More on service

lol, and I can't spell "particularily"

Wonderful Grimes article.
I can picture a couple of heads rolling after it.

I just got this in my email,...thought it was very funny.
Talk about "over-enthusiastic servers"

As a waiter with 15 yrs of experience, I can tell you it's not easy knowing what to say sometimes...

What I do if somebody's hanging between two dishes, is to try to find out what he/she really likes, if it's a tie, I can't help you! I do have my favourites, but those are kept for my regulars.

BUT!; when I go out to eat, which happens frequently, I know I don't want to bond with either my food or my waiter!

Cavfancier, I am sorry to see this thread languish. I am picky about waiting behavior, at the same time having sympathy for the waiters. I think management policy is at fault for a lot of the depredation now.

My idea of good restaurant waiting has to do with waiters standing back and watching - as opposed to asking six times a meal about how you are doing, all six times when your mouth is full. The assumption seems to be that people will not look up and catch a waiter's (waitperson..) eye if they find a cockroach in their soup.

I have had countless business lunches interrupted with "and how are we doing here"; I think nothing short of letters to the management will do any good. Alas, life is short and there are other things to do...
Sadly, there is, at the coffeeshop level, a general assumption that constant coffee refills are desireable. This must really irk people who have just gotten their coffee to have the right amount of sugar and cream. It seems, too, that people must really like getting a splash in their lukewarm coffee, bring it up to slightly warmer. AaaacK!

Urgh, ossobuco, sorry for letting the thread languish Seems there are some problems with my receiving responses, so I miss them a fair bit...

Wanted to mention a new Sommelier in my company, who 'defines' great service style. We will be working on a monthly newsletter together, and when the link is up, I will post it.

In the meantime, you can read about him on our homepage, http://cinnabar10.tripod.com, and there is a link to the site we are working on for him, where the newsletter will be posted.

P.S. Right now, Tripod seems to be having server problems....hope the link works later.

Cav,

No great stories, but I do remember a restaurant trip last year to a place I'd really liked the time before. Excellently prepared Italian food, not very expensive (for London!) and good ambience...until on a second visit with my parents the (Italian) head waiter decided that it was his job to enforce his views of the meal on us.

We wanted two of the pasta special "primo piatti" as "secondi" - the eyes rolled, teeth were sucked...but eventually it happened. A couple of cheeky comments to my mother, who appreciates a little respect and manners, did not go down well.

Needless to say, we haven't rushed back, despite the fact the food was still great!

Great service, on the other hand, I had at a Polish restaurant two weeks ago. When asked to choose a wine, I deliberated and chose a moderately priced Burgundy. The waitress said "that's exactly what I would have recommended, but I never know quite whether to suggest, or not". It gave me the impression that she knew what she was doing and cared about the customers. It may have been BS but I bought it!

Shoveling BS and selling BS are two different things.
The only time Ive been shocked by the server is at the Outback...I was completely horrified on the two occassions I went there by their servers....
The first sat right down next to me in the booth...
umm..Hello...do I know you?
adding to that the whole patting of my knee upon my decision for entree was a bit too much.
The second time the server actually got down on their knees beside the table, almost resting their chin carefree on the table...
are you okay????
Otherwise, its been a particularly really uneventful dining experience, although I must say Ive felt some degree of the articles descriptions at some time or another...
and I truely enjoy less BS, more serving, thanks.

Urgh quinn...that's terrible....what exactly were they thinking? I am proud to announce that not a single server who works for me is also an actor. Hah! Very proud...

You know, I've gotten the same 'service' from those at the Outback - maybe we should tell managment to stop making the waitstaff act so creepy?


"If you want me to wear 37 pieces of flair, like your pretty boy over there, Brain, why don't you just make the minimum 37 pieces of flair?!" Jennifer Aniston - Office Space

Id take the flair...at least its their problem, not mine
Glad Im not the only abused Outback customer too...whew!

Nice quote, Sugar!

Wow! I've been to the Outback in Farmington only one time, but it was superlative, so I don't think it's part of the image they are working towards.

Hi all, posted this earlier, but ended up in 'general' cuz I wasn't paying attention....

The online wine/food newsletter is up! Check it out at http://cinnabar10.tripod.com/cinnabarnewsletter Also check out the links to our home page and to Zoltan's page, the sommelier. This month we feature a 'Lord of the Rings' inspired brisket, dedicated to my wife's obsession with Viggo Mortensen, and some Can-Con thrown in for good measure

Just thinking....you know where I had a decent Outback experience....Edmonton, Alberta. They take their beef pretty seriously. Intrestingly enough, also had great Swiss Chalet there, like I remember as a kid....the franchise is run entirely by Vietnamese refugees, the boss takes great pride in the operation, and gives new refugees a chance to work, and the food and service were indeed excellent (for a Swiss Chalet). Most of the Swiss Chalets in Toronto have gone to crap, especially with delivery. Cara Foods, who owns the Chalets now, also makes airplane food and it seems most of it here tastes like that now Sad indeed...lest we forget, it is not generally the franchise that is at fault, but the franchisee.