I was having a hard time trying to figure out where to go this week when I went out to eat and realized how many things I have to say about restaurants and eating out. I would like to preempt this by saying that I have a lot of experience working in restaurants. Not back of house, but all front of house. Waiting tables was a great way to make some cash while I was on unemployment and waiting for my next gig to come my way. So...I say this all with a little experience under my belt and from the view of the waitress, not the customer.
Tip #1 - Don't Assume
I realize that there are many reasons to go out to eat. It could be a birthday, anniversary, pay raise, lack of a pay raise or just a nice date night. Sometimes though you want to go out to impress somebody and if this is the case then be careful, because this tip will definitely apply to you.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant and didn't tip your wait staff because the food was slow, the order came out incorrectly, your drinks took too long, the wait staff wasn't around enough or the wait staff was around too much? How about if the food tasted bad? Or the cocktail wasn't exactly how you like it? Maybe you had to send your steak back a few times because they just couldn't get that damn temperature right? Or maybe, even worse, they told you the wait time was appx 30 minutes and 60 minutes later you still don't have a table.
Here's what I'm going to tell you. Get over it. YOU decided to leave your home and have someone else cook for you (btw, the waiter does NOT cook the food), YOU decided not to cook at home, YOU decided to sit down at a table and get served. YOU decided to pay too much for food and drink.
So if something goes wrong, it's probably not the waiters fault and there is nothing they could have done about how slowly the bartender moves or how horribly they make drinks. Nor could they do anything about the cook and how long they decided to keep your steak on the grill. You want a perfect steak to meet your standards?? Then do it yourself.
The point I want to make here is don't assume that the wait staff is responsible for everything that went wrong in your meal. Don't assume that you deserve anything. They are there to help and guide you through a meal that you didn't want to cook.
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"So if something goes wrong, it's probably not the waiters fault"
ReplyDeleteNO, MOST things are the server's fault in general.
You can control when you put in orders, if you put in orders correctly into the computer, when you get the orders(unless you are serving someone at the moment it's ready), if you bring out the order you can notice obvious things on the plate wrong or missing that you don't have to TOUCH the food to notice the mistake, you can control if someone has an overcharge of any kind by getting it fixed BEFORE the customer receives the problem, you can do things in an orderly fashion such as if table 7 asked for their check that you wouldn't go to get 3 other table's items(unless it was previously asked for) before getting that check making table 7 wait 5-10 minutes, etc.
"the order came out incorrectly,"
I would say 9 times out of 10, that's the server's fault. They can put in the order wrong and if they bring out the food as well, they have a set of EYES that can compare the plates of food to the written orders.
"your drinks took too long,"
If you are talking about bar drinks, there have been 3 times I have been through servers forgetting drinks at the bar, THREE TIMES. So not always is it the bartender's fault. Also, WHEN did you put in the order counts a lot as well.
If you are talking about soft drinks, tea, or water that usually can be gotten by your server in most restaurants they have a soda station to go to, usually more than one. If the restaurant doesn't, tell the bartender always fix the soft drinks/tea/water first, because that's common sense that people are thirsty.
"Nor could they do anything about the cook and how long they decided to keep your steak on the grill."
YOU DO have something to do with if you put in the order correctly(pressing well done instead of medium well) and you do have to do with if you forget to get my food.
"YOU decided not to cook at home, YOU decided to sit down at a table and get served. YOU decided to pay too much for food and drink."
YOU decided to be a SERVER, GET OVER IT IF YOU DIDN'T GET A GOOD TIP WHEN YOU DID A PISS POOR JOB!!
"The point I want to make here is don't assume that the wait staff is responsible for everything that went wrong in your meal."
I don't, if anything, I only take off if I know for a fact such as it's really obvious or they actually admit fault(which has really happened).
I want to say to servers, DON'T ASSUME everyone is the same. I hate assumptions myself. Not everyone wants refills without being asked. Not everyone wants their check with their dessert. Not everyone that asks for a box is full and wants to leave. Not everyone that orders 2 appetizers and 2 entrées wants to only share one of them. Not everyone wants water or wants water with lemon. I could go on and on about assumptions.
"They are there to help and guide you through a meal that you didn't want to cook."
No, they are there to take my order and serve me!! They aren't there to HELP me unless I ask for it. I don't want server's opinions most of the time. I have asked for them from time to time, but 99.9% of the time I know what I want and I don't want their opinion in my service.
"Or maybe, even worse, they told you the wait time was appx 30 minutes and 60 minutes later you still don't have a table."
I would say most of the time that's not the server's fault, but it can be if they make many mistakes, especially major ones, which affect the amount of time customers sit. For example, the server put in an order completely wrong, that's more time that table is occupied, not avaiable for others.