(I sent the below email to the manager Carol. It bounced back and so I called for an updated address to find she has sadly passed away. The following phone call was so wildly rude and unprofessional I have to just share this email publicly)

Hi Carol,

I’ve been dining with you since the 90’s when I was just a little kid. In the past ~30 years McKendricks has been the place my family has celebrated special occasions, where I meet my Mom for lunches and it was one of the last meals I shared with my grandfather before he passed away. I remember your smiling face at the hostess stand when we would arrive and when I’d leave taking one too many Andes chocolates. Despite the dozens of fond memories, I’m not sure I will ever be back after my experience yesterday.

I met my Mom for a belated birthday lunch around 12:15. Our server was Jeff. He’s been our server countless times, but asked if we’d ever dined with you before. I told him we had and that he had regularly been our server. My mom ordered first, the heirloom tomato salad and the fish sandwich with a side of mayo for the fries. I ordered second, a McKendricks house salad (my favorite salad in the world) and also a fish sandwich. Jeff started laughing out loud. I asked what part of the order was comical and he muttered “it’s just a lot of food for 2 people”…..WHAT! I looked around the empty restaurant with literally one other table at prime lunch time and was flabbergasted that someone who works on gratuity would shame a table for over ordering. It was so unbelievably rude and judgmental I almost got up and asked to speak to a manager on the spot. In addition to Jeff and his off putting personality we noticed the lunch menu continues to shrink, and even the bread service has been discontinued. The heirloom tomatoes weren’t ripe, and appeared to have been cut by someone who had held a knife for the first time earlier that day. The ratio of tomatoes to burrata was comical. But not as funny as two gluttonous women being crazy enough to both order a salad prior to their sandwiches. Despite the obvious birthday gifts there was no “happy birthday” from Jeff. At the end of the meal my mom was putting her leftovers in a box and Jeff was in such a hurry to clear the table he removed the mayo before she could add it to her to go container. (Getting in between my mom and a mayo dip for her fries is risky business!). There was absolutely a “don’t let the door hit you” vibe as we were settling up.

I have never patronized an establishment so consistently and for so many years and seen such a dramatic shift of quality and experience. I’m writing to you directly because I don’t believe in roasting people with online reviews without bringing the issues to your attention first. My goal is to be constructive with this feedback.

Thank you,

Erika