Jon92TA

I didn't make the last meeting but it sounds like there might have been some trouble.
Just a reminder I mentioned at the previous meeting that my daughter now works for Dave & Busters at the Irvine Spectrum. If we want to hold meetings there she can get us a free meeting room with video hook ups and free drinks of coffee, tea or soda. We pay for dinner that would be served in the room. Let me know.


Edit: Info update from post 63:

Ok, new D&B Meeting Room details my daughter brought home and I spoke to a manager.

How do you all feel about having the meeting on a Sunday instead of Saturday?

Friday & Saturday: Being their busy times require a minimum purchase of a $500 buffet style dinner in the meeting rooms.

Employee discount: No charge for the room and beverages are free.


Sunday: We can order food & drinks from the menu or an option of a in room buffet dinner starting as low as $10.99 per person. It sounds like most would prefer to order from the menu but I can call back and get more detail on the buffet options if interested.

Employee discount: No charge for the room.


Just a guess but the parking situation on Sunday may be better too.

Grey Goose

Sounds great to me! I think we should put it to a vote. This would be a great opportunity to start the New Year off at a different venue.

injdinjn

I'd go to D&B, the only issue with the spectrum is parking about a mile away from D&B.

godreject

iTrader: (1)

D&B for sure, but yes parking does suck, but i've only been to D&B at night so im not sure if parking is the same at earlier times, somewhat makes me glad i wasn't present last meeting at mimi's what exactly happened.

anyways pencil me in for one for the xmas dinner, by the way it's been a while since i've been to Bupa, they do offer individual servings right i'm a very picky eater so i rather pick my own plate so at least i know i'l have an enjoyable meal

1989GTATransAm

iTrader: (3)

I would have no problem with D&B.

Guest

Spectrum at 10, 11, 12, 1, 4, 5, 6... doesnt matter. Parking is available but close? No way, not unless you get lucky and find a spot.

Worked right on the opposite side of the freeway for years, been there more times than I can count.

SoCalMonster

Dave and Busters sounds good to us.

We vote yes on D&B.

JulieGTA

Dave and busters is nice, but parking on a Saturday night at the Spectrum can be interesting

Kevin91Z

iTrader: (1)

I copied the posts related to changing the venue for our February meeting to this new thread. Please continue the discussion here.

I'm fine with Dave & Busters at the Spectrum, too. I just feel bad for the L.A. people now having to drive another 30 miles south. However, the O.C. and I.E. people have had to drive to L.A. for 6 years or so, previously... We'll never make everyone happy.

Jon, what do we do when your daughter changes jobs?

Also, Dave & Buster's is not known for their food, if you know what i mean....

Guest

I like this idea. I would actually attend your guys meetings regularly---that alone may have the club back out of this idea LOL

Kevin91Z

iTrader: (1)

I put up a poll.

Grey Goose

Kevin, you do the exact same thing you do when you get mistreated by the management and staff of a restaurant. You move on! I think it would be a good thing to move the meeting venue annually just to keep our members engaged.

As far as Dave & Busters food goes. There hasn’t been a place yet that we have either had our meetings at or eaten at after our meetings that has had ‘good’ food. It’s like the age old saying goes… one mans trash is another mans treasure. Hey, I get it! Don’t forget, with quality comes money and it’s been made painfully clear that when it comes to choosing between the two (for some) saving money always trumps the quality of the meal/experience. Let’s be honest here. The focus isn’t on the food unless we are talking about the cost of it. What we need to focus on is what the facility has to offer and how it will benefit us as a club.

Based on what Jon has said, we could expect a complimentary meeting room which gives us the privacy to conduct club business, video hook ups which allows us to view footage from past cruises, racing events, and dyno sessions, complimentary beverages while we are conducting our meeting, and having our dinner served in the same private room. Yes parking is an issue, but we can find a way to sort it out. All in all, I think it’s a great idea.

injdinjn

99% of chain restaurant food is mediocure. You will only find good food at a private owned restaurant, but those are becoming scarce and the few I go to do not have room for us or our cars.

Even at close to ~$200 for three without drinks we were not that impressed with 5 crowns. But KC is too far away.

JulieGTA

Right, didn't we figure that out when we decided to meet at Mimi's in the first place?

Grey Goose

Actually no, the only reason we ultimately ended up at Mimi's is that Ricky & Ronnie’s unexpectedly went out of business. Once that happened we really didn’t have a venue for our meeting. At that point Russ suggested the Fuddruckers in Lakewood as a centrally located venue for our meeting. When that location left much to be desired Lon mentioned the Mimi’s in Industry as he had several of his Kiwanis meetings there and was satisfied with the service he and the Kiwanis members had received. So truth be told, there wasn’t much thought behind selecting Mimi’s. As far as I am concerned it has always been a temporary solution that worked for the time being. Other members may feel differently than I do, but since you quoted me you asked me.

Dyno Don

iTrader: (7)

If you want a local place (Anaheim) with good food and a backroom w/TV, I know of one.

It's just a greasy spoon, the menu is good and I have tried most everything on it.

Portions are decent and most dinners come with salad and dessert.

injdinjn

Does it have a name

JulieGTA

Ok, you asked me to clarify since I wasn't making any sense:

Like you and others said, when choosing a space for our meetings we often sacrifice quality of food in exchange for a suitable meeting space.

I was under the impression that we had been going to Mimi's because it had a better meeting room than Fuddrucker's, not because of say, the superior quality of food and service.

I'm not surprised that the club will not be eating there after the events of last weekend. And I realize the need to keep our members engaged.

I'm just concerned that any place we choose to hold our meetings will fall under the same, uh... dramatic scrutiny.

Guest

I've eaten at the D+B in the spectrum many many many times. The food there has always been good, but sometimes the service is a bit lacking. They always handled large groups well though, better than anyplace I've been with this club or anyone else.

Grey Goose

Once again you are incorrect. Please reread post #12

There are two issues I am addressing in this post. 1, the fact that there are some members in this club that do not care about the quality of the food and/or their experience and when given the option they will always choose to save money moreover paying more for a quality meal. 2, we needed to focus on what the facility (Dave & Busters) has to offer us as a club. At no point were these one in the same.

Not correct. Please reread post #15

Again, we did not select Mimi’s over Fuddruckers for any other reason than Fuddruckers couldn’t cut it and Lon mentioned that he had experience with the Industry facility. We needed a place, Lon recommended it, so we went for it. The fact that Mimi’s had a separate area for us to meet was a bonus. Food, quality, and service had absolutely nothing to do with our selecting Mimi’s.

Which is why I made the suggestion to select a different venue for our meetings every year. I could see where you could interpret this as a little “dramatic scrutiny” given your murky disposition. However now that I have explained everything to you yet again, I am optimistic we can count on you to help us in selecting an appropriate venue.

JulieGTA

Unfortunately I'm not an optimist, as you pointed out.
You don't have to be so condescending, though.

Russ-So Cal

I think we should try Dave & Busters. I don't mind Mimi's, but the service is a function of a good manager combined with motivated servers. At this time it appears that Mimi's lacks both. Lon's Kiwanis Club uses the Mimi's in COI regularly, so he can let us know if the the service improves in the event that Dave and Busters fails to deliver. As I see it, the biggest challenge for us is that most restaurants don't have banquet rooms available, and often the ones that do are more expensive than the members want to spend.

Grey Goose

Jules, I’m happy to see that you are getting involved and want to encourage you to stay the course. This is what I’m talking about when I say that we need to have our members become involved. I have found that communication is undeniably the best way to negotiate misinterpretations, issues, confusion, etc. Whether it is through email, message board, text, or telephone the more we communicate the more dialed in we become with each other. I apologize if I came off condescending Jules. I am a terrific smart *** and it comes through in my posts more often than not. I tell you what, I give you my word as a gentleman to govern myself and the written word if you give me your word that you will make every effort to thoroughly read and understand a post before attempting to quote/comment on it. Deal?

Grey Goose

injdinjn

Our local professional org meets at JT Schmids across from the pond. Been meeting there for about 10 years. Currant cost is $30/person for the equilivent of chicken surprise.

Guest

There is NOTHING better for a car club meeting that a car friendly place...
1)where if you book early enough you can get the entire club there free

2) it is Saturday afternoon

3) Cheap food (ie King Taco, hotdogs, Baked potatos...service is quick and no tipping)

4) you get special parking

5) you get to cruise your cars as a club and show them off

6) you get free entertainment all night watching races

7) arrive early enough you get plenty of open tables to conduct a meeting as well as be right near your cars for show and tell- little background noise with generally one car on the track at a time for qualifying so talking during a meeting is no problem.


..Toyota speedway. http://www.toyotaspeedwayatirwindale.com/track.asp

PVCA (Pomona Valley Corvette Assoc) through the guidance of Chuck who some of you know do this 3 Saturdays a year at irwindale. Why not tale the oppotunity and make 3 Saturday club meetings there a year. Here are picture archieves of PVCA concucting meetings prior to the races...FOR FREE- the only thing it costs you is food and drinks and you can even bring your own food and drinks.
http://www.pvca.org/PVCA_photo_List_...age=1&sort=num

injdinjn

Thats true.

kkingsrulee

Would someone mind explaining what EXACTLY happened last meeting?

injdinjn

The club secretary, if we have one, should have notes to email.

Grey Goose

Dean, seriously!? This is a phenomenal idea, especially doing it three times a year. All of the points you made make total sense and in my opinion and this option dovetails very nicely into not only keeping our members engaged but offering our members a genuinely unique experience that will keep interest/participation high. I love this idea and really appreciate you taking the time to bring it to the table. Does this mean that you’ve finally gotten over having your *** handed to you at a certain auto x event?

It’s in the past and doesn’t need to be brought up again. Onward and upward…

Notes? No. Emails and letters? Ah, yeah…plenty.

TA

iTrader: (1)

Uh, local to whom??? Rickie and Ronnies was perfect, it was about 6 blocks from my house. Is the place you are referring to the place you go for lunch?

TA

Jon92TA

I've done the Irwindale club meet a few times before, they're pretty cool, we should do it. Plus you can get some cool pics of your car on the track.

Guest

And how ironic your next quote is when we combine them together.

But since you did retort back for a breif cloudy moment, trophy is ******, not ***.

Love you Mikey.

Or maybe you are speaking of an event I missed attending.

Jon, looky you beating all those Rustangs :Thumbsup:

Seriously though, Mike, If you are going to try and book 3 dates like PVCA does, I would get onto the horn with Irwindale ASAP before they post next years schedule and the world starts calling. they get alot of import riceroni cars doing this- those little sq lunch box vehicles and crap- I think they would love more muscle car groups up there on a regular basis.

Guest

injdinjn

Grey Goose

LOL! Well played Dean. I was watching my in-car footage from that dreadful day yesterday and found plenty of mistakes that never should have been made. But then again hindsight is an exact science isn’t it. That was a lot of fun. We need to put something like that together again.

I’m all for it and would be happy to make the call today but that wouldn’t be fair to the members without putting it to a vote. Who would you recommend that I speak with?

Guest

I will be up there for our last race of the season on Oct 24th. Its our big 100 lapper. I have been crewcheifing for someone else since race 4 this year- BS politics and now humerous hung egos.

Anyways, I will ask about it.

Meanwhile, maybe you might want to contact Chuck from Corvette forum that has set this up between us and the Vette club a few times. I think kevin91Z is an aquaintance if his. I will check the forum and get his contact info. He should know how to contact at Irwindale and maybe have some pull in getting us some better dates since they have booked alot of prior ones.

update: I just emailed him. I will let you know of any response info.

Also- if anyone is interested in helping me out on a truck for the 100 lapper (we usually run 40) I am last minute putting together a crew for the #24 truck of Derek Disarro and am crewchiefing for him on the last race. He found a sponsor enough to pay for tires etc but bare minimum funds for the race and we are short handed. It would cost you $55 for a crew pass (non- licensed pass) for all day Saturday and we will feed you. If anyone ever wanted the experience to see what actually goes on behind the scenes with practice, qualifying and race prep setup and tweaks alnog the way, and will actually get to wrench on the car under my guidance and learn things about circle track, I could use the man power. Derek has given me the goahead to do something experimental and a bit radical from the normal setups these race teams typically trend. He is a back of the packer with low funds and open to me doing some real world aganst the grain setups to see how innovatibe we can get one of these chassis to work. I will be doing alot of preliminary setup at his shop in Fountain Valley on Sunday and monday getting it ready for the track testing and final tweaking on Oct 24th saturday race. You will be hands on ALL DAY- this is the real mccoy excitement and will be out of the grid with us with radio and all. Email me if any is interested- I could use 2 eager people. Sakeed123@aol.com

Guest

MP has a PM

TA

iTrader: (1)

If he gets more than one, he'll have PMS !

injdinjn

Grey Goose

Got it! Really appreciate you taking the time to get in touch with your contacts Dean. I'll get with everyone so we can decide on some dates. Thanks again!

What!? Did someone say something about red wings? I earned those back in high school! Well, let’s just say I didn't know I was earning them at the time...

...and yes I have 46 PM's that I have yet to answer so if you are one of the people that have been waiting for a response from me. I haven't forgotten about you, I will be in touch as soon as humanly possible. Thanks for your patience.

84 1LE

iTrader: (9)

D&B FTW!
Damn it, i wanted to know what happened at mimis......food fight!

Russ-So Cal

Read the thread on the meeting. It was covered there. This thread is not about the past, it is about the future.

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

I'm curious why everyone is hot to move the regular meting location from Mimi's to D&B or another venue? So let me get this straight, we're selecting D&B for the good food and great service? The ambiance? It's been years since we went to D&B as a club, and to be honest that is the only reason why I would. I recall it being much like Fud's and being unable to have a conversation due to if being so loud. I also recall it being very crowded parking at Irvine Spectrum or the Ontario Mills locations. You all that have been there more recently are confirming this is still the case. Which means that we'll be scattered all over the parking lot. Just as we experienced at Fud's. I thought it was cool to have the cars parked in a row and have people drive by slow or walk by and check them out. Or that we could easily walk from one members car to another and check out some new project. We had that opportunity at Mimi's, Ricky & Ronnies, Valencia Chevrolet, Power Chevrolet, etc. Comare that to, "where are you parked?". Evidently you're telling me this is not an important factor to consider in selecting a meeting location for our club. Is it for the video games & skeet ball? That certainly can't be it, since Mimi's was two blocks from SpeedZone and no one seemed to want to go over there post meeting. It's been mentioned that at Mimi's we lack a TV to show videos of a car cruise or dyno pull day. Not true. I check with Kevin each time we're having a meeting at Mimi's to see if I need to bring a LCD projector & screen. We only needed it once for our first meeting there.

I think the die was cast for moving the venue from Mimi's before the staff woke up that morning, before any of us woke up that day. Two of three of you mentioned seeing the glass in the parking lot, signifying that a vehicle break-in had occured recently. I suspect that turned your opinion against Mimi's. It might explain Mike's hyper-critical view of the wait staff that evening. It's hard for me to believe he's never had a waiter or waitress that was more into checking out a cute customer or doing anything else BUT attending to those he or she is supposed to be serving. So if I get this right, we're tossing the meeting venue due to an impolite wait staff? We got unlucky and got JB that night. It's pretty simple to request anyone else BUT JB in the future. Ask my Kiwanis Club, JB isn't the worst. You don't want Vee trust me on that one. We requested the change and it's been much improved since.

I'm all for checking out other venues. However, I don't think it's smart to drop our regular place in the meantime. As a club we should check out other places on another night for example on the first Saturday of an odd month. Make a switch if we find something more suitable to the club. I just don't want to burn our bridges and not find something more suitable.

Lon

Grey Goose

Well Lon, first and foremost thanks for taking the time to join in on the conversation. It’s only taken you thirteen days…

The service, food, staff, and management at the facility were horrible as noted my several members on the Christmas Dinner thread. See post #’s 36, 42, 43, and 52

There has been a new dynamic introduced with Jon’s daughter working at the Irvine facility. See post #1 in this thread for the particulars.

Yes the parking situation is something that needs to be addressed. Do we park on the outskirts of the lot so we can be together, do we assemble at a satellite location beforehand which will allow us to checkout each other’s vehicles before we head over to Dave & Busters, or do we just complain about it without proposing a solution other than suffering through another meeting at Mimi’s because if it’s good enough for my Kiwanis members its good enough for us?

Really!? Funny this is the first I’ve ever heard of this. Perhaps you should have post on every meeting thread that you had this equipment and were able to make it available to your fellow members. You only asking Kevin does absolutely nothing for our members.

Allow me to elaborate on my thought process concerning the three different areas with broken glass. A little over a month prior to this meeting my girlfriends car was broken into while she was working out at the gym at 4 o’clock in the morning. Someone put their fist through the passenger side window and stole her purse that was hidden under the seat. IPod, digital camera, jump drive, check book, credit cards, drivers license, make up, spare keys to my camaro, you know her LIFE, gone in an instant. Between my searching every inch of the parking lot and surrounding neighborhoods with a flashlight, attempting to access security footage from locations her cards were used at in an effort to get a vehicle description for the police, and attempting to console someone that this has never experienced a theft I can honestly say that it destroyed any sense of normalcy in our lives for a period of two weeks. If you or anyone else has ever had the misfortune of having a car, purse, or identity stolen you know how traumatizing the experience can be. So your theory of malicious intent prior to arriving at the facility is not only comical, it’s asinine! The only reason I pointed out the three different areas with broken glass to our members is that I didn’t want you, me, my girlfriend, or any other members to have to experience what we went through. Your theory is incredibly imaginative though…well done!

Are you serious!? Are you actually attempting to justify our servers’ actions Lon!? So in your eyes, it’s ok if our ONLY waiter blows off a party of TWENTY so he can chat up a woman!? Lon read what you have written!!!

You are amazing! I can’t believe that you are actually attempting to justify the lack of service furthermore suggesting that we simply address the situation by asking for another server. How does that address the cold food or the fact that they didn’t have two items on the menu?

Well I can’t because I don’t know them or have any of their contact information. But I did take the time to visit the Kiwanis International website. As per the website, this is the Kiwanis mission statement: “Through guidance and example, works to develop future generations of leaders. Every day, Kiwanians are revitalizing neighborhoods, organizing youth-sports programs, tutoring, building playgrounds, and performing countless other projects to help children and communities.”

What kind of example are you and your members setting for our youth with complacency like this? I would think that you promote pride in service for your family and community, education, and the strength of a family unit. So based on what you have written it’s not about leadership by example. Its do as I say, not as I do?

As soon as the service took a turn it was your responsibility to address the manager and bring resolve to the situation yet you did nothing. You sat there and allowed your fellow members to be subjected to the incompetence. You recommended this venue making it your responsibility to communicate with management insuring a pleasurable experience for your fellow members. The only reason I got involved again is because you failed to do so.

This is and always has been a temporary venue. Burn our bridges!? They failed us as admitted by cooperate via letter received by me. Sorry about the kick backs you’ll be missing out on as a result of only having your Kiwanis club meeting there but you should have stood up for your club instead of ducking down and choosing not to get involved. You had your chance, you did absolutely nothing to keep it, and I’d like to invite you to take a look at the poll up top… looks like the majority of the members think it’s time to move on too…

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for finally acknowleging the real reason for wanting to move the location. So you're proposing that we meet at one location then head over too a restaurant after? Kind of like the good old days? We'll stand around in the parking lot of a Car Wash until we're frozen to the bone then head over to a restaurant to warm up. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dead-set on keeping the location at Mimi's. I just think it is a better location than D&B for many reasons. For one it is more centrally located for our members. Also if is much easier to recruit new Members to come out to a meeting if we have it at a set location, date and time. Yes I read that we've got a temporary hook-up at this D&B location with Jon's daughter currently employed there. Sorry you weren't aware that video playback equipment was available for any meeting. I contacted Kevin since he generally is the one that posts a reminder of the meeting and conducts the meeting. But yes it should have been common knowledge.

Lon

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

Mike, I have one more thing to add. At our end of the table, not twenty feet away from you we had a completely different experience than you are reporting. In fact, just after you stood and proclaimed loudly that in all your years of living you've never experienced worse service thatn you had that night (sorry I cleaned it up for the young'uns) Jerry leaned over to me and asked if I had a clue what Mike is talking about? He asked if I had a bad meal or service? We agreed that all was OK other than the drinks were a little slow on arrival. That was corrected on the third refill of Kevin & Don's when JB brought our two drinks to each rather than one. Bottom line, the poor service you feel you experienced was not one that everyone in the room shared.

Lon

injdinjn

I never received a reply from Mimis Corporate to my letter other than they received it.

I agree the parking at D&B is awful, but seeing where 3 vehicles had been broken into at Mimi's makes me wonder if my top would be slashed.

Our first few visits to Mimis were, on scale of 1-5, 5 being lowest, a 2. The visit before last was maybe a 4 and the last meeting less than 5.

I would be willing to meet at Mimis at a future date, but if the service/food is not greatly improved I would see no reason to return.

Guest

I personally do not know exactly where Mimi's is by Speedzone, but I know the area fairly well from growing up around there a few years.

The is that fun little car hop place with the girls on rollerskates just on the north side of the freeway as you leave Speedzone. I forget the name of it, but the is an old car in front as a display and the place has bright checkerboard colored tiles and glass block outside.
I have seen many clubs meet there in passing by that area. Good big well lit parking lot right in veiw of the dining so everyone can somewhat watch their vehicles during the meeting.

One of you will know the name of the place I am talking about.

I still vote D&B. Its the only place I will attend every meeting other than possible Toyota Speedway events(Since I am up there alot of Saturdays anyways). D & B has pool tables. I will go and sit with the club for dinner and meeting, then I will stay awhile an grab a pool tablke when my name is called on the reservation list. Nick and I meet anyways about twice a month there, I could just do it on nights the club meet

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

That would be Frisco's Car Hop Diner. FYI Frisco's is west of Mimi's on the same street (Gale Ave). I checked out both Frisco's and Mimi's when we needed a new venue for our meetings. Frisco's lacks a private meeting room. I does have a bump-out or alcove with booths and a TV mounted high on the ceiling at each end. They offered to cone off a section of the parking lot in front of the restaurant so we could line up our cars. If you haven't driven by there recently, they repainted the old car out front from light green to a purple-pink.

Lon