East Coast Subs
…recently opened very close to where I work. I had initially intended to wait several weeks before my first visit. Unfortunately circumstances arose that required me to get a quick lunch one day during their opening week and its convenience factor overrode my intentions.
I walk past it at least twice a day coming to work and going home from work, so I’ve been watching the progress ever since they put their “Coming Soon” sign up several months ago. Shortly after the first “Coming Soon” sign went up I tried to find out more about it, which was not that easy.
It sometimes amazes me how difficult it is to find information online about some companies, especially retail ones. In this particular instance I did the first thing I always do when I want to learn more about a new place. I did a Google search for East Coast Subs Salt Lake to see what would come up. I don’t remember the particulars, but it seems like I had to make several subsequent, less specific searches to find out anything about it. I probably tried a second search using terms like East Coast Subs Utah.
- Point 1: do what you need to to make your business easy to find online.
When I finally did find them it was on another site like CitySearch or one of many local directory sites where you are in essence part of a big online phone directory. A lot of these sites provide the opportunity for people to post reviews or comments about a business and provide some kind of rating. When a business does this they are letting the conversation and perception of their business reside in someone else’s control.
There will never be a way to prevent reviews about your business showing up online, but if you at least have your own site on the web, you can present your side of the story, without that you aren’t even part of the conversation.
- Point 2: Always tell your side of the story, somewhere, preferably on a web site you control.
Fortunately for East Coast Subs, most of the reviews were positive and it sounded like they had a customer base that likes there product and continues to come back and eat there. So at this point I had some anticipation and was looking forward to trying it.
Again, I really wanted to give them a few weeks to get the operational kinks worked out, but ended eating there the second or third day they were open. The experience overall was good, but now that I’ve been there a couple times since they’ve opened I’ve noticed the same problem both times.
Their ordering process involves someone on staff greeting you at the counter to get the particulars of your order. The way they do this is on a laminated card. It has several lines on it and on each line the staff writes the name of your sandwich down and then checks off the different toppings you either want or don’t want on the sandwich.
The problem I’ve noticed both times is that each sandwich has a different set of standard toppings listed on their menu and so each time I’ve ordered, the person taking my order has had to refer to a separate cheat sheet and the custom-tailor the questions they ask me about which toppings I want on my sandwich. Just adds a little confusion to the process.
- Point 3: If I ever own a sandwich shop, standardize the topping list for every sandwich and then the staff only has to deal with exceptions (or provide a lot of training on the products).
On both my visits the food has been good and other than the slightly confusing order process, everything else has been good. I will continue to eat there, because ultimately, restaurants are all about the food and processes can always be improved or changed.
East Coast Subs
about 67 East Broadway (300 S.)
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
I found your blog after doing a similar search for East Coast Subs. Though, regretably, I had different intentions in mind…
I was a fan and regular guest at the Murray ECS, when employed in the area. The laminated cards for ordering, while unique, worked very well for those folks to the south.
As a fan, I’ve been making regular (near weekly) visits to the downtown East Coast, however with diminishing regularity. The food is good, but the service is horrible. Of my 4+ visits since they first opened, I have yet to receive my food, either a) within an acceptable timeframe, or b) as I ordered it.
Today (4/3/07), I left the office thinking I was heading for Ester’s across the street, and ended up at East Coast. It took the crew more than 30 minutes to prepare my order, while much to my dismay, others who had ordered -after- me, were long-gone with their sandwiches by the time I received mine.
I had a lot of the same concerns you did about giving them “time to work the kinks”, but I’m finding myself frustrated by the lack of improvement from one week to the next. The worst part is, each time I visit, its the same people working the same shift. I have a hard time accepting that such a process could still be fraught with so much confusion, disarray, and miscommunication after more than 30-days, and probably 75-100 orders each afternoon.
Anyway, in my search for some contact info to write a letter to the management/owners, I found your site. I’m always on the lookout for new places to eat downtown, and so it shall be bookmarked!