Del Frisco’s in Manhattan is video camera-unfriendly
Do not take your video camera in there without prior permission. They will quickly ask you to stop, drop, and leave. It’s worse than trying to shoot in New York parks with a tripod. But seriously folks, everyone who works there says it’s next to impossible to shoot there. They offered no explanation as to why. I guess it’s just corporate policy. It’s not like I had planned on getting anything interesting there: just Rachel sitting behind her desk answering phones. But that restrictive a corporate policy doesn’t foster warm and fuzzy feelings in my corporation. They still have a chance to redeem themselves by calling me back and asking me for some specifics about what I want to shoot and why. But a flat out rejection with an unsatisfactory or absent explanation means they wouldn’t get NVP’s endorsement, a “special thanks” credit, or any recommendations on our part, and that’s just bad business. That’s their prerogative of course, they can do whatever they want. But if corporations are legal people then Del Frisco’s would not be out of line with my impression so far of New Yorkers.
Hooters, on the other hand, will get a special thanks in its respective episode. They (the corporation) were surprisingly friendly and easy to work with. Not that I had any direct contact, rather Rachel talked to her manager and the communication went up the chain. But nevertheless I didn’t have any problems with them at all. And the food, although not the healthiest, wasn’t that bad either; I wouldn’t eat there every day….