Dustin
I don't usually bother to write to defend anyone or get involved in infantile
comments from people like Andrey, however your comments concerning Papa's are
just wrong!
I have been in Russia for more years than I care to remember and have had
problems with security guards on numerous occasions. This has happened even
places where I have been a member....and I am a white Anglo-Saxon non-Russian
looking expatriate. I am not sure if you feel that his motives were racially
motivated, and they might well have been, but often they like to hassle anyone
and everyone; expats and russians included.
There is no point in confronting flatheads as we call them (security guards) as
they are just looking for an excuse. The thing to do is to put them in their
place by not speaking Russian to them for a start and asking for the Manager.
Once you have explained the situation to the manager then he will make them
look small.
Papas is run by a Canadian called Doug Steele who is well known to the expat
community and has managed many of it fine establishments over the years
including Chesterfields (now the Boar House) and The Hungry Duck amongst many
others. Next time ask for him and he will sort things out. He has always
looked after the expatriates and Papas is a friendly and fun place to go.
I also wonder bearing in mind it was a weekend, whether or not you had had you
hand stamped when you went into the bar, or had mentioned to security that you
were just going for a smoke? It may well be that you fell foul of the fact
that generally on weekends you have to pay to get into Papa's after a certain
hour.
So please do not run down what is in fact a good bar because you had an
unfortunate, but all too common, incident with a security guard!!!! If it has
not happened to you before, it will most certainly happen again.... I suspect
that you have not been in the Country long but believe me you will find out
that what I have said is true.
The fact that you have read so many good things about Papas should tell you
something as well as the fact that so many long term expatriates drink there.
Give it another chance and meet Doug and explain to him what happened. He is
very customer orientated and am sure he will sort it out. Bon Chance....
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:30:39 +0400
From: Dustin Habermann <[email protected]>
Subject: Expat List Papa's Failure
To: The Moscow Expat List <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Papa's (near Lubyanka) bills itself as a friendly place, eager to
please all, including the expat community. I've encountered numerous
mentions of them at expat.ru and waytorussia.net. However, my
experience there this weekend would seem to suggest it's just another
source of bad anecdotes of backwards Russian ideas of service. My
friend and I were "faced" coming back from a cigarette while already
dining there with a larger party for no discernable reason. What
follows are the details for any who are interested. However, I thought
it would be prudent to warn our little community that Papa's is not an
expat friendly establishment.
I had been to Papa's once before. I was alone and enjoyed a lovely
personal pizza and was impressed with the quality of the food and
service. Everything was fast and friendly.
So having a party of five with me this weekend I decided that Papa's
would be a fine place for us to spend an evening of food, drinks and
dancing. There were no problems when we arrived. They sat us
downstairs in the furthest room from the entrance. It was dark but
comfortable enough. We had a pizza and a few rounds of beers and wine.
After this the other smoker and I decided to step outside as the
circulation was bad and we didn't want to disturb the non-smokers in
our party.
A quick note about our appearance- we were two mid-twenties Americans
in semi-casual but quite presentable clothes. However my friend enjoys
wearing combat boots when abroad for comfort while walking and I am
half-Filipino which means I am slightly dark. These are the only
fathomable reasons, however unjustified, that I can conceive of to
explain the treatment we were about to receive.
After our cigarettes my friend and I chatted as we came in. Though we
were speaking in English I informed the greeters that we were already
eating there in Russian. Nothing appeared to be amiss as everyone was
all smiles. As we made our way to the staircase one of the guards
placed himself between us and the stairs and gave us a threatening look.
My American friend speaks no Russian and my language skills leave much
to be desired but I get by in most situations just fine. I said hello
respectfully and then respectfully asked to proceed. He said no. I was
confused but then told him in short clear, Russian sentences that we
were already eating and drinking there. He didn't respond. I asked if
he spoke English and in English he told me that he didn't understand.
I then asked, again in Russian, why we weren't allowed to proceed. He
said "simply because." As a last effort I asked if it was a joke. He
said that he was serious.
I admit at this point I became a little upset. As I had organized the
night I was the one who was going to pay. I told him that we had
already had several rounds of drinks and a pizza and that if we
weren't allowed through I would refuse to pay. This I said in
increasingly broken Russian as my language skills don't extend so far
and I was becoming frustrated. He was silent. I then called my party,
which was difficult as they were sitting underground and the signal
there was poor. The guard watched my vain efforts with smug
satisfaction for several increasingly tense minutes.
I finally got through and then loudly said in English that, "some
barbarian" wasn't letting us down. At this word he changed completely
and started to motion us through with paniced "proceeds" but it was
already far past my patience threshhold. I told him so in English. My
native speaking Russian friends came up and the guard tried to say
that I didn't understand and that I had always been allowed to go. I
explained the real situation and insisted that we should leave without
paying.
Eventually the manager appeared at one of my friend's request and
asked the guard what had happened. The manager never once spoke to me.
The guard repeated his lie in Russian and I corrected him. I demanded
an apology and threatened to leave without paying. The manager never
once looked at me and defended his guard with some excuse about my
American friend's boots. My Russian friends tried to convince me that
our waitress would suffer if we didn't pay. At this prospect I
relented. We returned to our table, finished our drinks and paid. We
even tipped well.
Leaving, I confronted the guard and asked his name. After mocking my
American accent he told me it was Dimitri. I am sure it was a lie.
Never once did anyone at the establishment apologize to any member of
our party. At one point during the confrontation one of my party
reminded the guard that he shouldn't treat paying customers so poorly.
His infantile response was that he didn't work there. Of course he
said this while wearing his uniform.
You can take this as you like. You could just brush me off as a whiny,
self-righteous American who is over sensitive about race. "This is
Russia." Right?
Obviously I will never go back to Papa's again and will encourage any
contact of mine to do the same. We deal with enough in this city and
there are more civilized establishments out there. Please - avoid
Papa's and help support dignity in this fine city. Lets spend our
roubles in places that do their part to move Russia past lamentable
anecdotes of lousy service.
That all said, can anyone recommend other decent places where expats
and Russians can meet and have a good time? Thank you all for your
attention and suggestions.
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