What Business Would You Stand in Line For (Albuquerque, Anthony: mortgage, hotel)

[karmathecat]

The JTB thread got me thinking about chain stores/restaurants I miss from places I lived before I moved to Albuquerque. While I can't guarantee that I actually would wait in line for two hours for any of them, I might.

Rubio's ( PHX ) - fresh fast food Cal-Mexican similar to Qdoba/Chipotle but featuring fish and seafood. Unfortunately, they don't make a lobster burrito any more. If they came here AND they put the lobster back on the menu, I'd wait in line.

McMenimans - PDX area brewpubs. For the Kyle burger, I'd considering camping out.

PJ Whelihans - PHL area wing joint. Best wings I've ever had, although I will admit, I've never been to Buffalo.

Rita's Italian Ice - also known as Rita's Water Ice - NJ/PA area place. Pop Pop's here is really close but I'd like to do a side by side taste test to make sure.

Au Bon Pain - Great bagels, better sandwiches.

Legal Seafood/Summer Shack/Rusy Scupper - Frankly, I am not a chain restaurant fan. However, ABQ is seriously lacking in good seafood and any one of these chains would be better than Red Lobster or Landry's ( which is on my personal blacklist for the handsdown nastiest waitstaff anywhere on the planet )

IKEA - I know. I know. But their energy effecient lighbulbs are cheap and you can furnish a dorm room for something like $15.00

Nordstrom - I think they'd do well here.

Safeway - Albertson's is overpriced, Smith's has gone way downhill since they took over Raley's. It's time for some more competition and since Genardi's is probably out of the question....Besides, they have a Safeway in Bloomfield, for goodness sake.

Janie and Jack/Crazy 8 - The upscale/downscale Gymboree brands. I've got nieces and nephews to buy for and a kid to dress.

Well, that's my partial list. Anyone else?

[Mike Horrell]

I'll second Legal Seafood / Rusty Scupper (don't know Summer Shack) as well
as Au Bon Pain. I spent several years on and off around the K Street Corridor
in DC and the Au Bon Pain on 19th street was both a morning snack (hot cheese
croissant and coffee) and a lunch favorite (Ceasar salad with a petite pain).

Years after I left MCI, I went back several times as a consultant and there
was a Legal Seafood in Pentagon Mall (guess what it was next to..) across the
street and it became a regular power-lunch meeting place for the MCI crowd.

So far we've found OK seafood in ABQ, but no good seafood. I really miss
Sopa de Mariscos, seafood soup, like we got all through Latin America and
the Caribbean. Mussles, clams, local fish, prawns... all served up in a stew-like
soup.


I'm not really sure a Nordstroms would make it here (although I'd like to see one).
ABQ doesn't seem to have the same emphasis on up-scale clothing that the
big coastal cities have (Boston, NY, DC, LA, Portland..) and it'd have to knock out
competition like Kohls which is not as upscale and seems pretty well established.
$1,000 suits rack suits are not really an ABQ standard...

[berncohomes]

I would have stood in line for Rita's until I discovered Pop-Pop's a couple of weeks ago. The taste is identical, I was back in Philly in April/May and made sure we went to Rita's.

I would never in a million years stand in line for PJ's. Not even if it were the only place open for food.

I would stand in line for a good old fashioned Jersey style Italian Deli or Pizzeria though, oh and Wawa for its coffee of course.

[Tim Rankin]

Rita's is also in MD, and we do on occasion stand in line for it. I usually get the strawberry custard. Probably the best custard I've ever had is a chain in WI called Kopps, which I would gladly stand in line for.

McCormick & Shmicks is excellent seafood, and although it's high-end, I think it would do well in Albuq.

For grocery stores, my all-time favorite is Wegmans. This is one supermarket I would definitely stand in line for, but so far they're only in the northeast.

[nmnita]

Well I wouldn't stand in line any place for 2 hours except Hausner's in Baltimore and it is long gone, I would stand in line for the ones below:

Trader Joes
In and Out burger
Anthony's Seafood restaurant in San Diego
Dinner at the Union Hotel in Occidental California, if it is still there
Philippi's french dip in Los Angeles
Vanity Fair outlet store if they were having a "to die for" sale
and believe it or not, Taco Cabana.

I know we all have different ideas of what is good and bad, so my list might seem a litte weird...

NIta

[rybert]

Tunk's in Boyce, LA (Near Alexandria, on Kincaid Lake)

[Billygoat the Kid]

Originally Posted by Mike Horrell

Years after I left MCI,

You used to work at MCI here in 'Burque? When was that?

[Billygoat the Kid]

Originally Posted by karmathecat

The JTB thread got me thinking about chain stores/restaurants I miss from places I lived before I moved to Albuquerque. While I can't guarantee that I actually would wait in line for two hours for any of them, I might.

I loved Rubio's lobster burritos when I lived in the L.A. area. They were great. As fare as other chain stores/restaurants, here's my list:

• In 'N Out - Just like the nerds that camp out for days to get a video game, I'd wait in line for hours to get a Double-Double, animal style. Of all the things I miss about So. Cal., this is near the top of my list.

• Chipotle - Love their burritos which are just as good as Rubio's.

• Tutti Gelati - I know there is a gelateria in Nob Hill, but nothing compares to Tutti Gelati. I love the Pasadena location best. Best gelato I have ever had.

• Pink's Hot Dogs - I remember sitting in traffic in Hollywood for an hour to get me 2 dogs. The place is always packed and for good reason. They are the best 'dogs I have ever had (the Dog House on Central is second).

• Peet's Coffee - Forget Starbucks, Peet's was best - even better than Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, and SBC, both of which are excellent. One shot of Peet's espresso and I am flying for 20 hours. I have yet to find coffee as potent.

• Randy's Doughnuts - Without a doubt, the best doughnuts in the world, although I hear The Doughnut Hole is better. I miss Winchell's doughnuts (are they all closed in ABQ?) and Dunkin' Doughnuts are good, but the best were Randy's, hands down. Note: I don't think it's a chain.

• Bristol Farms - I know they are very expensive, but they had only the best of the best of products. I consider them a Dean & DeLuca of CA. I think they could give Whole Foods a run for their money out here.

There are a lot more, but I cannot think of them all right now. Good thread!


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[Mike Horrell]

Originally Posted by Billygoat the Kid

You used to work at MCI here in 'Burque? When was that?

No, I worked for MCI in Arlington, DC and Tysons on and off from 82 through 95.
I went to work for MCI the day they officially absorbed Satellite Data Systems
from IBM.

I gather you're an ex-MCIer?

Remember the 10-10-220 long distance calling service? I developed that for MCI
back in 86 only then it was called 10-triple xxx because you only needed to dial
a single 10. That's probably the only directly customer-facing system I did
with most of my work being "behind the scenes" in decision support, configuration
management, business growth analysis, billing, financial, etc.

My last dealings with MCI came when they sold their entire internet business
including backbone to Cable and Worthless in 2001. I'd done a lot of consulting
and project management work for Clueless throughout the 90s and tried desperately
to convince C&W that the deal proposed by MCI was a disaster.

Not only did I fail in that, I was given technical direction of the entire data acquisition
and customer conversion process for my pains...

My part of that $2 billion acquisition process went without a hitch, but C&W
broke their back on the deal paying perhaps 5 times what the service was
worth and then completely mismanaging what they bought.. exactly what I
and a couple others had foreseen.

When telecom collapsed in 2002, I just hung up my shingle and haven't worked since.

[Billygoat the Kid]

Originally Posted by Mike Horrell

No, I worked for MCI in Arlington, DC and Tysons on and off from 82 through 95.
I went to work for MCI the day they officially absorbed Satellite Data Systems
from IBM.

I gather you're an ex-MCIer?

Remember the 10-10-220 long distance calling service? I developed that for MCI
back in 86 only then it was called 10-triple xxx because you only needed to dial
a single 10. That's probably the only directly customer-facing system I did
with most of my work being "behind the scenes" in decision support, configuration
management, business growth analysis, billing, financial, etc.

My last dealings with MCI came when they sold their entire internet business
including backbone to Cable and Worthless in 2001. I'd done a lot of consulting
and project management work for Clueless throughout the 90s and tried desperately
to convince C&W that the deal proposed by MCI was a disaster.

Not only did I fail in that, I was given technical direction of the entire data acquisition
and customer conversion process for my pains...

My part of that $2 billion acquisition process went without a hitch, but C&W
broke their back on the deal paying perhaps 5 times what the service was
worth and then completely mismanaging what they bought.. exactly what I
and a couple others had foreseen.

When telecom collapsed in 2002, I just hung up my shingle and haven't worked since.

Mike, that pretty much sums up MCI to a 'T'. One of the most inept, dysfunctional, and downright mismanaged company I have ever worked for. I used to work at the MCI call center here in 'Burque from '93 to about '95 or so. When I first started out, it was great. There were 2 shifts: day and night. Night shift was part-time work and we had Fridays off. I made up to $35 an hour when I made my quota, which was almost all the time.

I hear that before it was at the Harper location, the workers at the Airport location were making easy money. Then, they moved, which wasn't bad. After about a year or so, they started to change. We had to work Fridays, then we switched calling plans, then moved teams around, then this, then that, then whatever they wanted one day then the opposite the next.

I could no longer meet or exceed my quotas (which I think is what they really wanted with us) and just turned in my badge one day. Used to be a hell of a place to work until they got stingy with us. You're only as good as your employees and the customers you service. The incompetence factor was not only at MCI, but it pervades the telecommunications industry up till today. Just look at what happened to the workers at Qwest and what all of their employees had to go through with Nacchio. Seems like incompetent management permeates that industry as well as others here in America (i.e., mortgage industry).

I wonder what ever became of that once great company?


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