The menu has a clear description of the pizza. It also states that if you would like to add meat to it you can. The tone that the man was using seemed more like he was expecting meat rather than avoiding it.
Almost every single vegetarian I’ve waited on has stated up front that they don’t eat meat. I had to pry it out of this family, which just seems a little unusual.
I wish there was. But where exactly would you take us out to lunch at?
She has a point. You couldn’t get me to work that day!
I work at a nice Mexican place, but my favorite customers are the ones who give you the “Hand-shake Of Death™.” That’s the one where you know that you did an impeccable job and they thank you and then shake your hand with both of theirs. You can bet that means that you got some emotional encouragement in place of financial encouragement. Variations include the “Shoulder-clap of Death™.”
We just got back from Helen, GA. We ate at a tiny restaurant, 14 people, six of them under the age of 5.
Our server was a delight. She got all the orders right and out quickly, and there was no standing there with a plate at the table, asking, “Bratwurst on a roll?” and waiting for someone to say, “That’s mine.” Water was filled, cracker baskets were filled, and my MIL went out of her way to praise her to her boss.
Well, I can think of two occasions on which I ordered things which seemed very clearly from the menu to not have meat on them. In one case, the waiter told me “by the way, there’s also pork in that”. In the other case the waiter didn’t bother and I ended up with a pizza loaded down with all manner of vegetable … and sausage. So I’ve learned to always ask specifically if there’s meat. I doubt I’m alone on this. In fact I know I’m not.
I don’t generally feel the need to inform a waiter of that fact unless they don’t seem to understand that I’m asking about meat because I don’t want to eat it. Almost every single waiter I’ve asked that has seemed to understand. shrug A little more clarity would have made things easier, but I don’t think in that respect the family was doing anything particularly out of the ordinary.
BTW, another way around this problem would be to have your menus indicate “vegetarian” where applicable.
People like this are very common, at least at the restaurant I work at. We have a couple tables like this a night. We get the people that walk right past the hostess stand, despite being greeted and asked “How many?” and then proceed to seat themselves. Also, we have a kids’ night every Wednesday where kids eat free. It’s not uncommon for a table of 11 with 8 kids to leave a $3 tip, even if they’ve had an impeccable(sp?) service, I assume leaving the tip only on the 3 adult meals, not what the check would have been any other night. So rude cusotmers are everywhere.
Oh and ruadh, the reason the question was not answered with a simple “yes” or “no” was most likely the fact that people generally like more information about the food, which the server was attempting to give. Also, it was answered with a “no” first, then the extra information was added just in case the customers wanted the meat, since it was unclear to the server. What if the question was answered with a simple “no” and the customers actually had wanted meat, but thought they couldn’t get it? In a situation where it is unclear what a customer might want, it’s best to give as much information as possible so there is no confusion with the order. It also shows that a server knows the menu, which is always a good sign.
Wow, Glad I never had customers like that! Good for you that it’s only a few more weeks.
As per the vegetarian thing, as previously noted in other threads, my sister and a good number of my friends are vegetarians. When they go out, they aren’t necessarily pushy about it, but they are quite up front about the fact that they’re vegetarian and are specifically looking to avoid meat.
I think that when you decide to make a choice like that, the burden is really on you to make sure that you get what’s right for you. You can’t fault Roxi for responding vaguely to a poorly worded question. Her job is taking orders, not mind reading.
Hey, we went there in August. I was truly unimpressed with the “alpine village” thing they tout it as. A decrepit cluster of card shops with a shoddy faux-Bavarian paint job. But we went tubing at that place…Cool something, I think. That was fun.
…was that restaurant the place overlooking the river, International something or other?
Yes, Cafe International. And yes, the town was tacky, but we had a wonderful time and I did my part for the local economy. Too cold for tubing, but it snowed!
No, it wasn’t. According to the OP the first answer that was given was “You can add meat if you would like.” There is no “no” there.
I agree and would have no problem with Roxi’s second answer, “No, but you can add meat if you would like”.
White Ink:
I don’t fault Roxi for misunderstanding the reason the question was asked, but I can’t for the life of me see what was vague about the question itself.
When I answer questions I listen for the tone. The way he said it was almost like he was disgusted with the fact that it could possibly not contain any meat.
My sympathy ShadiRoxan. I like (and to a certain extent expect) decent service in a restaurant of the kind you appear to display - helpful, knowledgable, prompt and cheerful. What I despise are people who assume an air of superiority when they are being waited on. It seems they feel they are entitled to dispense with politeness, as though the waiter/ess is from some sub-class that does not require the use of common courtesy.
Mind you, anyone who thinks that asking the question
“Is there meat on the Veggie pizza?”
does not require some kind of additional qualification has checked more than just basic social skills at the door.
Those people sounded to me as though they had either never been to a sit-down, non-fast food, full service restaurant before in their lives. Or they were so concerned about the prices of everything, they’d just saved up for the last five years for this one outing.
I’m so confused as to why this thread has turned into a discussion of how vegetarians order in restaurants and less about: WTF is up with these customers? I’ve never waited tables in my life. I ask those of you who have: is this sort of thing so common that it doesn’t even warrant a discussion about it in this thread? Ever get customers who really have never been in a restaurant before and have no idea how it works?
And what’s up with the 20-year-old who doesn’t know how to order what he wanted for his own meal?
What’s really creepy to me, is these people sort of remind me of my dad and step mom. They waltz in, making assumptions based on past experience and sometimes I wonder how they get through life by themselves without a guide to explain to them how to handle themselves in a new situation.
Boggles the mind. Who cares about the vegetarians? I’m one and fail to see why this hijack is relevant.
I don’t think they were vegetarians. They wouldn’t use the term and it almost seemed like it was a challenge for them.
I wouldn’t say that it’s common that this happens on an every day basis, but I’d say that it happens more than you would expect. I’ve had people come in demanding the most they can get for the smallest amount. They will argue with me over how the computer charges them for things, even though I have no control over that and I warned them about the charge anyway. There are people that eat almost everything on their plate and then say they didn’t like it and demand it be taken off the bill. I’ve even seen some people place their own hair in it.
Majority of these people aren’t nice to me either. All these things are not my fault, but I have to take them blame for them, either verbally from some pissed off customers or financially by being stiffed.
Once I was stiffed because a ribeye a man ordered (a normally very fatty piece of meat) had too much fat in it.
I’ve been yelled at for a steak coming out the wrong temperature or something being undercooked. While I realize that this is unacceptable, it is still beyond my control and I do everything I can to rectify the situation. Sometimes this includes me begging the managers and pissing them off so that I can do something to recover the situation, like take a portion of the meal off or offer free dessert.
Waiting tables is not an easy job and most people don’t last for more than a few months. A lot of times they quit on the spur of the moment because they are sick of dealing with people. I’ve even seem some servers crying from the stress.
I’m starting to wonder if I should start an Ask the Server thread… So much that people don’t know about what goes on behind the scenes.
I went out on a date a few years ago [insert wisecrack here] that turned out to be a first and last date: the guy took me to a restaurant, and yelled at the waiter. That told me everything I needed to know and I crossed him off my list.
What sort of thing? People who suck all of your time and energy asking the same four self-evident questions over and over and over again, to the detriment of your other tables and then stiff you? Unfortunately, I believe that’s happened to every server who’s done the job longer than a couple of weeks.
For some reason, a lot of folks think it’s just peachy to check their manners and common sense at the hostess stand. Even people who would never dream of treating a bank teller or cashier badly see no problem acting like complete and total assholes the second their butts hit the chair. The wait was too long, and that’s clearly the server’s fault. There’s not enough salt on their food, and that’s clearly the server’s fault. Their chicken pot pie is too dry, and that’s the server’s fault, too. Their diabetic son took his insulin 20 minutes before they were seated and is getting hypoglycemic, and not only is that the server’s fault, it is also the server’s fault for not having food and beverages waiting for them the second they sit down.
Yep. That’s the sort of thing I was wondering about.
I’d love to see an Ask The Server thread, as long as it doesn’t degenerate into horrifying “what a pissed off server put in my food” thread. Blech.
But I love reading examples of bad behavior. That way I feel really superior when I behave decently in public.
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=226998
Here you go Dogzilla.
I was recently at an Eat ‘n’ Park in Akron, and our poor server was a “trainee”. We were like the Deltas at the Dexter Lake Club in the place, except we were the only non-senior citizens in there as opposed to the only white people in there. During the meal, we could hear people all around us being stupid and complainy for no reason. We left a bigger tip than usual with a note that said something to the effect of “hope this in some small way makes up for some of the people who will stiff you tonight for no good reason”.