Ignoring the signs
I have always thought that waiting tables should be a mandatory job for every American citizen – at least for a month or two. By doing so, people might be more courteous and understanding when they are dining out. It could also help diners to know when they are truly receiving awful service.Recently, my husband and I stopped at a restaurant with some friends for a late lunch. We were actually on our way to Put-In Bay for the day and decided to grab a bite to eat before we headed to the island. The restaurant we chose was completely empty when we arrived (never a good sign) but we chalked it up to being nearly 3:00 in the afternoon and decided to eat there anyway. What a mistake!
As our server took our drink orders, we were given menus consisting of four pieces of paper stapled together in the corner like a junior high math test. About ten minutes later, the waitress stopped by to apologize for not having yet served our beverages. According to her, there was a problem with the computers. How that might affect a coffee maker and a soda fountain is beyond me.
When our drinks finally arrived, the waitress took our food orders, but not before explaining that it was only her second day on the job. I completely understand that someone might not perform their job perfectly when they’re still training, but by throwing the excuse out there in an effort to pre-apologize for the mistakes you are likely to make is just pathetic.
More than a half hour passed before I had to flag our waitress down to see what the hold up was on our orders — again. She told us that there was only one cook in the kitchen and that this other table came in and had also ordered food and that she was really, really sorry. I explained that we had a boat to catch and we were all very hungry, so if she could please speed it along, we would really appreciate it.
About fifteen minutes later, our food arrived. Against my advice (as always), Gary ordered two of his favorite snacks – shrimp cocktail and mozzarella sticks. The dish that was set in front of Gary was clearly shrimp and a side of cocktail sauce, but the shrimp was steaming hot and jammed into a ramekin of melting ice cubes. None of us had ever seen shrimp cocktail served in such a manner, but being that we were apparently throwing all caution to the wind, he decided to try it anyway. He managed to eat two pieces before pushing the plate away and declaring that it was disgusting. I called over our waitress and asked her why the shrimp was served hot and she told us that was how it was served there, so we shrugged it off.
We all ate our food quickly so as not to miss our ride across the lake and once again had to flag down our server to ask for our bills. She then explained that the shrimp was, in fact, not meant to be hot and then she asked if Gary would like another helping, this time served cold. We turned down the oh-so-generous offer and promptly paid our bill, which still contained the shrimp cocktail, by the way.
I’ve had several bad dining experiences in my life, and I’m sure that won’t be the last of them. I think that I am a very understanding customer because I have been a server. I know how hectic a restaurant can become and how sensitive some diners are to minor mishaps, so I try to be patient and forgiving when a server is in the proverbial weeds. And I almost never complain because I have seen the movie Waiting.
In this particular instance, there was absolutely no excuse for the horrible service we received. There were two waitresses on duty that I could see and only one other table of customers in the whole place. The food we ordered was standard stuff, and they probably only had to pop it in the microwave and slap it on a plate, anyway. However, the empty parking lot and our server’s non-stop excuses should have been interpreted as giant neon sign telling us to run in the other direction. I take responsibility for having invited this awful experience by ignoring the many signs of a bad time.
Thank goodness the shrimp didn’t make Gary sick for the rest of the day. Otherwise, our bad dining experience would have carried over and ruined the remainder of our mini-vacation, which turned out to be a lot of fun.