Has Anyone Eaten at Cheeseburger in Paradise?

quote:

Originally posted by jvsmom

I've been to the one on Maui twice.

Same experience with me. First time DH & I ate there almost 9 years ago, we had just arrived in Lahaina. As I recall the drinks & dining over the water was impressive. The food filled us up but was way over priced.

Second time we went the place was packed. We stopped to buy a souvenir for a friend and got a lunch box down the street instead.

The burgers at Cheeseburger in Paradise aren't the greatest, although they have a few decent sandwiches there, such as the pulled pork.

Yeah, it's overpriced, subpar chain fare. How can anybody be disappointed with a place that has "kitsch" written over it? I'm surprised that anybody would go here with high expectations.

That said, it's better than the stuff served at Ruby Tuesday (they'll deep fry anything) or Red Robin (they use old hockey pucks for burgers served by clueless teens. However, the kids like Cheeseburger in Paradise once in a while, but not for the burgers.

quote:

Originally posted by shortchef

Not only does the one in Maryland suck, but there was a place in Frederick called "Cheeseburgers and Paradise" that a guy had owned for years and years, made his own ice cream, etc. Jimmy Buffett's attorneys issued a "cease and desist" order on him and he had to change the name, even though the place had existed for years. Mr. Buffett was kind enough, however, to offer the owner four tickets to his next concert. What a guy. What an idiot.[|)]

You're way wrong. If you don't protect your brand, you'll lose it. McDonalds, Disney, and others take a strong tact against those using images, names, etc. from their brand. Too bad the guy never trademarked his name.

I've hesitated to post a follow up to my original post, as I was afraid someone might try to take advantage of CIP's generosity. Of course, no one here would do that, so I don't know what I was worried about! After the bad experience I described here, I e-mailed the company via the e-mail on their website and described our bad experience. They e-mailed me back immediately, stating that the managing partner from the location at which I had eaten would be in touch with me. A month went by, with no response. I then called the phone number from that original e-mail, and told them that I had not heard from anyone. They apologized profusely, and said that someone would be in touch with me that day. Sure enough, the managing partner called me that day, and said that he was mailing me some gift certificates for CIP. A week later, we still had not received the certificates. I called the original people back with whom I had spoken earlier, and explained what happened, and said that it seemed like they were playing games with me. She again apologized, assured me that they were not playing games, and said that someone would be in touch with me immediately. To make a long story short- Oops, too late!- the very next day, the managing partner called me, and arranged a time for him to come to my house to hand deliver the gift certificates. About an hour later, he knocked on my front door. When I let him in, along with a sincere apology, he handed me 3- $30 gift certificates for CIP!! Yes- a total of $90!! (I don't know what ever happened to those original gift certificates that had been mailed- they never did show up in the mail! However, he told me to keep them, if they ever did come in the mail!) He told me to call ahead and let him know when we were coming in. Later that week, we decided to go to CIP for my birthday. My wife called ahead to let him know when we would be there, and that it was my birthday. When we got there- it was about 8:45 P.M. on a Saturday and the place was packed- he met us at the door, and walked us to a table, w/ no waiting! My wife didn't like her dinner, so they brought her another dinner of her choice. At the end of the meal, they brought me out a dessert. When we got the bill, not only was the dessert free, but they didn't charge us for the dinner my wife sent back, or the 2nd dinner that she ate! I have never experienced a company- restaurant, or otherwise, going so far out of there way to right a wrong, and to try to make a customer happy! They bent over backwards, going way above and beyond! While their food may not be the best (Although what we had that night was much better than the cheeseburgers we had the first time), they have definitely made a believer of me and my wife, as well as a returning customer! We felt like royalty that night, and we will definitely be back! Also- as stated earlier by abe_froeman, their salads were really good! We are going to try their dinner salads the next time we go! BTW- Is there a prize of some sort for posting what well may be the longest post in the history of Roadfood?!

No Prize for the length of the story, but a Pat on the back for making the effort to followup on your complaint. It appears that 'Corporate Offices were trying to keep the service level up, and local management/franchisee was counting on 'ignore it and it will go away'! You did the right thing.

my giflfriend and I simply love cheeseburger in paradise.

Leigh

Went to the one in Delaware. Long wait for a table. the waitress "forgot" to put our order in. The food was fair and the fries were cold. We won't be going back.

I have patronized the CIP in NOLA. Big on gifts, T shirts, music and mediocre on burgers.

I enjoyed the setting though.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

They have a new CIP at near the Kansas Speedway NASCAR track in Kansas City. But since it's right down the street from Arthur Bryan's BBQ, we've never managed to get to CIP, and have no plans to.

This thread should be moved to the FFF forum

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.....and RETURNED it!! No thanks, Jimmy!!