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

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

I'm also completely unimpressed by a waiter who can get an order right without writing it down, and not put off in the slightest by a waiter who takes a few extra seconds to write it out. Makes no difference to me as long as the order is right.


On the other hand, there's a small family owned Chinese restaurant near my home where my girlfriend and I frequent.

The fact of the matter is that the food is good, but nothing remarkable. We go, because we almost always get the same waiter. He never messes up an order, is always friendly, knows when to go away, makes good recommendations for things to try, and does his job generally very well. He even remembers that I always get the hot&sour soup, and my girlfriend always get's the egg flour, so he never even asks what soup we want, just tells us what it will be so we have a chance to change the order if we want to.

I always tip him $8-10, which doesn't sound like much, until you know that we only go there for lunch, and the cheque is usually $13.90

ok that is awesome you posted this chris

I was at Hooters to watch the UFC fight...sadly this is the only place in town that gets the pay per view fights...

well we sat down and ordered drinks...i got mine right away and five min later the waitress comes back and says they dont have what my buddy ordered...so he gets something else mean while she comes back and sets down a water and says who wanted the water....um no one did but i drank it anyway...while i went to the batheroom he still hadnt gotten his beer...and she brought a blind russian...that is not what he ordered...

later on our wives showed up so we ordered food...

well we got our cheese sticks...then 10 min later she brought more and said o yeah you already got yours...duh...10 min later she asks if we got our food yet...um no did you bring the food cuz i am pretty sure you are the waitress...

low and behond 45 min go by and no sign of food...she says they lost the order in the kitchen...after 1 hour 15 min i finally talk to the manager and he gets the order going...well it came out completely wrong...

finalyy we got the right food and he took half off our food order and gave us some gift certificates but seriously...how hard is it to write it down give it to the kitchen and bring the stuff out...

wow...

Originally Posted by erictski

I was at Hooters...

And that's what happens when you hire based on cup size.

Originally Posted by erictski

ok that is awesome you posted this chris

I was at Hooters to watch the UFC fight...sadly this is the only place in town that gets the pay per view fights...

well we sat down and ordered drinks...i got mine right away and five min later the waitress comes back and says they dont have what my buddy ordered...so he gets something else mean while she comes back and sets down a water and says who wanted the water....um no one did but i drank it anyway...while i went to the batheroom he still hadnt gotten his beer...and she brought a blind russian...that is not what he ordered...

later on our wives showed up so we ordered food...

well we got our cheese sticks...then 10 min later she brought more and said o yeah you already got yours...duh...10 min later she asks if we got our food yet...um no did you bring the food cuz i am pretty sure you are the waitress...

low and behond 45 min go by and no sign of food...she says they lost the order in the kitchen...after 1 hour 15 min i finally talk to the manager and he gets the order going...well it came out completely wrong...

finalyy we got the right food and he took half off our food order and gave us some gift certificates but seriously...how hard is it to write it down give it to the kitchen and bring the stuff out...

wow...

Honest to God I HATE the service at Hooters. They have some damn good food, but the girls there are pretty worthless.

Originally Posted by IsaacRN

Honest to God I HATE the service at Hooters. They have some damn good food, but the girls there are pretty worthless.

Yeah...I go there maybe every couple months to watch the UFC fights and I never get good service...i love the burgers and wings but not the service...i wish other bars would get the fights but they dont need to cuz they always have business...but the hooters where i live is losing because we got a Tlited Kilt a block down that has better food, better service, and nicer girls...

Originally Posted by VeeDubb65

And that's what happens when you hire based on cup size.

I didnt want to say it to offend anyone but yes...but really...just write down what i want and type it into the computer...not rocket science

I've noticed this too. Hooters used to have great service and great food, now it's bad service (often times not even good looking service) and mediocre food. Oh well...

So this doesn't degenerate into a hooters thread...I'm impressed by a server who makes sure I never get to the end of my drink and expedites my food. I don't want a server to constantly bug me, just walk by every once in a while in case I need to flag you down. Be courteous since I'm nothing but courteous. I don't care how they take the order, I just want it right the first time. If it's easier for them to memorize it, then by all means...

The town I live in right now is notorious for horrible service. Our Chili's has got the be the worst in the state. I've left written tips there several times. Something it has made me notice is that it makes me increasingly negative when I get bad service. I don't like to be angry whilst eating, so I tend to take my business elsewhere and warn friends away from bad restaurants. I go back only when I hear good stories about them.

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.

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.

And those are the waiters that I tip well. I'll tip a really great waiter 50% or more, and I'll leave 2 pennies for a really bad waiter. And yes, I've actually left $0.02 for a tip before. Don't worry, they really deserved it.