Miss Dish
"I'm a Bad, Bad Manager."

by CARYN B. BROOKS
cbrooks@wweek.com

GENTLE READERS,

Scott Mapes is a nice guy. And that just might be his problem.

Mapes, the owner of two restaurants named La Buca that focus on affordable Italian food, called Miss Dish last week to ask why his restaurant wasn't listed in WW's annual Cheap Eats guide. His restaurants are a favorite among the city's Italian-lovers because of the one-two punch of low prices and laid-back atmosphere (it's the kind of place where you saunter up to the counter, place an order and plunk yourself down in a seat). La Buca had always been featured in the guide, from the time he opened his first restaurant (at 2309 NW Kearney St.) in June 1997 through the period when he opened his second location (at 40 NE 28th Ave.) in September 1999.

So why not this year? Miss Dish asked Mapes if he wanted the truth, and his answer was a resounding yes. She read to him parts of an email sent in by the reviewer who visited both locations of La Buca.

"The first visit was to the Northwest location, which has in the past seemed like the more slipshod of the two. The service was really bad, for starters--they lost our order, delaying the arrival of food by nearly an hour. When my penne arrived, it was pretty obvious that it had either been reheated in a microwave on order or stuck in the oven, because the inside of the pasta pile was ice freakin' cold. Meanwhile, the waitress was totally rude/unconcerned about the situation, delivering this frigid, late pasta with a shrug and a 'Maybe I'll give ya some free dessert, I dunno.' Then she went back to discussing the new White Stripes album with her coworkers."

After Miss Dish finished reading, she held her breath. This is the point in the conversation where the restaurant owner usually tries to fasten some new taste buds on Miss D. Instead, Mapes sighed and replied, "You know what this is about? I'm a bad, bad manager." Mapes admitted that he wanted his employees to like him and so he was a bit slack with the rules. And ever since opening his eastside location, he said, he had really lost his grip on the westside La Buca. To top it all off, the birth of his son late last year also took him away from the business.

So why would a successful restaurant owner, a man who started his business with one panini cart, let it be known in a newspaper column that there are cracks in his company? Especially now, when Mapes is poised once again to grow his business: In about four months the westside location will expand into the next-door space, and in a month or so the eastside location will open an attached bar. His main reason is that he's afraid other people, beside the WW reviewer, may have had a similar experience. "This is an open apology," Mapes says. "I'm sorry my mission got lost along the way. It's weird when you try to do your best and find out that it didn't work."

To attack the problems, Mapes is testing out table service at the eastside location. He hopes that with the financial incentive of tips, the waitstaff will be more attentive. If it works out, there will table service at both locations, which will hopefully resolve some of the customer-service issues. There will also be a closer focus on management; Mapes hopes to put managers in charge who will compensate for his own soft spots.

The restaurant business is a hard line of work that can turn out hard people in the process. Scott Mapes is an exception. So, if you've had some problems at La Buca lately, give it another shot. Miss Dish certainly will.