Orlando Area Restaurants … and a rant!
The Florida Leisure office often gets asked about restaurants in our area and since creating the “Restaurant Row” video a month ago (you can see it here) over 4,500 people have viewed it wanting to know where they can go to eat. As popular as the video has been, we still get asked for other options and for more details, so, I have decided to make a weekly post on one of the areas dining establishments. Some of the restaurants will be some of the fine dining establishments we have in the area and others will be places you can go and grab a quick bite. There’s going to be room for every type of restaurant in this weekly feature!
The series will be called Dining Delights in Orlando and hopefully it will help you plan your next trip to Orlando so you don’t miss anything!
But first, before the first restaurant is featured….I have a rant.Forgive me here … but some folks need to be told a thing or two!
Very shortly after filming and producing the video you now see on the www.YouTube.com/FloridaLeisure channel I wrote to six of the best restaurants on “Restaurant Row” – Sand Lake Road, Orlando and asked them if they would like to be among the first to be spotlighted in this blog. In this day and age where business is tougher to get than ever before you’d think they’d have the decency to get back to a request of this nature wouldn’t you?
Well… would it surprise you to learn that only one of them showed the common courtesy to make a response. Hard to believe isn’t it? In the letter I pointed out I had visited each of these establishments several times over the years …so you would think they’d appreciate that one of their customers was going to the trouble to recommend some business to them…wouldn’t you?
Obviously not.
Only one of them responded and told me they’d need to “clear it with corporate.” After a couple of weeks they came back to me and presented me with a two page disclaimer form to sign full of legalese! I simply refused to sign it. After all, it’s me trying to help them gain business and I thoroughly object to a) reading two pages of some dumb lawyers b/s and b) I’m just not going to sign anything that dictates what I can say. They can stick it!
After that experience I thought I’d pop into another of the restaurants I wrote to and ask if I could do a quick two minute video. That’s all I need. A brief tour of the restaurant followed by a clip of the food being cooked and that’s just about all I need to give you an idea of what’s on offer. So what happens? The girl on the counter goes and gets her manager and he politely informs me that I’ll have to call…wait for it… yes, you guessed…corporate! He then proceeds to give me a restaurant business card…not even his name on it and writes the phone number on the card. Of course, the first thing I’m going to do is return to my desk and call corporate and see if it’s OK to do my video aren’t I? Utter lunacy.
It beats me why the manager couldn’t call corporate himself and get permission while I was there (obviously too much trouble)…it also beats me why the manager can’t just make his own decision about having a once raving fan of his restaurant make a quick video promoting the place. And, this is what’s wrong with this country right now. Too many idiots in charge of making decisions that can actually drive business.
So…I promise I’ll get down off my soapbox in a minute… to all you corporate restaurant types… here’s something that may help you…
“It’s not about you or your stupid marketing ideals or what corporate thinks… it’s about your customers.”
Let them see what you do. Let them experience it. Let them talk about you…because they will…regardless of whether you like it or not anyway.
Rant over.
Later today the first in the series will appear… it’s a Greek restaurant and I videoed it using my new secret tactic… don’t ask permission! If stopped, ask for forgiveness. 😉 I hope they see a rise in business and I hope they do well…
