I was planning on trying this restaurant with my own coupon but after reading this, I've changed my mind. I can't believe that the new manager won't honor a coupon - especially if the diners thought they would get one meal free based on the offer in the book. If you say you change locations and want to use the name/reputation then you should also honor the past coupons that people paid for in the book.

What would it have cost him to honor the coupon $15.00 max maybe?

I can guarantee after a few hundred people read this in the paper today - they will lose a lot more than that plus I'll bet these people will never go back. If they were upset enough to write the paper, I can just imagine how many people they will tell not to go to Portabellos.

Not a smart business move in my mind.... what ever happened to customer service?

Bravos on Memorial and Penn is wonderful.

Diners find free offer rescinded

By Tricia Pemberton
Business Writer

Sometimes a coupon is only as good as the paper it's printed on.


That's what Edmond resident Matthew Hartman recently discovered.

Hartman said he and his wife decided to try the new Portobello's Grill and Wine Bar at 33rd and Broadway after reading about the restaurant's move from 800 S Broadway.

"We had a buy-one-get-one-free discount card through the OKC Entertainment Book for Portobello's, so we assumed it would be a no-lose first try," Hartman wrote in an e-mail. "Upon payment, though, we were frustrated to hear that the restaurant was no longer accepting discounts offered by the previous location."

Mike Robinson, owner of Portobello's Grill and Wine Bar, said he helped start Portobello's Italian Kitchen, down the street, but he bought the restaurant from the original owner, whom he declined to name.

"This is a new company, a new corporation entirely. We have a new tax ID number, a new location. Those are not my coupons and I am not bound by any contract to accept a coupon issued by anyone else. It would be as if I took a Burger King coupon to Carl's Jr. and expected them to honor it," Robinson said.

Hartman said he was confused by this claim thinking the restaurant was the same as the one just down the street.

"The former Portobello's location even has a sign stating that it has now moved to a new location," he said.

Robinson said he's now removed the sign from the original Portobello's.

Robinson said he initially honored the coupons, but decided when he made the move to 33rd and Broadway that he would stop.

He said he sent a letter in February to Entertainment Publications Operating Co. Inc. telling them that the restaurant's original owner had sold the company and any contract was no longer valid.

Shawnna Jenkins, team manager for Entertainment Publications, based in Troy, Mich., said Robinson's letter would have arrived in the middle of the current coupon book's running cycle, which doesn't expire until November.

"We do have on our Web site a list of establishments that do not honor their coupons or are closed, but a lot of times we don't know that a customer is not honoring a coupon until a consumer contacts us. We do state in the book that Entertainment is not liable if an establishment chooses not to honor their coupon," she said. Jenkins confirmed that Portobello's coupons are not part of the 2006 book, which is being printed for a November release.

__________________
" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

He could of at least offered a free dessert or a percentage discount instead of a free meal. Then most customers would have been safisfied because at least they got something instead of nothing.

Three more months and he would have been clear of the responsibilty of honoring the coupons.

The bad publicity will cost him much more in the intagible ways.

I was thinking about going there in the near future. I drive by there everyday. But now, I'll just go somewhere else.

I know, he is going to really lose out on a lot of business... I was thinking about the above quote ( probably because it's dinner time and I'm dreaming of hot french bread..) anyway, I love how he goes on and on about his new this and new that - but he forgot to mention he used the same name!! Hello! Taking a Burger King coupon to Burger King, one would expect it to be honored.

"Those are not my coupons and I am not bound by any contract to accept a coupon issued by anyone else" - well, they were your customers and you really pissed them off - bad move.

__________________
" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

I think this is a huge mistake by Mr. Robinson. If he had changed the name of the restaurant, then I could see his point. He obviously wants all the name recgonition and clientele associated with Portobello's, but distances himself from the name and prior owner when it comes to honoring the coupons. Lame.

By the way, does anyone know if this "Portobello's" restaurant in Edmond has anything to do with the Portobello's originally located at I-44 and Western back in the early-mid 90's?

No I don't think it's in any way connected to the restaurant f.k.a Portobello, which is now known as the Deep Fork Grill.

Anyway, I agree with everyone else. I won't be going there after this guy did this, and then added to the bad publicity by actually commenting on it to the newspaper!

You know, I guess I'm just too ambivalent on these things. I liked Portabello's food before, and their service, and even if the new owner is a jerk, and I still like the food, I will eat there again.

It takes more than that to stop me from getting good Italian. Especially those potatoes they make. The dauphenois (something like that) potato stuff is so tasty, it would totally make me forget about a crappy owner.

I dined there with my family and we thought the food was mediocre. After we sat down and started reading the menu, we realized that it was no longer Pepperoni Grill. hehe
I think they were understaffed at the time because I saw only one or two servers who were having a hard time with the patrons. It took awhile before we were served our cold food and the table across from us were served the wrong order. I will probably try them out again after a year.

btw, this experience was from at least a couple of weeks before this thread began