Goodbye Cindi's: Worst Service Ever

This morning I took my get-acquainted tour of the fitness center at the Jewish Community Center, which will be my new exercise haven, and afterwards I thought I would swing by the neighboring Cindi's Delicatessen for a "quick" breakfast before continuing on with my day.

Boy, was that ever a mistake.

Usually, Cindi's is comparatively crowded when I want to go there so this time I gauged my initial decision on whether I could get a "quick" breakfast by how many cars were in the restaurant's parking lot. A positive indicator: I got a spot right in front of the entrance.

I walked up to the "Wait to be Seated" sign, held up one finger and said "one" when the host asked how many was in my party, and was ushered right to a table. Granted, before too long, a waitress appeared and asked if I wanted some coffee. I said that I did.

I received the coffee in the familiar thermal carafe a few minutes later and then I waited. And waited. And waited. Luckily I had a book to read. Several times I tried to discreetly signal my waitress I was ready to order but she never even looked in my direction. After reading more than 50 pages of my book and depleting the thermal coffee carafe I finally just stood up as my waitress came by and asked for my check. She stupidly told me, "I thought you were waiting for someone."

I say "stupidly" because her explanation would have been more logical had I been seated facing the front entrance so I could be on the lookout for someone I was "waiting for." But I was seated with my back to the entrance and hunched over my book the entire time. And even then, after more than 30 minutes, I would think a restaurant that had even adequate service would have inquired if the customer wanted to go ahead and order.

So I paid for my coffee, left, drove home and made myself breakfast, which was probably superior to what I would have had at Cindi's, although I will never know for sure because I will never, ever set foot in that deli again.