Annoying Restaurant Trends

2-01-2008 @3:24PM elaine said... I assist manage a McDonalds Restaurant. I've seen and heard it all. Ten years in this business and you develope some pet peeves. We work and deserve to be treated with respect. There a alot of misconceptions about the work we do. The food is cooked fresh, made to order and served over the counter as fast as it's made. Pet peeves-that $40 order in the drive thru where everything just has to be special made & oh yeah, could I add just one more thing at the pick up window? Vomit that's left for us to clean up, food and trash all over the floor, used sanitary napikins stuck on the walls of the restrooms, feces on the floors of the restrooms, being treated like we're personal servants, being talked to like we're stupid and don't understand english, cursed because it's another 15 minutes until lunch starts, things thrown at us, name calling, had a bad day at the office and take it out on us, come in five minutes before we close and hang out for an hour then get mad when the mgr politely asks them to leave. The list could go on and on. But that's the nature of the business, and I think no matter what establishment we work for, we can all say we've been there, done that. I just smile to myself, and remember that nice person/kid, in whose life I made a difference.
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2-01-2008 @3:29PM Emma said... My newest annoyance at restaurants are the lack of napkins and all the signs. I don't patronize restaurants that have a zillion signs (take off your golf shoes, we don't hand out water unless you ask, don't do this, don't do that). Restaurant eating is supposed to be a pleasant experience, away from the cleanup at home and all the prep work. BUT my newest annoyance is napkins. Ever try eating pizza or fried chicken with a single, cheap-as-they-come napkin? I know businesses have to find cost cutting methods, but buy cheaper catsup and give us a couple of napkins! Take the expensive logos off, buy larger, higher end and have a couple extras on the table. I hate having to ask for more and wait for the waitperson to make a full round of her tables to get it.
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2-01-2008 @3:24PM larry said... It really bothers me that a waiter or waitress feels they are owed something.The article said they have to pay tax on a big meal that I order??? then find another job and quit complaining. If you don't get a good tip there is probably a reason for your short coming.I tip on the quality of service and food. I have cook for 16 years and I know I can make or break a waiters tip. I like to get the food out fast and make sure it is right. The rest is up to the server. ORDER UP!!!!!
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2-01-2008 @3:41PM STEVE said... i'VE BEEN WAITNG TABLES FOR OVER 20 YEARS IN AN ATLANTIC CITY CASINO AND I COULD WRITE A BOOK ABOUT SO MUCH CRAP THAT GOES ON.IT SEEMS THAT THE NICER U R TO GUEST THE LESS THEY TIP AND ARE MORE RUDE,THEREFORE I TAKE CONTROL AND MAKE THEM RESPECT ME.IM NICE TO YOU.
YOU BETTER BE NICE TO ME.IF YOU WANT SOMETHING I WILL GET IT FOR YOU, BUT YOU BETTER ASK ME FOR IT W/ A PLEASE AND A THANK YOU FOLLOWING OR I WILL DO IT FOR YOU AND SORT OF EMBARRASS YOU TO YOUR IGNORANCE..................I COULD GO ON AND ON.I'VE ALSO SAVED OVER 7 FIGURES DOING IT MY WAY!
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2-01-2008 @3:34PM Joe said... I have worked in the banquet/ food service industry for ten years. Now I am all for better respect for the American server. However, poor service is poor service...and I wouldn't expect anyone to tip me well (or at all) if I ignored my tables, or act like I didn't care, or never checked on my tables leaving all of business for the bussers to deliver the food and clear the dishes...I should tip the busser, not the server.
But today's industry has several tiers of service workers...you have the Mom and Pop places that have run for decades and have loyal customers and career servers who know their job, know how to treat guests, and are usually gratted well. Then you have the franchise server (usually college age) working at the the big corporate restaurants (applebees, outback, red lobster, chevy's, red robin, olive garden) that are usually bogged with corpoate S.O.P.s such as upselling and special-quoting...these usually have the worse service because there are specific rules set for staffing and methods of getting food quickly to the guests. this is where guests feel the pressure of having to eat and run...i hate it when staff is forced to turn and burn on the guests...but in the corporate structure that's how it's designed...you sacrifice quality of service for quantity of guests. these servers generally get little in tips per table, but because of the amount of tables they served in a shift, they normally do okay. Then you have the high end restaurants that focus on food quality and service quality that have premium prices and an extensive wine list (yes, you don'e have to drink Sutter Home or some California coastal variety). Be expected to tip well, because the servers here believe in good service and are trained to be knowledgeable about the food preparation and wine pairing...yes it's snootyville at times, but you aren't rushed and you get to try out different things. I've served in the Napa Valley and I see a much higher respect toward the server (who can usually serve as a career.. GASP!). I don't see that respect much else in the nation...but service is generally lousy these days, especially by young staff who feel entitled to their 15% despite the most neglectful service. If you are a guest, don't treat your server poorly without reason...I don't think you realize how stressful and thankless foodservice can be...and you are capable of ruining someone's day and embarrassing those accompanying you. The server should not be a target for you to flex some semblance of false superiority. That, and the fact, that people WILL do stuff to your meal. And best of all if you receive excellent service, tip them well and maybe even take the time to fill out a comment card...or tell them...it will be astronomically appreciated.
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2-01-2008 @4:30PM EUGENE said... I was a waiter for almost 7 years. I love going out to eat with my 5 by.o. son. So I feel like I can see from both perspectives. There are customers who look down on servers and act as if they can trash the place, let their kids run wild, and leave you 0 for a tip, after running you ragged for a couple hours. Then there are servers who gossip with their friends and take forever to even aknowledge you. They show their very strong desire to be anywhere but there serving you. Forget your refills, don't bother to bring your bill in a timely matter. The point being, it's not the servers' or customers fault but the PEOPLE who fill these roles and their lack of respect and upbringing!!! It not US against THEM,ever. Show some class to the other person and these issues disappear!! I'm out.
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2-01-2008 @3:26PM bob said... MY employees are in the service industry, and are here to please eery guest...but being in this industry, does not mean that all my female employees are desperate and will follow you home...most have families and are harder working than our guests are.
restaurant managers are usually well educated so when you treat us like we need hooked on phonics,we will be insulted.
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2-01-2008 @3:25PM James Austro said... I am so sick of the whole tip aspect of dinning out! I work really hard at my job, get payed little & I never get any tips why should they. Anyone can take an order & bring it to the table!
I get over charged on my meal & still have to pay more on top of that. Why cant these resturant owners final start to PAY THE EMPLOIES what they desirve! The owners make a killing on the meal and pay under min. wage!
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2-01-2008 @3:27PM Derek said... I disagree with the tipping "requirement" that seems to be the big pet peeve. Lets take yesterday for example...I went shopping and bought lunch yesterday...first stop was Gamestop. The clerk there was very helpful, even recomended against buying a game I was going to purchase and recomended a cheaper game that was much better. He was attentive and very knowlegable. Then I had lunch at Red Robin, the waitress was barely attentive and in fact took so much time schmoozing for tips at the tables with larger parties she made it pretty clear with her attitude and her service that I was a single person with a small order and pretty much an inconvenience. That didn't stop her from following me out of the establishment for not tipping after it took so long to place my order and then never saw her again (the bus boy actually brought my meal...). She complained that she "only makes $8 and hour" which is minimum wage here, and I was "a jerk for not tipping" someone who never made eye contact and had very little to do with me during my visit. She also hit me with the "If you can't tip 15% or more you shouldn't go out to eat" .

First off, unless stated on the menu, tipping is NOT a requirement and I do tip IF the service merits. But on this day I looked at the 2 people that helped me. They both make the same pay rate but the Gamestop person was MUCH more pleasant and MUCH more helpful, yet after asking him about it he could be fired for accepting tips! Same goes for most retail establishments.
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2-01-2008 @5:02PM Dennis said... My wife and I are both tea drinkers and we are both peeved when the restuarant does not offer just plain tea. Everyone does not like the fancy flavored teas (I now carry plain old tea with me when we go to dinner). The other peeve about tea is when you ask for another cup of tea they ask you if you want a new tea bag. Duh YES !!!
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2-01-2008 @3:26PM Sarah said... When you are at home do you honestly go through five sodas before your meal is on the table? Why do you need that many when you go to a restaurant? And when I am at the table taking your order it is not necessary to slurp the last bit continually. Not only do I understand that you need a refill but come on I am taking your tables order. Do you want me to leave in the middle to go get you a refill? Quite honestly it makes for a distraction when I am trying to get your order right and it makes me want to take my time brining that refill back to your table!
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2-01-2008 @3:27PM ME said... how about they get a full time job that doesn't rely on tips. If you have such a problem with what you make, what you have to do, kids and everything else, well get a different job! I don't care to hear you bitch about your job when there are alot more serious issues in this world.
Guess what alot of people go to work and don't know if they are coming home, guess what alot of people have to go to iraq because of their job. If the biggest problem is a rude customer, that is 1 in 20, well count yourself lucky.
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2-01-2008 @3:31PM Nicole said... I work at a restaurant and over the weekend something completely unbelievable happened to me. A guest fell and hit his head and was bleeding badly. I am also a nurse part time so I went up front to assist him until the paramedics arrived. When I went back to my tables I explained to them the situation and that I am a nurse. One table seemed particularly annoyed and when I ran their credit card not only did they not leave me any tip at all but they wrote on their charge slip that it was unacceptable that I took so long to come back to their table. I'm so sorry ladies next time Ill let the guy bleed on the floor so that I can run your credit card pronto! Classy....
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2-01-2008 @3:32PM mike said... serve me my food hot.
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2-07-2008 @1:38PM Michelle said... First of all...
the difference between a 15% tip and a 20% tip on a $50 check is 3.50. Which to the customer is not much but to a server is alot if every table uses that mentality. My workplace expects me to claim 16% of my sales as tips.... to do this I HAVE TO make 20% tips to walk with that much after I tip people out. That's right I have to pay people with the tips I make, so if you stiff me, I LOST MONEY serving you. If there is nothing wrong with the service and I went above and beyond which I usually do, throw out an extra 3.50 it is no great loss to the customer, and a huge help to the server. Do the math people a few dollars make a big difference.

Second...
When I come up to the table and introduce myself, don't ignore me and continue your conversation. I am trying to do my job, so please open the menu and start looking at it. I hate people who come in for business lunches and want to chat about business for the first half hour at the table, before even ordering!! Most act like I am bothering them by interrupting. Order, then chat while you wait for the food and eat. It is silly to take up my table if you don't plan to order anything, go chat on a park bench.

Third...
Don't tell me you are ready to order and make me stand there for five minutes while the table argues over what to get. I work in a family style restaurant, and so often people say they are ready, and I get half the order before it becomes clear they weren't ready and can't decide on the rest. You aren't my only table!!! While you tell me to hold on and not to leave I have other tables actually in need of my assistance. Be ready to order when you say you are.

Fourth...
I am not the chef, I cannot control how quickly the food comes out, and I do not tip the chef, so by skipping out on my tip doesn't change the fact that I had no control over the matter. I will check on my tables food often, and I communicate with the kitchen if needed, but short of jumping on the line myself to cook the food, there is nothing I can do. If it is really an issue talk to a manager, normally they will accomodate by getting you dessert, or a discount for your meal. Don't punish me!

Finally....
DO NOT CLAP, SNAP, YELL, or stand up and WAVE at me. I see you, I know you are there. Again you ARE NOT MY ONLY TABLE. I will get to you in a acceptable amount of time. Normally people do this when I am even on the way to their table, acting as though unless they tell me to go there I won't. Well I do. I am a person, and deserve to be treated as such. I can't believe that someone actually clapped to get my attention to ask about their drinks, as they saw me walking toward them with their drink less than 2 minutes after they ordered them. Again, I SEE YOU, I KNOW YOU ARE THERE, JUST BECAUSE I AM NOT SITTING IN ONE SPOT WATCHING YOUR TABLE DOES NOT MEAN I HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU!
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2-01-2008 @3:27PM caroline said... I wait tables, and I really love my job, we recommend the specials, but to tell you all the prices, look at the menu, I dont have time to tell you every price of everything, and I want you to feel like your the only table I am waiting on, but lets get real, I have several. I enjoy if you are catching up with a friend, go for it, but remember the longer you sit there, the more tables I could have turned and the money I could have made, so please if I take care of you, compensate me for the time as well. Sitting at dirty tables is another annoying thing customers do, if your going to sit at a dirty table, do you think you'll get waited on faster???!!! No way, if I had extra time, that table would have been clean in the first place, I tell people please give me a minute and I'll clean it up for you, but they sit anyway, and then give me nasty looks and comments when I get something on them from cleaning while they are sitting. Would you sit at a dirty table at home and eat dinner, if you do then your sloppy pigs...give us the courtesy we deserve and we shall take good care of you..if I dont then dont tip, I wouldnt have it any other way. I think that people dont realize how rude they can be, I think that it should be a requirement to work with the public so you can realize how nasty and inconsiderate you can be, then maybe you wont be so nasty to the waiter, If you have a complaint about the food or price, dont take it out on me, I dont own the place I just work there. If you complain about the price, you shouldnt be out to eat....children, I dont have time to dodge them, keep them at your table and be considerate of the table next to you, do you think they might be having a date night without their children and want to enjoy their company together and not listen to other kids. I have in all the years I have waited table not had very many complaints, I take good care of my customers, and they come back everyday. But I have encounter the complaints throughtout my 30 years of serving you...I do however want to thank the ones that do respect us and understand what we go through, you take care of me and I enjoy your patronage...thanks from a waitress that loves her job.
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2-01-2008 @3:40PM kwest said... I'm blown away ! There is a simple solution to all of the problems waitstaff is complaining about. Get another job ! sorry. :)
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2-01-2008 @3:28PM April said... response to nancy, comment #544---i am in total agreement with you. i am a mother of two, and i refuse to take my infant anywhere other than a fast-food type place, and will allow my 7yr old to go to certain places. not only am i a mother, but i am a server/bartender as well. when i go out i don't want to deal with my youngest acting her age (1) and being impatient, squirmy, and loud. not only does it disrupt my meal, but everyone elses in the closest counties (she's VERY shrill)--on that same note, i don't want to deal with anyone elses kids---they are children---that's what sitters are for--on what planet is it ok to let little bobby run up and down the isle, and kick and scream, and how is it possible for the "loving" parents to take no notice
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2-01-2008 @3:28PM Judy said... When I sit down in a restaurant with 4 women, You would think that a waiter would ask us if this separate checks. Instead they put it all on one check and hand it to us. Usually if it is a table of women, they will be paying separately. So please assume that they are separate checks and dont make us ask you to go back and split up the check and waist our time waiting for you to do it.
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