Fish Lads — Restaurant in Grand Rapids

I went up to this guy (I’ve read the reviews and yes it’s the same one everyone is talking about) behind the counter and asked if they had any soup today. Very disagreeable, he aggressively replied, “No we don’t have any soup, we’ll only have some when we get a chance to make it SIR.” He was decidedly rude with me from the very start. So I saw another guy behind the counter and asked him if they had soup. The first guy immediately swooped back in and sarcastically yelled at me, “SEE THE HUGE SIGN RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR EYES, WE HAVE THREE SOUPS TODAY!” Well, he messed with the wrong guy. I then turned on my sarcasm and replied, “Gee guy, you just said there wasn’t any, but now there is. Why the attitude?” Not too under his breathe he told me to eff off. I just smiled back and nodded at him. Then I ordered gumbo while my pal Debbie ordered clam chowder. I sat down at the counter and the guy stood across from me with his arms crossed. Debbie asked him why he was intentionally giving me a hard time, and he immediately lied saying I was “screaming” at him. She called him out on his lies and he only gave her a condescending look. Finally we got our soups and went upstairs to eat. He called me an a-hole as I walked away. Adding insult to injury, the food was mediocre. So I called the Grand Rapids (Christkindl) Market and spoke with the lady at the front desk, and she was great. Really asking about the incident, and to describe the jerk. Well, guess who the jerk is? He’s the manager! Obviously abusing whatever authority his position grants him. But if you’re that consistently negative/openly hostile/nasty with customers, then why are you even there? *The owner did call me personally to apologize, explaining that the guy has been warned multiple times for his rotten behavior, but like mama use to say “Never listen to what people say, WATCH what they do.” And after ALL the negative reviews, his disgusting behavior, etc. he can somehow STILL be there, then any apologies come off as obligatory at best. We still had a great time at the Market, getting great sushi, crepes, etc. But we will NEVER EVER go back to Fish Lad’s. Worst/rudest service ever. I’m in my 50s and my pal Deb’s in her 70s and we’d never been treated so poorly and with so much disrespect. AVOID THIS PLACE...

“Bait and Switch”?

It’s nice to have a local fish monger in the area, but I’m suspicious of their practices and that they are operating in a subtle dishonest way. I went to culinarily school in San Francisco so I have a great appreciation for fresh, locally sourced and organic food.

Voilá, Alice Waters!

We decided on wild salmon for dinner, but they we only displaying whole filets. I asked if we had to purchase the entire filet or could he cut 2, 6-8 oz pieces off the whole portion? He said that he could and grabbed the whole salmon that we were discussing and took it into the back kitchen. In a couple minutes he returned with the salmon portions, already wrapped. My instincts told me that I should, at least smell the fish before he wrapped them. I didn’t because products looked great on display and I dismissed the thought.

When I was preparing dinner later today and unwrapped the filets, I “wasn’t” drawn to a foul odor, they “were” fresh, but drawn to the cuts of the fish.

I didn’t weigh the filets at home, because they looked appropriate for my request, but it appeared they came from different ends of the whole portion or from possibly pieces left over. One was long and slender the other was short and full. They were delicious, no doubt, but I was disappointed in what I brought home.

The take away from this review is when buying food from a purveyor, establish a relationship with them, educate yourself on what you want, ask questions, and look at your product before they wrap it. The more familiar they are with you, the more likely they know your habits and desires.

Remember, they work for you.

Customer satisfaction is the litmus test for any great business. They need a proactive mindset and business model.

Bad me, but bad him too.

I hope these practices are few and far between.

Will I continue to patronize this fish monger? Yes, they have the best seafood we’ve found in Downtown Grand...

"The guy" is a revolving theme when talking about the service at Fish Lads. Let me describe him to you. He is shorter than the average man, does not greet you when you arrive, makes you feel uneasy because of his apparent dislike of his job and does not thank you after the transaction. If you ask a question he makes you feel like it's a dumb question. The overall interaction is so hugely negative that when you leave you feel an immense amount of anxiety at what just happened. This "guy" has been there for awhile. Last year, he kept my son on hold for 15 minutes for a phone in order. At pick up, he was in the back and made me wait and it was obvious that he knew he had a customer. My question for Fish Lads is, "Why do you employ a front line employee who represents your organization and who so obviously HATES the customers that he serves"? Customer service is more than half your business, isn't it? This guy needs to find employment elsewhere as he is turning off the customers at a rapid rate. After feeling so stressed by his demeanor last week I took my cash and went to Forest Hills Foods for my fresh seafood. They are friendly there. Frankly, I went back to Fish Lads for my Christmas dinner purchase (chose to not buy here this year because of all of this) thinking that surely "that guy" would have moved on. Nope. He's found his forever place apparently where management could care less how much of a turn off he is. Trust me, you're losing a lot of business because of this guy. The other staff were friendly by the...