Thread: More venting, this about restaurants.....

Originally Posted by IsaacRN

Here is something HUGE for me. I never want to see the bottom of my glass. When i was a waiter...I made sure that refills were Johnny on the Spot.

Exactly. And it's really not too much to ask. I either drink Coke or water, both easy drinks to keep tabs on and refill. It's amazing though how many times I see the bottom of my glass.

Originally Posted by ChrisL

There are more important things to get bunched up about, but I just had to share this:

I've worked in the restaurant industry as a waiter at a handful or restaurants in my youth. A few of them were more upscale.

A big pet peeve of mine when dining out is the waitron that apparently wants to appear impressive by not writing down the order!! If they bring all components of the meal as ordered after not writing the order down, IMO, big deal. However, it seems almost more often that not, they forget something (a drink, screw up the order, etc). It happened again today during lunch. The waiter brought me something similar to what I ordered, but with the wrong main ingredient.

Anyone else bugged by that type of thing?

Chris L

As bothersome as that can be Chris, I am more bothered by the waiters and waitresses that write it down and still get it wrong!!

Originally Posted by Quick Orange

Exactly. And it's really not too much to ask. I either drink Coke or water, both easy drinks to keep tabs on and refill. It's amazing though how many times I see the bottom of my glass.

Interesting. Do you have to pay for your drink?
Over here, noone will ever fill up anything without you asking, because you have to pay for it.

A good waiter will drop by your table when he sees empty glasses and ask if he can bring you anything, but he (or she of course) will not refill without asking you.

And in Belgium tipping is frowned upon.

My worst restaurant incident was at a seafood joint named Captain's Galley in Derby, CT. I asked for an appetizer of steamers. The waitress wrote something down but brought me a platter of steamed clams. I said, "Those are steamed clams."
She replied, "That's what you ordered."
"No, I order steamers regularly and never in my life have I asked for steamed clams."
"Well it's the same thing." This infuriated me because in Connecticut we go clamming at the beach at low tide and we know the difference between soft shell clams (aka steamers or ****ers or **** clams) and quahogs (aka littlenecks)
"Not only are they not the same thing, both are listed on the menu. Now please stop arguing with me and ask the manager to come see me." She stormed off and a few minutes later the manager is at my table.
"Hello sir, how are you folks doing tonight?"
"We are fine thanks. Say, would you please tell me what these are?" I asked him as I pointed to the plate of clams.
"Those are steamed littlenecks. Isn't that what you wanted?"
"No. I ordered steamers as I always do. Your waitress brought these. Then she blatantly lied saying that is what I ordered. Then she insulted me by saying steamers and steamed clams are the same thing."
"I am very sorry sir. Let me correct this for you." He took away the steamed clams and returned shortly with a large bowl of steamers and a bottle of nice chardonney. "Please accept this bottle of wine as an apology of, if you'd prefer red..."
"No, this is fine. Thank you very much." and I tore into the steamers.
"The girl who caused this confusion has already been walked out of the restaurant."
"I really didn't want to cost her her job." Although in my mind I was very happy she was sacked.
"It wasn't just your incident sir. She has also been caught stealing tips from the other wait staff." After I finished eating and drinking I got the check. Although I got the chard for free, they actually had the nerve to leave both the steamed clams and the steamers on the bill!

The place is no longer in existence.

Originally Posted by icedog

And in Belgium tipping is frowned upon.

Seriously?

For anybody from Belgium who doesn't know, in the United States, any restaurant that is above the level of fast food, tipping is not only encouraged, but expected.

How much you tip varies regionally, but in my part of the country, 5~10% of the check would be considered a tip for adequate service, and 15~20% for good service. In some states, there is actually a lower minimum wage for certain professions that work for tips such as wait staff. i.e. at one point in time, minimum wage was $5.50, unless you were a waiter, in which case it was $4. (I'm not actually sure if this is still true, as I live in a state that hasn't been that way in decades, if ever, but I know it used to be true)

Leaving less than 10%, or leaving change, is generally considered an insult. That's why if I have a truly awful waiter, I will leave them two cents. It's my way of telling them that I think they're an ass. I'll usually write "HERE'S YOUR TIP!!!" on the back of the receipt and leave 2 pennies sitting on it. (I think I've done this 4 times in my life)

At some higher end restaurants, a minimum tip is actually added to your check, to keep people from leaving unreasonably small tips. One restaurant I go to only once ever few years (because it's about $200 for dinner for 2) adds an 18% tip to the check.


Oh, and 90% of restaurants here give free refills on soda and coffee.

I know tipping is required in the US, and I don't mind doing it. It is an important part of the wages for the waiters / waitresses. In most European countries, that part is included with the price of the meal, and the waiting staff gets a reasonable wage. Same difference.

In Belgium it is not really frowned upon, but it is one of those things that noone does or even expects. What is done, sometimes, is leaving the change on the table if you pay with cash, or saying 'this will do' when handing over the money, rounded up to the nearest euro bill value.

I usually tip at restaurants when I really liked it. If not much though, couple of euro's never more than five.

The waiters (tresses) are paid well already and the tip is just an extra bit of money I'll give them for doing a good job.

I never get tipped at my job, why should they. They don't make all that much less than me.

Originally Posted by Bruno

Interesting. Do you have to pay for your drink?
Over here, noone will ever fill up anything without you asking, because you have to pay for it.

A good waiter will drop by your table when he sees empty glasses and ask if he can bring you anything, but he (or she of course) will not refill without asking you.

Typically soft drinks will be refilled for free, and tap water is entirely free. When one soft drink costs nearly $3 though, I would expect free refills. Coffee and tea are generally refilled for free as well, though it depends on the establishment. Of course, anything with alcohol is charged per drink. We just have a different dining culture here than Europe does. I'm sure if we paid more money for less food and drink as seemed to be the case in Europe to me, we'd be a far healthier nation.

i really find the difference between American and European tipping fascinating. Leaving the change rounded up to the next buck is a nice thing to do there, and an insult here.

Anyway, to add a vent story before we get hopelessly off-topic....

In the summers between college, I worked for my father doing construction work.

One day I went to applebees (American casual family restaurant chain) after work with my ex-wife. (wasn't my ex at the time)

I was wearing my work clothes, which included carharts, work boots and a flannel shirt that was just clean enough to make up for the not so clean t-shirt underneath it. Not something I would normally wear out, but it was an early dinner, not a high class restaurant, and I was too tired to care. Since I was dressed like a construction worker who spent all day building a barn, my ex-wife just wore a t-shirt and jeans.

Anyway, the closer we got to finishing our meal, the closer to our table the waiter would stand. Pretty soon, he was actually stopping by the table to check on us every 2 minutes, and while he was just asking the usual things, like if we needed anything else, he wasn't friendly or nice about any of it.

Finally, he brings the check. "I'll be your cashier whenever you're ready."

And then he just stands there. Not doing anything, not saying anything, just standing there. Finally he steps back, and stand like 5 feet from the table, but continues to just stand there.

As I was getting ready to get out my wallet and pay, I realized what was going on. He took one look at me and decided that I was going to walk the check, so he hovered over us to make sure I didn't.

I was livid, but I kept it cool on the outside. I called him over, and politely let him know that I had no intention of leaving without paying, but I would like another refill on my diet pepsi before I settled up and left.

Until I saw his reaction to that, I wasn't quite sure that was what he was doing, but when I said that, the blood drained out of his face, he stamered for a minute, and then gave it up and took my glass away for a refill. I left $40 (enough to cover my check and a tip he didn't deserve) and walked out while he was gone.

But, I had one last laugh. I left the cash under my plate and watched his reaction from the lobby.

Priceless.

That is priceless...

It just goes to show how quickly people are judged...