Restaurant/Bar Annoyances

[tirgoddess]

Some things, besides the food, that I notice about a resturant influence my decision on wheter or not I will return for a meal. One is the restroom. A clean, well stocked restroom shows me that the staff and patrons have the necessary tools to maintain sanitary standards. Sometimes I notice that the soap has been diluted to stretch the dollar. A dirty, unkept restroom will ensure that I never visit that resturant again. Another pet peeve is sweeping or cleaning near my table while I am eating. Food on the floor, dishes in plastic bins on the floor, trash in the parking lot, at the entrance of or piled in back of the resturant is another. Resturants should descreetly provide cigarette/trash recepticals near the entrance of the resturant so that well meaning customers have a place to throw these items, instead of the curb or sidewalk. I wish resturant reviewers would make note of these types of things, so that resturant operators know how important it is to maintain high standards of sanitation. Any other pet peeves out there?

[curlywurlyfi]

was at Aquagrill in NYC yesterday for farewell meal (just three of us). the waitstaff kept filling our wine glasses whenever we took a sip, to almost halfway up a tulip-shaped glass, ie more than three inches full - this with a really nice Chablis that we were already on the second bottle of. pet peeve one, I do not care for warm white wine and would rather have an inch poured at a time so it remains cold. Pet peeve two, there were three of us, we had had between us two bottles of a very nice and not particularly cheap wine, so there was absolutely no need for the waitstaff to drain the second bottle into our glasses and announce loudly, 'this bottle is done'. we felt it was extremely gouging.

[coughy]

I absolutely hate when a waiter/waitress removes an empty plate while others are still eating. It drives me nuts!

[KatieLoeb]

Auctioning off the food ("Whose got the ...") at anyplace but a diner. Learn position numbers people!!! It's not rocket science. Waiters should be abe to make a notation on the dupe for either themselves or the food runner that lets them know who ordered what. Doesn't even require a computer based POS system. Doesn't even require numbers. Use male/female symbols, "lady in green shirt", or whatever.

[herbacidal]

was at Aquagrill in NYC yesterday for farewell meal (just three of us).  the waitstaff kept filling our wine glasses whenever we took a sip, to almost halfway up a tulip-shaped glass, ie more than three inches full - this with a really nice Chablis that we were already on the second bottle of.  pet peeve one, I do not care for warm white wine and would rather have an inch poured at a time so it remains cold.  Pet peeve two, there were three of us, we had had between us two bottles of a very nice and not particularly cheap wine, so there was absolutely no need for the waitstaff to drain the second bottle into our glasses and announce loudly, 'this bottle is done'.  we felt it was extremely gouging.

i understand the sales end of it, them trying to sell more wine. as much as anything it may be second nature to them. i know there were things i automatically thought about doing when i was serving, and even when i they weren't the ones paying me.

did you tell them you'd prefer refills to a lower level, or refilling it yourselves, perhaps pulling the waiter aside on your way to the lavatory if necessary?

[bloviatrix]

Along the line of Katie's post, I hate when the waiters/runners assume I'm the one who ordered the chicken or salad because I'm a woman. Why is it that if I order beef and my husband orders the chicken, when the food arrives the chicken is set in front of me? Is there some rule that says chicks can't eat beef?

[herbacidal]

Along the line of Katie's post, I hate when the waiters/runners assume I'm the one who ordered the chicken or salad because I'm a woman.  Why is it that if I order beef and my husband orders the chicken, when the food arrives the chicken is set in front of me?  Is there some rule that says chicks can't eat beef?

that would be annoying.

[TheMan,TheMyth]

I hate when you pay with cash and the waitress/waiter asks if you want change.

"Don't worry if I want change or not, just bring the money back and collect your god damn tip after I leave"

The Man, The Myth

TapItorScrapIt.com

[JohnnyH]

Personally, I hate it when a server brings me a drink and walks away without taking away my empty glass(es). Last thing I want is a trophy case...

[Mark Sommelier]

1) Fingerprints on glass doors

2) Filthy restrooms

3) Any employee with BO

4) Agressive up-selling

5) Bottled water gouging

6) Inattentiveness

7) Bum's rush towards the end of the evening

8) Un-seasoned food

9) Weak coffee

10) Hostesses talking on the phone with their boyfriends

Geeze, this could go on all day.....

[tirgoddess]

Dirty menus, inaccurate menus and menus with price increases taped or stickered on them. What a crappy way to start off the meal. My husband and I recently ate at a sort of up scale pizza/pasta place in our neighborhood. They have fancy oil/vinegar cruets displayed at the wait stations but you don't get them with your bread, you have to ask for them. This partiuclar time we sat at the nice, wood bar so he could watch football. I witnessed two employees consternating over a Sysco box right in front of us. They were struggling to get the Sysco "Select" desert out of the box. It was a terrible thing to witness. On the same visit, a chef in the "exibition" kitchen stired some food from a saute pan and some fell on the stove, another chef picked it up with his hands and put it back in the pan. This annoyed me to no end. I wish I said something to the resturant operator. Even though it is a cozy, neighborhood joint, I have serious reservations about going back there.

[Jonathan Day]

Getting appropriate staff attention through the course of the meal ... and then being unable to get the bill for 30 minutes at its end, with all the waiters disappearing.

[=Mark]

Restaurants with olive oil filled cruets with herbs steeping in them that have obviously not been cleaned out but just topped off each day. This becomes obvious when the herbs in the cruets have some sort of fuzzy non-herb stuff growing on them.

[john b]

Main course arrives before I've taken two bite of my first course/appetizer. This happens more frequently at chains, and less frequently at better restaurants.

[Catness]

When I have leftovers, I hate being made to box them myself. This practice has become more and more prevalent the past few years, and I don't know why.

How is this supposed to work customer service-wise? I'm sitting at a table, I have no large utensils with which to scrape my plate or lift pasta (or other unmanageable bits like rice or sauce), and usually restaurant plates are overlarge so that balance and getting the food safely into the wee box is an additional problem. Often, I'm also dressed up, and as I mentioned, trying to maneuver food into the box from a sitting position is awkward at best.

If the server brings me a box now, I usually send it back, politely requesting to have it boxed for me, and then mention to the management how distasteful I find the "self-serve boxing" policy. If the server won't box it for me after I ask for it. I leave the whole thing on the table.

It doesn't have to be wrapped in gift paper and mangled into a swan, I'd just like to get my leftovers without risking massive spillage and drycleaning bills, y'know?

Edited October 15, 2003 by Catness (log)

[foodie52]

Yeah...and besides, I miss the aluminum foil swans...

[tirgoddess]

I agree about the boxes. They are so cumbersome and make one feel obnoxious. I always insist that they take it all back to the kitchen, where I suppose they box the leftovers and top them with spit.

[fifi]

1) Fingerprints on glass doors

2) Filthy restrooms

3) Any employee with BO

4) Agressive up-selling

5) Bottled water gouging

6) Inattentiveness

7) Bum's rush towards the end of the evening

8) Un-seasoned food

9) Weak coffee

10) Hostesses talking on the phone with their boyfriends

Geeze, this could go on all day.....

These are the top of my list...

Add the boxing thing. I often need to get a go box because I can rarely eat all of my meal. I HATE doing it myself. What I usually do is ask... very sweetly... "Would you mind boxing this for me?"

[dougery]

Ditto, dirty restrooms are first on my list.

I know this is kind of out of the establishments hands but CELL PHONES! Any server that has the guts to shut down customers with ringing cell phones will earn a 25%-plus tip from me!

[KateW]

At chain restaurants when you order soup and salad combos or soup and sandwich combos or whatever and they don't get it when you want one before the other, not at the same time...

Or when you order soup or app as an entree and they want to know if you want it with the other peoples' entrees...no, I want my soup first and then I want to watch them eat...

Or when they refill your water or other drink too often or not often enough...

Or when they say "Are you still working on that?"

Somebody stop me. Yes, I know I am asking for it by going to the less refined restaurants.

[abbeynormal]

Where is it they make you create your own doggie bag (box)? I'd remember if I'd ever seen this. This would be high on my list.

[sherribabee]

Along the line of Katie's post, I hate when the waiters/runners assume I'm the one who ordered the chicken or salad because I'm a woman.  Why is it that if I order beef and my husband orders the chicken, when the food arrives the chicken is set in front of me?  Is there some rule that says chicks can't eat beef?

Oh yes, that drives me crazy too!

And I can't stand when the server comes by 15 times to ask if everything is OK (I hate being asked is my food is OK period. Is OK all the restaurant is aspiring to?) Attn: servers, Ask me how my meal is once and then just keep yourself visible so I can flag you down if I need you.

[herbacidal]

1) Fingerprints on glass doors

2) Filthy restrooms

3) Any employee with BO

4) Agressive up-selling

5) Bottled water gouging

6) Inattentiveness

7) Bum's rush towards the end of the evening

8) Un-seasoned food

9) Weak coffee

10) Hostesses talking on the phone with their boyfriends

Geeze, this could go on all day.....

yea, well you're just picky b/c you're in the biz.

i'm the same way.

[herbacidal]

1) Fingerprints on glass doors

2) Filthy restrooms

3) Any employee with BO

4) Agressive up-selling

5) Bottled water gouging

6) Inattentiveness

7) Bum's rush towards the end of the evening

8) Un-seasoned food

9) Weak coffee

10) Hostesses talking on the phone with their boyfriends

Geeze, this could go on all day.....

yea, well you're just picky b/c you're in the biz.

you've corrected enough errors that you notice them much easier

than a normal customer.

i'm the same way.

[aprilmei]

I HATE it when the wait staff interrupt a conversation. You could be right in the middle of telling an anecdote or a joke and they'll come over to ask if you're ready to order. They should watch discreetly from a distance and when there's a pause, that's when they should approach the table. I can forgive it once, but not when it happens several times during one meal.

Edited October 15, 2003 by aprilmei (log)