Eastern & Main Market - Deli — Restaurant in Saint Johnsbury

We spent $14 on drinks and then were asked to leave from the outdoor seating because we had food from another restaurant. That's an unfriendly practice, but understandable. If handled delicately, it would not have prompted a negative review. Here are the circumstances that prompted me to share my experience.

Other tables were empty at the time we were kicked out. There was no demand for our table. When we initially arrived, a couple was eating food from outside the deli at one of the tables. Ironically, they were eating from the same place we were. Obviously this is a common practice. The couple were able to finish their lunch in peace because the person who kicked us out was not attentive enough to notice them located at the far bench. The person who told us to leave did it by foisting us off on nearby corporate chains (Dominoes or Subway). I'm sure this was meant to be helpful, but it came off as insincere and two-faced. I was reminded of a mindset of "I support the homeless, but no shelters in my backyard". The person who kicked us out twice erroneously referred to us as non-customers. We corrected this person both times to which their wasn't really any response. To be kicked out is disappointing. To be denied the reality that we were customers was insulting.

Its clear to me that this store encounters a lot of outside food being eaten at their benches, and this has annoyed management. Here's three options they could pursue to improve the customer experience:

Put up a sign. It prevents honest people from being unsure if the empty benches are able to be enjoyed without precondition. Yes, it does make the storefront look a little more unfriendly, but hey, if you have an unfriendly policy, it is better to be up-front about it. That would have prevented this entire scenario.

Negotiate with neighboring businesses. I mentioned that both my group and another couple had food from the same place. Obviously this is a common customer action, so why not address it directly? Either ask the neighboring business to install seating of their own, or arrange with them to share in the cost of hosting it.

Kindly inform customers who sit at the table without having purchased food that the tables are prioritized for food ordering customers. Invite them to finish their meal and ask them to consider purchasing food from the deli next time. Its simple, its elegant, and 95% of customers aren't going to have the gall to be "repeat offenders". Those who are can be handled more firmly.

If you're going to patron this store, know that you are being ranked by how much you spend. Want drinks but don't want the food? You're not enough of a customer to warrant a seat. Ownership is looking at those empty benches outside as though they are precious assets that must not be compromised by lowly half customers. That says a lot about their values. I hope they take some of the recommendations above seriously. It would prevent negative feedback in the future.

As a final note, this review concerns management and the behavior of the individual who asked us to leave. The other two employees working at the time were not involved. No...

The owner is rude, mouthy, disrespectful and conceited but the food is good and the majority of the rest of the staff are very polite and professional. Unfortunately with a boss like that this store probably will lose alot of business. Hopefully he stays out of the store because when his isn't there the atmosphere is very relaxing and inviting. It gets quite busy during the school season because all the Academy kids come here to grab lunch and snacks in between classes and before and after school but that isn't enough to make me stay away. The owner on the other hand is. Honestly the owner probably doesn't care if he scares locals away because he knows he will make up for it with the students. Food is great and a...

Had the classic Italian sandwich and wasn't impressed. First of all, very skimpy on the meat. There was not a lot of protein in the sandwich. The classic italian comes with pickles, banana peppers, and oil/vinegar dressing - it made the sandwich very briny, and the lack of meat further exacerbated the imbalance of flavors. The bread was decent, that's about it. Wasn't worth the $9 price tag. I gave them a 2nd chance recently, ordered the Caledonian. There was so much mayo the sandwich was almost inedible.

Unfortunately, they don't know how to make a decent sandwich here. They also guard their outdoor seating like the picnic tables are made of gold and rudely tell people to leave quite often. Read the...