As a longtime server, most things that bother me about restaurants are customer-based, but there are some things server-wise that I'm sure would bother guests. Inattentiveness, overattentiveness, a lack of knowledge about menu items (choices, preparation, cooking times, options, etc), inappropriate attitude, a lot of things like that. I guess I don't really have a top five. I'm pretty forgiving. If there were five things that bothered me about a restaurant visit, it'd have to be a total disaster.
Nothing aggravates me more than noisy kids in a restaurant. Now, I understand some restaurants cater themselves as "family" restaurants, and that's fine (and I usually avoid them like the plague), but even then they can at least have a section for families with young children so they do not bother everyone else.
In non-so called family restaurants (such as a Texas steakhouse, where I went last), there's no excuse for bringing small children. They're adult orientated establishments and that should be kept in mind.
2. Parents who do nothing about their noisy children.
3. A table of five (mine) ordering fifteen minutes before a table of seven, but the table of seven is served 15 minutes before us.
Something doesn't add up here. And frankly, it rubs me the wrong way. Especially when no explanation is given (and they're sitting right across from us).
4. Lack of a good bar menu. It's fine and dandy to have a little piece of paper that has your special margaritas, but where's the rest of it?
5. Confusing "Medium" with "Medium Rare" on my steak. I'll eat a Medium Rare steak, but when I order them Medium, I expect it medium. Not medium rare.
#4 is more of a personal gripe than anything. I've seen better bar menus at "family" restaurants, so I was a bit put off by the lack of their bar menu. When I go out, I want to have a couple drinks with dinner and unwind and I want something more than a usual gin and tonic or SoCo and Lemonade.
So yeah, those are my top 5 from last experience.
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I don't have any hard numbers on this, but I'm targeted more often than a black guy driving a beat-up sedan with a broken tail-light and no license plate, and Cy's well aware of that.
3. A table of five (mine) ordering fifteen minutes before a table of seven, but the table of seven is served 15 minutes before us.
Something doesn't add up here. And frankly, it rubs me the wrong way. Especially when no explanation is given (and they're sitting right across from us).
I can tell you that all things being equal, a kitchen will prioritize a larger table, but there could be any number of varying factors at work here. One possibility could be servers. If your table had Server A and the seven had Server B, Server B may have been quicker to get their order in to the kitchen (which would require a significant dropping of the ball on Server A's part). Your server could have also neglected to take your food out as soon as it came up (thereby leaving it under the heat), but I don't see this being the case since your steak wouldn't have been med rare if it were left under the heat for any considerable length of time.
Another possibility could be what each table ordered. If someone at your table ordered something that takes more time to prepare and the other table ordered comparatively faster meals, your table's food could very well take longer to come up. Not all meals are created equal and sometimes tables that ordered last get their food first. I see it daily.
Or it could have just been a mistaken perception on your part. There's something servers call 'guest time', it's the time guests seem to run on. My restaurant has a computerized system that logs timestamps for every action (it helps gauge wait times, server efficiency, etc) and without fail, those who complain about waiting for fifteen minutes have actually only been waiting for ten at most. Good servers know when and how to 'reset the clock', which means that the guest loses track of their wait or is less inclined to notice a wait in the first place (even if no appreciable or beyond normal wait is taking place). Whether it's refilling drinks, bringing ore bread, anything to distract and misdirect. Whether or not 'guest time' was a factor for you is anyone's guess.
Generic menus. I hate going to places like Applebee's and Ruby Tuesdays because the menus are pretty much the same. Luckily I live in a city with a nice variety of restaurants and so if I want Greek, Chinese, etc I can get it.
1. Loud kids and or kids who romp around with no supervision. Especially when it's busy.
Thats all. Everything else is pretty easy to deal with. Messy people? sure. People who ask for another plate then more water then another spoon, yeah whatever thats fine.
But lousy kids. running around. yelling. screaming. stealing the flowers from the tables. (outside patio)
Media is not making me steal. But in a way is like the story of the very hot girl with the short skirt teasing the old sick guy with a history of rape.
{mikeyG} beat me to my number 1. But heres my list
1. Over attentiveness, this has happened to me twice, once at a Chili's and the other at a Friendly's. I was visited by the waiter several times, manager, and it seems 2 different employees, I was there with friends and after our food arrived we were pestered every 5-10 minutes, we weren't being disruptive and it seemed we were the only group being bothered. Honestly it irritated me enough to consider never returning. No explanation was offered either.
2. Lack of knowledge of menu items, If I ask what item X is, please tell me, or if you don't know please make an effort to find out. If i ask an opinion if it's good or not, thats different. But if I ask about other details, once again please make an effort to find out.
3.Disruptive people, like iRebel stated earlier, noisy children in any restaurant that is strictly for food and you are in a general dining area where everyone sits (not near a childrens playpan at, say, a McDonalds) should be attended to by their parents, for the sake of everyone elses enjoyment, trying to talk to someone while some ignorant parents child whines his Mac N' Cheese is too hot, is something I do not want to experience. Also, rude people dining at the restaurant can be disheartening, especially if said person is complaining openly about service/anything else in an uncivilized manner, take it up with the server/manager in private.
4. Ridiculous menu item names, I mean seriously, I dont care how upscale your restaurant is here, I shouldnt need to have French as my second language to order something and pronounce it correctly. Same goes for renaming something as simple as, say, a hamburger, to Extra Extra Mouthwatering Bacon Double Burger. I've been to several restaurants where I've had to order via this because I want the food item more then I care about my adeptness at a foreign language/sense of humor etc. (Yes I know you can just point to the menu to indicate the item you want etc, but should I really have to do that?, Aside from food names where the only known name is in a foreign language)
5. Inattentive servers, this is low on my list, as most servers are people who go to restaurants as well and like being served, but the server not returning to ask about the meal/offer to refill your coffee can make an unpleasant experience, but you have to be a real grinch to have this bother you, the person could be just having a bad day.
Actually, the last restaurant meal I had was @ new years, and the service and food was SO phenomenal we left a 25% tip
However, the time before that, also in aspen, in no particular order:
1. SMOKERS. GOD ****ING DAMN I hate when people smoke anywhere near a restaurant. Unfortunately for me, there were some douches two tables over that decided to smoke at the table... great, eh?
2. Missing reservations. 6:30 reservation? Not there? I had to get a manager over to get me seated. Was not cool.
3. <snip>tiest Sever EVER. She took 15 minutes to get our drinks, 20 minutes AFTER that to ask us for our food... and about half an hour to get us our check, after we asked for it. I formally complained to the manager about her (and of course, she received spit in a napkin as a tip).
4. Music. It was bad. Really bad. Atmosphere is nice, but the music was too loud, and too italian.
5. Drinks. Not what you think. Their hot choclate was just crappy, and I really wanted some. :/
EDIT: Why wouldn't you like foreign names? If you are familiar with the cuisine, it is much easier to order it by its proper name rather than some americanized one.
Verbal warning for censor "evasion". Pay more attention next time.
EDIT: Why wouldn't you like foreign names? If you are familiar with the cuisine, it is much easier to order it by its proper name rather than some americanized one.
Certain things don't need foreign names, but like I said earlier, in some cases it's unavoidable, and in some cases your right, it might be enjoyable to someone ordering foreign cuisine with knowledge or even no knowledge of its background etc, that was just my view on that subject.
This is a little off topic, but i really need to know something here, TIPS. I don't get it. Are the waitresses so underpaid that tips is how they earn there living? Are meal prices lower than they should be, or are you literally paying a lot extra?
Once, a card shop owner asked me for a favor, i did it not expecting any reward (as it was a honest request that did not trouble me), and he gave me money for a job well done. I was befuddled. It almost demeaned the fact that i was helping him out of the goodness in my heart. I did not complain though. that money got me a booster that had a duel in it (back in the early days of [RAV]!!
msun: Knives scoop ice cream.
Highroller: No they don't, knives don't scoop. Spoons scoop.
msun: Well, knives SHOULD scoop icecream.
Highroller: We have spoons that do it. Moreover, the shape of a knife that would scoop ice cream would make it horrible for performing the functions of a knife.
msun: Highroller, you bring up spoons as though they were the utensil used for scooping ice cream.
This is a little off topic, but i really need to know something here, TIPS. I don't get it. Are the waitresses so underpaid that tips is how they earn there living? Are meal prices lower than they should be, or are you literally paying a lot extra?
Once, a card shop owner asked me for a favor, i did it not expecting any reward (as it was a honest request that did not trouble me), and he gave me money for a job well done. I was befuddled. It almost demeaned the fact that i was helping him out of the goodness in my heart. I did not complain though. that money got me a booster that had a duel in it (back in the early days of [RAV]!!
BTW, he referred to the situation as tipping me.
Watch the begining of the movie Reservoir Dogs, Mr.Pink (Steve Buscemi) explains all you need to know about tipping. Restaurant experiences can correlate with tipping however
Now, I know fat/ugly women need a job, but could they at least put more, looser fitting clothes, I mean come on.. I'm trying to eat here. I'd rather just have some fine looking piece of ass as my waitress. At least then I can check her out and I don't have to worry about throwing up the food I'm eating when my server comes to the table.
2. Overly happy/attentive wait staff
Right, this really pisses me off. I understand those wretched plebs are just after an extra $1 or 2 on their tips because they don't get paid diddly for what they do, but it ****s me off when they come by every 2 freakin minutes. "hi how's your food? are you doing alright?" 'yes.' *5 bites later* "hey everything still going good for you here?" 'yes.' ... three seconds later OMFG back again!
Gimmie a ****in break. I also don't understand the need to come by and refill my water everytime I take a drink off it. I may not be the most attractive person out there, but come on, I know I don't look like a ****ing camel.
3. Unclean restaurants/cooks
Nothing fills my confidence about how the food is going to taste more than how the cooks look. And boy let me tell ya, when you walk into a place and see a cook who looks like he just finished up changing the oil in his car and like he hasn't bathed in a month, you just have this feeling something on your plate is going to be ****ed up. Also when the hostess seats you right next to a table where a rather big party had just left and spilt milkshakes all over the floor and you have time to wait 20 minutes before you get served, wait 20 minutes to get your food, and have 10 minutes to eat your food and they just get around to cleaning it up on your way out. That's pure laziness and is a bad example for that place. I know for sure that I'll never be eating there again.
4. Laziness of the waiter/ress
Now I know this might contradict #2 up there a little bit, but I don't give a damn. There are very few people who can perfect the amount of times they should come and enquire about the meal/service. I don't need to be pestered every 30 seconds by some ********er trying for a better tip, but when you finish your drink, ask for a refill and then sit there for the rest of the meal without getting a refill then that's just ****ed up and makes the place look bad.
5. Foreigners
Alright, I may take some heat for this, but like with #4, I don't give a ****. When I go to a restaurant here, I expect for English to be spoken by the people working at the place. I don't care if it's a mexican restaurant, a chingchangwangbang restaurant or what have you, you're in America, speak some ****ing English. I mean, if I were in Mexico, I wouldn't expect for people to speak English at restaurants there, so why the hell should I expect to have a foreign language spoken to me at a restaurant here. I live in the Pacific Northwest, as far away from Mexico as can be without being in Canada, so I dunno how the beaners got all the way up here without learning how to speak English along the way. if I can learn to speak Spanish, the can learn to speak English.
From what I understand, waiters/tresses actually do need your tips, they receive terrible pay with the knowledge that they make it back if they do their job well and/or are attractive.
A waitress I know makes $9 of salary pay an hour, but says she often clears $30-40/hour with the help of tips.
I agree that this is a stupid concept, as it's essentially making the customer directly cover their wages, but restauranteering is a tight, difficult business, so there has to be some compromise somewhere.
an ex girlfriend of mine was a waitress a sandwich/ice cream parlor and a part time model. she only got paid about 3 dollars an hour in wages but would often clear $100 a night in tips alone because they had amazing turnover. her looks probably helped a lot too.
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1. CHILDERN!!!! I hates them, I hates them! Well, not all of them, just the untrained ones.
2. That fake hack people 20 feet away do when people are smoking in the smoking section/outside patio. Grow up already. I blow my smoke at you!
3. Overcooked meat. I like it rare, thank you.
4. Messy salad/desert bars. More so if untrained kids are involved.
5. I love my Chinese foods muchly, but I hate it when they let it sit under the heat lamps for a longtime. Change the food trays already!
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[SIZE=2][FONT=couriernew]1. SMOKERS. GOD ****ING DAMN I hate when people smoke anywhere near a restaurant. Unfortunately for me, there were some douches two tables over that decided to smoke at the table... great, eh?
I would not have any trouble ordering such persons to "get out." Indignation is anger, and anger can be used to overcome fear.
The only thing that bothers me is crying. Babies crying. If the child is still teething, for God's sake, why are you bringing it to the restaurant? Yes, that means you should stay at home if you have to look after your young.
Quote from katsrevenge »
2. That fake hack people 20 feet away do when people are smoking in the smoking section/outside patio. Grow up already. I blow my smoke at you!
It's not fake. I can sense a smoker from ten feet, and smoking from twenty. It's called I WHEEZE IN PAIN AND DISGUST.
Honestly, "Grow up already"? That's your return taunt? How is the hacking 'immature'?
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It's not fake. I can sense a smoker from ten feet, and smoking from twenty. It's called I WHEEZE IN PAIN AND DISGUST.
I have a good friend who doesn't smoke, who hates smoke and yet I can smoke within 3 feet of him and there's never a fake half assed cough/hack job from him.
To me, what you're describing is being an overdramatic attention *****. You cough and wheeze in pain? LMAO Do you cough and wheeze in pain when you suck down the exhaust from cars, and other motor vehicles, since that's where the real unhealthy second hand smoke comes from? I highly doubt it. Get off your moral high horse and stop acting like such a *****
I hate places like Applebees because you know that the families who go there are just looking for more of the same old same old. Not all of them, but things like that annoy me; try something new, for goodness sake!
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Originally Posted by Highroller
Compared to what? I think compared to chocolate ice cream, women, unicorns, and kung fu, the state pretty much sucks.
I hate people who are mean to "servers" or treat them with disrespect. This even annoys me as a customer when other people do it. Just because someone is serving you food doesn't give anyone the right to treat them like dirt. They are probably only doing it to pay the bills while they finish their PhD thesis in something you can't even pronounce.
I'd also like to say that the American system of paying less than minimum wage and filling the rest out with tips is despicable, should be completely illegal, and is everywhere else (unless tipping is made completely compulsory, in which case they are more like a surcharge). Disregarding the obvious gender bias, whereby females make 3 times as much as males due to horny male patrons, regardless of skill or personality, its just a channel for greedy chains that won't even fork out minimum wage to support the people who work for them.
~A bitter and disgruntled former waiter
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1) Dirty tables. Clean it up, guys! Often all that's needed is a quick swipe with a fresh cloth, but once you leave it to dry it now becomes a scrubbing chore.
2) Dirty restrooms. This one is more serious and requires a bit more effort. But it really makes a difference if you take your girl out for a treat, she uses the bathroom, and washes her hands again in the gas station next door because it's cleaner???
3) Not being able to make small changes to a menu item. This is only an excuse for places like White Castle, where you buy burgers by the sackful. Anywhere else, and a person should be able to go in and order a sandwich without pickles or onions, and get just that - not a sandwich that had pickles and onions on it, but someone in the back 'remembered' at the last minute and yoinked the pickles off, or scraped off as much of the unwanted mustard as he could using a piece of cardboard. I'm more than happy to wait another 3 minutes for you to get it right.
A corollary to this is the attitude I endure when I order a special order in a restaurant. Stow it, fella. I'm spending money in your establishment, and if you can't see how that's good, you can take a flying leap.
4) As a server, I hate seeing people deliberately leave napkins and large amounts of free condiments in various configurations in or around their booth. Take only what you need to eat your meal, and by all means feel free to take any leftover napkins or ketchup packets with you, but please don't use them to construct a CSI murder scene on your table and then leave it there for us to "discover". Same with the toilets. It's not your home, it's someone else's private property that just so happens to be open to the public...show a little respect. We will gladly refill the toilet paper rolls and mop the floors and wipe piss off the seats, if you kindly tell us about the problem; instead of using towels to clog the sinks and toilets, aiming poorly, doing drugs in the stalls and leaving your evidence around, etc.
5) Lecherous old farts (and their fratboy kin) who come in and check out the waitresses and make comments/passes. Mind your own business, they're here to bring food to your table and clean up after your sloppy ass, not to lap dance for you. If you are expecting that maybe you should go to a titty bar instead. In fact, any harassment or judgmenta comment about service staff, or abuse of service staff, is the hallmark of a small ***** or a large mental illness and an embarrassment to anyone who dines with you.
Some general rants about restaurants that may or may not be within the server's control:
1) Fewer options for less than $10 in the ethnic food department. It used to be, you could go into a Chinese restaurant and get a bowl of wonton soup or a takeout serving of fried rice for about $4. Now you walk in the door and the cheapest item on the menu is $9.99? Forget it. A lot of college students would love to eat out more often but just can't pony up the high price for the inflated portions of your greasy goo. Scale it down so us poor people can get a bite to eat. It's just one of the reasons why of all the restaurants in the University area, only the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are still open.
2) @Pretentious nouvelle cuisine places: Please don't cop an attitude when I ask for the "sauce magnifique" not be drizzled attractively over the top of all my food, but served on the side in a very ordinary and gauche side bowl.
3) Drive through operators listen up! I am a bike commuter and pay as much in taxes towards roads as you do. I am required to follow the same traffic laws as you, and carry insurance for my ride just like you. When I come through your drive through, I want service just like the ********s in front and behind me in their Escalades. No "we can't serve you because you aren't inside a vehicle" crap. My money is just as green as theirs, n'est-ce-pas? Does it ever enter your mind that the reason I want a chalupa from the drive through is because I've just ridden 10 miles in searing heat or bitter cold, and genuinely need the fuel to get to work?
4) Magic players: Don't come into my restaurant or bar and hog a table or series of tables with your games, shouting back and forth across aisles at each other, and not spend commensurate money. $10 per hour per table occupied is not too much to ask. Most managers would see the first card and simply ask you to leave. AS a player, I understand but also expect a little common courtesy. If you're especially neat, tidy, quiet, and polite, I might even let you keep sitting there for several hours without spending a dime if we're slow, just so long as you remember that when we're busy, I expect you to perceive this and act accordingly - either spend or leave, and keep it down.
5) It's now against the law to smoke inside bars and restaurants in my city, and I hope smokers here will understand if we the diners and servers plan to enforce this law 100%. That said, we can't control wich way the wind blows, etc. so if you smell smoke and it's coming from a properly designated smoking lounge, you can politely inform your server but don't expect a miracle. They may be able to shut a window or turn on a fan, and they may not.
1. Mentally challenged Fratboys.
Why are they the top of my list? Because these ********s appear at every resturant at the most inconvinent times. These happen to be busy hours, and they'll be as loud and rowdy as possible to get the entire places attention.
2. Generally mean staffers:
I like being treated nicely. I bet you do to. So when I get the ***** of the night assigned too me, I get just a little disgruntled at being treated badly. Now, there is absolutely no reason to get a seniour staff member involved, why? I have a neat little trick that calms then down (or pisses them off more, and I'm always looking when I do this). What you do, is, before you get the check, you ask for a nice tall glass of water, and a desert menu, after receiving the check, whip out the bill fold, find a 5$ (or more, but not generally less), fold the bill, set it on top of the water, put the menu on top of the glass, then flip it. If your good enough, just pull the menu out from under, and watch that dumb hoe cry about how she's going to get her tip. It's cruel, mean, and utterly effective.
3. Children
Its on my list, but others have explained why.
4. Food cooked incorrectly
Thats just wrong. GET IT RIGHT PEOPLE, ITS NOT HARD.
This is a little off topic, but i really need to know something here, TIPS. I don't get it. Are the waitresses so underpaid that tips is how they earn there living? Are meal prices lower than they should be, or are you literally paying a lot extra?
In order to get costs down enough to maintain a competitive menu price, restaurants have to skim from elsewhere. And the first place they skim is off the server's wage since it can be argued that a server should make decent enough tips to cover the skimpy wage. The next place they skim is off the wages of the rest of the staff, especially if the restaurant employs a tipout system (and most generally do).
A tipout is when a server has to give up a chunk of his or her tips to be split up amongst other staff members (usually bartenders, bussers, dishwashers, hosts and kitchen staff, basically all non-management involved in running the restaurant). Where I work, a server tips out on 2.5% of sales, so for every $1000 I sell, I have to pay $25 into the tipout fund, which is then counted and divvied up every other week. Which causes even more anger if a table leaves without tipping. Even if a table doesn't tip, we still tipout based on the bill so no tip on a $50 tab means I have to tipout $1.25 of my own money (or other tips as the case may be). Which seems petty on its own, but can certainly add up quick, and hurts bad on slower days.
So yes, servers get underpaid because managements knows their wages will in essence be compensated for by tips. Without tipping, wages would need to be higher and menu prices would need to go up to make up for it. So to keep menu prices competitive, restaurants in turn pay their staff much less with the understanding that tipping will supplement their income. And it does. I won't lie, servers can do excessively well. But they bust their ass harder than most would ever suspect to make that money. Serving is far more stressful and harder than a lot of people realize (in terms of jobs with highest rates of depression, food service is near the top) which is why I always advocate a little slack when I'm eating out.
Sorry for the long rant, but tipping and server complaints hit really close to home (serving over eight years now).
And yes, tipping is absolute bull. Now it's what? 20%? Nonsense.
Then don't eat out. Honestly. I can respect not liking feeling forced to tip, but tipping is a part of restaurant experience and you're paying for that experience. If you don't like what's customary, don't eat out at restaurants. Or only frequent establishments that pay their staff better, thereby freeing you to tip a bit less.
2. That fake hack people 20 feet away do when people are smoking in the smoking section/outside patio. Grow up already. I blow my smoke at you!
"Do you do a dance in front of guys in wheel-chairs?"
Gotta love Bill Hicks.
But on topic. Biggest pet peeve of mine in restaurants is people talking on cell phones while they've got a real human being sitting directly in front of them. And you can sometimes see the look in the other persons eyes like "if you don't turn that thing off, I'm gonna jam it so far..." Ya get the picture.
As far as kids, mine are generally well behaved in restaurants, but I do agree on those little hellions that can't behave.
Slow service is another big killer. Especially at fast food. ESPECIALLY in the drive thru. I've been to some places *cough*wendy's*cough* where it took them 8 minutes to bring me a burger and fries, and I know for a fact, if they needed fresh fries, they're ready in 3!
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What are the top 5 things that bothered you at your last restaurant visit? Either from the server, food, atmosphere, etc?
Also, suggestions for a new server?
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1. Noisy children.
Nothing aggravates me more than noisy kids in a restaurant. Now, I understand some restaurants cater themselves as "family" restaurants, and that's fine (and I usually avoid them like the plague), but even then they can at least have a section for families with young children so they do not bother everyone else.
In non-so called family restaurants (such as a Texas steakhouse, where I went last), there's no excuse for bringing small children. They're adult orientated establishments and that should be kept in mind.
2. Parents who do nothing about their noisy children.
3. A table of five (mine) ordering fifteen minutes before a table of seven, but the table of seven is served 15 minutes before us.
Something doesn't add up here. And frankly, it rubs me the wrong way. Especially when no explanation is given (and they're sitting right across from us).
4. Lack of a good bar menu. It's fine and dandy to have a little piece of paper that has your special margaritas, but where's the rest of it?
5. Confusing "Medium" with "Medium Rare" on my steak. I'll eat a Medium Rare steak, but when I order them Medium, I expect it medium. Not medium rare.
#4 is more of a personal gripe than anything. I've seen better bar menus at "family" restaurants, so I was a bit put off by the lack of their bar menu. When I go out, I want to have a couple drinks with dinner and unwind and I want something more than a usual gin and tonic or SoCo and Lemonade.
So yeah, those are my top 5 from last experience.
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I can tell you that all things being equal, a kitchen will prioritize a larger table, but there could be any number of varying factors at work here. One possibility could be servers. If your table had Server A and the seven had Server B, Server B may have been quicker to get their order in to the kitchen (which would require a significant dropping of the ball on Server A's part). Your server could have also neglected to take your food out as soon as it came up (thereby leaving it under the heat), but I don't see this being the case since your steak wouldn't have been med rare if it were left under the heat for any considerable length of time.
Another possibility could be what each table ordered. If someone at your table ordered something that takes more time to prepare and the other table ordered comparatively faster meals, your table's food could very well take longer to come up. Not all meals are created equal and sometimes tables that ordered last get their food first. I see it daily.
Or it could have just been a mistaken perception on your part. There's something servers call 'guest time', it's the time guests seem to run on. My restaurant has a computerized system that logs timestamps for every action (it helps gauge wait times, server efficiency, etc) and without fail, those who complain about waiting for fifteen minutes have actually only been waiting for ten at most. Good servers know when and how to 'reset the clock', which means that the guest loses track of their wait or is less inclined to notice a wait in the first place (even if no appreciable or beyond normal wait is taking place). Whether it's refilling drinks, bringing ore bread, anything to distract and misdirect. Whether or not 'guest time' was a factor for you is anyone's guess.
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1. Loud kids and or kids who romp around with no supervision. Especially when it's busy.
Thats all. Everything else is pretty easy to deal with. Messy people? sure. People who ask for another plate then more water then another spoon, yeah whatever thats fine.
But lousy kids. running around. yelling. screaming. stealing the flowers from the tables. (outside patio)
I cant stand kids.
1. Over attentiveness, this has happened to me twice, once at a Chili's and the other at a Friendly's. I was visited by the waiter several times, manager, and it seems 2 different employees, I was there with friends and after our food arrived we were pestered every 5-10 minutes, we weren't being disruptive and it seemed we were the only group being bothered. Honestly it irritated me enough to consider never returning. No explanation was offered either.
2. Lack of knowledge of menu items, If I ask what item X is, please tell me, or if you don't know please make an effort to find out. If i ask an opinion if it's good or not, thats different. But if I ask about other details, once again please make an effort to find out.
3.Disruptive people, like iRebel stated earlier, noisy children in any restaurant that is strictly for food and you are in a general dining area where everyone sits (not near a childrens playpan at, say, a McDonalds) should be attended to by their parents, for the sake of everyone elses enjoyment, trying to talk to someone while some ignorant parents child whines his Mac N' Cheese is too hot, is something I do not want to experience. Also, rude people dining at the restaurant can be disheartening, especially if said person is complaining openly about service/anything else in an uncivilized manner, take it up with the server/manager in private.
4. Ridiculous menu item names, I mean seriously, I dont care how upscale your restaurant is here, I shouldnt need to have French as my second language to order something and pronounce it correctly. Same goes for renaming something as simple as, say, a hamburger, to Extra Extra Mouthwatering Bacon Double Burger. I've been to several restaurants where I've had to order via this because I want the food item more then I care about my adeptness at a foreign language/sense of humor etc. (Yes I know you can just point to the menu to indicate the item you want etc, but should I really have to do that?, Aside from food names where the only known name is in a foreign language)
5. Inattentive servers, this is low on my list, as most servers are people who go to restaurants as well and like being served, but the server not returning to ask about the meal/offer to refill your coffee can make an unpleasant experience, but you have to be a real grinch to have this bother you, the person could be just having a bad day.
However, the time before that, also in aspen, in no particular order:
1. SMOKERS. GOD ****ING DAMN I hate when people smoke anywhere near a restaurant. Unfortunately for me, there were some douches two tables over that decided to smoke at the table... great, eh?
2. Missing reservations. 6:30 reservation? Not there? I had to get a manager over to get me seated. Was not cool.
3. <snip>tiest Sever EVER. She took 15 minutes to get our drinks, 20 minutes AFTER that to ask us for our food... and about half an hour to get us our check, after we asked for it. I formally complained to the manager about her (and of course, she received spit in a napkin as a tip).
4. Music. It was bad. Really bad. Atmosphere is nice, but the music was too loud, and too italian.
5. Drinks. Not what you think. Their hot choclate was just crappy, and I really wanted some. :/
EDIT: Why wouldn't you like foreign names? If you are familiar with the cuisine, it is much easier to order it by its proper name rather than some americanized one.
Verbal warning for censor "evasion". Pay more attention next time.
Certain things don't need foreign names, but like I said earlier, in some cases it's unavoidable, and in some cases your right, it might be enjoyable to someone ordering foreign cuisine with knowledge or even no knowledge of its background etc, that was just my view on that subject.
Once, a card shop owner asked me for a favor, i did it not expecting any reward (as it was a honest request that did not trouble me), and he gave me money for a job well done. I was befuddled. It almost demeaned the fact that i was helping him out of the goodness in my heart. I did not complain though. that money got me a booster that had a duel in it (back in the early days of [RAV]!!
BTW, he referred to the situation as tipping me.
Watch the begining of the movie Reservoir Dogs, Mr.Pink (Steve Buscemi) explains all you need to know about tipping. Restaurant experiences can correlate with tipping however
2. Selective waiter myopia
3. Tipping
4. Getting served raw chicken
5. Inability to adjust orders
And yes, tipping is absolute bull. Now it's what? 20%? Nonsense.
Now, I know fat/ugly women need a job, but could they at least put more, looser fitting clothes, I mean come on.. I'm trying to eat here. I'd rather just have some fine looking piece of ass as my waitress. At least then I can check her out and I don't have to worry about throwing up the food I'm eating when my server comes to the table.
2. Overly happy/attentive wait staff
Right, this really pisses me off. I understand those wretched plebs are just after an extra $1 or 2 on their tips because they don't get paid diddly for what they do, but it ****s me off when they come by every 2 freakin minutes. "hi how's your food? are you doing alright?" 'yes.' *5 bites later* "hey everything still going good for you here?" 'yes.' ... three seconds later OMFG back again!
Gimmie a ****in break. I also don't understand the need to come by and refill my water everytime I take a drink off it. I may not be the most attractive person out there, but come on, I know I don't look like a ****ing camel.
3. Unclean restaurants/cooks
Nothing fills my confidence about how the food is going to taste more than how the cooks look. And boy let me tell ya, when you walk into a place and see a cook who looks like he just finished up changing the oil in his car and like he hasn't bathed in a month, you just have this feeling something on your plate is going to be ****ed up. Also when the hostess seats you right next to a table where a rather big party had just left and spilt milkshakes all over the floor and you have time to wait 20 minutes before you get served, wait 20 minutes to get your food, and have 10 minutes to eat your food and they just get around to cleaning it up on your way out. That's pure laziness and is a bad example for that place. I know for sure that I'll never be eating there again.
4. Laziness of the waiter/ress
Now I know this might contradict #2 up there a little bit, but I don't give a damn. There are very few people who can perfect the amount of times they should come and enquire about the meal/service. I don't need to be pestered every 30 seconds by some ********er trying for a better tip, but when you finish your drink, ask for a refill and then sit there for the rest of the meal without getting a refill then that's just ****ed up and makes the place look bad.
5. Foreigners
Alright, I may take some heat for this, but like with #4, I don't give a ****. When I go to a restaurant here, I expect for English to be spoken by the people working at the place. I don't care if it's a mexican restaurant, a chingchangwangbang restaurant or what have you, you're in America, speak some ****ing English. I mean, if I were in Mexico, I wouldn't expect for people to speak English at restaurants there, so why the hell should I expect to have a foreign language spoken to me at a restaurant here. I live in the Pacific Northwest, as far away from Mexico as can be without being in Canada, so I dunno how the beaners got all the way up here without learning how to speak English along the way. if I can learn to speak Spanish, the can learn to speak English.
A waitress I know makes $9 of salary pay an hour, but says she often clears $30-40/hour with the help of tips.
I agree that this is a stupid concept, as it's essentially making the customer directly cover their wages, but restauranteering is a tight, difficult business, so there has to be some compromise somewhere.
and priests is absolutely right.
an ex girlfriend of mine was a waitress a sandwich/ice cream parlor and a part time model. she only got paid about 3 dollars an hour in wages but would often clear $100 a night in tips alone because they had amazing turnover. her looks probably helped a lot too.
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2. That fake hack people 20 feet away do when people are smoking in the smoking section/outside patio. Grow up already. I blow my smoke at you!
3. Overcooked meat. I like it rare, thank you.
4. Messy salad/desert bars. More so if untrained kids are involved.
5. I love my Chinese foods muchly, but I hate it when they let it sit under the heat lamps for a longtime. Change the food trays already!
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I would not have any trouble ordering such persons to "get out." Indignation is anger, and anger can be used to overcome fear.
The only thing that bothers me is crying. Babies crying. If the child is still teething, for God's sake, why are you bringing it to the restaurant? Yes, that means you should stay at home if you have to look after your young.
It's not fake. I can sense a smoker from ten feet, and smoking from twenty. It's called I WHEEZE IN PAIN AND DISGUST.
Honestly, "Grow up already"? That's your return taunt? How is the hacking 'immature'?
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I have a good friend who doesn't smoke, who hates smoke and yet I can smoke within 3 feet of him and there's never a fake half assed cough/hack job from him.
To me, what you're describing is being an overdramatic attention *****. You cough and wheeze in pain? LMAO Do you cough and wheeze in pain when you suck down the exhaust from cars, and other motor vehicles, since that's where the real unhealthy second hand smoke comes from? I highly doubt it. Get off your moral high horse and stop acting like such a *****
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I'd also like to say that the American system of paying less than minimum wage and filling the rest out with tips is despicable, should be completely illegal, and is everywhere else (unless tipping is made completely compulsory, in which case they are more like a surcharge). Disregarding the obvious gender bias, whereby females make 3 times as much as males due to horny male patrons, regardless of skill or personality, its just a channel for greedy chains that won't even fork out minimum wage to support the people who work for them.
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2) Dirty restrooms. This one is more serious and requires a bit more effort. But it really makes a difference if you take your girl out for a treat, she uses the bathroom, and washes her hands again in the gas station next door because it's cleaner???
3) Not being able to make small changes to a menu item. This is only an excuse for places like White Castle, where you buy burgers by the sackful. Anywhere else, and a person should be able to go in and order a sandwich without pickles or onions, and get just that - not a sandwich that had pickles and onions on it, but someone in the back 'remembered' at the last minute and yoinked the pickles off, or scraped off as much of the unwanted mustard as he could using a piece of cardboard. I'm more than happy to wait another 3 minutes for you to get it right.
A corollary to this is the attitude I endure when I order a special order in a restaurant. Stow it, fella. I'm spending money in your establishment, and if you can't see how that's good, you can take a flying leap.
4) As a server, I hate seeing people deliberately leave napkins and large amounts of free condiments in various configurations in or around their booth. Take only what you need to eat your meal, and by all means feel free to take any leftover napkins or ketchup packets with you, but please don't use them to construct a CSI murder scene on your table and then leave it there for us to "discover". Same with the toilets. It's not your home, it's someone else's private property that just so happens to be open to the public...show a little respect. We will gladly refill the toilet paper rolls and mop the floors and wipe piss off the seats, if you kindly tell us about the problem; instead of using towels to clog the sinks and toilets, aiming poorly, doing drugs in the stalls and leaving your evidence around, etc.
5) Lecherous old farts (and their fratboy kin) who come in and check out the waitresses and make comments/passes. Mind your own business, they're here to bring food to your table and clean up after your sloppy ass, not to lap dance for you. If you are expecting that maybe you should go to a titty bar instead. In fact, any harassment or judgmenta comment about service staff, or abuse of service staff, is the hallmark of a small ***** or a large mental illness and an embarrassment to anyone who dines with you.
Some general rants about restaurants that may or may not be within the server's control:
1) Fewer options for less than $10 in the ethnic food department. It used to be, you could go into a Chinese restaurant and get a bowl of wonton soup or a takeout serving of fried rice for about $4. Now you walk in the door and the cheapest item on the menu is $9.99? Forget it. A lot of college students would love to eat out more often but just can't pony up the high price for the inflated portions of your greasy goo. Scale it down so us poor people can get a bite to eat. It's just one of the reasons why of all the restaurants in the University area, only the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell are still open.
2) @Pretentious nouvelle cuisine places: Please don't cop an attitude when I ask for the "sauce magnifique" not be drizzled attractively over the top of all my food, but served on the side in a very ordinary and gauche side bowl.
3) Drive through operators listen up! I am a bike commuter and pay as much in taxes towards roads as you do. I am required to follow the same traffic laws as you, and carry insurance for my ride just like you. When I come through your drive through, I want service just like the ********s in front and behind me in their Escalades. No "we can't serve you because you aren't inside a vehicle" crap. My money is just as green as theirs, n'est-ce-pas? Does it ever enter your mind that the reason I want a chalupa from the drive through is because I've just ridden 10 miles in searing heat or bitter cold, and genuinely need the fuel to get to work?
4) Magic players: Don't come into my restaurant or bar and hog a table or series of tables with your games, shouting back and forth across aisles at each other, and not spend commensurate money. $10 per hour per table occupied is not too much to ask. Most managers would see the first card and simply ask you to leave. AS a player, I understand but also expect a little common courtesy. If you're especially neat, tidy, quiet, and polite, I might even let you keep sitting there for several hours without spending a dime if we're slow, just so long as you remember that when we're busy, I expect you to perceive this and act accordingly - either spend or leave, and keep it down.
5) It's now against the law to smoke inside bars and restaurants in my city, and I hope smokers here will understand if we the diners and servers plan to enforce this law 100%. That said, we can't control wich way the wind blows, etc. so if you smell smoke and it's coming from a properly designated smoking lounge, you can politely inform your server but don't expect a miracle. They may be able to shut a window or turn on a fan, and they may not.
Why are they the top of my list? Because these ********s appear at every resturant at the most inconvinent times. These happen to be busy hours, and they'll be as loud and rowdy as possible to get the entire places attention.
2. Generally mean staffers:
I like being treated nicely. I bet you do to. So when I get the ***** of the night assigned too me, I get just a little disgruntled at being treated badly. Now, there is absolutely no reason to get a seniour staff member involved, why? I have a neat little trick that calms then down (or pisses them off more, and I'm always looking when I do this). What you do, is, before you get the check, you ask for a nice tall glass of water, and a desert menu, after receiving the check, whip out the bill fold, find a 5$ (or more, but not generally less), fold the bill, set it on top of the water, put the menu on top of the glass, then flip it. If your good enough, just pull the menu out from under, and watch that dumb hoe cry about how she's going to get her tip. It's cruel, mean, and utterly effective.
3. Children
Its on my list, but others have explained why.
4. Food cooked incorrectly
Thats just wrong. GET IT RIGHT PEOPLE, ITS NOT HARD.
Thats about it for me...
In order to get costs down enough to maintain a competitive menu price, restaurants have to skim from elsewhere. And the first place they skim is off the server's wage since it can be argued that a server should make decent enough tips to cover the skimpy wage. The next place they skim is off the wages of the rest of the staff, especially if the restaurant employs a tipout system (and most generally do).
A tipout is when a server has to give up a chunk of his or her tips to be split up amongst other staff members (usually bartenders, bussers, dishwashers, hosts and kitchen staff, basically all non-management involved in running the restaurant). Where I work, a server tips out on 2.5% of sales, so for every $1000 I sell, I have to pay $25 into the tipout fund, which is then counted and divvied up every other week. Which causes even more anger if a table leaves without tipping. Even if a table doesn't tip, we still tipout based on the bill so no tip on a $50 tab means I have to tipout $1.25 of my own money (or other tips as the case may be). Which seems petty on its own, but can certainly add up quick, and hurts bad on slower days.
So yes, servers get underpaid because managements knows their wages will in essence be compensated for by tips. Without tipping, wages would need to be higher and menu prices would need to go up to make up for it. So to keep menu prices competitive, restaurants in turn pay their staff much less with the understanding that tipping will supplement their income. And it does. I won't lie, servers can do excessively well. But they bust their ass harder than most would ever suspect to make that money. Serving is far more stressful and harder than a lot of people realize (in terms of jobs with highest rates of depression, food service is near the top) which is why I always advocate a little slack when I'm eating out.
Sorry for the long rant, but tipping and server complaints hit really close to home (serving over eight years now).
Then don't eat out. Honestly. I can respect not liking feeling forced to tip, but tipping is a part of restaurant experience and you're paying for that experience. If you don't like what's customary, don't eat out at restaurants. Or only frequent establishments that pay their staff better, thereby freeing you to tip a bit less.
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But on topic. Biggest pet peeve of mine in restaurants is people talking on cell phones while they've got a real human being sitting directly in front of them. And you can sometimes see the look in the other persons eyes like "if you don't turn that thing off, I'm gonna jam it so far..." Ya get the picture.
As far as kids, mine are generally well behaved in restaurants, but I do agree on those little hellions that can't behave.
Slow service is another big killer. Especially at fast food. ESPECIALLY in the drive thru. I've been to some places *cough*wendy's*cough* where it took them 8 minutes to bring me a burger and fries, and I know for a fact, if they needed fresh fries, they're ready in 3!