Forkers!

[Jaboney]

Yummy. Just finished the Tropical burger with wasabi mayo... made me cry. Loved it.

[Joesox]

Be forewarned that to help alleviate the crowding thing and the complaint of empty tables that Mother Theresa mentioned, they are seating reservations only from 6:30 to 8:30. If you don't have a reservation, don't bother going between these hours. Sucks, but it keeps them from getting overloaded.

Anyone know how are they with bookings? If you book for a certain time, can you actually sit down and order then, or do you have to wait a while?

It seems that Forker's is going through some growing pains as they are getting more popular than their facilities and staff can handle. Service is rather frustrating. I've had dishes not come or come only after flagging someone down to remind them that I hadn't received it yet...

Any recent improvements with this?

[Forkers]

Hey all, My name is Joe and I am the manager of Forkers. First let me say thanks for all your comments, both negative and positive. They all help me to improve the joint. I will respond to everyone as I can, and feel free to contact me at forkers with any questions.
So these responses might seem unorganized but only because they are.
We have brought back the whole wheat buns. I apologize for the waiting for seats, but We recommend a reservation for anytime on the weekend and between 630 and 900 on a weekday night. IF you have made one, it will be held for you for 10 minutes and you will be called confirm you are on the way. We have a 2 hour seating policy, but not enforced if there is no line up.
sorry about the waitresses, but the turn over of staff is incredibly fast. We do have a new training program which I hope will help.
All sauces are made by us, except ketchup and mustard, so there is no chili from a can or package. If you have any questions while you are there, feel free to ask...I am usually around.
thanks again for the kind, and helpful words.

Joe

[Forkers]

question for everyone,
I had a small incident last night, and I would like some feedback on the best way to handle it.
So here is what happened. I had a group of 5 come in with no reservation. I got them an outside seat (first seat available) and told them i could move them inside when possible. We also had a large 40+ group at the same time. This first group brought a cake to celebrate their birthday. they ate, had fun, and finished their meals. they ask the staff to sing happy birthday for them. I did send the waitresses out with the cake and one of them (dolly) did sing, but nobody at the table joined her! anyways, they left. they put their cake on the ground outside to make room for gifts. When they left, their cake was still on the ground outside. I cleaned the table and threw away the leftover cake (1/2). about an hour later i got a call saying she wanted the cake. i apologized and said that we threw it away, and i offered her a free dessert next time she came in. but she wants me to pay 500Nt for a new cake.....any ideas on this?

[Dragonbones]

When they left, their cake was still on the ground outside. I cleaned the table and threw away the leftover cake (1/2). about an hour later i got a call saying she wanted the cake. i apologized and said that we threw it away, and i offered her a free dessert next time she came in. but she wants me to pay 500Nt for a new cake.....any ideas on this?

Ok, er... next time, keep anything that looks like someone might have forgotten it, as they may come back for it later. You could keep it until closing time, *then* toss it.

And this time, just be very polite and apologetic, but tell them that it's normal in the restaurant industry for any leftover food to be thrown away, rather than kept. But don't pay for the cake, that's too much. You've already offered a free dessert. Tough lesson for them, but there's a limit to your responsibilities in such a case, IMO.

[Rascal]

Agree with DB, don't pay for a new cake. They ate 1/2 of it, so it's not that they "forgot" they had a cake, instead they consumed some of it and the rest is considered left-overs to be thrown away. Their fault, not yours.

[maoman]

Agree with DB, don't pay for a new cake. They ate 1/2 of it, so it's not that they "forgot" they had a cake, instead they consumed some of it and the rest is considered left-overs to be thrown away. Their fault, not yours.

I agree. The customers were being petty, and you apologized and showed some generosity, so they have no legitimate cause for complaint. Don't lose any sleep over it.

[Dark Horse]

I agree with the other posters that you have no responsibility for half finished cake left on the sidewalk. However, from a business standpooint there is one key issue:

...a large 40+ group ...

It is a potential loss of 40+ customers and anyone they tell their story to. (However, this place seems so wildly popular it may not be such an issue). I'm sure the profit on this was well over NT$500 but for half the cake you might offer $200-300 credit on their next meal there as a gamble on future business.

Dragonbones wrote:

...next time, keep anything that looks like someone might have forgotten it, as they may come back for it later. You could keep it until closing time, *then* toss it.

Always a good policy. It seems in Taiwan anything but a bag with a large sum of money that gets left behind somewhere gets trashed immediately. The concept of lost and found doesn't seem to exist here.

Overall though I would say you're not responsible for this and it is probably a face issue. It just depends on if you want to risk any future business.

[Chicken]

I can see the points made. I would offer a further 10% off the next visit as well, but do not pay for any cake.
Your mistake: You told the truth. A simple "cake? What cake? The cake is a lie!" would have worked
Or tell her you suspected a cockroach was on it (as it was on the ground) so that is why it was thrown out.



PS. I would also love to recommend Forkers to anyone foolish enough to have not tried it yet. I drove up from Jiayi just to eat there. They are famous here in Jiayi. Our one local western type food place (Freen) owner calls it "his Idol restaurant". It was worth the trip. Go hungry when you go. Light eaters can stay away.

[Fortigurn]

My wife and I went to Forkers a while back. Having eaten at Bongos and Coda, we were very interested to see what Forkers was like. Happily we found it equally as enjoyable and satisfying as the other two places. As with Coda, we underestimated the size of the servings. We were given more than enough to eat.

Wait staff were friendly and attentive, even a little chatty (which was amazing given that the place was so busy), which is something we always appreciate. The food tasted great (we both had burgers, some salad, and some fries). I wouldn't know Kobe beef from non-Kobe beef, so I didn't bother with that, but the beef in my burger was really good.

I rang ahead to make a reservation. We wanted to get a seat at 6pm so that we could catch a movie afterwards. The manager told me that they were pretty booked out and that it wasn't likely I could reserve a seat until later, and I was just telling him that was ok when he decided that he would book us in for 6pm and figure something out. I thought this was very generous of him. When we arrived we found that he had put out an extra table in a very clever spot near the wall. I didn't have much room to push my chair back, but once I was sitting down I didn't care anyway, and we weren't crushed against anyone else's table. Smart thinking, and we really appreciated him making the effort. We'll definitely be back.