HUGE serving. CHEAP prices.

Who wouldn’t want to eat on some restaurant that serves big portions for cheap prices? That may sound hard to find nowadays but CASA VERDE in UP Town center is a restaurant just like that.

Of all the times I went to UP Town I have never seen Casa Verde without a bunch of people waiting outside. There is always a long queue who patiently waits to be seated no matter what time of the day it is. I have never been a fan of waiting in line for food, but seeing all the crave outside Casa Verde, one day my family and I decided to eat there just to see what the hype was all about and because my Dad already tried it in Cebu and he told us that their food was good and even in Cebu there is always a long line.

Photo grabbed from Google Images

Here’s how my experience went…

INFORMATION & HOSPITALITY

Upon arriving it is no surprise that there is already a long line of people waiting outside. We proceeded to the personnel in charge of having customers seated and we were informed that we were #17 in line! Imagine having to wait outside the hot weather with no waiting area or seating for those in line. Nonetheless, we still decide to wait it out and they handed out their menu so that we can already decide what we want, so when we are already seated inside we can order faster.

Photo Grabbed from Google Images

Photo Grabbed from Google Images

Photo Grabbed from Google Images

CONSULATATION & HOSPITALITY

After waiting for a good one hour to be seated, we were glad that their servers were very accommodating. They informed us of their bestsellers and their must try’s.

ORDER TAKING

They were very quick in their order taking and delivery of food, which kind of made up for all the waiting to be seated outside. They even offered sample tastes for their two types of iced tea so we can decide what we want. We ordered the Brian’s bucket of ribs, roasted seasoned chicken, bacon and cheese potato skins, and their vanilla milkshake. Unfortunately we didn’t try their biggest chocolate milkshake because it kind of looks hard to drink and share.

Photo grabbed from their Facebook page

Roasted Seasoned Chicken (Photo grabbed from Google)

SAFEKEEPING

For me, the safekeeping part is on behalf of the food. They made sure that the delivery of food and the handling is safe and done properly. Another safekeeping is when customers wanted to have the food wrapped up, they need to make sure that it is properly wrapped so as not to spill anything.

EXCEPTIONS

They provided exceptions by handling customer requests such as not wanting to be seated outside, wanting to be seated in the corner booth, they want a long table etc etc.

BILLING AND PAYMENT

When asking for the bill, they were very quick in giving it and they were also quick in returning the change which saves a lot of wasted time from waiting.

All in all my experience in the restaurant was good their food was delicious and big and the fast service is good, except for the waiting in line to be seated. I suggest they think of ways to lessen customer waiting or they provide waiting areas so as not to bore their customers and leave. I would give this restaurant a rating of 4 stars and I would definitely be back, if I have a lot of time to spare, and I would also recommend it to other people. It's a good place to hang out with family or even catch up with friends. Their food offerings are good for kids, teens, adults etc. 

“It’s going to be LEGEN…wait for it… DARY!”

As most of the people know the famous lines “Suit up!”, “Challenge Accepted!”, and as what is stated in the title “It’s going to be LEGEN...wait for it…DARY!” are all lines originally spoken by Barney Stinson, a wealthy playboy, from the famous sitcom How I Met Your Mother or commonly called HIMYM. HIMYM is a series that follows the life of Ted Mosby and his gang (‘barkada’) as he recounts to his son and daughter the events that led him to meeting their mother, most of which happened in their famous hang out place called ‘McLaren’s Pub’. The series originally ran from September 2005 to March 2014 with a total of 9 seasons and 208 episodes all in all.

The HIMYM Gang 

I have been hooked on this series ever since and when I found out that there is a place in Wilson St., Greenhills called McLaren’s Pub which somehow depicts the same pub that the HIMYM gang hangs out in, imagine the shock and happiness that I felt and I immediately wanted to go to the place and see for myself how similar it is to the series.

PREPURCHASE STAGE & SERVICE ENCOUNTER STAGE

Before I finally decided to ask my friends, who are all avid fans of the series too, to go with me to McLaren’s, I first evaluated the risks that go along with it especially since the place is mostly kind of a bar. I searched different reviews and ratings by people who have been to McLaren’s  and when I saw that most of it was a good rating I got more excited and finally decided to try it for myself.

Upon arriving at the place the staffs were very accommodating and they immediately have us seated in our designated booth. The service personnel all have their own roles and scripts to follow, like there is someone who is designated to greet you at the door and lead you to your seat and there is a different personnel assigned to take your order etc., which helped in making sure that everything ran smoothly. We ordered the marsala thick cut pork chops and the mac and cheese truffles as our appetizer. The restaurant being a high contact service was expected that their personnel would be very attentive and courteous to their customers, as they all were which made the stay more comfortable and fun. The design of the interior of the place somehow resembles the series, but not so much as I expected.  They could have added more HIMYM references so that there would be more HIMYM feels to the place. They mostly incorporated the series references on their drink offerings. But nonetheless, everything about the place and the service is within my zone of tolerance, so I was not 100% disappointed. 

The Interior of the place (Photo grabbed from Google)

Photo Grabbed from Google

Marsala Thick Cut Porkchop (Photo grabbed from their Facebook page)

Mac & Cheese Truffles (Photo grabbed from their facebook page)

POST PURCHASE STAGE 

All in all I was satisfied with the service that they have based on the satisfaction judgment ‘confirmation’ because the service that I experienced were same as expected which is good, although not all were met. There is also some level of arousal and positive affect which will be my driving force to go back to the place for the second time around and even share my experience with other people.