July 29, 2010

Well, tonight was a busy night at the restaurant. My first table were three woman. They decided to have drinks since it was happy hour and the drinks were half off. Well after two rounds of drinks, they finally ordered appetizers. Another round of drinks to follow. When I tried to take their order, they weren't ready. So, after numerous attempts to get them to order, they finally did. After and hour and a half. Once their food got there, they ate and had to have most of it boxed up. They sat at my table for over two and a half hours before they finally left! We were in the middle of a dinner rush with customers waiting to be seated. Why am I disgusted with these women? Because!!! I missed the dinner rush and lost money on that table! That table could have gotten sat at least two more times in the amount of time they sat there!!! My next table did the same thing. There were three people. One ordered an entree, one woman said she was just there to drink, and she didn't allow her boyfriend to order anything over $20! For real? She let him get a $10 salad. They also decided to sit for 2 1/2 hours. After they paid and still continued to sit, I went over and said, "since you have been sitting here for so long, are you ready for dessert now? They said no, but asked if we were still in "happy hour". I said no, but we do have a bar and they can feel free to order anyway! Do you think they did? NO!!! They still continued to just sit there. My booths are valuable real estate in a restaurant. If you are not ordering, don't sit there. Go sit at the bar or go to McDonalds and sit!

Also, gentlemen, if you go to a restaurant that uses linens as napkins, don't wear baseball hats especially turned around backwards!!! Again, if you want to wear t-shirts and baseball hats, and not take the hat off, go eat at a fast food restaurant!

Here is another good one. A party of twenty people come into the restaurant. They all order gluten free meals. Now, gluten free menu items have to be made from scratch because we don't get a lot of orders for them. The pasta takes twenty minutes to make for just one order. So it took quite a while for the pasta to cook for twenty orders. Once the food was delivered and the guests ate their meals, it came time to pay. The total bill was over $400. There is an automatic 18% gratuity for parties of 8 or more. They refused to pay the gratuity because the food took so long to arrive at the table. Is that the servers' fault? NO! So they left $15 for two servers to split. Why would you not tip the server the 18% in this case? They do not cook the food. They take your order and serve you your food.

Well, just another fun night working in the restaurant. When I do have a great customer come in I will write about them to let you know. Until then, I'll just keep on letting you know what people do when they eat out.

July 28, 2010

Well these patrons are at it again!!! Just when I thought my night was going to be uneventful, and almost a good night as far as waiting tables goes, I get a table of seven. They were a mixed bag of people. Young, old, black and white. They seemed to be just fine until I went to take their order. Now mind you, I serve in an Italian restaurant. We get a lot of requests to change menu items or modify things, and it really isn't any problem to do. What we don't do is make things that aren't anything close to Italian food. For example, I was asked if we had deep friend shrimp! So sorry, all we do is scampi! Well, what is that they ask? After explaining, they order it. I guess they liked it because they didn't complain. The meal went smoothly enough even though one patron ordered a cup of plain hot water, and then complained that there was a blond hair in it. I assured her it wasn't mine especially since I'm brunette! At the end of the meal, I boxed up all the leftover food for them. I separated the check and gave the three couples their bills. One of the woman asked if I could just wrap her up some bread, herbs and olive oil to go. I told her I would but did she realize there was a charge for these items? She said, "really?" Well how about the bread on our table? I told her I would be happy to wrap up the leftover bread. She didn't want that, because it would be cold. She also didn't want to pay for more bread. So after they paid and I gave them back their credit cards, they sat for about 15 minutes longer and then called me back to the table and she asked for some bread, herbs and oil to go. I gave them to her and told her the next time she would be charged for them. She said she thought it was a courtesy that we did at the restaurant. I told her that it costs us money to give those items away. If she ordered food to go, we certainly would give her bread. They ate at least two full loaves during their meal. I mean, come on, do you think a restaurant is the same thing as the Red Cross? That we are in the business to give away food? Do you go to bars and expect free refills on beer? No! Why not take the salt and pepper grinders home with you too! Hey, they were on your table when you got there!

Then there are the people that come in and say, "we're really not hungry" so we are going to share a meal. But, you are going to bring that bread and herbs, right? Yes, it will be right out. In the meantime, they eat that loaf of bread, ask for more during the split salad they are sharing, and then ask for another loaf during the split meal they are sharing. Yeah, they weren't hungry. They just come out to fill up on all the free bread they can! Who would be hungry??

So just remember, it's o.k. to share a meal once in a while, just don't make pigs of yourselves on all the free bread!

July 27, 2010

O.K., so I'm new at this. I have decided to blog about the proper etiquette when eating at a restaurant. I have been a server for at least ten years. It never ceases to amaze me the way people act when they eat out. I always said that I should write a book, instead I decided to blog about it. It is a way for me to vent, as well as enlighten others to what not to do when dining out.

For example, tonight I served a party of six. An older woman was at the table and told me that she was waiting for the rest of her family to get there. She said it was a special occasion in that her mother who is in her late seventies had back surgery six months ago, and this was the first night she was eating out. After the others arrived, we proceeded with the meal. The service was great. When it came time for dessert, they ordered several. I thought it would be a nice gesture to give the guest of honor a complementary dessert to celebrate her feeling better. The total bill was $146.90. Now anyone with any common sense would leave at least 15-20% gratuity, right? Well they thanked me over and over for the great service and the special treatment I gave to their mother. What do you think they left as the tip? Seventeen dollars ($17)!!! Hard to believe.

Another thing I want to mention is this. When you are regulars to a restaurant--at least once or twice a month---and you are cheating on your spouse, don't choose the restaurant that you and your significant other go to. All of the servers know you, you slime ball!

Another table I had tonight was two woman that did nothing but demand things of me. Since when is it right or polite to just order the server around? We are not there to just wait on you. We have other tables and guests we are waiting on beside you. The woman ordered a bowl of pasta with marinara sauce. After eating half, she decided to have it boxed up. But before I boxed it, she asked if I could put more sauce on it! Really?? It's going to be leftovers for heaven's sake!

That's all I will talk about for tonight, but you can be sure there will be more to come.....