Check it out, guys: The Top 5 restaurant gripes

[hanoverphist]

General advice to servers:

keep my fscking coffee full, and we're good.

this one always annoys me. i like some cream in my coffee, so when its half full and they run by and jack up the mix by filling it up again, it throws my taste balance all out of whack.

i really dont have too many pet peeves about servers, and ive never really even noticed being called "you guys" or anything. thinking back, i recall being greeted with "how are you this evening?" or "how are you folks doing tonite?" mebbe its an area thing, or i just go to crappy restaurants.

 

[silverpig]

this one always annoys me. i like some cream in my coffee, so when its half full and they run by and jack up the mix by filling it up again, it throws my taste balance all out of whack.

i really dont have too many pet peeves about servers, and ive never really even noticed being called "you guys" or anything. thinking back, i recall being greeted with "how are you this evening?" or "how are you folks doing tonite?" mebbe its an area thing, or i just go to crappy restaurants.

Sup homes?

 

[destrekor]

lol my number 1 isnt even on that list.

the thing that pisses me off the most is when the server comes and starts clearing plates before everyone at the table is finished

It's called making the situation better for everyone involved.
I worked as a busboy and tried to keep everything efficient, and keep the table orderly.

If it's a table of 3 or less, I probably would have wait until the entire table was finished with whatever course they were on.
4... whichever seemed more convenient.
More? As I made rounds, if I saw unfinished plates I'd like to take them. Gives the customers more room on the table, and helps make it easy on the staff involved.

Was rarely a concern unless 1) big party, or 2) slow eaters.
A big party, bet your ass I was clearing as I saw more dishes cleared. Big tables start to get messy with multiple sets of empty dishware scattered about, and taking 10+ soup cups or cleared entrees at once is no fun task.

2) If I had been informed by the server that your next course is on the way, I want to make phasing into the next course as professional as possible. Taking plates and bowls at the same time as giving you the next course doesn't appear professional imho. But the slow eater complicates things. Must I wait until the one slow eater at a table of 5 finishes that cup of soup before I clear the table of soup cups, when the salad is on the way out of the kitchen? Rather prevent that mess of "here's this, I'll take that."

This is why I'm glad I'm out of the restaurant business, and I was only a busboy. I watched my servers and I felt for them. Some of them I watched real intently. Though some were bitches even to us.

 

[oogabooga]

???????? My problem is if they don't bring the check soon enough! I hate waiting 20 minutes on the check. Who cares if they bring it early???

I agree waiting forever to get the check sucks more than getting it early.

Most of the time when I get the check super early : they've already asked if we wanted desert, or clearly state to take our time/if we want anything else just ask.

 

[Chaotic42]

#1 for me is the loud music. It seems every place I go these days for a late meal with friends is one of those trendy places which cranks the music up. It gets so bad that the only person you can talk to is the one right beside you, and after 40 minutes my throat is sore from yelling.

#2 is a check brought too quickly. The people in this thread who like a fast check seem to be eating at places with refills. This is more like a diner where you run in, sit down, get your food brought to you, wolf down your burger and two cokes, leave some cash and run out. Sure, in that case you want the check right away, but if you're going out for dinner with your wife to a place with a waiter, it's a lot different. You have a drink, appetizer, dinner, dessert with coffee, wine with dinner. To bring the check with the first thing you order...

Maybe it's a regional thing, but I've never been to a restaurant where I had room for dessert.

Obviously this all depends on the quality of restaurant. I wasn't thinking about "upscale" dining when they mentioned this, I was thinking more like Chili's or some local place.

No, if I'm dropping more than $100 per head on dinner, I'd want something different than dine and dash.

 

[torpid]

#2 is a check brought too quickly. The people in this thread who like a fast check seem to be eating at places with refills.

I can't think of a place I've been to on planet Earth where I did not expect refills. I've been to several of the best restaurants in the world. I am not sure what you mean. Are you forgetting that water is typically served with meals and the expectation is to have your water glass refilled?

 

[AstroManLuca]

This weekend I was treated like a second-class customer because I didn't order very much. Decided to go to a nearby diner with the misses to share a malt. Not the first time we've done that. This time, for whatever reason, they brought us two empty glasses with cherries in the bottom and a malt can. The server even handed us the can and said we should stir it up before pouring so it doesn't come out in chunks.

Normally this place pours the malts for us and also puts whipped cream on top. Don't know why they couldn't even be bothered to stir the malts this time. And no one came out to ask if everything was okay either. No service = no tip.

But yeah, that's not the first time I've been treated like a jerk for not ordering enough. I ask for water to drink instead of an overpriced soft drink, beer, or cocktail and the server's tone and mood completely changes. I order a smallish appetizer because I'm not that hungry and decline when they ask if I'd like anything else and they get peeved. Then they seem to forget I exist because I'm not spending enough money.

 

[wheresmybacon]

#2 is a check brought too quickly. The people in this thread who like a fast check seem to be eating at places with refills.

In the US, soda/water/tea refills are basically expected @ sit down places. And that leads me to my #1 complaint: refills!

I’m eating a meal that has 2000% my daily sodium allowance and you give me a glass filled entirely with ice and 3 oz. of Diet Coke. Chances are I’m going to need a refill at some point during my meal.

If the price wasn't 3-4x was a can of soda is @ the store maybe I wouldn't complain, but 2 drinks in some places is nearly the price of a small entrée.

 

[alkemyst]

ghetto dining for the loss.

 

[3chordcharlie]

this one always annoys me. i like some cream in my coffee, so when its half full and they run by and jack up the mix by filling it up again, it throws my taste balance all out of whack.

i really dont have too many pet peeves about servers, and ive never really even noticed being called "you guys" or anything. thinking back, i recall being greeted with "how are you this evening?" or "how are you folks doing tonite?" mebbe its an area thing, or i just go to crappy restaurants.

So put some more cream in it

FTR I drink my coffee black, so I don't have this problem. It does slightly annoy me when a place brings coffee with a spoon already in it, since I have no need for it, and it's lazy.

 

[alkemyst]

In the US, soda/water/tea refills are basically expected @ sit down places. And that leads me to my #1 complaint: refills!

I’m eating a meal that has 2000% my daily sodium allowance and you give me a glass filled entirely with ice and 3 oz. of Diet Coke. Chances are I’m going to need a refill at some point during my meal.

If the price wasn't 3-4x was a can of soda is @ the store maybe I wouldn't complain, but 2 drinks in some places is nearly the price of a small entrée.

shit, if your coke is costing you the entree price for two...post a menu up.

Otherwise I am betting you have sat down in a upper echelon restaurant, ordered an appetizer with a buddy and proceeded to gawk at all the hot women....meanwhile just ordering "FREE" refills.

 

[Chaotic42]

shit, if your coke is costing you the entree price for two...post a menu up.

Otherwise I am betting you have sat down in a upper echelon restaurant, ordered an appetizer with a buddy and proceeded to gawk at all the hot women....meanwhile just ordering "FREE" refills.

That's nothing like what he wrote at all.