I live in a part of Utah County where there are very few businesses of any kind. We can’t even get pizza delivered to our house from any website other than Dominos.com, which is just sad. So when Charmaine’s little sister, Lisa, wanted to go to a local restaurant, because it was so good, I was more than a little skeptical. When Charmaine confirmed that she had been there previously, and that it really was quite good, I figured I should give it a shot.
So we headed to the Blue Lemon Restaurant in Highland, Utah. It’s in a new strip mall on the north side of SR92 (11000 N), across the street from Kohler’s. I have driven down that road, right past the Blue Lemon several times, without ever noticing that it existed. As we walked in, I was thinking how hard it must be for a restaurant to stay in business when people don’t know it exists. Then I saw there were a lot of people inside, which seemed like a good sign.
Like many places these days, the first thing you do is place your order and pay for it. Unlike many places that use this type of setup, the cashier at the Blue Lemon asked me to tip. I thought it was odd to be asked to tip for service I had not received yet, especially at a place that is obviously a deli, not a restaurant (despite it’s name). So I asked the cashier if people actually tipped. She told me everyone tips, so I did. But it definitely felt wrong. Looking back on it, I think she was just giving me the company line. I’m certain it was a con job, and it probably cost them a very good customer. If I ever eat there again, I won’t be tipping unless they earn it first.
The cashier is situated at the dessert counter, and they had several beautiful desserts on display. While ordering, we spent some time picking out a couple desserts that looked good. After making our selections, we were told they were unavailable. Confused, we pointed to the desserts on display. The cashier let us know that those desserts had already been purchased by other customers. The restaurant had recently changed it’s dessert policy and no longer required patrons to carry their desserts to the table. The particular desserts we had selected would be delivered to someone else’s table in a few minutes. That was a bit odd, but somewhat understandable. So we accepted our second or third choices, because they were still available.
We paid for our meals, tipped our server (that we had yet to meet), chose a table and filled our drinks. The plastic cups didn’t seem different from the plastic cups anywhere else, but the word “compostable” was molded into the plastic. That was especially interesting to me, since I have a compost pile in my garden. I thought about taking the cup home to see how well that claim held up, but I’ve had enough trouble keeping plastic out of the compost pile that I couldn’t bring myself to purposely add plastic to the pile. It was obvious they were trying to be “green” and we understood that.
The “green” attitude of the Blue Lemon became all the more evident when our server brought out our meals. All three of us had ordered from the menu, but the server only brought out 2 sets of silverware. Obviously aware of our confusion, the server helpfully pointed out that my sandwich didn’t need silverware. I was dumbfounded. I could obviously eat the sandwich without silverware, but I really didn’t feel like I should be forced to share a napkin with someone else. And what if I was going to have a bite of someone else’s meal, should I be forced to use their fork? No. That was more than odd, it was absolutely wrong.
The food was actually quite good, especially the side of artichoke and cream cheese dip that we ordered on the suggestion of the cashier. It was obviously not the bought-at-Costco artichoke dip that so many bad restaurants serve as an appetizer. I was impressed. I ordered the Grilled Chicken BLT, which was very good. Lisa was very happy with the Raspberry Chicken Salad she ordered. Charmaine ordered a creamy pasta dish that was fairly bland. She wasn’t all that impressed with it.
Despite the great sandwich, by the time we were finished, I was still upset about not having a napkin and silverware. The longer we waited for our desserts to arrive, the more time I had to think about the fact that I was told I didn’t need one… and the longer I had to think about the fact that I was conned into tipping for this terrible service. Finally, Charmaine got up and complained about not having our desserts and they did bring them out. The desserts were average at best, and certainly not worth the wait.
Bottom line: I enjoyed my sandwich, but I won’t be going back on my own due to the strange policies, forced/conned tipping, and terrible service.
