I wonder (seriously!) how all of the crappy, low-end restaurants stay around and survive. I don’t mean big, national chains like Denny’s (presumably they have enough good stores located somewhere that balances out the ones in Michigan that universally suck). But I mean all of the tiny little “family style” restaurants that have Denny’s-like menus and Denny’s-like service. Ram’s Horn. Johnny’s Ham III. Bubba’s Coney Island.
If I were to ever be a restauranteur, this is not the concept that I’d emulate, however it appears to be successful for whatever reason.
This “rule” was developed in the context of formal dinners with domestic servants, and I believe may have been adapted to some extent to more formal restaurant settings. But in restuarants the guests are not served from platters by a waiter, so it doens’t matter so much in any practical sense and very few people even think about it at all.
Unless this guy has some extensive past experience in the business that he has neglected to mention, his smartest move will be to provide the concept and the financial backing, then hire competent people to handle the actual day-to-day running of the place, and keep his own hands off.
I would love you FOREVER if you did that. I love folks that break out of the mold.
The No Touching Rule: Bugs me. I tend to touch someone lightly on the shoulder when I am coming up behind them to clear a plate or fill their glass. I’d startled a few folks before I started doing it. It is one thing when they can see you coming, another when they can’t. I suppose I could yell “Boo!”
I’m working at a very laid back, home style restaurant. Lots of seasonal regulars. Customers like being remembered. The owner? Doesn’t think we should speak to the customers one word more than is necessary to take their orders. The problem with that? I’m obviously not from here and get asked a lot why I moved here, how I like living here, etc. I’m in a vacation spot, everyone that comes here pretty much wants to move here.
As with any rules, especially if you have 100 of them, your mileage may vary. Having a server that can feel out their customers needs, versus one that rigidly applies a set of rules, is worth far more than $2.15 an hour.
As with most other things, it depends. If you try to serve dinner when I’m telling a tale and gesticulating wildly, I’d rather have you touch my shoulder to get my attention than end up letting me accidentally knock a plate of food across the table. I have no problem at all with you making contact as you squeeze by in a crowded restaurant, or brushing against me as you reach in to put a drink on the table. It’s tough not to.
But I don’t appreciate having a waitress stand with her hand on my shoulder while reciting the specials (which has happened to me several times).
I’ve only seen the “sit down with the group” thing at big chain “family” joints like TGI Fridays, Applebees, etc. I have little doubt its either encouraged or at least completely tolerated by management, because it seems confined to these kinds of places – and places like these have everything about their business codified. I assume some study somewhere found that the “sitting down” thing made people feel “at home”, or encouraged people to order appetizers and booze (much like how these places actively SUGGEST appetizers and booze). So there’s a profit motive somewhere, and despite people claiming they don’t like it, somewhere someone’s demonstrated that its effective.
Another good reason to avoid family chain restaurants. They’re a little too clever with parting you from your money. And they do it in ways that they know actively annoy people.
Huh? Dip with wings is some sort of generous extra treat now? What’s next, charging for salad dressing?
If the manager of a place told me that they sold their buffalo wings separate from the dip and I would have to pay $5 more if I wanted more than a spoonful of dip with my $45 worth of wings, then I would tell him to keep his damn wings and walk out without paying anything.
Won Kei or whatever it was called? Never been there, but it sounds about right.
Cracker Barrel came close when I worked there. Every day they had a dish listed as the day’s “Feature” prominently displayed over the host station. At least a dozen times a day I had to explain that it wasn’t on sale, and nothing extra came with it–it was the same chicken and dumplings that’s on the menu, and we had just elected to call it the “feature” that day.
Occasionally it broke out into an actual argument–they knew it was on sale, since the sign at the host station said so, and I just didn’t know what I was talking about. I’d get the manager, who more often than not just knocked a buck off of it to validate the customer’s hissy fit and make me look like an idiot.
