You Call This Service?

[weinoo]

Back in March I started a topic called Restaurant/Bar annoyances. Lots of fun stuff covered in that topic, as it wasn't just related to service, but also to other things that go on in restaurants that happen to annoy me.

Now, in the current issue of GQ magazing, Alan Richman goes off on a restaurant after experiencing some of the worst service he's ever encountered. While there apparently was some other weird stuff happening after his 3rd meal at M. Wells in Queens, the gist of the article is summarized thusly:

I wish I had never been so forgiving in my reviews of New York restaurants. I should long ago have paid attention to this disastrous decline in service. Casualness in restaurants does not automatically make customers feel more relaxed. It often has the opposite effect. Remember how tense my friends became when we received no attention at M. Wells.

I appreciate an atmosphere lacking formality. I love Momofuku Ssäm Bar in Manhattan and Schwa in Chicago, both unpretentious and unfussy—but also attentive. They employ people who know how to take orders, fill glasses, clear plates, drop checks. Neither neglects customers. These days, too many new restaurants do. Their motto might as well be Too Cool to Care.

The above article created quite a stir in the food community. Sam Sifton commented on it in Diner's Journal, as did Jonathan Gold (although his was just a sarcastic twee tweet), and I'm sure there were others as well.

Now, today's Eater posts an interview with Village Voice critic Robert Sietsema, someone whose opinions I've always respected. Guess what? He agrees, even going so far as to point out:

It's this new mentality on the part of restaurateurs that they want to control everything. They want the waitstaff to be in charge not you. It's like that wheedling comment at the end of the meal: "Do you need change?"

Of course, I don't know if it goes so far as to the conspiracy hinted at by Sietsema, but the bottom line, from these writers' points of views, appears to be that the concept of service in restaurants, at both the high-end and low (at least when you take price into consideration), is undergoing a paradigmatic shift.

Discussing this on the way to lunch today with my significant other Significant Eater, we just don't know if we agree. Certainly, at the places we frequent, I'm not expecting Danny Meyer type service. But, while there may be glitches here and there, overall we are satisfied by the service we receive. Could it be better? Yes, I suppose. But it doesn't stop us from frequenting those places.

How about you?

[LaurieB]

It's like that wheedling comment at the end of the meal: "Do you need change?"

The temptation to reply to this question is often "yes, and so does the service here" is something I have to resist.

[BeeZee]

We were just talking about this at work today. It doesn't have to be over the top/fawning/etc...just give me a pleasant experience, make me feel that I'm a valued customer (rather than an interruption). If I'm a regular, just a nod/wink acknowledgement is nice. Heck, my husband and I go to a Rita's water ice stand once a week and the girl who works there remembers that we share and gives us two spoons, how hard can it be for a "professional" server to do something nice for you just to make the experience enjoyable. It creates an "afterglow" that usually reflects favorably on the tip at the end of the meal.

[David Ross]

I remember attending a discussion of Food Writers at Uncork'd in Las Vegas about 5 years ago. On the Panel were John Curtas, aka EatingLV.com, Max Jacobson, Las Vegas Food Writer, Barbara Fairchild, at the time Editor of Bon Appetit, and Alan. John, Max and Alan all remarked that they didn't really place much emphasis on service, at least not when they reviewed a restaurant and put it in print. It was more about the food. A review either lacked the space for remarks about service or it barely merited a credit. Barbara was somewhat surprised that such experienced Food Journalists wouldn't have been more concerned about the importance of service. Mind you, John, Max and Alan value the importance of service, but based on what I heard that day, it sounded as though service was as far down on their list of priorities as the quality of the toilet paper in the restrooms.

Unfortunately, the words Alan and his comrades spoke about service at that panel discussion caught up with him. Yet I give Alan credit for self-disclosing that service does matter and a poor service experience can't be forgiven. A gentleman with his influence can have an impact on the service at a restaurant regardless of whether it's at the level of Le Bernadin or the local Mom and Pop Chinese dumpling shop. We cannot forgive rude, unprofessional, unpolished service and we can't forgive restaurant owners who hire poor servers and don't give them appropriate customer service training.

[Marlene]

I noticed the downward trend in service in Toronto before I left, even at places we frequented often. However, I would like to say, we've experienced the exact opposite in Calgary. Every restaurant we've been to so far, the service has been outstanding. Friendly, knowledgable, efficient, yet not over the top. It may be that it is part of what we have experienced in terms of Calgary being one of the friendliest cities we've ever been too, or it may be that in most cases, when we've spoken to wait staff, we're getting an overwhelming chorus of how management involves the whole team in the process of putting together the menus, discussing service etc. I don't know. But I do know that so far in Calgary, service has exceeded my expectations, even when the food has not.

[Broken English]

I noticed something quite odd all through the US recently. With the exception of high end places, without fail every time I ordered a starter and main course, the main would arrive when I was less than half way through the starter. How hard is it to call the main away when you clear the starter plate?

[indesertum]

Let's say you're eating at a small clean ethnic restaurant maybe 20 tables at most mostly 4 top. 2 waiters, no host/ess, no manager, constantly busy. Do you still expect servers to bring mains only after appetizers are finished or is it acceptable accept mains even when you barely started on apps or somewhere in bw?

[Edward J]

....and we can't forgive restaurant owners who hire poor servers and don't give them appropriate customer service training.

Now there's a horse I've been flogging since I came on board E-gullet.

Q: How do you effectively judge, say a pie or cake contest, if there are no rules or criteria that applies to the contestants?

O.k. say the service in a restaurant does suck.

What is a waiter/ess?

For places $10-$30 per entree, it is a college or university student, it's just a job to get them through school.

$30 and up per entree, a failed business owner, a single parent, semi retired, you name it. Itsut a job that pays the bills-and maybe staff meals.(what?!!!Reheated prime rib again!!!!)

What I'm trying to say here folks, is that there is no criteria to judge a waiter/ess on, because there are no standards or qualifications, no dilomas or certificates for the service industry. The amount of service knowledge a waitron has in one establishment--that enables them to be "top of the class", wouldn't get them pass busboy stage in another restaurant.

So why should an owner pay a salary and acknowledge that the waitron will get %20-%30 of gross sales and then train them up?

Then again, why should a waiter want to be a waiter? In many of your States, there is an artificial, lower-than-minimum wage that only applies to waiters/ess.

Thoughts?

[Broken English]

Let's say you're eating at a small clean ethnic restaurant maybe 20 tables at most mostly 4 top. 2 waiters, no host/ess, no manager, constantly busy. Do you still expect servers to bring mains only after appetizers are finished or is it acceptable accept mains even when you barely started on apps or somewhere in bw?

Yes. Is it reasonable to expect me to tackle more than one plate of food at a time? Or to eat one while the other goes cold? If I wanted them to bring the food all at once I'd have asked.

Most of these restaurants were less than half full by the way.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Broken English (log)

[Mjx]

. . . .

Discussing this on the way to lunch today with my significant other Significant Eater, we just don't know if we agree. Certainly, at the places we frequent, I'm not expecting Danny Meyer type service. But, while there may be glitches here and there, overall we are satisfied by the service we receive. Could it be better? Yes, I suppose. But it doesn't stop us from frequenting those places.

How about you?

It really depends on where you go, but the 'Too Cool to Care' attitude seems pretty widespread, and I really resent it. And I can't even be accused of being too old to understand, or never having been on the waitstaff end of things, because neither statement would be true. I know waiting tables can suck, and during the brief time I did it, hated virtually every second of it. On the other hand, I'd signed on for the job, so I made damn sure that my feelings didn't show: I was brought up to believe that when you go to work, you act professional, whether you have a shit job or dream job. I've never quite figured out most of what it means to be a grownup, but 'being able to act professional' was the one piece of the concept I nailed down early (I began working when I was thirteen).

I kind of sympathize with waiters that hover; they appear to have not figured out that it's appropriate to say 'Please let me know if/when you want anything, and if you don't see me, have someone get me from in back: my name is Xxxxxxxx', and just keep an eye on things from a ways away. At least these people are trying. If a hoverer is really breathing down my neck (water refill after every couple of sips? I'm not dehydrated!), I just smile and say 'I'm good, no worries, I'll let you know if I need anything', which usually works.

. . . .

What I'm trying to say here folks, is that there is no criteria to judge a waiter/ess on, because there are no standards or qualifications, no dilomas or certificates for the service industry. The amount of service knowledge a waitron has in one establishment--that enables them to be "top of the class", wouldn't get them pass busboy stage in another restaurant.

. . . .

Thoughts?

I have to disagree: There may be no specific criteria or standards for waiting tables, but surely 'being professional' (i.e. shelving the idea that you're the special one in the situation, and that it's all about you; being polite; making a point of actually finding out what your designated tasks are, and executing them to the best of your ability) should be a given.

Pink slip, if you don't make the grade.

It also helps if there's a senior member of the waitstaff who keeps on the back of the newbs and slackers, but in a lot of places, it seems that senior waiters are too cool too call someone on being too cool to care.