There's a certain excitement when a new restaurant
opens up in the neighborhood. Finding a new, local restaurant can be difficult
especially with troublesome online reviews and endless recommendations. Dining out is expensive. Heartbreak follows when an
expensive night out goes all wrong.
You may find yourself dwelling on it for days after the fact. There are other
subtle signs throughout a restaurant to determine if it'll offer a pleasant
dining experience. From the moment you enter the eatery, there are certain
ways you should be treated and things you should look out for before even sitting
down at a table. What are some signs that you're in a
bad restaurant?
1.
The
menu items are overpriced- If something seems overpriced, then it probably is. This is not
proof that you're a cheapskate. If you dine out even semi-regularly, then by
now you probably know what the going market rate is for a roast chicken, a
sushi roll, or a bag of donuts. Unless you are at a place known for the
best-of-the-best of any of the above, then you probably shouldn’t be paying
more than the market rate.
If
a roast chicken has a $29 price tag on it, then it better be at the finest
dining place in town, and it had better deliver. Unfortunately, you won’t know
until after you’ve ordered it. So decide if that price tag seems ludicrous at
the outset, and if it does, maybe just leave that particular bird in the
kitchen.
2.
The
staff doesn’t seem happy to see you-Did the people tasked with greeting you in fact greet you? Or did
they continue having a chat among themselves, registering no more notice of
your existence than would a teen being told to turn his music down? Did they
give you the subtle expression of disdain you give your one uncle, the one with
the mullet, when you see him at Christmas? It might be time to go.
This
is not the same as
punishing a person who is mid-task (for instance, helping another customer)
because they didn’t notice you in the first nanosecond of your presence. If a
staff person looks busy, then they’re usually helping someone else, and will
probably be along to help you, too. It takes exactly zero extra seconds to look
up from one’s task and say, “Hi, welcome, I’ll be right with you!”
Everyone
in the service industry has suffered through their fair share of shifts when
they just weren't in the mood to give you service with a smile. Those of us
seasoned in the industry know how to fake it till we make it, or how to rely on
our coworkers to give us a hand and get us through the shift. When you notice
though, that the entire staff seems like they would prefer to be somewhere
else, or that they are more interested in their own drama and socializing to
see you frantically waving your empty water glass at them, it’s a pretty sure
sign that the restaurant is going downhill fast.
If
the staff has mentally checked out, it's likely that management has as well. In
all fairness, there are legitimate reasons why a server will drop your check
off early in your meal. Perhaps you're seated at a busy sidewalk cafe, and
that's simply their policy to curtail dine-and-dashers. Maybe you're eating at
a busy bar, where the updated check is kept in front of you at all times in
case you need to leave in a hurry. But in some sad instances, it could be that
the server just doesn't want to deal with you anymore. If a server is ending
their shift, like between lunch and dinner, they should either wait it out
until your meal is finished, or let another server finish your table for them.
Sometimes
it's not the server at all, but the kitchen staff, bullying a server into
getting a table to leave so they can all go home for the night. If a server is
being indelicate about trying to get you out the door in a hurry, that's a sign
that the management of the restaurant are not keeping a keen eye on what's
happening in the dining room. It's one thing if the hostess is simply seating
another table, and you only have to wait a moment before she greets you.
It's
quite another thing when you stand and wait for a lengthy period of time
without being greeted when you arrive at a restaurant. This is where first
impressions are made, and a restaurant that doesn't ensure customers are
greeted at arrival is a restaurant that's likely having some major management
issues. If you find yourself having to flag down a passing staff member just to
inquire about being seated, you may want to rethink where you're dining.
3.
Something
smells bad- This one might seem
strange to include, but off odors is a kind of obvious indicator that other
things are off. It doesn’t have to be food that’s gone bad either. Depending on
where you dine, old or questionable plumbing might just be a necessary evil, in
hundred-year old buildings, for instance. But if the room reeks of old mop
water and bleach or if you do in fact smell fermented food and you haven’t
ordered any, you know what you should probably do.
4.
Your
server answers questions with "I don't know"- While it's perfectly fine not to know the
answer to a question, the appropriate response is a cheerful, "You know, I
don't know but I'll go find out!" In fact, this answer is infinitely
preferable to an obvious guess. Guessing games in a restaurant setting can be
annoying at best and deadly at worst (there's shellfish in that sauce after
all). More importantly, good kitchens know that the service staff is the
communication vehicle for food, and they want said staff to be as knowledgeable
as possible.
Does
your server seem reluctant to go into the kitchen to get an inquiry answered?
There might be bad vibes between the two, or at the very least, the training
efforts aren't thorough. In either case, you may not want to eat there.
Another very bad answer is "I don't know. I don't eat meat/fish/pasta/ice
cream/anchovies."
5.
You get ignored-There's a rule of thumb in the restaurant
industry that says a table should be greeted within 60 seconds of being seated.
Your server might be busy, and unable to get your drink order or tell you the
specials in that time, but it only takes a moment to greet a table, and let
them know you'll be with them in a few minutes. This little trick goes a long
way in establishing a good rapport with guests. If the server is unable to do
this, then teamwork should be involved.
The
host may tell you that your server will be with you soon, or the manager should
stop by and greet you. If you find yourself sitting for a while, maybe without
even a menu to look at, and the staff is passing by your table without so much
as a smile, this is an indication that things are not going smoothly.
6.
The place is deserted-You were seated at the best table by the window
on a rainy Tuesday night? You were seated at the best table by the window at 8
p.m. on a Saturday (without a reservation?) That's a sign that nobody else
wants to eat at this place, and you have to wonder why. While brand new
establishments might be slow to pick up a steady clientele, a restaurant that
consistently seems like a ghost town is probably not operating at the top of
their game, and is unlikely going to attract good servers, who can make a lot
more money at a busy place across the street.
By
all means, try the new restaurants in your neighborhood. Those steadily
declining places are declining for a reason. The menus or table setting may be dirty.
There’s no excuse for presenting a table of guests with dirty menus or table
settings. Menus can get dirty pretty easily especially at restaurants that
offer bread baskets, or chips and salsa. Allowing dirty silverware or glassware
at a table is also unacceptable. While mistakes can certainly happen in even
the nicest of restaurants, grungy looking silverware, or lipstick stains on
glasses, could easily be avoided if the restaurant employs a little bit of
teamwork.
When
a staff is trained to look out for every aspect of the guest experience, and
not just their "own job," you're guaranteed to have a better meal. Trust
the wisdom of the masses. Can you hear the chirp of crickets? Does the staff
outnumber the guests? Something is probably up. Not always, but often. One way
to save the potential humiliation of leaving is to politely ask if you may view
a menu. Right there in the vestibule, you can glance at a menu and scope things
out.
7.
Tables aren't being cleared-Do you really want to sit next to a pile of
someone else's dirty dishes? It doesn't make a difference if customers are
waiting for that table or not. I want to see a bus-person leap in on that table
within a minute of the party leaving. It doesn't end with cleaning the table. A
quick sweep with a broom under and around the table is usually necessary
especially if there were children eating there. Condiments and salt and pepper
shakers should get a quick wipe as well.
8.
Managers don't help out-Managers and owners should not sit around and fail
to help out when the rest of the staff is busy. Whether it is running food to
tables, clearing a table, or taking a drink order, if the staff is busting
their butts to get through a rush, management should be there to lend them a hand.
At the end of the day, this means happier customers, and more money in
everyone's pockets. If you're going to run a restaurant, you need to be willing
to get your hands dirty.
9.
Other customers seem unhappy-You may just be seated next to a Grumpy Gus,
but if you notice more than one customer in a restaurant frantically looking
around for their server, or see that people are sending food back to the
kitchen, you may just be in a bad restaurant. Signs to spot include people
waiting long times for their food, water glasses not being filled, and drink
orders arriving after the food has already come out of the kitchen. If other
people are having a bad experience at the restaurant, you may have to brace
yourself for a less than satisfactory meal.
10.
The kitchen or server makes more than one
mistake-We are human, and we
all make mistakes now and then, so one minor mistake by your server or the
kitchen is nothing to get all worked up about. What about consistent errors
though that are not quickly and pleasantly corrected? That's a big clue that
you're in a terrible restaurant. Some errors that should never happen include
getting the wrong table's food delivered to yours, the server or kitchen staff
delivering you something different than you ordered (and then insisting it was
you who made the mistake,) meat cooked improperly, cold food, food that's been
sitting too long under heat lamps, or a server forgetting to input your entire
order to the kitchen.
It's up to you how you want to proceed when a
number of mistakes are made in one visit. If the server isn't savvy enough to
offer you something to make up for your bad experience, it's best to ask for a
manager. Be polite, but clear, about the meal's shortcomings. A good restaurant
will probably offer you a free dessert, or take something off of your bill. If
all else fails, and you start to detect that something is amiss after you've
sat down and ordered a drink, tread lightly.
There's
nothing that says you must go into a meal headlong. Order a snack or a salad. How
are they? For a long time I've done what I affectionately call the "Caesar
Check." If there is a Caesar salad on the menu, as classic a dish as they
come, and it isn't executed properly, chances are some other things are going
to be less than stellar.
11.
The bathroom is poorly kept-At a good restaurant, the restrooms will be
checked periodically throughout a shift to make sure that toilet paper and
paper towels are stocked, and everything is in good working order. At the end
of a shift, that bathroom will be scrubbed top to bottom with good,
old-fashioned bleach.
If a bathroom smells of urine, has visibly
dirty floors, overflowing trash cans, and broken locks on the stalls, you can
bet the kitchen is kept in the same state of disarray. When a man smells the
strong odor of urinal cakes in the men’s bathroom, it could mean nobody is
regularly cleaning the urinals. What else are they not regularly cleaning?
12.
Terrible food-Great service can make up for a lot, but
nothing will make you want to return to a restaurant if the food is truly
terrible. Watch out for flowery menu descriptions that don't accurately
describe what you actually get as well as cheap ingredients being subbed in for
more expensive items. If a kitchen is being run poorly, you'll likely spot inconsistencies
with portion sizes and food quality.
13.
Glaring errors on your bill-There are a small handful of unscrupulous
waiters and waitresses who will try to charge guests for items they didn't
have, particularly if the guests are a large group, or have been drinking.
While innocent mistakes certainly can happen, it is always smart to check your
bill and make sure you actually received everything you're being charged for.
Also double check that an item that was promised to be removed from your bill actually
was. If you strongly suspect a server was up to no good, that's something you
should definitely report to the manager or owner.
“Hospitality is central to the
restaurant business, yet it's a hard idea to define precisely. Mostly, it
involves being nice to people and making them feel welcome. You notice it when
it's there, and you particularly notice it when it isn't. A single significant
lapse in this area can be your dominant impression of an entire meal.” (John
Lanchester) [i]
[i] Sources used:
·
“10 Worst Restaurant Fails” by Cooking Channel
·
“6
signs you’re about to have a bad restaurant experience (and how to get the hell
out)” by Mecca Bos
·
“9 warning signs you’re about to eat at a bad
restaurant” by Frank Ollto
·
“Signs you're in a
bad restaurant” By Kitty Jay
No comments:
Post a Comment