Abigail M. Schilling

I don't know if I've ever been so happy at a month for having only 30 days, except last year. It's not so much that I don't have blog ideas, I just don't have the willpower.

In honor of that link though, do you want to know what I had for lunch? Because I can so tell you.

My mom and I went to this restaurant in Big Bear which is always kind of risky because the ratio of really sucky restaurants to establishments that serve edible food is one to one. And there aren't any places I would call "really good." Considering every place I eat out at home I describe as really good, Big Bear is a bit of a letdown in the eating arena.

So, we picked this particular lunch place because she could get double airline miles or something. Also, the subtitle was something about sandwiches, so, yes. It was a little rustic, but not too shabby on first glance. A bit on the grimy-er side of mom and pop, but carrying that Big Bear charm I've come to know and love.

We got seated (awkwardly) and ordered. Our table had a clear view of the register/kitchen so when a table got up to leave and started a rumble with the owner we could hear the whole thing. See this dude's BLT (an item that was also part of the subtitle) was only toasted on one side and had four pieces of bacon despite the menu making a big deal about how it came with "seven, count 'em!" pieces. There was some drama about how long the food took and how they had the worst experience ever. The owner didn't really want to listen or give them their free food.

While that was happening, another lady came up from her table because six of the people had received their food over ten minutes ago and they were still missing a sandwich.

While that was happening, the table next to ours started to get their food. First one entree. Then the appetizer a few minutes later. Then two more entrees. Finally, a few minutes later the last entree.

We were freezing cold at our table and my mom thought we'd be way warmer if we moved to an open (unbussed) table on the other side of the restaurant. I was afraid if we moved they wouldn't realize it and throw our food away. Once I reached freezing, I agreed to move. After bussing a table to sit at, we tried to explain who we were. Our explanations were met with blank stares. "We were over there. But now we're here. We have the grilled cheese and the turkey sandwich." Blank stare.

Inexplicably, they bussed another table for us and had us move. We reminded them of our orders; it had been longer than average for food to come, and I mean Big Bear average which is like twice as slow as regular average even in the edible food places.

Another ten minutes or so go by and then owner comes back to re-take our orders. Seriously. He admitted that he had taken them before, but not that it was weird that it had been over a half hour and we still didn't have food and apparently it wasn't even being made! Shortly thereafter, my mom's food came out.

And mine didn't.

And didn't.

And didn't.

A cook came and asked me what I had. I ordered again.

Grilled cheese with mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.

A few minutes later the owner came back and asked me what I had. I ordered again. Shortly thereafter my sandwich came. With American cheese not fully melted. I wanted to cry.

We didn't bother yelling into the kitchen: the place was clearly a lost cause. But we're never going back. And I might write some things about it on Yelp later. Yelp is my one partner in the quest to find really good food in Big Bear.