How the host wants to handle the following situation:
Customer: Hello, for two please.
Host: Sure right this way.
(Host leads customers to a table in a somewhat empty section where a server will be able to focus their full attention on them.)
Customer (pointing towards a much busier section): Um, excuse can I sit over there next to that fig tree?
Host: Okay, seriously I am just trying to do my job! Why can’t you just sit down!?!?
(The host’s face is beat red now and beginning to bubble at the surface like the interior of a pomegranate because this is the zillionth customer who has now chosen their own seat. Yelling, out of frustration, with flailing arms the host continues…)
If you really want to sit next to your precious fig tree, which by the way has bugs crawling in the dirt, that’s fine by me. Our server will be with you in about 10 minutes, now that you are the fourth customer to request a seat in this area of the restaurant within the past minute and a half. And if you want to wait an extra 10 minutes to have your order taken, again because your server is busy trying to manage four brand new tables all at once, that is fine by me. And if later you want your bill right away, fine, but keep in mind your server won’t have that bill out to you right away because their whole section also wants their bill right now too! And when you leave, I had better not here a peep out of you complaining about how slow your service was and how you should have sat in the other corner…the corner I suggested in the first place!
(The host huffs, pivots, and storms away.)
(In a perfect world the customer would have then said: "Gee, I’m so sorry, you’re absolutely right. Why don’t you lead the way?")
How the host will handle the situation:
Customer: Hello, for two please.
Host: Sure right this way.
(Host leads customers to a table in a somewhat empty section where a server will be able to focus their full attention on them.)
Customer (pointing towards a much busier section): Um, excuse can I sit over there next to that fig tree?
Host: Why of course, it is no problem at all!
(The host walks back to their stand thinking to themselves “Why am I even here? I could be at that party by now.”)
*Note: this is not to say that servers cannot handle a busy pace. My intentions for this blog are to point out how often this happens and what a nuisance it can become. If you sit where you are directed you will likely get much faster and friendlier service.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
A blog for the starving student
You know that feeling of exhaustion after sitting in class all day? Your head hurts; your eyes are droopy; your makeup is a complete disaster; and most of all your stomach feels as though Hurricane Katrina is occurring inside of an area as small as a gofer hole. That feeling of hunger is unbearable. You want food and you want lots of food and you want lots of food fast!
So do you really want to go home and cook it as you are trying to cope with your painful headache and feelings of exhaustion? I didn't think so.
What a life saver the Falafel Place on Corydon Ave. then becomes. It saves me every time. Sure Saturday and Sunday mornings may be complete chaos in there, but on a week night they can have your food out in less than 8 minutes. Quick service isn't their only benefit as their prices for food are ridiculously low (we're talking less than ten dollars for a giant meal and drink). Next to low prices, basically everything on the menu is homemade -- I know, I've watched Ami do it. Ami, one of the owners, is great too. He always greets his customers as though they were coming to his own home for dinner. And on the weekends when the Falafel Place is jam packed with a line up, he yells what many servers wish they could yell: "Okay, now who's leaving?" I mean really what boss, manager, server can do that? And yet you had better believe that the next weekend he will have the very same jam packed line up all over again.
The food should also be noted as a student's best friend. Most of their meals consist of protein and carbs, the combination is like singing birds in the sunshine -- there are no stormy hurricanes creeping in that's for sure. Almost every time that I have ever had to write a major paper for school I will march down to the Falafel Place and order myself a falafel breakfast and a coffee. Now the falafel breakfast includes 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, 8 falafel balls with hummus and tzaziki sauce, AND hashbrowns (with the option of onions, garlic, and hot peppers in it too, which I recommend adding). This meal is priced at $8.75. So there, now your wallet is not broken, nor is your stomach's heart. Now your body has an excessive amount of carbohydrates inside to last you hours sitting at a desk. The protein keeps your mind sharp and your ideas flowing. And the caffeine from the coffee, well let's just say that's your back up energy in case your assignment takes longer than expected.
Tonight, I did not have a paper to write, but after a long and exhausting day quick service for a cheap price and an easy fill was all I wanted. So thank you Falafel Place for saving my life.
(Okay, okay I know that last bit might have been a hyperbolic reaction but did I mention it has been a long and exhausting day?)
So do you really want to go home and cook it as you are trying to cope with your painful headache and feelings of exhaustion? I didn't think so.
What a life saver the Falafel Place on Corydon Ave. then becomes. It saves me every time. Sure Saturday and Sunday mornings may be complete chaos in there, but on a week night they can have your food out in less than 8 minutes. Quick service isn't their only benefit as their prices for food are ridiculously low (we're talking less than ten dollars for a giant meal and drink). Next to low prices, basically everything on the menu is homemade -- I know, I've watched Ami do it. Ami, one of the owners, is great too. He always greets his customers as though they were coming to his own home for dinner. And on the weekends when the Falafel Place is jam packed with a line up, he yells what many servers wish they could yell: "Okay, now who's leaving?" I mean really what boss, manager, server can do that? And yet you had better believe that the next weekend he will have the very same jam packed line up all over again.
The food should also be noted as a student's best friend. Most of their meals consist of protein and carbs, the combination is like singing birds in the sunshine -- there are no stormy hurricanes creeping in that's for sure. Almost every time that I have ever had to write a major paper for school I will march down to the Falafel Place and order myself a falafel breakfast and a coffee. Now the falafel breakfast includes 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, 8 falafel balls with hummus and tzaziki sauce, AND hashbrowns (with the option of onions, garlic, and hot peppers in it too, which I recommend adding). This meal is priced at $8.75. So there, now your wallet is not broken, nor is your stomach's heart. Now your body has an excessive amount of carbohydrates inside to last you hours sitting at a desk. The protein keeps your mind sharp and your ideas flowing. And the caffeine from the coffee, well let's just say that's your back up energy in case your assignment takes longer than expected.
Tonight, I did not have a paper to write, but after a long and exhausting day quick service for a cheap price and an easy fill was all I wanted. So thank you Falafel Place for saving my life.
(Okay, okay I know that last bit might have been a hyperbolic reaction but did I mention it has been a long and exhausting day?)
Friday, September 11, 2009
For Entertainment Purposes Only
Imagine this: a ballroom dance that depicts servers lashing out (in a non-violent way of course) on their customers who are banging their fists on the table like the kids at camp who get impatient waiting for their food.
Perhaps the song of choice could be "Attitude" by the Misfits. Now I just need to learn how to ballroom dance...
Thursday, September 10, 2009
What's on the Menu
Dining Delights and Disasters is a locally based restaurant review site.
My primary concern, as a server myself and as someone who grew up in the restaurant industry, is that their is a great lack of communication and understanding between the server and the customer, so for these reasons I wish to close that gap and harmonize a solid relationship between the two.
You should read my blog because everybody wants to know which new great restaurants to try and which ones to avoid. You should also read my blog because I will inform you on whether or not you (the customer) has reason to complain or not. You will also learn proper fine dining and table etiquette. And finally employers should check my blog to see which aspects of their restaurant they should either be changing or boasting about.
My primary concern, as a server myself and as someone who grew up in the restaurant industry, is that their is a great lack of communication and understanding between the server and the customer, so for these reasons I wish to close that gap and harmonize a solid relationship between the two.
You should read my blog because everybody wants to know which new great restaurants to try and which ones to avoid. You should also read my blog because I will inform you on whether or not you (the customer) has reason to complain or not. You will also learn proper fine dining and table etiquette. And finally employers should check my blog to see which aspects of their restaurant they should either be changing or boasting about.
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