November 6, 2010

I would like to know what people are thinking when they eat out. I mean, I know you should be able to have a relaxing dinner with drinks and dessert, but how long do people think they can sit at a table after they are finished eating and have already paid their check? When you come in at 5:30 and are still at the table until 7:45, this is an issue. If you want to continue to sit and order nothing, go sit at the bar and have a glass of water. Why take up the table all night so the server doesn't make any money? We only make $2.13 and hour and really depend on tips. If you have a three table section and people are "camping" at one of them, you are only working with two tables in a limited amount of time. Please be considerate of the server when you eat out!!!!! Also, once you have paid your bill and continue to sit there for an extra hour, please don't order a cup of coffee just to act like you are ordering something.

October 20, 2010

Sometimes it is such a pleasure to wait on small children. I had the cutest little guy at one of my tables last night. He couldn't have been more than three or four years old. He looked up at me with the biggest blue eyes and blond hair and said "I can speak Spanish"! I said really? What can you say? He said B I N GO and Bingo was his namO! I couldn't stop laughing! I told him that if you put a vowel on the end of every word, I guess you can be bilingual. He made my night.

October 12, 2010

Five Things that Tick Off Servers:

1. “Do you like it when people come over to your house and move your furniture around? Yeah, neither do we. We especially don’t like it when you decide to put chairs where we normally have people (i.e. our staff) walking.

I’m sorry, but we haven’t been waiting around all day for you and your ten friends to pop in - moreover, there was actually some logic and planning that went into putting the tables and chairs where we have them, so leave them the f#@$ alone!”

2. “I love how a restaurant is expected to acknowledge your birthday like it’s a national holiday or something. Who invented the rule that you get a free dessert on your birthday in a restaurant? I guess we have T.G.I.Friday’s and Bennigan’s to thank for exploiting servers as they, the servers, clap their hands and chant a birthday cheer.

You don’t get a free pair of gloves or socks from Old Navy when you buy an outfit on your birthday.

3. “One of my all time favorites: People’s utter disregard for hours of operation. ‘Oh, you all are closed? OK, well, I just get some food to go.’ No, I don’t think you get it - we’re closed. Not only can you not cash a check at the bank 30 seconds after they close - the old man locking the door actually takes pleasure in locking the door on you. In some banks, the tellers even have a nice panoramic window to gaze out of and laugh at all the folks who didn’t make it in on time.

4. “You know what happens when you’re late for a flight? You miss it! You know what happens when you’re late to the movies? It starts despite the fact that you’re not there. Why are we obligated to hold your table when you’re late? Oh, you hit traffic. What’s that? - I’ve never heard of traffic. And what's worse, you get to your table of ten when only two of you are on time and sit and wait and wait and wait until the rest of your party shows up asking for bread, bread, and could we have some more bread? We are starving!!!

5. “Why do people always seem to call the restaurant at the absolute worst time (i.e. between 12:45 and 1:30 p.m. and 7 and 9 p.m.) to inquire about our menu or make a reservation?

‘Yes, please tell me about your food’ Really? Do you not have access to the World Wide Web? It’s great when they request a verbal tour of the menu. And, why is it that all these people share an uncanny, common denominator - they all talk so slow!

Or - how about when people call to make a reservation and the conversation actually turns into a conference call? This is especially entertaining when the person is in a car with a multiple talkative passengers, or the other people in the conversation are in another room of the house probably watching college football.

The person you are on the other end of the phone with is still conferring with the others: ‘What time do you want to eat? I don’t know. Is eight too late? How hungry are you? Do you think you’ll be busy at 7:30? They don’t have anything until 8:15.’”

September 29, 2010

So, how about this.... A couple comes into the restaurant and orders a nice meal. They have a free food certificate valued at $45. Their bill comes to $58.67. They put $13 in the book and tell me that the service was excellent and that they will ask for me again!!!! Don't do me any favors! I mean, do they not realize that you tip on the entire bill and not just the balance that is due!!!! They should not even eat out!!!! Cheapskates!!!!

Also, another thing that I keep mentioning is.....DO NOT CAMP AT A SERVER'S TABLE!!!! If you are finished eating, and not going to order anything else, do not sit there for three hours "catching up" with each other! Take it to the bar! Not only is it inconsiderate, it is just rude.

September 8, 2010

I have to post this even though it wasn't my table. Another server had a table with two women who sat down at 6:00 or so. It was during happy hour, and they both ordered a drink ($3). They mentioned that they hadn't seen each other in twenty years. After the first drink, they ordered another before happy hour ended at seven. They were still there at 9:30 when I left! Can you believe they only ordered four drinks, no food, and sat there all night taking up this table? Why in the world would they not sit at the bar? You cannot go out and sit at a table all night without ordering anything! The server never got to turn that table and have it get sat again. I wonder if they stayed until we closed? They didn't even pay their bill right away. They left it sitting there even though they didn't want to order anything else. At least pay the bill so the server can leave for the night!!

August 25, 2010

This takes the cake! Party of five come in and have a nice dinner. Afterwards, they tell me they have a birthday cake in the back for one of them. I go back to get the cake, open the box, and see an 8 inch cake in there with at least fifty candles on it! The entire top had candles on it. Now, I guess in their minds, I was supposed to light all of these candles. The cake would have caught on fire as well as my hand! So I decided to light one candle in the middle and take the cake to him. People, come on! Busy restaurant, busy server. We don't have time to light fifty candles! They then decided to try and light them. Didn't get too far. They did, however, offer me a piece of cake.

August 19, 2010

So, it's your birthday or someone in your party's birthday. You bring your own cake and have the server keep it "in the back" for you until you are ready for it. That's fine. When all of your dishes are cleared and everyone is ready for dessert, you ask for your cake to be brought out. Just keep in mind that your server is also waiting on other tables, and not just yours. They now have to go back, put candles on the cake, get plates, forks and a knife, and get the cake to your table without the candles going out. That's fine. After "Happy Birthday" is or isn't sung at the table, the cake now needs to be cut and served. Sometimes the birthday person does this, and sometimes it is the server. Once the cake has been cut, and the leftover cake needs to be boxed back up, the server must take it "in the back" and box it. Now, you would think with all that extra work and time spent at your table away from the server's other tables, that you would tip more than the usual amount you normally tip your server? You would think, but "no". Most people don't! It is an extra service you are being provided with. Please tip your server extra and it would be nice to offer them a piece of cake!!!

Another thing, when you redeem a coupon at a restaurant for a free appetizer, dessert, or whatever, the correct thing to do is tip on what the bill would have been before the aforesaid item is deducted from your bill. Most servers have to tip out for bussers, bartenders, hostesses, etc. a percentage of their sales. That item of food that I mentioned earlier is not deducted from the server's total sales. They are included in the gross amount of sales they have for the night. Sometime a server loses money on a table! Hard to believe, but it happens!

So the reason for bringing up tipping, is if you want to eat out but can't afford a proper tip, go to a place like McDonalds or stay home and cook!