Well, at the restaurant where I currently work, we have ketchup on the tables. We do not, however, have A1 on the tables, which, with us being a steakhouse and all, is what everybody wants. Instead, we have barbeque, which nobody ever uses, but that’s beside the point. Anyway. I do not, under any circumstances, leave the kitchen with a steak in my hand without having A1 in my apron. I drop the steak, I drop the A1, I ask if they need anything else. If they want Heinz 57, fine, I’ll go get it; this happens maybe 3% of the time. If I did not bring A1 to the table, I’d be making an extra trip about 70% of the time.
At the restaurant where I used to work, we served a lot more sandwiches and fries than we did steak (probably because we had twenty-four sandwiches and only one steak). This being the case, we naturally did not have ketchup on the tables. The sole conclusion I can draw is that restaurants enjoy giving the customer immediate access only to that which they do not particularly want. In any case, my practice there was the same as my current practice: I did not leave the kitchen with a burger and fries without also having ketchup in my apron. I drop the food, I drop the ketchup, I ask if they need anything else.
This policy makes my customers happy (because I have predicted their needs and they don’t need to ask and wait for it), and it makes me happy (because I don’t have to make an extra trip every fucking time I drop food). The benefits of this are increased tenfold if the restaurant is busy, as it also avoids the possibility of A) being asked for something and forgetting about it, or B) getting sidetracked and taking 20 minutes to get to it, both of which are far more likely when you’re getting your ass kicked.
Any server with more than a month’s experience that does not follow this policy is, IMO, being an idiot. In addition to making one’s life a hell of a lot harder, it also shows an unwillingness to actively consider the probable needs of one’s customers. When I used to manage, this sort of thing was a “red flag” in a major way. I don’t like stupidity, I don’t like willful inattention, and I definitely don’t like to see both of those qualities simultaneously exhibited in one of my employees.
I have seen complaints regarding servers on this and many other boards that I would argue against tooth and nail. Sometimes, customers simply do not understand the finer points of restaurant operation from an insider’s perspective, yet they insist upon acting on their ignorance and being complete jerks. This is not one of those times. Your server was an idiot. Case closed. Sadly, there isn’t much I can recommend in the way of possible actions you could’ve taken. Complaining to management is pretty much your only recourse, and if they decide to ignore you, then them’s the breaks. All I can suggest to you now is something I’m sure you figured out for yourself: don’t go back there again. Ever.
