environment, actually find a seat, and give their money to you!

"Puerto Rico - A Paradise Lost?" Blog

Jan 27 2009 20:00 by Gil The Jenius

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Replies: 0

Insider, Piccadilly is known by My friends and family as "The Center of the Universe," because it was the first location used to "center" Me in Cabo Rojo almost 11 years ago. Love the place and eat there frequently (especially since I only have to walk 3-4 minutes to get there.) Your remark about seeing one thing on the menu and getting another does ring true, but let Me ask: when was the last time a burger or sandwich you saw on a TV or newspaper ad look ANYTHING like the slapdash mushy mess they actually give you?

There's a cultural "lens" here that says (to the Puerto Rican mind) that what We see on the menu is the list of items that comes with the order and not the exact food pictured. Take any chain restaurant that offers "U.S. cuisine," look at the menus and then compare that to the food you receive. You'll see a disconnect there, and though not as big as the TV/paper side, it's still there. We make a fetish of "marketing" that far outstrips the interest in "execution."

As for Friends, another frequent drop-in spot for Me (I write there 4-5 times a month), you're using a different "lens" than Ours. In Puerto Rico, an empty or near-empty place is not good. It simply doesn't have "ambiente," atmosphere, and so by allowing people, even kids, to linger, Friends is blending in very well with the local mindset. That bothers Me as it bothers you, to have a bunch of teenagers just loitering there, but as a business consultant, I can see the value in it. You didn't note the tables and chairs set up outside, which lets Friends provide a "safety valve" for this situation, one that works very well on Friday and Saturday nights.

So I'd be happy to drop in with you in Piccadilly's anytime. We can enjoy the cozy size, free WiFi and darn good food at great prices. Then We can head over to Friends for coffee or green tea or just tons of free reading material. Both sites make the center of Cabo Rojo much more interesting and worth visiting. I know you support that and your observations are certainly valid points that testament to that interest.
Jan 27 2009 20:00 by admin

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Replies: 0

Hi Gil,

Thank-you for stopping in to provide some feedback. Welcome. :)

In speaking with several people, I must say that Piccadilly's tends to be quite universally held in very high regard. In fact, I am overwhelmingly certain my review will have very little impact on changing anyone's mind about their favorite place to visit for lunch in the pueblo!

Yours is a strong endorsement, and I may even consider returning at some point in the future, but not for the chicken sandwich... or maybe not for anything that has an associated picture (that could set me up for disappointment). You brought up a very good point about the difference between the marketing visuals and what you end up with in reality. I neglected to comment on that in my blog entry. However, I do want to point out that the food I received that day (unless there was some major confusion; a possibility I am still open to) looked more like what I actually ordered *after* being put into a blender for a quick spin... certainly a little bit more of a gap in "expectation versus delivery" spectrum than the standard *grand* Big Mac (as per the photos) versus *withered* Big Mac (as per the drive through window).

Regarding the cultural "lens", you are right on the money (as usual). In fact, I recently purchased a text on the topic (scheduled, but yet unopened). It took me a while to realize that it's more than just "lost in translation"... but it's "lost in internal interpretation"... or as you more elegantly put it... the lens. I am trying to take that into consideration, and keep a balance between identifying real opportunities for improvement and overstepping my bounds when it comes to deep rooted cultural behaviors.

Maybe Friends can invest in a Pacman arcade game or a pinball machine... which they can place outside... and lure the non-buying lurkers to the out of doors, sparing the comfortable interior for the bloggers. ;)
Jan 27 2009 20:00 by nanagasm

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Replies: 0

I was really upset to find out friend's cafe's desserts are from sams! I used to get all happy to meet up with my gall palls there for coffee and dessert after a meal at home but now days i just buy the chocolate cake at sams (its from the cheesecake factory! oh so good.. ) and their round stacked looking cakes with the chocolate chips on top too. Dulces y antojitos at towncenter started doing the same thing!

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