Restaurant Annoyances

Water Cooler
#1

Having decided that public equities investing isn’t something I want to do for the rest of my life, I’ve recently diversified my personal portfolio into a few private business ventures. One of which is a reasonably sized investment in a small local restaurant chain with 2 sites looking to expand to 10+ over the next 5 years.

The place is asian fusion, casual dining and the food is outstanding. The team are very experienced and know what they’re doing but one thing I aim to bring to the table is to fine tune the service so it is best in class.

I know that you fine people of AF love to eat out at a range of places and most of you hail from the service capital of the world. Do you have any common annoyances you experience when eating out? Anything that really pisses you off?

For example, mine are:

-Having to wait even 5 minutes past the time of your booking

-Getting prompt service up until it’s time to settle up, at which point there’s nobody around to get the bill/cheque and then same again to get the card machine to pay. Once I’m done I want to settle up and leave, not faff about for another 15 minutes.

-Rows of tables for 2 all really close together.

#2

I really like taking my time when I go out to eat and especially at a “sit-down” restaurant. I typically take 3-4 hours sitting and talking with dinner guest. My list:

  • The service person keeps coming by to check if everything is ok

  • Leaves the check on the table even though we are still finishing up our drinks etc.

-TVs

#3

There are the obvious things, like refilling water glasses without being asked, bringing lemon slices on a small plate instead of putting it directly in the water if someone asks for lemon in their water, etc.

I think living in NYC I’m somewhat spoiled by very well trained waitstaffs so I don’t usually deal with any service issues. One thing that does piss me off is when it takes forever to clear the table after I’m finished with my course. There’s a fine line though, because you definitely don’t want to clear it before people are done eating.

Another thing that’s somewhat annoying is not being able to transition my bar tab to my table tab. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason for this - some places let you do it, some places don’t. There shouldn’t be any reason why you can’t.

You should read “Setting the Table” by Danny Meyer - he talks about these types of things in a lot more depth and will get you to think about some things you probably haven’t thought about (i.e. how to soften noise levels in a dining room that wasn’t built with good acoustics).

#4

3-4 hours?? That’s half of a waiter’s shift!

#5

serve champagne by the glass.

#6

When I ask what’s good on the menu and they say “everything.” No, it’s not.

Or, when the server asks is I’d like to see the specials and I reply, “not if you’d like to keep your spleen.” They should get the reference. If they don’t, I very well may take their spleen.

#7

I waited tables during college, and did about 3 years in fine dining. One of the things that is really frustrating about working in customer service is that the people rating you are generally ignorant, especially when it’s foreign cuisine.

I know there’s the saying customer is always right, but in Japanese it takes it a step further and says customer is god. Pretty terrifying because these “gods” have no clue but have powers of gods apparently. The saving grace is that in fine dining, sometimes you can afford to be picky- customer wants subsitutions, ketchup, mayo, sorry, we don’t serve that here (and no matter how expensive the restaurant, you’d be appalled by some people’s utter lack of manners). And eating out brings the worst out in people… I enjoyed the empty chats with strangers, and loved having a fat wallet and without it I couldn’t pay for school, but never again.

Basically, you have a choice, then, to either tailor your customer base to your service model or vice versa. In reality the blend of both is ideal–too much bending over gets you nowhere, and no one likes an uppity restaurant. Without knowing your exact approach it’s hard to say, but the truly successful restaurants I’ve seen have character and genuine friendliness (as a +alpha to food, obviously). Those two, though, are hard to fake. You just have to have it (and if you do, you would have a strong enough base that you can afford to be picky, which is a great situation to be in).

Things I absolutely hate in service is over sell and the helicopter wait staff. A good wait staff will know the products in and out, know exactly what substitutes for what, what complements what, and will not suggest the most expensive wine on the list because it’s expensive. It’s -so- tacky. When I waited tables, I just suggested ones that I actually liked (mid priced). Always sold. Geunine friendliness always wins.

And obviously any sort of incompetence. This is pretty extreme but I had one girl serve a bottle beer without the cap off. Was not a screw cap (which still would be rude). Any time I have to flag someone down. Do your damn job, I hate it when wait staff are chatting or doing obviously filler tasks like wiping glasses.

Waiting past booking can be difficult. Should be avoided at all costs, obviously, but if in the worst case… take the first round of drinks off their check, or comp 25% or something.

Tables close together… that’s also tough. You could take out the tables but if you think, one table=two people, so let’s say $200 check*3 turnover, is it worth losing $600 sales for some less disgruntled big customers?

Sorry for the long rant. I think everyone should wait tables I think it builds character lol. I could go on for ages re: pet peeves… I think the most shocking one is when some dude asked me for a plastic cup so he could dip. GROSS.

#8

Don’t check up on me too often. If I need anything, I’ll make an eye contact.

#9

Most important things by far: good food and reasonable prices

#10

It’s not Starbucks. Take a hint and finish your leisurely chats outside or at home. Or at least keep ordering more food and drinks.

#11

Move all the seats right next to the door away from the door if the temperature can drop below 70F.

#12

So it’s okay to sit your ass down at a starbucks using free wi-fi for 3-4hours while your cheap ass only spent $2.50?

#13

A few more thoughts:

Not sure if this is applicable as it may only be worth doing at a fine dining establishment, and hopefully this doesn’t sound too snobby, but I hate dishwasher water stains on my wine glass. I’m more understanding if it’s a cheaper place and a lower price point for the glass/bottle of wine, but if you’re charging $15 for a glass of wine please provide a clean glass.

One other observation I’ve been discussing with people lately - my wife and I went to a nice restaurant in Brooklyn in a very hipster neighborhood (yes, even more hipster than Williamsburg). The vibe/decor was your typical hipster restaurant - lot of exposed brick, unfinished wood, odd memorabilia, dim lighting, etc. What I found a little odd is that the waiters were all dressed in jeans and a hoodie, or the equivalent. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, but my wife thought it was pretty off-putting. Maybe we’re just old school (keep in mind we’re a late 20s DINK couple so clearly their target market) but the waitstaff dress code is definitely something worth thinking about. I think you need to find some sort of happy medium between a stuffy old-fashioned type place with the waitstaff rocking suits/tuxes and a disheveled look.

#14

Yes.

Your less cheap ass is preventing the restaurant from earning extra $200 in the 1-2 hr extra you spent in that table (assuming $100/person, 2hrs/table). Wait staff doesn’t like you either, because that’s $30-$40 loss in tips.

Whereas in starbux, waitstaff equivalent doesn’t care about you after you pay for the $2.50 drink. And it’s theortically not costing them anything because chair space=/=sales.

#15

A full beer/wine/liquor list at the table. I drink bourbon and I cannot tell you how often the response to “what bourbon’s do you have” is “let me check.” Likewise if I ask what beer is on top, don’t point to a chalkboard or the bar. Provide me with a list, or a competent waiter/waitress.

#16

As lame as it sounds I suggest you watch some restaurant shows. Kitchen nightmares with Chef Gordon Ramsey is great especially if you want to learn the do’s and dont’s

My 2 cents:

Do

have good quality ingredients and food that is prepared from scratch is a plus- not frozen if possible

have a good location and attractive design / lighting - this will depend on your customer base and food style

Hire knowledgeable wait staff that have positive attitudes and a good work ethic

Price your menu appropriately.

If you serve booze / beer/ wine have a good selection (this is a big one for me)

Have a good order processing software / hardware setup

Dont

Have too many menu items- focus on a few quality dishes and then rotate it around. chef specials are great

get complacent. Management tends to let good restaurants slump. Once the allure of your place being the “new” place in town is gone it will be much harder to retain your customer base.

ignore customer complaints, you would be surprised how much a string of bad yelp reviews can ruin your ability to attract new customers

good luck!

#17

You’re assuming that we are just sitting there like it’s a park bench. I have a feeling you don’t have a lot of friends and no one likes you in general.

#18

Waiters&Waitresses getting "too"friendly.Its not a strip club

#19

I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking your time as long as you are a paying customer. However, if you are hanging out at a busy restaurant for anything more than 30 mins after you are finished eating and you are not ordering more drinks etc. then you are a jerk.

#20

This is from the business perspective- no need to get personal. Sales is tied to volume, if you can’t get a decent turnover from a table you’re costing them money. This is true for even fine dining- now, exceptions can be made, such as with vip regulars, etc. But they are treated as vip regulars because they make up for the loss from their one check. But if your check doesn’t make up for the extra 1-2 hours, then yeah you might as well be at a park bench.