STONEHOUSE BISTRO & PIZZA
I'm going to attempt to respond, one time, to all of you who have posted comments over the last year and a half. Let me start with dispelling the vast collection of rumors ( both innoculous & ridiculous) that have been at the forefront of these forums on and off for some time, and then address the legitimate concerns that have been voiced here. It is against my better judgement to play into what is largely the equivalent of an "On Line Inquirer Magazine". Many members of this site seem to use it as a political vehicle to do nothing more than pick apart life in an attempt to fulfill a long list personal shortcomings. I find it extremely odd that the 99% of those who consistently focus on the negative have not once attempted to walk in and introduce yourself face to face. Others have stated we are unavailable and uninvolved which is simply untrue, so to put that issue to bed I will offer my cell number directly. In the rare event I am at the park with my kids and we forgot the pickles on your sandwich..call me..916-607-9170. The most outlandish of these posts have been the belligerent individuals (often intoxicated) who apparently suffer from a momentary loss of factual recount-ability. These people scream, yell, turn 15 minutes into an hour, and distort the truth by turning themselves into the victim, and I will not address these blogs one by one. It's fairly clear to surmise by the disgruntled nature in the verbiage of the posts just who these people are...and there is no changing that type of thought.
Then there are the posts that the Bistro is too fancy, doesn't deliver, the pizza are too small, too pricey..too..blah blah blah. So we listened, and opened the Pizza place. Yes, we had our fair share of hurdles. Our intention has always been to offer good food, service and ambiance in both restaurants. One of our main concerns was to employ as many of the young adults and kids in the community as possible. Many have come in and criticized these kids for taking too long for a sandwich, or a pizza, many in the first two months. These kids are new, many their first job. We have identified the problems and have now hired a full time Manager for the pizza restaurant. Our new Managers name is Jaremiah, and he would love to hear your concerns and suggestions. Jaremiah is at the pizza place Tues-sat open to close( sorry I cannot give you his cell number!!)
FYI> The club stopped brunch, you asked for brunch, we started brunch, and are now opened Sundays @ 10:00 am.
On a different ongoing topic, for some bizarre reason, people have conjured up ridiculous notions that we came from a posh situation and reluctantly were transplanted here. Brittney and I came here from Southern California for two reasons, so our children could be closer to their grandparents (who also live in Rancho Murieta), and so we could afford a home. After being in the restaurant business for years, we felt we might bring something to the community by liquidating our savings, & creating what is now Stonehouse Bistro. As a result, Britt left her career as an ER Nurse, and I as a director of Sales. We have sacrificed an immense amount of time with our children in an attempt to build a business for ourselves and ultimately, a better life for our family long term. The comments and blogs started soon after ranging from logical to asinine so I hope I have, in the least, addressed those worthy of a response.
Both Britt and I are so blessed to have had the support from all of you in the community and hope, during these very trying times things improve for everyone. As always our primary objective is to make Rancho Murieta a better place for our kids, your kids, and even those of you who are "soap box" critics at heart. Come and speak to us any time, your comments are always welcome. Do not misconstrue our lack of "online" response as a disregard for concern. we put our family first, and work second( unfortunately not always in that order) and have little time to sit and gossip on line. But again, we always welcome your call or visit, and one if not both of us are typically always at the restaurant. Remember..there are always two sides to every whale tale.
Chris:
I've seen and heard comments, positive and negative, about your businesses, but my experiences have been positive. My view: The Bistro is the classiest public establishment for miles (in truth, not a very competitive field) and can seem downtownish in its prices, while your pizza place produces a good pie that's competitively priced and delivered hot.
As was stated in the other thread about Plaza Foods, Murieta is lucky to have your businesses here. I hope you do well and can handle the negative comments. Sometimes it seems those comments are our chief export.
I love this response! It is a long time coming! Just for the record, we (my family, friends and neighbors) have never had a problem at either the Bistro or the Pizza Place. We order take out and delivery from both places often and have NEVER had a problem. We are always greeted with a warm smile and the food is really good.
There are ALWAYS those folks that never have a positive thing to say about ANYTHING and those are the people who seem to be the ones who cry the loudest. So... let me speak for the SILENT majority, you guys are doing great job and we are so fortunate to have two more great resturants to choose from!!
I too think this is a case of where those who have been satisfied have kept silent. I suppose that is the way life often goes.
I have always enjoyed the pizzas I've had from the newer pizza place, and the few times I've been in the bistro, I was impressed. We live in this small community, and I think we should try to support the businesses out here by speaking up to the managers and owners when things go wrong. At least we can give the stores, restaurants and other businesses out here a chance do us right before we start posting our complaints online.
My husband and I have been a very satisfied customer of your restaurant - UNTIL - two months ago when we went for dinner, ordered the lasagna and complained to the waitress that the sauce was obviously wrong. We could not even swallow it. If Chris were there, there would not have been a problem. He would have asked what other offering on the menu he could bring us. No, this did not happen. What happened is that we left the entire lasagna meal on our plates and when we called the waitress (who I think was not merely a waitress, but a manager) to our table to say that we could not eat the lasagna and she said "that's too bad. Do you want dessert?" And when we declined, brought us a bill for the meal. Well, we had been fairly regular customers but have not been back and have no plans of ever going back. This was just too much to put up with. Chris has been wonderful to us, but this woman was obviously not at all concerned with keeping us as customers of the restaurant. Well, if she doesn't care about us, we don't care about supporting the restaurant.
We used to own the Rancho Murieta Business Center which is next to Stonehouse Bistro. We got to know Chris and Brittany when they began their journey to bring the Bistro to RM. We saw the long hours, the frustrations with permits, licensing, building, etc. that they delt with. I don't know that I would have survived all of that! They were determined to bring a beautiful quality restaurant to RM. They spent many hours away from their children and family to build the restaurant. It finally opened and again they spent long hours working there to make a great destination for meals and socializing with friends. We had many wonderful gourmet meals there. We spent long hours at the business center and when we went home they were still there working hard. Before we moved from RM they began another quest to bring RM a pizza restaurant because they had so many requests from people for just regular pizza. We saw them going through many of the same hurdles that they had the first time but they were determined to get the second restaurant opened. Sure they have had struggles with staffing and other issues but so do other restaurants and businesses. We were not there to see the final product but we know the sacrifices they had to make to accomplish it. They have two wonderful girls and I hope that they now have more time to spend with the girls. I applaud them for all their hard work and thank them for the good things they have brought to Rancho Murieta. I'm sure their restaurants have brought more business to the other businesses in the Plaza. How many people have said thank you to them? I hope I am not the first.
Thank you Chris, Brittany and Family
Lynda Gavelis
I try very hard not to get caught up in all of the negative posts, but felt compelled to respond in defense of Chris and Britt.
My family was in the restaurant business for years. I started washing dishes for my dad's business when I was ten and was a short order cook when I was 12. My dad was a stickler for the customer being happy, but that is not always possible. 90% leave full and happy and 10% do not. 50% of the 10% probably have a valid complaint and the other 50% would never be happy no matter what you served them or how it was served.
I have NEVER had a bad meal or experience at Stonehouse. I'm not bashful about getting something corrected if it's not right, but it has always been fixed to my satisfaction. Even though "I aren't one", I have always been treated as a VIP when we dine with Chris and Britt. The staff is super friendly and generally very efficient.
My first suggestion for those who like to complain in this forum, is don't complain in public until you have complained personally to the owner, to see if it can be resolved to your satisfaction. If you leave without satisfaction, then write about it as much as you want.
Everyone makes mistakes. Restaurants, waiters and cooks are not exempt from this rule. It is the end result that counts and from what I've experienced Chris, Britt and the entire staff work to that end.
My husband and I were away for a year and tried to keep up a bit by reading these posts. I was not looking forward to trying either location after reading the negative experience some have had. Thank goodness I did not let that stop me from seeing for myself!
We've had a chance to have 3 meals at the Bistro and enjoyed a pizza tonight from Stonehouse Pizza. We've enjoyed all of our meals and the experiences so far.
No one always gets it right, but it's clear to me that the owners/managers have put a lot of time, money, experience and heart into both locations. I appreciate it. As long as the food continues to be as tasty, fresh and interesting as it has been so far, I'll continue to frequent both places when dining out locally.
Sure, the pizza is a bit more expensive than a Pizza Hut or Dominoes, but the quality is far better than those chain stores too. I don't mind paying for quality. We don't eat out all that often so it's OK with us. Everything is getting more expensive!
The menu and the quality of food I've enjoyed at the Bistro has been a pleasant surprise. It's rare that we eat out when we are not traveling, but I'm glad to have the Bistro as a choice so very near. Thank you!
Living in RM can be a challenge due to the limited choices we have in shopping, eating out and services, but that was a trade off we made to enjoy being away from congested areas, cookie cutter businesses and crazy traffic of living in a traditional city. I for one am pleased to have both of these business available and will continue to be a customer and I hope others will give them a try too.
Joined: 2008-03-31