Annoying Restaurant Trends

2-01-2008 @3:18PM Rich said... Instead of asking the customer if change is needed which seems to be inviting a tip, why not just say, "I'll be right back with your change," which gives the customer the option to say, "There's no need," or "We're all set," which would give a clear signal that the tip is included and the waiter/waitress could go on about their business. If the customer doesn't respond 90+% of the time they expect some change.
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2-01-2008 @3:19PM SA said... Very good article and food for thought. Most of my restaurant experiences have been pretty terrific. My biggest pet peeve has nothing to do with the restaurant itself or it's staff, but children of mindless parents who should know better than to bring little Janey or Johnny to a restaurant at all since they know full well that they don't behave.

I use to have a day care and two of my charges were a brother and sister who were wonderful except when they went to dinner at a restaurant with their father, which was quite often (note I didn't say mother and father when they were fine). After hearing horror stories from the older child, I made up two little cloth bags for them to take with them to the restaurant so they would have something to amuse themselves with while they waited for their food.

Although the bags did help, apparently it wasn't enough so I asked the older child what she thought about not behaving and she told me that she wanted to but that her daddy didn't seem to care. Well, with that, I suggested that she and her brother pretend to be the adults and let daddy be the child.......It's my understanding that they were fabulous from then on! I had a good chuckle when daddy was finally informed...LOL LOL LOL
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2-01-2008 @3:25PM Mary said... I have to agree with most of what the servers are complaining about. Working for and with the public is a trying job in any venue. I am not a server but I have witnessed customers who are nasty, condescending and tip poorly. On the other hand, I have experienced servers/wait staff who also behave badly. What I find that works for me 99% of the time is to be respectful and friendly to not only the staff, but other customers as well. When I sit down at a table, the server/waiter/waitress starts with a 15% tip and that can either go way up or way down by the end of dinner. As for customers who bring their children, either teach them how to behave appropriately in a public setting or leave them home.
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2-01-2008 @3:33PM Valerie said... I think this is a great feature and I know this blog is about food, but I think it'd be great if AOL did something similar for cashiers and customers. I know there are quite a few things that need to be pointed out from both sides of the counter!
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2-01-2008 @3:48PM wendi said... I've been a server for 20 yrs the best way to bring change is to grab the check and say i will be right back with your change most of the time they stop you and say keep it or o.k. And if you can afford a a $80 filet and lobster tail and flush it down the toilet the next day you can afford to tip the person who waited on you. We have to claim at least 10 % and tip the host 1% and the bus boys 3% the bartender 2% we are already in the hole.
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2-01-2008 @3:37PM Sandy said... I wait tables and I think a better way to ask customers if they need change is to say," I will be right back with your change" Then if they don't need change that gives them the chance to say that they don't need any and the rest if for you.
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2-01-2008 @3:20PM Lena said... People are so critical of the servers. Have you been in that position before! I tip well, keep my kid in check, and stack dishes when done. If i put money out where I need change, I say YES. If i put money out where I dont need change, I say NO. What are they supposed to do? Guess? --
I want them to ask me if everything is ok. I want them to ask me if im done so they can clear the table, and I want them to refill the drinks when their low, or notice when you need another beverage from the bar.

If its so much trouble and annoying to people to be "waited" on and spend money, stay home, order in.
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2-01-2008 @3:19PM cely said... I dislike it when a customer asks for something, I make sure to ask them "Do you need anything else?", and then for them to tell me no, so that when I get back to them they tell me I forgot something or ask me for a million things. I can multi-task, please ask for everything that is needed. Another thing that bugs me is how speedy people expect servers to be. Then if they don't get what they want right away, they throw a hissy fit, complain to the manager, so then I have to "kiss butt" just to comply with my manager, and when they leave they don't tip me. It's not about giving customers a bad treatment, but it seems that servers are not human beings when they are serving. They cannot make not one single mistake or it seems that customers will stomp all over a server if they do. We are human. We make mistakes too.
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2-01-2008 @3:21PM joanne said... i would just like to say that i am a server and my job is to please the guest in any way, and that means that if i don't pester to you my boss will fire me. In many cases the server is the cashier and if I see money out I always ask if you need change, this does not mean that I am STUPID OR BOTHERING YOU TO ASK but only to help care for all my other guests, as well as yourself. Pass the word around to everyone that 10%-15% just doesn't cut it, especially when a server has to tip a bartender a busboy and in most cases a kitchen expeditor who graciously puts your food together, and let's not forget the I.R.S who makes me claim 18% in tips whether or not I make it.
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2-01-2008 @3:22PM Barry said... What amazes me about rude patrons is their ignorance. How stupid does a person have to be to insult and put down someone who is bringing them their food. I wonder how many times a person who is nasty has ingested someone else's saliva, or God knows what else. I am also amazed at rude employees or owners. One time at a restaurant converted from an old farm in Totowa, NJ, I ordered an item from a special board for the price it had next to it. When the check came it was $10.00 more. When I asked about it, the hostess (who said she was an owner) checked into it and said the waitress saw a customer goofing around and he erased the "1" in front of the price. Even so, she refused to even meet me partway on the price. I told her that our waitress had seen it, not corrected it and didn't inform us of it, and the owner said that we should have known it wasn't that cheap. We were going there at least once a week with a large group and never set foot inside again. we also told everyone we knew about it. They lost alot of money and a few years later had to sell out due to financial problems (guess we weren't the only ones with a problem there). Oh yeah, the ten dollars was taken out of the tip for the waitress who screwed up in the first place.
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2-01-2008 @3:23PM Tony said... People need to remember that when you go out to eat it is our job to come to the table and ask you things...like what you are going to have, etc. So, when we come to the table don't carry on your conversation and ignore us, because then we have to yell to get you to hear us which is very impolite. Same goes for large parties, when the waiter is at the end of the table ready to take your order don't go on blabling about what you did last night, direct your attention to us so we don't have to make an ass out of ourselves and raise our voice over yours so you get the hint that we are there. Also when the we come to the table and ask you something, be clear about it don't ask us what is good because we are supposed to tell you everything is good its just a stupid rehtorical qestion with the same answer ever time.
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2-01-2008 @3:20PM justine said... There is a more tactful way to get the check change correct. You could say "I'll be right back with your change" at which point if I do not need change I can tell you to keep it. Asking if I need change when I'm paying a $20. check with a $50. bill is a little annoying. I agree with all wait staff that they should not be taxed on what they sell and perhaps a gratuity should automatically be added to cover that.
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2-01-2008 @3:21PM Keith said... Responding to servers gripes. Many of the servers comments are unprofessional. They should not be in this line of work. The servers poor attitude will show up in the quality of the service and usually comes out in the long run as customer compliants.
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2-01-2008 @5:03PM Paul Bumbar said... I don't mind waitstaff s-l-ow-l-y reciting the specials. I do object to their not also giving the prices of said specials. Why don't they?
The prices of everything printed on the menu are there.
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2-01-2008 @3:22PM Dorothy said... And it's customers like Mike that make a server wish he or she hadn't chosed the profession. Ler him walk a day in their shoes.
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2-01-2008 @3:21PM jimbo said... Everyone goes out to eat sometime in life, students in High School should be required to take a food class. This class would have waiting tables to cooking, ordering product to managing. Then our student body would understand how to figure a tip as well as understand that it will take time to recieve the food they ordered if the dinning room is busy. By doing this, the students would have little tidbits of math, timing of food, people skills, team work and organzation skills. Over 50 % of students work in the food industry either in High School or College. Some even do it as a second job later in life. We need to teach these items to our youth, and stop teaching things that they do not use daily.

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2-01-2008 @3:23PM jj said... I feel sorry for waitpeople... I used to do this and it is not an easy job and the general public can be very mean. I have friends that I go out with who act very rude to the waiters/waitresses it hurts me deeply to see that. My heart goes out to you
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2-01-2008 @3:22PM Kim said... One thing that makes me mad at customers is when they take care of personal hygiene at the table. Don't clip your nails, floss your teeth, or brush your hair.
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2-01-2008 @3:56PM Melanie said... as a restaurant manager we seem to be treated like second class
citizens by the briefcase crowd. During lunch, we would ask them their name so it can be called off to receive their order...We really are not stupid...we have educations....Tom...as far as we know is spelled T O M
why do you as a guest have to berate us as if we were ignorant. Second
the prices are posted..I do not create them so when we give you a check
it is for what you ordered..we do not grab this mythical dollar figure and say..here ya go..
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