Coach's Corner Pizzeria & Sports Grill — Restaurant in Elk Grove Township

I am sharing a friends, David Mayer, experience: Yesterday, my wife and son, accompanied by three other young mothers and their babies, sat down to enjoy lunch at a local restaurant. It is one I have been going to for 20+ years.

The group was greeted and told to sit anywhere.

My wife and friends choose a booth towards the back of the restaurant. My son (who is 10 months old) was asleep in his stroller. After being assured by the gentleman at the table adjacent to them, as well as their server, that our son would be ok sleeping in his stroller next to their booth, the ladies took their seats. The three other moms had their babies in their car seats in the booth with them.

While the group waited for their order, a male employee walked up to deliver something to the gentleman at the table adjacent to them.

This male employee walked up to the stroller that held our sleeping son and attempted to push the stroller out of his way, but the stroller’s front wheel was locked. The male employee continued to try to push the stroller, but he only managed to violently shake it and our son.

My wife put her hand on top of the stroller and exclaimed, “can you please stop! My son is in there.”

The male employee continued jerking the stroller forward saying “this is in my way. It’s a fire hazard. This cannot be here.”

The stroller jerked several times and skidded forward until the male employee could put down the dish for the gentleman.

The male employee scolded my wife stating that “the stroller is a fire hazard and cannot be there. People need to be able to get through the aisle.”

Flustered, embarrassed, and worried about our child, my wife and her group gathered their babies and got up from their booth.

The male employee left as the female waitress returned.

The female waitress ran to get the owner after hearing about the incident from surrounding tables.

After explaining to the owner what happened, the owner apologized profusely. She said that she was “mortified and disgusted by his behavior.” She also stated that he is a friend of her partner, so she cannot fire him. In addition, she made it known that she had numerous issues with this employee and that he is often rude to customers.

We as a family are disgusted by the actions of the male employee. Furthermore, we are greatly disappointed in the owners of this establishment for supporting an employee who has no regard for the safety of children in their place of business. We would like to caution our friends, especially those with young children, as to where they decide to share a meal with family and friends.

Shame on you...

My friend and I stopped in around 9:30 on a Friday evening after an Ikea run (like, a literal "run" thru Ikea, since we raced the clock to get our stuff before closing), and just wanted to grab a couple drinks, maybe an app or two. We wanted to sit at the bar itself, but the only open seats were sparsely spaced, so we asked to be seated instead. We were put at a 4-top high-top at the end of the bar area near the restroom, which seemed comfortable. We got a couple martinis, a chicken Caesar wrap and some cheese fries, all of which were great, and our server was super sweet, appropriately attentive, and we got everything we needed. My only complaint is that, IDK if we were maybe directly beneath a speaker, or if they had the overall sound system's volume set really high, but the music, which, granted, I was still enjoying because it was in my wheelhouse, it was too loud to carry a conversation without actually NEEDING to yell, if we were sitting back in our chairs across from each other. Leaning in toward each other over the table, we still had to really raise our voices in order to hear each other, and i mean, I realize it's a bar, it's going to be loud, there's gonna be music and basketball and football and hockey games cranked up and such; but this seemed excessively loud. And I'm someone who'd know, having been in bands for 20+ years & learning where audio levels need to be to keep a good mix when playing in different kinds of bars. Not like I'm not gonna go back or wouldn't recommend the place, so don't get me wrong, please. Just something I noticed because it was immediately...

Sat at the bar tonight intending to have a beer or two and order a pizza to go. As I drank my beer while watching the football game on TV, it became obvious the person next to me was starting to become overservered. As a former bartender, the signs you are taught to observe were there. The Coach's Corner bartender, I think named Brian, must have observed the same signs. He told the individual that he would not be served any more. It was the right call. Better too early than too late. That being said. When a bartender makes that call, it is imperative that management staff step forward and support that bartender's call. Personal feelings, customer money spent, etc. should never influence, sway, or contradict management or staff's support and enforcement of the bartender's call to stop service. As I noted, the bartender, in my opinion, made the right call tonight to stop serving a customer. What happened after that is after that is the reason for the poor rating. The individual that was refused service asked other staff members what he did wrong. Rather than supporting the bartender's correct to call to stop service, three or four staff members replied, oh it was the bartender's call, it's not my call, I don't want to get involved. Rather than supporting the bartender by saying the call has been made the person had enough, the staff hemmed and hawed and pointed fingers at the bartender rather than supporting not only the bartender but the business as well. ...