What's the most important rule in business? If you lose your customers, you don't have a business.
So what's the most important rule in the restaurant business? If you ignore your customers, they won't come back. I was at the Boll Weevil today and got not quite the worst customer service I've ever had at a restaurant. Yes, the service was unexceptional even to the point that it wasn't the very worst.
What was so bad about it? Was the waitress rude? No. Was the place dirty or too loud? No. Was the food bad? No, actually it was very good. But the waitress never once came back to my table after giving me my food. She never filled my iced tea, never asked if I needed anything, never asked if I wanted dessert (which I very much did... until I'd sat there for so long that I was in danger of over-running my lunch hour) and never even brought my check. I had to go find her and get my check so I could go.
I watched her for 10 minutes while trying to get her attention. She took 3 tables' orders, bussed a table, brought drinks to the afore-mentioned tables, but never once even looked my way.
Those of you who own, run, or work at restaurants: the process is simple. Take the order, bring the food, and bring the check with the food. That way I can leave when I'm ready. Then at least come by the table and check in... if I'm reading, don't pester me, but at least see if I'm doing okay. Never, never make the customer feel ignored.
Is that really so hard?
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2 comments:
"bring the check with the food."
While I agree 100% with that the server was unattentive and sucked, I DO NOT AGREE with EVER bringing the check with the food. That's RUDE for the people that order dessert or after dinner drinks to ASSUME you don't want anything else. I HATE when servers ASSUME it's check time. If you want your check WITH your food, PLEASE TELL YOUR SERVER. This way they may even bring your check out before your food comes out and then once you get your food, the server can pick up your credit card or cash to ring the check up. Don't you feel it's a bit RUDE to have a server PREDICT that you don't want anything else if you DO want to order something else? A LOT of people would feel it's rude to bring the check prematurely. Sometimes I have had servers not even offer a dessert and even if I did or didn't want a dessert, the fact that they took it upon themselves to "ASSUME" something, got their tip lowered. It's NOT "THEIR" place to say I want the check. That is MY decision.
I have had servers IN THE MIDDLE of eating my dessert or just because I asked for boxes to bring the check. Some of those times me and my husband weren't ready for the check yet. If you want your check with your food just go ahead and tell your server when you order your food. Wouldn't that make a whole lot of sense?
I'm talking specifically about lunch-hour etiquitte, not dinner.
If the waitperson actually checks up on the table, that's great, but all too often, I find myself waiting way too long for a check and ending up late back to work.
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