What are waiters really thinking when you dine out? Learn their insider secrets about restaurant -- from what days to avoid dining out to how much to tip.
- Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.
- There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.
- When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.
- Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.
- Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)
- Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.
- Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entrée 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.
- Splitting entrées is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?
- If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.
- If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.
- Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.
- If you want to hang out, that's fine. But increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.
- Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.
Are you a guilty offender? Are you shocked by any of these secrets? Which tips are handy for the next time you eat out at a restaurant?
Have you been a waiter or waitress and if so, can you relate to any of the items on the list above?
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Comments: 51
Do they have a list that servers should know about how to treat a customer?
*If there's a gnat in my water, you can call it "protein water" when you're back in the kitchen, but don't make a joke out of it to me.
*Don't eat off the salad bar while you're standing around chit chatting.
*When the hostess points you out and says "That's your server, she'll be right with you" don't pretend like you didn't know you had a seating after I've been waiting 15 minutes.
*If your establishment offers refills, at least offer them. I personally almost never need a refill, but it seems like the one time I do, I never see my server until it's time for the check.
Just a thought...or two. ;)
Husband and I do this all the time. We have several friends who own restaurants, and they are always telling us to stop by and ask for them, which we always do. They come out, sit with us, and talk for a while.
"Tell so-and-so Tom is here" is something my husband says all the time.
My response to the server who wrote this. I am the person who ultimately pays your salary. Without customers, you would not have a job. Remember that! You treat me well, serve me to the best of your ability, try to make things right that are wrong and be nice to me and I have been known to tip up to 50%.
I hate feeling like I "have" to tip a certain amount when I go to a restaurant. I consider the tip percentage "the percentage I will tip if I've had excellent service." I've been out to eat when we got absolute crap service, but my fellow diners still felt like they had to tip the full percent, when I personally would have tipped nothing at all! A tip is supposed to be based on the quality of service you receive... so sorry, but if I don't feel like I got good service, my server certainly won't be getting a good tip, no matter how many people s/he has to split it with!
"Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time."
My friend & I went to a restaurant about 15 minutes before closing the other week. I felt a little guilty about it, but they are still OPEN. When I work in retail stores, the doors are OPEN until closing time. Then the doors are closed-- the people inside are allowed to finish shopping, we just don't let NEW people in! The people at this restaurant were not very polite-- the male server obviously wanted us to leave. I was shocked-- I would never in a million years show so obviously to a customer that I didn't want to help them, & as a manager would definitely reprimand anyone that I caught doing that!
"Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis."
Really-- I would expect that the hallmark of a good cook would be his/her ability to make substitutions/cook on the fly.
I really dislike feeling like I need to walk on eggshells around my waiter/waitress or risk having my food spit in & crap like that. I want to be treated politely, & I will treat others politely. If I get crappy service, I want to feel like I can react to that without fear of retribution!
That all said, most of the time when I go out to eat the service is just fine :)
Fred Smilek is the acting president of the Society to Save Endangered Species. It was founded two years ago by Fred Smilek along with his two best friends Charles and Jonathan. http://www.fredjsmilek.com
#8 - Do people think lemons and sugar are free? Most of the servers around here have smartened up and will actually charge for a drink if they notice someone doing this.
#10 - Most people don't realize that servers are only making about $2.15/hr and RELY on tips to supplement their income. If you aren't going to leave a tip, don't bother eating out. And, no, eating $80 worth of food and dropping your standard $2.50 tip is unacceptable. 15-20% of the bill is customary. If you aren't good at math, look at your total, move the decibel over one to the left and double that. That's 20%.
#12 - This one goes both way for me on the hatred scale. For large parties, I can understand adding the the gratuity from the servers perspective. Things are discombobulated and there will be some that will skip out of tipping altogether. From a patrons standpoint, it has made me irritated in the past. I've had to pay the mandatory $18+ gratuity for large parties and we have received HORRENDOUS service!!! I remember one time in particular, where we actually had to get our own food and drinks because our server never came around!!! There was no way she deserved that kind of tip!
I can say that all of these things can happen, but if a manager is on their toes, it should never go unseen and unpunished.
I agree that if you can't afford to tip you can't afford to eat out!
Another thing, I have heard many times to never, never send food back for any reason. The only exception would be that they sent you the wrong item. If they send it out cold or it doesn't taste good, then make a mental note of it and go someplace else next time. Sending food back is a certain way to get the chef to spit in it or worse.
I would never dream of being rude to a server, especially over food quality. My husband and I are both very conscientious about tipping, and as a result, we almost always get great service.
On one occasion, because of our good attitude, when another table was served a dessert which they claimed was not what they ordered, (though we heard them order it) the server took it back and offered it to us out of gratitude. (It had not even made it ON to the other table; I was a witness to that.)
It really does pay to be kind and thoughtful. No, I would not tip 20% to a lousy server, but I would also not give a great server less than 20%.
Oh, I've read this from Anthony Bourdain. Another good read for me is "Waiter Rant". He has a blog and eventually wrote a book. (What a success story for this waiter/writer!)