Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Social Life, Food & Drink, Travel › Why is Restaurant Service So BAD at times these days?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Why is Restaurant Service So BAD at times these days? - Page 7

post #91 of 103
8/25/10 at 6:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
I've waited at fine restaurants before. I always made it a point of swinging by after the food was brought out to ask if everything was prepared properly and if they needed anything else. I think this is a mark of good service, not bad, but "its just my opinion, I could be wrong"

I like this better. And it's a bit of an art not to interrupt conversation. I hate being interrupted, especially if it's to answer "yes, I'm fine".
Reply
Reply
post #92 of 103
8/25/10 at 9:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
I like this better. And it's a bit of an art not to interrupt conversation. I hate being interrupted, especially if it's to answer "yes, I'm fine".
Yeah, but if you're always talking, and you most likely are unless you're there alone with your wife, then you've got to interrupt at some point. You don't want to hover by the table looking like a jackass.
Reply
Reply
post #93 of 103
8/25/10 at 9:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
Yeah, but if you're always talking, and you most likely are unless you're there alone with your wife, then you've got to interrupt at some point. You don't want to hover by the table looking like a jackass.

You'd be amazed at how well they do this at great restaurants.
Reply
Reply
post #94 of 103
8/25/10 at 10:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SField View Post
In what must be hundreds of meals at michelin level restaurants, many of them 3 star, I cannot at all remember being asked how my meal is until the cheese course or the bill has just been set on the table.

The assumption is that everything is fine unless you pipe up.
More often than not, it's been my experience, too. The servers tend to be continually vigilant so that they see what is needed while at the same time they are available if you need them. It's as though they are invisible when they are around, and magically appear when needed.
Reply
Reply
post #95 of 103
8/25/10 at 10:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JayJay View Post
More often than not, it's been my experience, too. The servers tend to be continually vigilant so that they see what is needed while at the same time they are available if you need them. It's as though they are invisible when they are around, and magically appear when needed.

Yes, it's all about anticipation. It's possible because these types of places have three to four times the waitstaff of lesser restaurants.
Reply
Reply
post #96 of 103
8/25/10 at 11:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Springs1 View Post
My husband and I have had bad service at FINE DINING restaurants. We were overcharged $2 on a price and the SERVER is responsible for having gotten that fixed BEFORE handing us the check since HE has a set of EYES that can READ a menu too, not just us!! At another restaurant, we have had a waiter forget ranch with bread I requested at a fine dining restaurant. That same waiter made us wait around 15 minutes for a coke and a tea, but yet, brought out wine BEFORE stuff he could have control himself.

Fine dining doesn't mean that you will get excellent service. WHY do you feel it does when it's all about if the SERVER isn't lazy and actually CARES about their customers? Where it is and the prices means NOTHING!! There have been plenty of times where we have had better service at chain restaurants like Chili's or Applebee's or Outback even.

Is it bad I could tell your gender from how longwinded and bitchy your first post was?
Reply
Reply
post #97 of 103
8/26/10 at 12:57am
hmmm. so, stop asking how the meal is? some other poster in this threak commented that a waiter never asked them how the meal was and was pissed about it. no chit chatting in general or just no asking how the meal is? i always seem to get a better tip if i can pull of a few laughs. maybe it's observation bias.

i also find i get really good tips even if the food is extremely slow (like 1, 1.5 hour wait) if I'm honest about an apology and promise better service next time. like last night 5 girls left a 20% tip even though they'd been at the restaurant 1.5 hours waiting for food after i apologize honestly.

would you expect the same kind of service at a mediocre restaurant as a michelin starred restaurant? or would you expect let's a diner waitress to be more chit chatty and friendly whereas a higher class restaurant service being attentive but impersonal? no snark. just an honest question
Reply
Reply
post #98 of 103
8/26/10 at 1:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Douglas View Post
Does your husband know you are trolling a notorious homosexual web forum?

Reply
Reply
post #99 of 103
8/26/10 at 2:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by indesertum View Post
hmmm. so, stop asking how the meal is? some other poster in this threak commented that a waiter never asked them how the meal was and was pissed about it. no chit chatting in general or just no asking how the meal is? i always seem to get a better tip if i can pull of a few laughs. maybe it's observation bias.

i also find i get really good tips even if the food is extremely slow (like 1, 1.5 hour wait) if I'm honest about an apology and promise better service next time. like last night 5 girls left a 20% tip even though they'd been at the restaurant 1.5 hours waiting for food after i apologize honestly.

would you expect the same kind of service at a mediocre restaurant as a michelin starred restaurant? or would you expect let's a diner waitress to be more chit chatty and friendly whereas a higher class restaurant service being attentive but impersonal? no snark. just an honest question

If you're making good tips, don't change what you're doing. Keep in mind that I and a few others here prefer a different kind of service, but if you are being extremely attentive, then you are probably catering to what most americans want.

I would never expect the kind of service at a mediocre place as I would a michelin restaurant. The latter often have people who want to make service a career and they are passionate about food (although many become quickly jaded). Michelin level restaurants also have far more FOH, so they spread work out.
Reply
Reply
post #100 of 103
8/26/10 at 1:13pm
Gahhh...its a pet peeve of mine to to have my water topped off more than 2 or 3 times in a meal. Ive been to some places that have dont this nearly ten times in 45 minutes.
Oh and being a twenty-something, I can't stand being explained the definitions of terms on the menu. I kid you not, when I ask what a waiter recommends for wine I will often have basic varietals explained to me. ex. "And we have the cabernet, which is a more flavorful wine..." or whatever. It can really ruin the mood when you're with a female prospect.
Reply
Reply
post #101 of 103
8/26/10 at 7:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by indesertum View Post
hmmm. so, stop asking how the meal is? some other poster in this threak commented that a waiter never asked them how the meal was and was pissed about it. no chit chatting in general or just no asking how the meal is? i always seem to get a better tip if i can pull of a few laughs. maybe it's observation bias.

i also find i get really good tips even if the food is extremely slow (like 1, 1.5 hour wait) if I'm honest about an apology and promise better service next time. like last night 5 girls left a 20% tip even though they'd been at the restaurant 1.5 hours waiting for food after i apologize honestly.

would you expect the same kind of service at a mediocre restaurant as a michelin starred restaurant? or would you expect let's a diner waitress to be more chit chatty and friendly whereas a higher class restaurant service being attentive but impersonal? no snark. just an honest question

Honestly, you're damned if you do and certainly damned if you don't. Guess that kinda makes my complaint a moot point. I just don't like getting pampered mostly because some of my family members act like the OP here (though they would scoff/gag at ranch dressing ) and it really gets under my skin. I try to make sure I tip well in that situation because of the BS the server had to go through.

I'd be more apt to chat up a diner waitress than one at a nice place. The casual setting makes me more genuinely friendly and open. A nice or formal setting makes me lean more towards auto-pilot polite mode.
Reply
Reply
post #102 of 103
8/27/10 at 9:27pm
Reply
Reply
post #103 of 103
8/31/10 at 11:35pm
Seriously dude? 5 years on the same topic? http://community.livejournal.com/asp...w=65181#t65181
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Styleforum › Forums › Lifestyle › Social Life, Food & Drink, Travel › Why is Restaurant Service So BAD at times these days?