Phoenix Greyhound Park

Recently I visited the Phoenix Greyhound Park for the first time. I have never been to such an event before as was looking forward to something new. Unlike a restaurant, it is a bit of a challenge to put a star rating on the location as an overall experience. I went with a friend on a Saturday night and being a high-​roller, paid the $ 3 admission into the club area. We were immediately seated by the hostess and soon a waitress arrived with menus. I wasn’t really focused on the waitress and really didn’t even look at her when she left the menu. I didn’t remember her name and when 30 minutes passed and she didn’t return, I went to the bar to look for her. They asked who my waitress was — I don’t know. What did she look like? — I don’t know. Did she have short hair or long hair? — I don’t know, I didn’t even look at her. Then the bartender asked was it that girl? Like I said, I didn’t look at her — just find out who covers that table and send someone down. Is it really that difficult? Finally, she showed up apologizing. We both order and it is another long wait. Drinks were empty, the food wasn’t out and she was nowhere to be found. Eventually the food arrived and actually was pretty good. My friend had the French dip sandwich and I the grilled chicken (which I thought was a grilled chicken sandwich, but was just a piece of grilled chicken on a plate). But it was good and the fries were excellent. She did stop by to pick up my friend’s plate, but left mine as it still had fries. But even after it was empty, the plate sat… and sat… and sat… drinks were empty… my friend was parched of thirst and finally the waitress showed up to fill up the glass and take the plate. When I say take the plate, I mean it was moved from our table to the empty table across from us — where it said for another hour with other plates filled with half eaten food. Nice that it was right there next to us. Another long wait and the waitress showed up asking about dessert. She did come back a few times before we decided to split the apple crisp, which was good, but not as good as it could be. She brought the bill, which was $ 22 and change. I put in $ 25, expecting change to be brought and I would leave the appropriate tip. That was the last time we saw her. Good thing I didn’t need change.
Thinking about the betting window, the experience was good. Neither of us had been to a track before and they took time to explain how it worked. They explained each type of bet, how to pick the dogs and what to look for. It was very helpful — although out of 18 races I only won once. My friend was more successful that I and racked up 5 wins. I did find one of the people at the betting window to be very friendly and helpful. The other two were all business and didn’t talk.
Overall, when considering the entire experience, I would give it a 3. The company I was with was a definite 5, the betting experience (even though I didn’t win) probably a 4 – 4.25 (due to the lack of communication from the other representatives) and while I understand food is not the primary attraction, it is listed as a feature of the club, so one would expect it to be a focus of the operation. The Food quality was a 3, but the food service was a definite 0.
Go for the betting experience, the sweet view of Camelback Mountain as the track’s backdrop, but don’t expect much from the food…