Have you eaten or served in restaurants in non-tipping cultures? Was the level of customer service noticeably different?
(FWIW, I find service in the US to be of a higher level than in say, Asia, Australia or the UK, but at the same time very mildly annoying–sometimes it’s nice just to be left alone to eat!)
Dan-
I really like your list and am enjoying this thread as well, but have to say that this:
really bugs me. I like to finish my main course before even thinking about do I want dessert and if so, what. I’m enjoying my meal, please.
On a related note, it always kind of bothers me when the server clears my companion’s plate(s) and asks them for a dessert order before I’ve finished my entree or whatever previous course I’m eating. Hey, we’re here to enjoy a meal together, it’s not a race or an assembly line - or at least shouldn’t feel like it.
(And Dan, I don’t mean to imply that you do this.)
Also-
IMO, this is OK in mid-range or diner-type restaurants (where I generally just want to eat and go), but in fancier places, I expect to get the check/bill/whatever only after I’ve requested it - hey, you never know what else I might want while I linger over the meal or with the company. (Of course if they’re vacuuming the carpet - all bets are off! No, I don’t do that!)
At my resturant, someone once left a used syringe. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Some of them do. Typically, waiters in upscale restaurants won’t introduce themselves, but waiters in lower-scale places–especially corporate chain restaurants that claim to provide a “fun dining experience” or something like that :rolleyes: --will. I imagine that management has directed them to introduce themselves in order to build a rapport with the customer in order to better provide said “fun dining experience”.
I can do without the “fun dining experience”. I’d like friendly efficient service, not a new best friend.
Here’s my questions:
It seems to becoming more and more common for the food to be delivered by someone other than our waiter. Whassup with that? It usually leads to the “ok, who had the two cheese enchiladas?” conversation.
Occasionally (more often than it should) we’ll be waiting for the check, while our waiter seems to have punched out and gone home. We usually resort to snagging a bus boy and asking them to find our waiter and get our check. Does this piss everyone off? Is there a better way to handle this?
One thing I don’t understand, and it happens fairly often, is how a server can be attentive and do everything right, and then, when you want the check, they don’t come. And don’t come. And don’t come.
Or maybe you get the check, and put down the card, and they don’t come. And don’t come. And don’t come.
What’s up with that? I assume that they don’t suddenly decide you’re not worth their bother (since that’s when the tip comes, after all), and that it must be something about how the job is structured. But I can’t figure it out.
Along the “fun dining experience” lines, I once had a waitress (Outback Steak House) who sat down in the booth with us while taking our order. I guess her feet hurt. Is that a major no-no?
Just thought of another question: does it make a significant difference to you if I add the tip to the credit card charge, instead of leaving cash?
When I was in L.A. a few months back, we hit a number of nice restaurants. We noticed on more than one occasion that the waitresses were more touchy-feely—hand on shoulder with a smile, that sort of thing, nothing suggestive—than what we were used to. Another person said that some touch helps to improve tipping. Anyone else heard of this?
It’s obviously not a no-no at Outback. I’ve had servers there sit down beside us also. Seems to be fairly (and thankfully!) unique to Outback and some diners. You know the type - 50’s decor, gum-snapping waitresses, jukebox, etc.
Last time I was at Outback, the server didn’t sit next to us (the table was way too full!) but he did put his arm across my face while setting down drinks. First time was “hmph!” the second time, I bit him. I then said “Mate, don’t be putting meat in front of me that I’m not supposed to eat!” :eek:
Things that are supposed to improve tips…
Lightly touching the customer, bringing the customer candy when you bring the bill, repeating back the order in a similar manner in which the customer gave it to you, etc.
But the biggest thing that gets the tips is knowing what kind of customer you’re dealing with. Some customers like the waiters to get very friendly, sit in the booth or pull up a chair, give candid suggestions and chat about various things while serving the customers.
Others like to be left alone and prefer the barest of service as possible. You shouldn’t even ask to refill the coffee for these people, if they want it, they’ll go up and get it.
The hard part is telling which customer is which, something which I am horrible at and why I don’t make a very good waiter. @.@
Have you ever spilled a drink or plate of food on a customer? What were your and their reactions? Did they get a free meal out of it, and if so, did you have to pay for it?
I’ve spilled a beer on a customer before. We keep our beer glasses chilled and the guy had ordered a pint draft. I went to set it in front of him and the condensation caused the glass to “squirt” out of my fingers. I was mortified. :eek: The poor guy was sitting there drenched in beer. Luckily for me, he was really cool about it and just laughed it off. We were having $.10 wing night and I brought him and his friends a huge plate of wings on the house. My manager didn’t make me pay for it.
The worst I’ve ever seen, though, was a waitress I used to work with. She had a large~ish table (probably about 12 guys) who had come in after a round of golf. They had another guy join them about 15 minutes after they had all ordered. Everyone’s food was ready, but the joiner’s pizza had about 5 minutes to go. The table decided that they wanted their food and the late guy would take his when it came out of the oven.
When the pizza was ready the server picked it up in the kitchen and made a dash for the table so that the guy could eat with his companions. She was moving pretty fast. She stopped at the table, the plate stopped at the table…but the pizza kept going. :eek: It went flying through the air and hit this guy right about chest level. You’d be amazed at the coverage you get from a 10" supreme style pizza. It went everywhere. All of his golf buddies busted out laughing. The waitress ran into the kitchen to have a good cry. The manager went over to do damage control.
In the end, the kitchen made the guy a new pizza and he got his whole check comped. The table got a free round of drinks. We gave the guy one of the T shirts that we sell, for free. And the table got transfered off to another waiter.
Ah, the good ol’ days…
I had only been waiting tables for like two weeks when I had a party of women sit down in my section who all ordered iced tea.
I hadn’t quite learned how to manage a beverage tray yet, but that was the only way to get eight iced teas to the ladies without taking forever, so I loaded up my tray and went to hand them all over, one by one.
I’d only handed out two of 'em when I leaned too far over the shoulder of one of the ladies…the tray tipped and all the iced teas fell over like bowling pins.
All. Over. Her.
I guess having six tall glasses of iced tea dumped on your head all at once is pretty shocking. The woman began screaming like I had applied blazing hot irons to her skin. Everyone in the entire restaurant stopped what they were doing and stared. She screamed so loud they heard it all the way in the back of the kitchen; the manager came running out immediately to see what the hell had happened.
I was so startled that my instinctive reaction was to start laughing. Hysterically. For about five seconds, until I just ran away. Literally. I ran into the kitchen and hid, completely and utterly mortified.
The manager told the woman he’d pay for her dry-cleaning, and gave her the meal for free. She was actually pretty nice about it, all things considered; it was the woman sitting next to her who raised hell because some of the tea had splashed on her white dry-clean-only outfit. My manager bought her meal, too, and told her to send us the bill for her dry-cleaning as well, but she still bitched and moaned like it was the end of the world and I had done it intentionally.
Since then I’ve splashed people with dropped drinks, and I’ve dropped whole trays of food, but I’ve never been able to top dumping six glasses of iced tea all over one woman at the same time.
And no, FTR, it is illegal for restaurants to make their employees pay for mistakes of this kind. As long as it’s obvious you didn’t do it on purpose, there’s never any question that the restaurant eats the damage, not the server. The only thing most restaurants make servers pay for is walked tabs.
So for anyone who’s ever dined and dashed, if I ever encounter you I’ve got some very special words for you. It’s no fun working an entire shift to pay for someone else’s dinner, especially when you don’t even make enough to cover it and you leave with less money than you had when you walked in the door.
How do you determine how to tip hosts/hostesses, bussers, and bartenders? Is that flat or do they take a percentage of yours?
Casual dining waiters usually introduce themselves just because it’s easier to get our attention by name…if you snap your figners or make wild hand motions, you’re likely to get ignored just so it can be seen how much further you’ll go. 
Order whatever you want, just don’t stiff me, and I don’t care…some of my best tables have been two old ladies having coffee and leaving me a 5 spot for a 3 dollar tab that was no work at all.
No, I’ve only served and eaten in the USA. However, the last restaurant I worked at was in a heavy European tourist area, on some nights 90 percent of the tables would be Welsh or French or Irish. These tables were often profiled and ignored…since I’ve a work ethic, I give my best service to all tables because I feel there’s no sense in guaranteeing a bad tip by giving shite service.
If your server’s bugging you, tell him you’re having an important conversation and will ask for him if you need him. No waiter should take issue with this.
That’s teamwork, it solves the problem of one server becoming overwhelmed and it also makes the restaurant easier to staff, as not everyone has to be able to serve tables (age limits, ability limits, etc).
I have no idea what the deal is. My tables are my tables until they leave the restaurant. I do not ignore them.
Nope, it’s just lazy service. They’re thinking that it’s over and they don’t have to work hard anymore.
I sometimes do that, if I get the feeling that it’s a fun table and it’s people who don’t mind and want to chatter a bit.