“When you go out to a restaurant, are you like, really critical or everything? Do you make things hard for them or are you extra nice because you know what it’s like?”
I get this question a lot, I imagine that everyone who works in hospitality gets asked it by their non-hospitality friends and family. It is interesting to hear peoples answers. Steven, for one, says that he is just grateful that someone else is cooking the food for him instead of the other way around. Most people assume that I would be really scary to serve because I am such a total bitch somewhat opinionated.
Service is incredibly important to the success of a restaurant. You can have amazing food but if the service is bad then there will be a large percentage of people who will choose not to return for a second try. If they do decide “maybe it was just a bad night”and get terrible service again, you can probably kiss their business goodbye. I would go as far to say that you can get away with average food and amazing service much easier.
On Arrival
When I go out to a restaurant, while I don’t want to say that I am critical, I am however, a very observant customer. The first thing I do when I go to a restaurant, before I have even been seated, is look around at all the other tables, see how many people there are, how many large tables are around, and see what stage of their meals they are up to. I also look at how many wait staff are working on the floor and behind the bar. This gives me an idea on how long I will be expecting to wait to be served and for drinks and food to arrive. This is something I wish everyone did. There have been so many times I have been working in various venues where it has been obviously crazy busy yet some customers (usually the ones who have ordered well done steaks*) complain loudly about how long things are taking. It is important to realise that restaurants are not fast food diners and cannot deliver food and drinks immediately. If I go out and my food takes less than 15 minutes to get to me, that concerns me more than it taking an hour.
The next thing I look at happens when we get to the table, I check that the cutlery and glasses are all clean. If you can’t be bothered polishing a knife properly then I immediately begin to wonder what else they can’t be bothered doing properly.
The Waitstaff
My waiter should be tidy and clean. I do not care if they have tattoos and piercings (I have them), but they have to be clean. Nobody wants to see a crusty lip ring let alone be served food by someone who has one. They should be friendly with a sense of humour and be able to read the table. Part of being a kick arse waiter is the ability to read customers. I do not mind if my waiter reaches across me, accidentally spills a little bit of my drink, but please do not have an attitude. The only time I get an attitude with a waiter, is when they have one with me first.
Ordering
After being seated I expect menus and water within five minutes of sitting down. I don’t care if it then takes another ten minutes for a waiter to come back to offer first drinks. Seating a table without water and menus is asking for trouble. They can get away with either just water or just menus if it is super busy and your waiter is friendly and apologetic. I expect a drink order within 10 minutes after that, 15 minutes if it is busy. It shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes for our drinks to hit the table unless it is coffee or cocktails, give them 10 minutes max.
I take a ridiculously long time to decide what I want to eat. I am useless and I ask questions. Genuine questions, usually about where things come from (especially with seafood) and what things are. My waiter should know the answers to my questions and if they don’t know them, they should go find out. Our orders should be taken within 15 minutes of our drink order.
So basically after being in a restaurant for half an hour I would want to have water, drinks and have my food order taken. Pretty reasonable. If the restaurant is super busy give it 45 but any more than that is not good. If a restaurant cannot deliver that level of service then they should not allow themselves to get that busy. It is a lot better to turn away walk ins and give the customers they have got better service than to take in as many customers as they can and give bad service. This is an aspect that one of my old employers failed spectacularly at.
Food and After Sale Service
Food should take between 15 to 30 minutes to arrive at the table. Everyone at the table should get there food within a few minutes of each other. Food should be as described on the menu and it should be cooked as we requested it. After 5ish minutes our waiter should come back and quality check the meals <—so important and it is not done often enough or it’s done too late!! If there is a problem with the food the waiter should handle it professionally. They should organise a replacement if required or a discount or removal of item from the bill. Problem handling is a huge subject that requires it’s own post. it is an issue which both wait staff and customers make mistakes in all the time.
We should never sit at our table with an empty drink glass for more than a few minutes without being asked for another drink. One of my pet hates is when you are eating your meal but your drink is empty and your waiter is nowhere to be seen. If you do not want another drink, your waiter should take away your empty glass to prevent other waiters asking you the same question.
I dislike it when waiters start clearing plates off your table when someone is still eating, it is ok to do this only if the customer gives the waiter their plate. They should still leave everyone else’s plates till every person at the table has finished. I also hate waiters who stack plates on the table. This is just my training showing through, I was always taught to stack in your arms not on the table and even now working in a café I cannot stack on the table.
Desserts and Coffees
Dessert menus should be offered after all dinner plates are clear. Coffees, ports, dessert wines at the same time. They should all arrive within 15 minutes. Smart waiters get your coffee out faster so maybe you will need to order another one when your dessert arrives. Clever devils.
Paying and Leaving
I hate split billing so I never assume that restaurants will let you split bill, however, it is nice if you are allowed to split the balance on two cards, or pay part cash/part card. If a restaurant doesn’t allow this, it is no problem at all to me.
Home time and it is always nice to receive a “good bye, thank you, have a lovely day/afternoon/night” which the customer should reciprocate.
Written out like this, it sounds like I expect a lot! To simplify, all I have really said is, clean cutlery and glasses, tidy, friendly, professional waiter, food as described, cooked properly and timely service = happy Carrie. I don’t enjoy the pomp and wank that some restaurants have. I don’t want to be served by a droid with no personality. I want it to feel like I am a friend’s house, not at the Queen’s house!
Now it is your turn. What do you expect when you go out? Am I over the top and anal? Did you expect more? What do you hate when you go out?
Love Carrie xoxo xxxx
*well done steaks take a long time to cook. I generally tell people about half an hour. For some reason, some well done steak eaters do not understand this concept and often are crying for their steak after 10 minutes.
