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My hubby and I are both veterans of food service. He's a retired chef (Four and five star restaurants... and he retired as Sous Chef at a private club, with nearly 20 years on the line under his belt) who currently manages a local chain of bar/restaurants. And I've got about 10 years of experience myself as a waitress, both food and bar, and bartender.
We eat out a lot. Between the hours and what we do/did for a living, neither of us feel much like cooking, much less cleaning up the mess after cooking. We don't have "high expectations".... we have an expectation that the staff will serve us with a modicum of reasonably trained expertise. We expect the staff to be at least pleasant... I don't mean fawning or ass kissing... I simply mean pleasant.... acknowledging our presence with a smile is nice, they don't have to grin like an idiot to accomodate us. We expect the staff to know the menu, we expect the staff to be experienced enough to take cues from us. There is no such thing as a "type" of waiter/waitress..... The amount of attention a server should pay the patron should be decided by the patron. We like unobtrusive service, ask if we want our glasses filled, keep an eye on us, but don't bother us otherwise.
90% of my disappointment in restaurants comes not from the actual service we receive, but with the lack of periphery service by the staff.... Parents of children causing a scene should be asked to control their children or leave. Period. Large groups of unruly people should be asked to control themselves or leave. I've asked my fair share of people to chill out, and I have asked parents to control their children. Yes, it has affected my tip. But I'll tell you right now that the other people in the restaurant who appreciate the atmosphere tip better than the parents or obnoxious groups any day.
We literally have dozens and dozens of horror stories about eating out. And I'll tell you, if I get service that makes me angry enough to consider not leaving a tip, I am always angry enough to complain to the manager. They can't fix the problems unless they know about them. No one should ever have to pay for a meal they can't eat, nor should they have to suffer bad service. For the record, never expect a manager to just show up with the bill if there's been a problem.... if the server is that bad, chances are very good they haven't told the manager there is a problem in the first place. Never be afraid to ask for the manager... that's their job. And comment cards are WONDERFUL.... if you don't get satisfaction from a manager, fill out a comment card and send it in. I guarantee you'll hear from the home office.
Service industry minimum wage is $2.13 an hour (in Louisiana, anyway). Their income depends on their service. As far as I'm concerned, they can't afford to be surly and incompetent. Every single restaurant that we patronize regularly knows us, knows what we expect, and for the most part consistently meet and exceed our expectations. If they don't, they'll hear from us.
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“When facism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
~Sinclair Lewis
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