Next Restaurant Server Crashes, Foodies Get Angry

Well, this seems inevitable. The insane amounts of hype and anticipation around Next restaurant's new Thai menu led to a collapse of their computer systems last night when tickets finally went on sale. What Time Out's David Tamarkin called an "explosion of bourgeoise anger and first-world vitriol" (and we call just another example of why anonymous internet commenting leads people to be idiots) happened on the Next Facebook page, reminding us that you're only popular until you're not.

The comments are kind of amazing, and you can watch the turn from anger to resignation as the evening wears on. One commenter pointed out that they were "fit to be Thai'd!" and another called the experience "uncomfortably cult-like." Um, yeah.

Time Out quoted some juicy ones that came right around 4:00. "Your website is a joke. Not sure how you can call yourself a world class restaurant and not be able to handle real web traffic. I build corporate websites for a living.... did you have a 15 year [old] build this?...... I expect more from you, if in fact your company claims to be all that. Give me a break."

One great idea from a commenter: "I keep thinking we can turn this into something good, for the last hour of work a lot of you were getting paid for doing no work while trying to secure a great meal, why not donate that hour of your salary to a worthy charity making sure people get fed. I'll get you started, my hour is going to www.chicagofoodbank.org"

Yet another reason to wait for a month and buy night-of tickets....

Contact the author of this article or email tips@chicagoist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Anthony Todd in Food on July 12, 2011 11:00 AM

Comments [rss]

blipsman

I fought the system and finally got a pair of tickets for Aug. 27th! Was frustrating, but the reality is that such insane, simultaneous demands on a site in such a narrow peak window is hard to build for without large tech expenditures. Perhaps a lottery or some other system would achieve similar results without such frustration on the part of users.

maelewis

Last week, Next put Friday, Saturday and Sunday tickets up for sale and they were gone in 2 seconds while 7,000 people jammed the website. Minutes later, on the Next Facebook, people began to trade and sell their just purchased tickets. I would like to ask Grant Achatz: Who are you cooking for? People who really love a good meal and are willing to pay the price (and jump through hoops? Or, are some of those tickets going to scalpers, opportunists and people who see that they can back a buck off of something.

Yes, many of the Next Face Book Friends have enjoyed their meals, and they sound sincere. And some are traders and speculators. In the good old days, when people called a restaurant to make a reservation, did they sell that spot or were just the ones planning on coming doing the phoning? (I know, Nick said that they used to have three receptionists who did nothing but answer a phone and tell people that they were booked.

Right now, they can't handle the traffic that they have. If they're smart, they'll let a few tickets out at different hours, unannounced to prevent jamming their over burdened system. It aint working

ChicagoD

Maybe they should do carry out. That might help.

dsdonut

The comments on facebook are pretty funny. There seem to be 2 camps. Those that were pissed off about the tickets not going on sale (pissed about wasted time/not getting tix, etc.) and those that seem offended that anyone could dare speak ill of anything Next/Grant Achatz related (OMG! Next is GENIOUS and we should be grateful to be able to click refresh 1000 times!) Both sides need to get a life.