Gene's Sausage Shop and Delicatessen — Restaurant in Lake View Township

Honestly I want so badly to love this place and consistently get terrible service. Four times in a row I have purchased something from Gene’s that is expired, including a ribeye from the meat case that smelled horrible when I opened it at home fifteen minutes after I bought it. This particular purchase was after a long day at work on a cold January night so I didn’t make the trek back to exchange it. I called and spoke to a very rude employee who told me without a receipt there wasn’t much I could do (when checking out they asked if I wanted my receipt and I didn’t because I figured I’d be eating it that night). I asked to speak to a manager and waited on hold for fifteen minutes before finally speaking to another very rude person who told me without a receipt, how would they know when I bought something. My response was from the meat label that was on the packaging. He reluctantly offered to have me come and to inspect it and maybe I could exchange it but kept saying how I should have gotten a receipt. I decided that as nice as it was for him to repeatedly call me a liar and excuse me of I guess, grocery fraud, I would eat the $20 and just stop going.

I hadn’t been back to Gene’s since the night, until today. I wanted to grab some breakfast stuff and it’s walking distance from my apartment so I figured I’d give it a shot. I ordered a half pound of danish bacon and a half pound of double smoked rib belly. Sounds delicious. My boyfriend and I both asked for it to be thickly sliced. The woman helping us didn’t speak to us and sliced it into a paper container which prevented us from seeing the packaged products. She also didn’t adjust the tare weight on the scale, charging us (albeit it pennies but still) more than what we were actually buying. We didn’t say anything because I don’t know, anxiety, and it’s not the end of the world, and have honestly come to expect bad service from this store and figured if that’s the worst of it, fine.

We just got home and the meat is in shreds. Literally translucent and falling apart it’s so thin. We talked about going back and exchanging it (because I got a receipt this time) and decided it’s not worth another thirty minutes and an argument with a manager. This is my first google review, normally I would just stop going somewhere but this is ridiculous. People are rude, the shelves are consistently stocked with expired products, and they don’t deliver what’s asked for. For such a cool, niche, neighborhood store I REALLY would love to change my opinion. I hope management can take some of this to heart and at the very least improve...

Where to begin...we asked for the pitcher of sangria, which does not have volume pricing by the way. The pitcher is literally 3 glasses of sangria, and you pay the same as if you purchased 3 individual glasses. Small thing, but noticeable.

We then watched the associate pour a half bottle of pre-made sangria into a pitcher with ice and hand it to us. So the $24 isn't for some house version or for their crafty mixing, but for half a $10 bottle you can probably get at the grocery store beneath. And they didn't add fruit. When asked, the associate said they were out...again, we're above a grocery store...I jokingly asked for a discount which received no reply.

Then it got bad when we felt a few drops of rain. The rooftop deck is fitted with umbrellas, so we open ours up and continue enjoying our meal. Until an associate comes and closes it, citing concerns the wind could blow it over. I express that we and our food are now getting rained on, so we need it, he says that it's a rooftop deck and that happens, I remind him THERE'S AN UMBRELLA, he closes it and says it's just directive from his manager, I understand, so I ask to speak with her.

She advises there is seating inside and points to 4 barstools by the exit door. I ask how all 20-30 patrons are supposed to do that, she says sometimes they sit on the stairs too - not sure how the fire marshal would feel about that... I say that's not acceptable and she quite begrudgingly offers me a full refund, citing her inability to control the weather, which was not the point.

About 5 minutes later, the rain lets up and the sun comes out. There was no wind, no damage, no nothing. Had they simply kept the umbrella up for 10 more minutes, none of this would have transpired. Sitting on the inside grocery store stairs is an unacceptable solution for patrons of an outdoor venue during bad weather. If your umbrellas are not strong enough to withstand normal wind, get better umbrellas.

The markup on the sangria alone could pay for one after all...

And to never offer an apology for the lack/unwillingness of accommodations is just poor service.

Never...

Horrific Another adventure at Gene’s and another disappointment, this time major. We were in Lincoln Square picking up gifts at Mertz and food at Garcia’s, two places where quality of the product and attentive service standout. We decided to stop at Gene’s for some Amish chicken. We retrieved out number, 51. They were serving 48. They call out 49, 50, 52. Oops, look like they missed 51. My wife lets the counter person know they missed 51 and we then proceed to receive service. This would have been a non event except this has happened to us on a regular basis. This system is used by many delis (Paulina comes to mind) and it’s pretty simple. Time for checkout. We are third in line and before the cashier can finish ringing up the 1st person, the line quickly grows to 7. The cashier call for assistance and a second register is opened. The new cashier clearly states “ I can help people over here”, and the people from the back of the single line quickly move in for service leaving customers 2,3 (me), and 4 still waiting to get checked out. As I am being checked out, I say to the cashier that in the future, when a new register is opened, it would better to take the NEXT customer in line. Her reply is “I’m doing the best I can”. I leave the store totally frustrated, get in my car and call Gene’s and ask to speak to a manager, a person identifies himself as MIKE. I ask if he is the manager and he claims he is the owner. I tell him how frustrated I am and make the horrible mistake of reciting the serving numbers out of order. This guy grills me. I explain to him 3 times I made a mistake in reciting the numbers. After the third time he tells me he doesn’t like my attitude and if I am so unhappy I should stop going there. I tell him no problem and I’ll be sure to tell everyone I know what a horrible experience I had as well as promote my experience on...