CombatCritic's TravelValue™: rivers

CombatCritic™ ... World traveler - 42 countries and counting; Military Leader - Four combat operations; Amateur chef; Published author and producer - over 4 million visitors on seven platforms! Yelp "Black" Elite '14/'15/ '16/ '17/ '18/ '19 / '20/ '21/ '22 / '23 / '24; TripAdvisor ¨Local Guide¨, Zomato "VERIFIED CONNOISSEUR"; Booking.com "GENIUS"; and Foursquare "INSIDER". On the Front Lines in the Battle Against Mediocrity - Follow Me To TravelValue™ ... That's A Freakin' Order!

Showing posts with label rivers. Show all posts

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Washougal, WA: Post Script - The 2 Rivers Bar And Grill Attack And Debacle

2 Rivers Bar and Grill

1700 Main Street, Suite 110

Washougal, WA 98671

Phone number (360) 210-7987

Website: 2riversbar.com

Prices: $$$$

I deleted my original review after consulting with Yelp and the Washington State Attorney General about the slanderous public reply the owner of 2 Rivers Bar And Grill published on Yelp, calling me a "transient" (vagrant) and "creepy" (pervert) in order to try to cover up for their crappy, overpriced, frozen food and highly unprofessional behavior. Rather than apologize for my horrid experience, I was attacked with lies by the restaurant's owner. Let me briefly explain.

I had a horrendous experience here on Father's Day. When I first entered for dinner immediately after a round of golf at the local country club, it was not clear where to go based on the odd layout, so I stood in front of the bar while the bartender, who turned out to be the owner, Derik, stared at me for a few uncomfortable moments, then said "Can I help you?" Of course you can help me you jerk, do people come in to your restaurant to sit down and eat or go shopping? I replied with the obvious, "Yes, I would like to sit down and eat some food please" if it were not obvious enough for him. He also insulted me in front of fellow patrons, hollering out across the bar, "Should I take it outside so you can get a better picture?", as I took photos of my substandard hamburger, drink and the surrounding dining room as I always do when eating somewhere for the first time.

He later claimed in his blasphemous public reply to my review on Yelp that he mistook me for a transient who came in the week before, making excuses for my poor treatment when I first entered, even though I was wearing golf attire appropriate for a day on the links at the country club. Would a transient be wearing golf shorts, a new Under Armor golf shirt, Nike Air sneakers, and $200 Oakley sunglasses? He also claimed that I was secretly taking photos of the waitress, his wife apparently, who had her huge, fake boobs popping out of her tight, very low-cut blouse while I was simply taking a few photos during my experience to publish with my review. This guy and his wife are not just sick, they are compulsive liars.

I had contacted Derik last November, right after they opened, to see if they wanted to be included in my annual Veteran's Day list of local restaurants offering free or discounted meals to veterans and to be published on my popular food and travel blog. Free advertising, basically, as my blog gets over 100,000 visitors a year. Being a retired Air Force officer and disabled combat veteran, I try to do as much as I can for fellow vets because I am one and have worked extensively with active duty and Iraq/Afghanistan veterans as a licensed psychotherapist. Derik refused to acknowledge my offer even though he "claims" to be a veteran himself.

So, when he attacked me publicly and defamed my character, even though he knew I was a veteran and food/travel writer, the gloves came off. You can read about their frozen food, terrible service, and unprofessional behavior in many other Yelp reviews, so I will not detail my experience any further here because it is now about more than that. Can you say defamation of character? This place will be closed soon enough because they are obviously struggling and with frozen food, even worse customer service, and unprofessional attacks against those who offer them constructive criticism, I predict they will not make it through another Pacific NW winter.

I support local businesses 100%, as I did with 2 Rivers Bar and Grill by offering them free advertising on my blog and keeping an open mind during my first visit (despite all of the negative comments about them on Yelp and other social media platforms - see below), so the last thing I want is for someone to fail. However, when I see someone like Derik, with ZERO experience in the highly competitive restaurant business and who attacks customers whom say anything negative, the writing is, unfortunately, on the wall for this sorry businessman.

Businesses that offer quality products, outstanding customer service, fair prices, and always act in a professional manner and with integrity have a much higher probability of succeeding in the extremely competitive hospitality industry. 2 Rivers Bar and Grill gets an "F" in all those categories to go along with their current "D+" rating by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Nuff said.

In his reply full of lies, fake news, Derik lashed out with defamatory remarks about me, a highly decorated, disabled, combat veteran and retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, but he neither addressed nor denied my review comments about his highly unprofessional behavior and extremely low-quality frozen foods, so my assessment must have been spot-on. What kind of lies will he make up when I publish this review I wonder? We will have to wait and see how low this turd of a human being will stoop in his treatment of a fellow veteran.

UPDATE: WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND

Dirtbag Derik, now a mayoral candidate in Washougal, was arrested for fourth-degree assault domestic violence in mid-September and has suspended his short-lived campaign in addition to losing his wife and business:

Washougal mayor candidate faces domestic assault charge

by KATU Staff - Friday, September 17th 2021

WASHOUGAL, Wash. — Camas police have arrested a candidate for mayor of Washougal on a domestic violence charge.

Police say on Wednesday night, Washougal police were dispatched to Derik Ford's house for a reported assault.

When they found out he was the suspect, they called in Camas police to avoid a conflict of interest.

Police say Ford's wife told them he had assaulted her and she had visible injuries.

When they caught up with Derik Ford and interviewed him, they say he denied any physical confrontation.

As of early Thursday night, court records indicated Ford was still in jail.

He faces one count of fourth-degree assault domestic violence.

KATU reached out to his campaign for comment.

Washougal, WA: 2 Rivers Left Me In A Father's Day River Of Tears

2 Rivers Bar and Grill
1700 Main Street, Ste 110
Washougal, WA 98671
Phone number: (360) 210-7987
Website: 2riversbar.com
Prices: $$$$

I received an extremely odd "welcome", if you can call it that, as I walked through the doors for the first time, having delayed my initial visit after reading their many mediocre reviews and allowing them time to work all the bugs out. As I stood in front of the huge bar, the man serving drinks, whom I will assume was the owner, asked me, "can I help you?", to which I replied with some amazement, "Yes, I would like to sit down and eat some food, please". Why else would somebody walk into a restaurant if it was not to sit down and eat a meal? What do I look like, a bible salesman? What a stupid question.

I ordered a pFriem IPA ($6), but was not asked if I wanted water, which I was desperate for after walking 18 holes of golf in the Father's Day sun. The IPA was decent, but $6 is a tad high if they hope to draw a crowd, especially early on a Sunday evening when they had just a smattering of customers. You can get similar IPAs around town for $4 to $5, so why should I spend an extra buck to come here?

I learned a couple days after my visit that the Father's Day Special was a "Prime New York Steak with peppercorn sauce, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus", YUM!, but I did not see it advertised anywhere and they did not communicate the special to me, so I ordered a 1/2 pound Cheeseburger ($15) with bacon, grilled onions, and garlic aioli, also coming with a side of french fries. The burger was obviously not handmade in house, probably frozen, and the grilled onions and garlic aioli, if there were any at all, must have been wrapped up in the overly crispy folded-up clump of bacon they stuck on top of the burger (see photo). The "cheddar cheese" was apparently of the processed variety, white, very thin, and perfectly square and the burger was dry, even after putting some mayo on the bun. It was not very flavorful. With nary a garnish on the big white plate, the burger looked more like a slider (see photos) than a 1/2 pound burger.

BTW, I was repositioning the plate to take photos for my review when the owner blurted out across the room: "Do you want me to take it outside so you can get a better picture?". The other people at the bar laughed at me, as if it were funny, but I found the comment extremely rude, completely uncalled for, and very unprofessional.

The space is nice, although sparsely decorated, but they should have kept the massive wood-fired pizza oven left by the previous occupants instead of replacing it with an overly large bar which dominates the large room. We needed a good mom and pop Italian restaurant with red and white checkered table clothes and chianti bottles with wax from recently departed candles dripping down the sides, not another modern, gastro/brew pub of which there are far too many in our area.

Based on the many other less than stellar reviews posted recently and my questionable Father's Day experience, it seems as though the owners have already given up. How can you expect a new business to thrive if you do not even bother to publish a website for months after opening and serve customers frozen burgers and fries, charging $15 for an inferior burger to the one I can get at the bar across the street for under $10. Here it is eight months after opening and they have still not even bothered to list a website on their Yelp page ... MEH!

I received a very negative and slanderous reply (as well as a similar DM) from "Derik", the alleged owner of 2 Rivers, after writing this review, so I thought it appropriate to update my review and downgrade my rating, which I have done. Derik called me a "vagrant" and "creepy", resorting to making up a story about me rather than take responsibility for their horrible customer service and rude behavior. He is a liar. Here is his public reply to my review:

Comment from Derik F. of 2 Rivers Bar and Grill
Business Owner

6/23/2019 So this review made us finally get on Yelp on respond to people even though we know most people get on Yelp to complain or try to get something for free.

This guy walked in and we thought from his appearance he was a transient we had to ask to leave weeks before. He walked in started walking arond and looking very strange. It made many other customers uncomfortable. I asked how can I help you, and he blurted out I want to eat. He was advised he could take a seat anywhere he liked. He sat at the bar and immediately people seated close by started to shuffle down. I asked if I could stay let him with anything to drink. He asked a couple questions about beer and decided on one. He was given a menu and he looked it over and started doing weird things under the counter. Another customer pulled me aside and said he thought he was trying to take pictures of the female servers. I immediately went back over to the bar and he put his phone away. I asked if he needed anything and he had a few questions and decided upon a burger. He was checked on many times and continued to act strange. My goal at that point was to get him served and out of the location so he didn't continue to make my staff or customers feel uncomfortable. His food came out and he pulled out his phone under the counter again. I wanted to make sure he was aware we knew what he was doing, so I stated " we can take the food outside if you want better pics". He quickly put his phone away at that point and are his burger quickly.

When he was done I removed his plate and gave him his check.
He never made any attempt to clarify what he was taking pictures of and why he wanted pictures of the food or servers.

He paid his check and left some business card about being the "Combat Critic". I remitting guy from stalking our Facebook page and being rude before we even opened.

Anyway, it gave a lot of people at the restaurant a good laugh when I shared that he thought he was some sort of world wide food critic/chef/ consumer crusader.

He is very awkward and not allowed in our location.

As far as food, he's trying to give a bad review because he was caught being a creeper taking pictures. Be aware of this one.

I am a highly decorated retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and combat disabled veteran. I was wearing golf attire that day, golf shorts, a new, collared Under Armor shirt, and a pair of white Nike Air sneakers. If I looked like a vagrant, Derik must be used to Beverly Hill's vagrants. I take great pride in my military service as I do my integrity and honor. I resent being called a vagrant and have my character defamed by a whining business owner who cannot accept the truth ... 2 Rivers Bar and Grill's management is out of control and guilty of defamation of character.

They currently have a D+ Rating by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which will like drop further after the BBB complaint I recently filed, and will soon have a civil lawsuit on their hands for publicly defaming my character, simply to make excuses for their terrible food and disgusting behavior.

CombatCritic Now Gives 2 Rivers Bar and Grill 1 Bomb Out Of 10 And A Spot On My "WALL OF SHAME" ... Go There, While You Still Can, And Be Insulted By The Owners ... More Bombs Are Better!