You know - Most regular restaurant diners come out once or twice a month, or maybe even once or twice a week, but on holiday weekends, EVERYONE has a reason to celebrate! They all just seem to come from everywhere! Tonight was no exception.
We had huge parties of unusual groups of people.
One party of 14 stood in the main aisle of our restaurant posing for their waitress to take a picture, while another group switched seats so many times I wasn't sure I got all their orders taken. Another small table of three ordered three soups, three appetizers, and three meals - only to realize they had way to much food, and they ended up having everything wrapped and taking two large bags home.
People are funny, especially when it comes to celebrating.
Have a great holiday!!
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Do You Yell At The Post Man When He Brings Bills?
One day I had an interesting discussion with another server about our position in the restaurant.
As servers, we are nothing more than couriers.
We order drinks, and bring the drinks that are made for us to the table. If the drink is not made correctly...well, I didn't make it. Would you like me to bring it back so the bartender can make you another one?
We order food, and we wait for the kitchen to make it. Then we bring it out. We don't cook it. We are not responsible for how it tastes. We are not responsible for the forgotten walnuts, or the extra peppers. We are only responsible for the delivery.
Do you yell at the postman when he brings bills? No, because he is only a courier. Why are you yelling at me about your overcooked steak?!? I only delivered it.
As servers, we are nothing more than couriers.
We order drinks, and bring the drinks that are made for us to the table. If the drink is not made correctly...well, I didn't make it. Would you like me to bring it back so the bartender can make you another one?
We order food, and we wait for the kitchen to make it. Then we bring it out. We don't cook it. We are not responsible for how it tastes. We are not responsible for the forgotten walnuts, or the extra peppers. We are only responsible for the delivery.
Do you yell at the postman when he brings bills? No, because he is only a courier. Why are you yelling at me about your overcooked steak?!? I only delivered it.
I Don't Cook the Food!!
A single lady was sat at a perfectly good table. She decided that she didn't want that seat, and without asking, moved herself into one of my tables. The door servers had planned to use my table for part of a party of 8, but now couldn't get the woman to move. So I was already irritated when I arrived at the table, because instead of the $25 tip I would probably have gotten, I was only going to get about $2. However, I pasted on that cheezy little smile and went to ask how she was doing.
She ordered, and I sent the order in to the kitchen. When her medium rare steak came out medium rare, she complained that it was undercooked. So I sent it back. When I came back with it about 5 minutes later, she started in on me. "I hope you didn't leave this steak on the grill that whole time! It is going to be so overcooked I won't even be able to eat it!" Already frustrated with the situation, my only response was "I'm sorry, I don't cook here, I just bring things out when the kitchen gives them to me." The steak turned out to be all right - and in the end, she left me $2.55. And the waitress who got my party of 8 got $32
Thank you so much.
She ordered, and I sent the order in to the kitchen. When her medium rare steak came out medium rare, she complained that it was undercooked. So I sent it back. When I came back with it about 5 minutes later, she started in on me. "I hope you didn't leave this steak on the grill that whole time! It is going to be so overcooked I won't even be able to eat it!" Already frustrated with the situation, my only response was "I'm sorry, I don't cook here, I just bring things out when the kitchen gives them to me." The steak turned out to be all right - and in the end, she left me $2.55. And the waitress who got my party of 8 got $32
Thank you so much.
If You're Gonna Be a Regular...
...learn to tip well.
For the most part, as wait staff, we treat everyone the same. We get your drinks, get your food, and we do it all with a cheezy little smile on our faces. We have to, that's how we get paid. And since we don't always know how much we'll get paid, we usually try to be as efficient as possible.
But if we recognize you, and we know that you are going to leave a crappy tip, we are far less likely to make those extra efforts on your behalf.
Tonight I got to wait on some of our restaurant regulars who are known for being cheap pains in the &**. They don't order their kid a kid's meal, they feed him the free popcorn that is offered. Occasionally, they may get him a side of pasta, but not always. And they order him a kid size drink, even though he will have 4 refills. (2 tonight - I just wasn't in the mood to make that many trips.) And every time you bring something to the table, they will find one more thing to need. Since I know that I am getting $5, no matter what the bill is, I decided that tonight I would focus on some of my other tables. Tables that will leave a decent tip if given the right service.
I'm pretty sure that my restaurant manager would have a heart attack if he ever read this, but it's the truth. If you are going to be a restaurant regular, and you would like to receive awesome service on a regular basis, learn to tip.
For the most part, as wait staff, we treat everyone the same. We get your drinks, get your food, and we do it all with a cheezy little smile on our faces. We have to, that's how we get paid. And since we don't always know how much we'll get paid, we usually try to be as efficient as possible.
But if we recognize you, and we know that you are going to leave a crappy tip, we are far less likely to make those extra efforts on your behalf.
Tonight I got to wait on some of our restaurant regulars who are known for being cheap pains in the &**. They don't order their kid a kid's meal, they feed him the free popcorn that is offered. Occasionally, they may get him a side of pasta, but not always. And they order him a kid size drink, even though he will have 4 refills. (2 tonight - I just wasn't in the mood to make that many trips.) And every time you bring something to the table, they will find one more thing to need. Since I know that I am getting $5, no matter what the bill is, I decided that tonight I would focus on some of my other tables. Tables that will leave a decent tip if given the right service.
I'm pretty sure that my restaurant manager would have a heart attack if he ever read this, but it's the truth. If you are going to be a restaurant regular, and you would like to receive awesome service on a regular basis, learn to tip.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
You got Marinara Sauce Where???
Well, it was another eventful Saturday night at work!!
Actually, I was having a really great night. Tables were turning, everybody I waited on was NICE, and people were throwing money at me. I always like that....
All night long, I was able to keep a steady pace, with tables turning as others were eating. It was actually kind of laid back compared to some of the other nights when I find myself in the weeds.
The night just seemed to roll along pretty uneventfully.
Finally, the push started to slow down, and the MOD started to send some of the waitresses home. Since I was one of the closers, I was in it for the long haul. Once there were just four of us left on the floor, we started to get busy again.
I had a party of 5 who couldn't make up their minds on their order, a party of five who didn't speak much English, and a party of 2 who needed their app plates removed from the table. As I grabbed the plates, I didn't pay attention to how the customers had stacked them. BAD MOVE!! As I turned, the stack they had handed me started to shift. A small dish of marinara was pushed off the pile and went flying through the main aisle of the restaurant.
I ran out back to find a porter to get a mop. As I reached the galley, everyone started laughing. I had marinara sauce from my waist down. So for the next 5 minutes, all tables were on hold as two other girls tried to help me get all of the marinara off my pants. EWWWW!!! I never thought to bring back up pants...
By the way, the couple who stacked the plates left me a 35% tip. Thank you!
Actually, I was having a really great night. Tables were turning, everybody I waited on was NICE, and people were throwing money at me. I always like that....
All night long, I was able to keep a steady pace, with tables turning as others were eating. It was actually kind of laid back compared to some of the other nights when I find myself in the weeds.
The night just seemed to roll along pretty uneventfully.
Finally, the push started to slow down, and the MOD started to send some of the waitresses home. Since I was one of the closers, I was in it for the long haul. Once there were just four of us left on the floor, we started to get busy again.
I had a party of 5 who couldn't make up their minds on their order, a party of five who didn't speak much English, and a party of 2 who needed their app plates removed from the table. As I grabbed the plates, I didn't pay attention to how the customers had stacked them. BAD MOVE!! As I turned, the stack they had handed me started to shift. A small dish of marinara was pushed off the pile and went flying through the main aisle of the restaurant.
I ran out back to find a porter to get a mop. As I reached the galley, everyone started laughing. I had marinara sauce from my waist down. So for the next 5 minutes, all tables were on hold as two other girls tried to help me get all of the marinara off my pants. EWWWW!!! I never thought to bring back up pants...
By the way, the couple who stacked the plates left me a 35% tip. Thank you!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Station 9
Last night I got to be in the dreaded Station 9.
Station 9 is a wasteland. It is at the back of the restaurant - as far away from the door servers' podium as possible. As you can imagine, this means that they are FAR less likely to seat station 9 if they have a table in station 2, 3 or 4, which are within sight of the podium.
This is a problem that we have complained about several times, but still nothing gets done. In fact, one of the managers was even at the door tonight, and it was worse than ever. Since the door server who was on tonight - and every Friday - doesn't like to scout for tables, the server in Station 9 actually has to go to the podium to get customers herself. Wow - good thing I wasn't BUSY!
I could tell that tonight was going badly, but when the sales slip came out, and we had to tip out, my sales were over $300 less that the two servers at the front of the restaurant. Believe me, it's quite a difference in my tips, too.
Oh well, what can I do? Good thing I'm in station 2 next week!
Station 9 is a wasteland. It is at the back of the restaurant - as far away from the door servers' podium as possible. As you can imagine, this means that they are FAR less likely to seat station 9 if they have a table in station 2, 3 or 4, which are within sight of the podium.
This is a problem that we have complained about several times, but still nothing gets done. In fact, one of the managers was even at the door tonight, and it was worse than ever. Since the door server who was on tonight - and every Friday - doesn't like to scout for tables, the server in Station 9 actually has to go to the podium to get customers herself. Wow - good thing I wasn't BUSY!
I could tell that tonight was going badly, but when the sales slip came out, and we had to tip out, my sales were over $300 less that the two servers at the front of the restaurant. Believe me, it's quite a difference in my tips, too.
Oh well, what can I do? Good thing I'm in station 2 next week!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Here you go, little girl.
Another nightmare I never thought of...
On a very busy night, we order drinks and go to the bar to pick them up. Our bar staff is great, they usually have one bartender working service, so our drinks are ready within 3 - 5 minutes. However, sometimes it takes the waitresses a minute to get there to pick them up. What usually ends up happening is a log jam of drinks on the service bar with tags stuck to the sides of most of them. MOST of them, sometimes the tags fall off... And sometimes the drinks look a lot alike.....
Sooo, on this one VERY busy night, one waitress ordered a child's milkshake. (Made at the bar) and another waitress ordered a chocolate rasberry (also made at the bar, but containing Chambord, Stoli Raz, and Creme de Cocoa. - Delicious, but I wouldn't want it served to my 5 yo. See where this is going?)
Yep, you guessed it, the waitress looking for the milkshake came up and took the WRONG drink, served it to a little girl, and went on her way. Luckily, the little girl didn't like the drink, otherwise she may have made it through the whole thing without anyone noticing. But once she complained, her mother tried it and called the waitress over right away. Thank goodness for everyone involved that the family was very understanding. (Although the manager DID buy their entire meal.) This one could have ended very badly.
OH one more point to make this nightmare even worse... The mom at the table worked for the Assistant DA in our area. What a heart attack.
On a very busy night, we order drinks and go to the bar to pick them up. Our bar staff is great, they usually have one bartender working service, so our drinks are ready within 3 - 5 minutes. However, sometimes it takes the waitresses a minute to get there to pick them up. What usually ends up happening is a log jam of drinks on the service bar with tags stuck to the sides of most of them. MOST of them, sometimes the tags fall off... And sometimes the drinks look a lot alike.....
Sooo, on this one VERY busy night, one waitress ordered a child's milkshake. (Made at the bar) and another waitress ordered a chocolate rasberry (also made at the bar, but containing Chambord, Stoli Raz, and Creme de Cocoa. - Delicious, but I wouldn't want it served to my 5 yo. See where this is going?)
Yep, you guessed it, the waitress looking for the milkshake came up and took the WRONG drink, served it to a little girl, and went on her way. Luckily, the little girl didn't like the drink, otherwise she may have made it through the whole thing without anyone noticing. But once she complained, her mother tried it and called the waitress over right away. Thank goodness for everyone involved that the family was very understanding. (Although the manager DID buy their entire meal.) This one could have ended very badly.
OH one more point to make this nightmare even worse... The mom at the table worked for the Assistant DA in our area. What a heart attack.
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