I hadn't been to Breadman's in 20 years but returned on a Friday just before the lunch rush with my daughter (a UNC-CH student). She wasn't interested in going and I wish I hadn't insisted we grab a quick lunch at what I fondly remember as a Chapel Hill landmark. The hostess didn't even say hello, just motioned to us to follow her. That was the least of the rude service. When I mentioned the unreasonable wait to the waitress, I could scarcely believe the snide response ""Do you want to wait longer?"" suggesting she was going to walk away to punish us. This was just after she brought our drinks which we hadn't touched. Under the circumstances, I wasn't up to being made a fool of in front of my daughter, got up and told the waitress that I don't patronize businesses that treat me poorly. Her reply: a loud sigh and a loud expasperated ""Jesus Christ!"" as if we were nuts. We quietly and patiently waited by the front door/hostess station after I said I'd like to speak with a manager. When the owner/manager came after a few minutes, he practically shoved me from behind toward the door saying ""Let's talk outside."" It was obvious he didn't care and I told him not to touch me. It was clear he was not at all interested in what I had to say about his staff's behavior and just wanted me to leave the restaurant. He then said he didn't serve drunks in his restaurant -- suggesting I had been drinking though I was quiet and stone sober -- it was about 11:45 a.m. This was obviously just part of his little power-trip game, no doubt practiced many times. I told him what I thought of him (we were outside by this time) and continued to the car and he went inside. As we were driving off he returned to the parking lot with some thug-kitchen help and pointed at me -- probably telling them to beat me and my daughter up. The owner is a lunatic and his rude staff no doubt gets its poor standards of service from him. One other thing I noticed is that there were no UNC students working -- just what appeared to be illegal immigrants -- the hostess, the bus boys, the waitresses. With so many UNC students looking for part-time work, you'd think he'd have the decency to hire Americans. So much for the old Breadman's of memory. Never going back.
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