Campbell Renaissance Toastmasters
4 Aug, 2004
At yesterdays meeting, the subject of moving our meeting location came up. Alex voiced the opinion that Stuft is a better meeting place than the Hickr'y Pit. Alex goes to a TM meeting there once a week. I have not received any other reviews of the Hickr'y Pit.
Bob F. mentioned the Campbell Brewing Company, in the old Stoddards facility. So I went down to check it out. What I learned is this: Mr. Stoddard is still involved, but with new partners. They have an upstairs meeting area that is very nice looking. The menu is huge: 11 soups & salads.; 6 appetizers; 13 sandwiches & burgers; 6 pizzas; 7 pasta's; and 8 full sized entrees. I will go down there today at lunch and check it out again.
CBC 200 East Campbell Ave. 408-866-2699
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A bit later on the 4th.
I went down to both CBD and Hick'ry Pit during the lunch hour today. First, I owe the folks at Hick'ry pit an apology for mis-spelling their name. When I went into CBC, I realized what I think is probably the biggest difference between Stuft and CBC: CBC is run in a professional manner, and Stuft is not.
That said. Both CBC and Hick'ry Pit do have noise in them. Same as Stuft, except that the noise source is different. CBC is newer and better looking. On the down side, CBC has a small fountain and a music system we will want quieted. Also, I did not see any space to store our stuff, but then I did not ask either. Hic'ry Pit seemed OK. Nothing great, not bad. Not good enough to make me say: Let's move there!
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Aug. 10
As promised, I have taken a look at the Hick'ry Pit. I was impressed by the following:
1. It's quiet (and as a bonus, there is neither noisy air conditioning nor music coming
through to the room)
2. Entry to room can be done through quiet door (unlike the noisy door at Stuft Pizza
which makes a loud "thwack" upon entering due to its contact w/ a magnet)
3. Nice menu
4. I thought it had a sweet and homey feel to it as well as good sunlight
5. In spite of lacking air conditioning noise, the room was cool
Those are my impressions and I would vote in favor of making that our new home.
Thanks,
Adam
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August 17
Hi.
I'm back from my travels but "in recovery" . See you all next week. In
the meantime, just wanted to coment on the Brewery:
Great place, decent food, often responsive service (managers are
generally good-staff is uneven) but noise is horrendous. In summer, lunch
traffic is lower. I've been there, doing networking lunches and it's really
busy (read loud) during the fall and winter. If we were to run the test,
I'd wait until late Sept - Oct.
Ciao,
Paula
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August 18
Ed,
Both Hick'ry' Pit and Campbell Brewing will have noise issues.
I suggest the "Executive Committee" have lunch at both places, during the
appointed times, or, the club have two special meetings for all members
interested (doing something fun), and check out both venues.
The C.B.C. is amazingly nice, and its menu us pretty reasonable in cost...
Paul S.
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August 20
All-
I stopped by Campbell Brewing Company after our meeting yesterday. Here is my review:
I liked the building very much. It's new and clean. The "room" is upstairs away
from the activity of the restaurant. It's big enough and has a wall of windows which
provide good light. There is central air, so we wouldn't have the sound of the air blowing
and be competing to be heard. And the restaurant will set up the tables for us per our
requested lay-out.
The restaurant has a good sized menu with lots of variety including salads (I'll bring the
menu to our next meeting). They are willing for us to use the room with no additional
charge with the agreement that we are ordering lunches. There is no minimum. They will
provide separate checks. We would have a dedicated wait staff. They have also agreed to
allow us to store our stuff on the premises.
The one possible negative is the sound.
The room is their upstairs bar and there's nothing else going on there during the lunch
hour, however there is no door to close. I noticed as it is away from the stairs that the
sound is dimmed significantly, but it's hard to tell if this would be an issue without
actually trying it. I think it would be a good idea to get a small group together and sit
there for an lunch hour and hold a mock meeting as a test case.
--- Jackie Talia