Hobees

I think listed under obsessions is Hobees.  It’s a local chain that has a pretty decent menu that tends to cater to the crunchy, granola crowd.  Since I tend to be kinda crunchy and granola (when I’m not acting like a Fascist), it works for me.  As a rule, I like their tea and their food.

Today, they were working on getting off that list.  I took Keb to the Cupertino Hobees because there was no parking at Panera Bread.  The only reason I was heading to Panera Bread is that I have a $25 card.  Lunch but not money out of pocket — sweet.  However, with that plan ruined, we headed to Hobees.  It should have been good.

It wasn’t.

Rundown…  Keb’s pancakes tasted like they had been made hours before hand and then heated on a steam table.  They were too tough to cut easily.  There was a strange film on the knife when I finished. My turkey burger was supposed to be BBQ Gouda Burger with caramelized onions.  Apparently the line cook didn’t know that caramelizing onions meant, at some point, the damned things need to be, I don’t know, cooked!  The whole thing was a bloody mess on the plate.  Don’t get me started on my concern that my cup wasn’t clean.  That I didn’t discover until much later.  I’m hoping it was my fault, but I don’t know.  That skeeves me out!

I had contemplated just leaving when I noticed the food wasn’t up to par.  However, I was hungry.   I think I was hopeful. We ate what we could, and I complained to the manager.  He didn’t seem to have a clue.  He took 50% off the bill, but that’s not really enough for me to want to return.  While it wasn’t BAD, it wasn’t good either.  In my mind, for the money, I can pay less for equally mediocre food so why bother.

It makes me sad, because I’ve always relied on them in the past.  Now, I can’t.  That just sucks.