A New Restaurant

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, service can make or break the customers experience. 

Case in point:

Last night my wife and I went with a group for friends to a very nice restaurant in town.  The chef that designed the menu was a protégé of Wolfgang Puck, so our expectations were very high.  The food was great, as was the plating and presentation.  However, the server was a bit of a disappointment.  She gave us all the impression that she was not overly interested in working, at least for that evening.  In fact, she seemed like she was bored with it all.  At one point one of the men told her to smile, and when she did her whole face lit up.  Then the smile faded away, never to return.

One woman in the group asked her what she would recommend.  The server’s reply was, “I’ll eat anything here.”  Nice to know, I guess, but it wasn’t overly helpful for the people that weren’t familiar with the menu.  I’m not looking for the server to make the meal choice for me, but I would like her to be able to speak somewhat coherently about the menu items so I can make a better selection.

I don’t expect strict “serve from the left, clear from the right” table service, but several times she stood at the end of the table and reached across the plate of the people sitting there to get to the empty plates of the people sitting further down.  I don’t expect that even from lower end restaurants.

Overall, it was still a good evening.  We enjoyed some great food, and had a good time visiting with each other, but it could have been a much better evening if the server was better at her job.  In the end she hurt herself more than she hurt us.  She still had to be there working, and her tip for the meal was considerably lower than what it would have been had she made a little extra effort.

Will I go back again?  Absolutely.  Will I continue to go back if I have similar service?  Probably not.  I’m a firm believer in second chances, but if the problems continue it is an indication of a problem that goes beyond one bored server.

Train your staff, then watch to make sure they are delivering service to your standards.  It’s a great way to ensure your success.