Celebrate 250: The Therminator

For my 250th post, I plan to complain about something.  I try to keep away from the urge to rant about some injustice in my life, but yesterday's experience must be said.

Michelle and I found ourselves in Columbus Ohio yesterday.  Its a 3:15 drive from our house.  Though we've visited the city a number of times, we have so far been unsuccessful in visiting a particular spot within the city known for its burgers.

The Thurman Cafe.

It boasts of a burger called "The Therminator" which is assembled as follows: bottom bun, mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle, banana peppers, 12 ounce burger, bacon, cheddar, another 12 oz burger, sautéed mushrooms & onions, ham, mozzarella & American cheese, top bun served with fries.  Though I wasn't interested in this heart attack, I was interested in "The Thurman", which is it's smaller and more manageable cousin.

The Therminator

Each time we've tried, we either decided we had too many kids with us (and would rather starve than try to entertain our kids while waiting for the food) or we had the sense from the outpouring of customers waiting to get in that we'd have a better shot at winning the Powerball than getting seated before midnight.

Its obviously good stuff.  See how the Travel Channel's Man Versus Food guy rated the place:



Being alone yesterday-- just the two of us-- we decided to try it for a third time.  We arrived at 4PM, realizing we were likely hitting it at the start of its peak hours.  But in reality, the waiting line of people wasn't as big as we've seen it in the past.  We got our names on the list-- 45 minutes to an hour wait.  So, we waited.

And waited...

And waited...

After an hour and 10 minutes, I decided to saunter up to the host's desk to see where our name was.  We were at the top on the second of 2 columns.  Only the first half of the first column was crossed off.

People showing up after us were being told the wait would be at least 2 hours.  They promptly left.

After 5 or 10 minutes more, Michelle asked the host how much more time for us to get seated.  "About 45 minutes to an hour," said the host.

Wait... we were originally told the wait was 45 minutes to an hour.  Now, after waiting an hour and 15 minutes, we are being told our wait is still 45 minutes to an hour?  "It all depends on when you arrive," was all the host said in reply.

This reminded me of the Seinfeld episode when they all were being told from the host in the Chinese restaurant that their wait will be "five, ten minutes", and after every 5 or 10 minutes of waiting, the host would say, "it'll be five, ten minutes".

We left.  They might have really awesome burgers, but they need some work in the "hostessing" department, particularly their ability to estimate time to seating.  Prior to our departure, we asked an Ohio State University couple how long they'd been wait.  "Oh, since about 3:20 this afternoon".  Note: we asked them at 5:15PM.

So, clearly, they do not need my business... and clearly, I don't need theirs.

If you ever find yourself in Columbus and dare to try The Thurman Cafe, drop someone off when the place opens, go do all of your shopping, and then come back in the late afternoon.  Chances are good that your wait will not be long... or in vain.