Finally, Athenian Grille Ready to Begin Construction

Finally, Athenian Grille Ready to Begin Construction

I’m pleased to report that owner Anil Simicia has found a new location for his much-missed Athenian Grille. (Formerly at 8th and Colorado). The new location is on W. 6th St. across from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Expect an opening around January or February of ’08.

This is great news to all lovers of Greek food. First, long-time favorite Ted’s Steak House on Congress closed several years ago. The owners there were larger-than-life types: rude, boisterous, and totally out of control yet they had great Gyros and a regular clientele (me included). Then the Athenian opened. Anil was a bit more retiring than the guys at Ted’s: but a very nice guy who developed a real rapport with his customers. But he too was forced out of his lease.

So finally, we have a happy ending. I’ll be counting the days.

Southwest Airlines: The New Policy is Peanuts

The one thing that you could always count on at Southwest Airlines was a reasonably fresh bag of peanuts or two and the expectation of arriving pretty much on time. Beyond that, with regard to comfort, accommodations, and scheduling, well, it was pretty much a crap shoot.

Now, even the peanuts are iffy. Got some stale crackers of dubious nature the other day that were essentially tasteless. No peanuts in sight.

And after extensive market research, Southwest has determined that its so-called “open boarding” system needed an overhaul. You know what I mean: diehards would line up at the boarding gate literally an hour ahead of time so they could be first in the queue. I never really understood this cattle-car mentality but then again there are many things I don’t understand.

So, Southwest now has a new system. No, they have not joined the modern age and started preassigning seats to customers. Rather they have revamped their “open” boarding system because their research shows that customers still like to choose their own seats. They’re still using the Group A, B, C, D etc. boarding group mentality. But now when you get assigned a boarding group, you also get a number to determine your place in line in that group. So instead of your ticket saying Group C, it will now say Group C12, meaning you will be twelfth in the C line. (Wonder if it ever occurred to any of the suits that customers booking though an agent or on-line could still “choose” a seat from whatever was left in the inventory.)

Are you kidding me? I can see it now: panicked Southwest flyers jockeying for position in the queue; fights breaking out because passenger C12 is in line ahead of C8. Or worse still, passengers actually thinking their seat is number C12 or C8 and demanding that seat once on the plane.

I can see a harried boarding agent trying to make sense of it all and losing control of the impending horde. You’ve got to hand it to Southwest though: no one has ever accused them of pushing the proverbial envelope. They should get the award for best “back in the day airline” in the US.

And now, after losing their ridiculous campaign to try assail the dignity of every overweight passenger (remember that era where heavier passengers had to demonstrate that they could put both armrests down or face the prospect of having to buy an additional ticket, not to mention unrelenting public ridicule?) they’ve moved on to assessing the sartorial standards of their fliers. They kicked a young woman off a flight the other day for wearing a mini-skirt and a short top. Told her to go to the airport gift shop and buy a shirt. This from the same airline that allowed its flight attendants to prance around in hot pants for the better part of a decade. Where the hell is Herb when we need him?