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| Rating | Avg. Dinner Entrée |
|---|---|
| $$$$$ | Greater than $25 |
| $$$$ | $18.01 - $25 |
| $$$ | $12.01 - $18 |
| $$ | $7.01 - $12 |
| $ | Less than $7 |
| Food | ![]() |
Value | ![]() |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service | ![]() |
Atmosphere | ![]() |
Posted by Lenny R on 01/13/2008
Come on, guys you know better!
I recently was referred to Mary L's by the funeral home that was conducting my father's funeral. As is customary in the Jewish faith, the funeral was to be held very shortly after the death. I had 24 hours to set up *everything*, of which catering for receiving mourners was a small part, on the phone from New York City before traveling to Florida for the funeral. Never having done this before, I greatly apreciated Mary L's help & efficiency in offering suggestions for [select]ions to order. (The tone *was* a bit brusque, but I'll give them a break there, I needed *fast* a lot more than I needed TLC.) The entire process took under 10 minutes on the phone, plus a couple of very brief follow-up calls. The person I needed to speak to was available promptly every time I called, w/virtually no hold time, even during lunch times, when I'm sure they must have been very busy. He was also very accommodating, proceeding with taking the order even when I'd misplaced an important piece of information & needed to provide it later. All of this was invaluable at a time when I needed to divide my attention among a great number of major areas & depend upon others to accomplish the details. Mary L's certainly came through there. Their follow-up, however, needs some work: When I called them 20 minutes after the food was supposed to have been delivered to find out what was going on, the response was (less than half an hour after I'd buried my father), "Wellummahh...Can you come here?" "No, I *can't* come there. We're observing mourning." They did ultimately deliver the order: cold & without paper plates or tableware, requiring us to first start running around completing work they should have done. "Service," by definition, should be given graciously, not grudgingly. As a kosher restaurant is well aware of the circumstances and needs following a funeral, there is absolutely no excuse for these lapses. Once we got it heated up & had something to serve it on, the food (chicken, Israeli salad, roasted potatos, noodle kugel (especially good), & rugelach) was good. Bottom line: I would call them again, but would make sure to specify points like "hot," "tableware," & "we *really* need this delivered," rather than assuming they were automatic. On the other hand, my sister, who's worked in catering & has *never* delivered cold food (& had the rare privilege of having to finish Mary L's work rather than receiving mourners) would never use them again.