Customers Restaurants Hate

Found this article about customers restaurants hate. I must say, it's pretty accurate.


Great Expectations
True, true. Unless you see some golden arches, it's gonna take a while for your food to be cooked. And yes, bigger tables take longer. Yes, when it's busy there is more food for the kitchen to cook and thus you will wait longer. And again, if you got that steak well done, that takes a good bit of time to cook, so either be patient or order it less done.
And no, there's really not a thing your server can do about it. They cannot make the food cook faster.


Trust the Chef
The vast majority of the time when food is sent back, it's the customer's fault. Yes, let me repeat that. The vast majority of the time when food is sent back, it's the customer's fault. Like the time a customer ordered a filet "medium rare" and then get mad when it came out a perfect medium rare because what they really wanted was (The absolutely disgusting) Pittsburgh rare (where basically it's just seared on the outsides, and the inside is so rare it's still cold. Ugh gross.) Or the one who ordered the chicken with amoretto cream sauce over pasta instead of with the side of potatoes ... and then complained when it was "too sweet." (The amoretto didn't clue you in to it being a sweet sauce?) Not that there aren't kitchen mistakes. There are, but most of the time either one of the kitchen staff or the server catches it before it goes out. I'm telling you, 90% of the time there's a problem with the food it isn't on the kitchen but the customer. They ordered the wrong thing, it just isn't to their particular tastes, they forgot to request special sides or to skip an ingredient, etc.


This Isn't Top Chef
Yes, absolutely inquire about something off menu if you want. Our job is to make you happy, so if you don't like something on the menu or really want something there, go ahead and ask. If we can do it, we will. However, a thousand times yes to where it says don't get mad if we can't. If we don't have it, we don't have it. Nothing we can do about that. It doesn't hurt to ask, so feel free to request it, but you've no right to get upset that we don't carry something not on the menu.


Don't Snap At the Waiter
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Do not disrespect your waiter by snapping at them or whistling at them. Are they a dog? No. They're a human being, and you need to treat them like they are one. Make eye contact or make a slight wave or say "excuse me, miss/sir/server's name, when you have a minute please" if you want to helped promptly. If you're rude to us, why would you not expect us to return the favor? If we have one table who's snapping at us and glaring in our direction and another that's asking politely, who do you think we're helping first? Yeah, the nice ones. You catch more flies with honey and all that.


Groupon Etiquette
Once again, you tip on the full, total amount of the check before any discount/gift card or gift certificates/coupons/etc. come off. If you have a $50 check and a $10 off coupon, you should tip based on $50 not $40. And be sure to read any rules/fine print for coupons. We must follow the conditions set forth by the people who issued the coupon. If we break them, we could get kicked out, which could cost us business. So find out the rules before hand if they're going to be a deal breaker.


They're Waiters, Not Accountants
This one I tend to disagree with. It seems as if there are very few places that don't have computer systems any more, so splitting the check up however (whether in equal parts, or by what everyone ordered) isn't so much a problem for most places. It's been ages since I've been at a place that doesn't use a computer.
But I do agree about asking for separate checks up front if it's a large party. If you're just splitting it up two ways, that's not so bad. But if you've got eight couples, then yes it is much easier for your server to split them at the start to keep it all straight. Also, it means they're less likely to split it up incorrectly and mess up your check by putting the wrong items on it, so it is to your advantage to say split them up this way from the start.


Just Show ID
I've never had anybody get mad about ID. I guess most people understand, and so they're willing to put up with the hassle. So thank you for not being jerks about it.


Closing Time
I cannot stress this enough. You may think coming in at 5 til close and staying an hour or an hour and a half is no big deal. But it kind of is. It keeps your server there, standing around doing nothing. There's sidework that needs to be done before your server can leave, and a lot of it cannot be done when there are customers. If you must be that jerk that keeps your server standing around for no reason, at least eat and leave. No taking your sweet time to eat your meal, no sitting around sipping endless cups of coffee after, no talking for half an hour when you're done. Eat and go. Or may I suggest getting your food to go? Then everybody wins. You get your food and your server isn't stuck there for over an hour.