Man Eats Des Moines says his first impression with Alba wasn’t that great. But he returns often for special occasions.
Wini writes: I always say that when it comes to restaurants, Des Moines is a very unforgiving town. When a restaurant burns a patron with a bad experience, it’s highly unlikely that he/she will ever return again (especially if the diner paid dearly for the insult). But here, in his first column for this site, Man Eats Des Moines tells us that taking a second chance on first-visit flops has led him to enduring favorites.
On First Impressions and Second Chances
by Man Eats Des Moines
My default dining mode is sincerely to want to love every Des Moines restaurant I go to. We are so lucky to have so many locally owned choices that I want them all to be wonderful. You can imagine, then, the level of my disappointment when that first visit falls short of expectations.
But I’ve been around long enough to know that while first impressions are important, second chances are more so—as much for myself as for the restaurants.
I was already thinking about this topic, when the recent dust-up hit over the review of Sam & Gabe’s. Now, I have only been to Sam & Gabe’s a couple times, but there is nothing—not even a mediocre review—that would keep me from going there again.
As I was following the exchanges about the Sam & Gabe’s review, I recalled five local restaurants where I had bad first impressions. Despite that, I’ve returned to them all on numerous occasions:
• Flying Mango has become my longtime failsafe dining place of choice.
• Alba has become a special-place-to-go favorite.
• Mi Patria is a suburban-strip-mall-best-kept secret in both quality and value
• BOS at Hotel Savery is slowly growing on me.
• Sadly, the fifth restaurant (which will remain nameless) seems to be slipping the other direction.
Based solely on my first impression, though, I would have severely cut my dining options—and missed many great dining experiences.
But I’ve often wondered, do most people share this philosophy?. . . I’d love to hear from you. When it comes to dining out, if your first impression is a bad one, will you give it another chance? Or is it “one and done”? Report back, either here or on the All Things Food DSM Facebook Page.
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A first bad experience equals disappointment, normally resulting in waiting some time before trying the place out again. A second bad experience finds me feeling rather stupid for having spent hard earned money on this again. A third bad experience? This would only happen if the place stayed open many years after the second bad experience. I’d give them a third chance if I see there has been a change in management or that they are getting better ratings online or by word of mouth. A third bad experience is rare, as this system seems to work fairly well for me to date.
Whether or not I will give a restaurant another chance depends on how bad the first impression was and if there appears to be potential for improvement. I have visited some restaurants where the first impression was not good, but they had that one dish that seemed to show that potential was there. After returning a few months later, I have found that these restaurants were able to fix their problems and become an enjoyable experience. However, I have also had first impressions so bad that I refuse to return (and usually that doesn’t matter because they are closed within the year!). I still remain open minded to trying restaurants again, especially if I hear positive reviews from a reliable source.
Agree with what’s posted here. I give second chances if I feel that the place might have had an off night. But sometimes you can just tell that the restaurant has bad concepts/policies in place, in which case, there’s litte reason to go back.