Restaurants - Tip #3 Go Somewhere New

This kills me (but then again, I guess that's the point of this blog, to tell people how to stop annoying me). There are thousands of restaurants in NYC, everywhere. You can turn any corner and see a restaurant, sometimes 5 restaurants. So why is it that when you come to visit NYC for the first or hundredth time, you go to Olive Garden, Red Lobster, TGI Fridays or Chilis!?!?!

I just don't get it. The concierge at your hotel would be HAPPY to help you find a quaint little cafe/deli/fine dining establishment that will fit your taste buds and your wallet. Geez, that's what they are there for. You can get Taco Bell and Red Lobster in any city. And I'm sure you are a big customer back home, but for pete's sake, you are in one of the food capitol's of the world. Take a stab at Little Italy or head up the Upper East Side (really anywhere in 2nd Ave between 67th and 86th streets you are bound to find something).

So please, venture out and if you have NO idea where to go, then ask. Like I said before. New Yorkers are an extremely proud people and would love to tell you their favorite hole in the wall place with THE best homemade ravioli's.

Restaurants - Tip #1 Don't Assume

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.