I Miss Anthony

One of my friends, Anthony, has taken care of me over the years. Well, "taken care of" is a pretty strong statement, I'd say Anthony has served his usefulness and it might be time to move on. He was good to Gwen, too, and some other folks, but sometimes enough is enough.

I'm not a quitter, I'm a non-finisher, but when a long time friend decides to screw you over, you second guess the relationship, and often decide: It's time to part ways.

My problem (and yeah, there's more than one, duh) is that it's been happening for a while now and I even saw it coming, but I kept going back to Anthony because he was fun, generally good, and as Gwen has said, "His meat was delicious."

It started with the Sunset. Around 4:30 - 6:30, Anthony would cook us up a great meal, let us sit by the water and enjoy our drink and conversation. A year or so later, Anthony told us we couldn't eat some of the same things we were eating at his place just months before. He also told us some of the drinks we wanted were no longer available. What? Eventually, Anthony started serving us very small meals and meager drinks and our usual 'thanks' were no longer enough to fill his double-cupped, outstretched hands.

Over the last several years or so, Anthony has disappointed me. He doesn't seem as interested in helping me, or Gwen...Which is weird, because: have you seen Gwen? She's super-hot and fun. But aside from that, Anthony was literally in the business of making his friends happy. He was someone you could count on for a friendly meal, decent conversation, and he'd even let you enjoy his view of fabulous Gig Harbor.

I didn't quit him quick enough. I came to see him tonight and I brought Gwen. He sat us, and we were unrecognized. Not that I expect to be recognized (unless I'm pant less), but a friend should certainly acknowledge you. But that never happened. We each ordered one appetizer off the happy hour menu and a drink; house wine and rum and diet coke (the diet keeps my belly smaller while the rum makes my liver madder). The order was small, quick to jot down, and I’m guessing easy to make since it’s happy hour—and isn’t everyone happy during that hour?

We never saw Anthony and we never saw food. We saw other people come in, sit down, order food and then eat that food. But we never saw any food. Eventually, we had to leave this relationship as we were pretty hungry, so I got up to pay and say goodbye.

Anthony finally showed up downstairs at our table with no food in hand. He was portly and blank faced, except for a snooty arrogance, and not a concern at all for us. It's as if he didn't know who we were. But anyone reading this knows who we were: We were paying customers, and those are the best people to have in your home you call a business.

Anthony's friend came over and told us that Anthony was going to 'comp' our drinks and that she was sorry. I told her I wanted to at least tip her, but she refused. I had no cash and she wouldn't take my card.

We miss the Anthony we used to know, and he seems to be moving along without us. But when you're the one big show in town, isn't it your responsibility to rise up to that and present yourself as responsible and respectful? Shouldn’t your own pride dictate that you preserve your spot by offering fair food and service at fair prices? Perhaps the pride is gone. Perhaps the Shorline people need to come back, I’d be friends with them.

We walked away with four free drinks and sincere apologies.

"What are you complaining about?"

"Why are you writing about this?"

"Do you feel you deserve more or that they should have done something different?"

"They did what they could to rectify the situation, you seem like you expect too much."

<>

Yeah, so after writing those questions I talked myself out of posting this last night because I didn't have any good answers, and like usual: I sound like a punk. But then Gwen reminded me that her last glass of wine was actually half seltzer water and you could taste it, but we didn't complain. And she also reminded me of the degradation of food and service at Anthony’s over the years (Angie and Jim can attest). So I decided to post it because we really aren't complainers, however I’ve realized that I’m a glutton for more than just pie: It takes a lot to put me over the edge. It took us years to get fed up enough to even say anything about it.

And yet, I’ll go again. We’re still going to go see Anthony with other friends. And we’ll just blow this off like we have for the last eight years. We’ll order drinks and food with a smile and then passively aggress the establishment.

Ultimately, I’m interested to know if anyone else in GH has experienced this with Anthony’s over the years? I like to think it’s not me, but often that is the case.

So, have you seen the quality of food and services go down over the last eight years or so at Anthony’s? can you share your experiences, good or bad? I’m happy to shut the hell up, but I’m also happy to present something to my friend Anthony to see if we can right that ship. Thanks for any comments or shares.