Waiter’s Rejoinder

April 24, 2009

in Server Stories

My family used to go on vacation to the same town every year. There was a restaurant that came highly recommended from local friends, but on our first visit we weren’t very impressed. Still, the next year we decided to give it another try.

We ordered and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, after an hour and fifteen minutes, our appetizers arrived. Mine was burned to a crisp, and was literally inedible, so we decided we had to say something about it. We told the waiter that we’d have to send my appetizer back, and, very politely, my father said “You know, we waited for a very long time for our food, one dish came out ruined… is there something the matter?”

In what has become a classic family in-joke, the waiter immediately replied, “Not with you, sir!” I think the laughs we got out of that were worth the terrible meal. We didn’t give the restaurant a third shot.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

Rob April 25, 2009 at 1:29 pm

an hour and fifteen minutes? You are a very generous patron. And probably a very polite person….so I sort of understand.

I took a group of 20 people to a place with the words 'out' and 'back' in its name (now closed) and waited a similar amount of time, while watching tables of 2, 3, 4 people arrive and leave.

We eventually ate, but the meals were comped, and half the appetizers as well. Alcohol, of course, we paid for. Why any server would give up a possible $300 tip by not bugging the kitchen to get our stuff out faster is beyond me.

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rosie May 16, 2016 at 12:46 am

Ooooh if only everyone could SEE what their server goes thru in the kitchen trying to get the food from the cooks, lol. You would be surprised! Cooks are a whole 'nother breed of their own, and it mysteriously happens to every one of them within 6 months no matter how nice they were to start with. They have almost never been on the front lines of the restaurant and have never served or even bussed, and they haven't a CONCEPT of what it's like to have to pass by a customer that has been waiting for 20+ minutes for their food. They get flustered and busy and there is little talking to 'em. I have actually worked with a few that completely and entirely REFUSE TO SPEAK to the servers!! Hahaha- isn't that cute? Of course, management addresses it occasionally but it starts again the next day. They won't acknowledge the servers at all, and then the 3rd time you ask for something they flip a holy bitch fit cuz they "heard you the first time"………This particular server should have gotten a MANAGER around 20 minutes at most (depending on the restaurant) for your appetizer, so that the manager could have managed the kitchen gargoyles into producing some product for his guests. It sucks because the servers take ALL the brunt and it is rarely their fault. I overheard MY cooks tonight telling another server THEY should get the tips:) Restaurants should make all cooks serve guests periodically and then maybe they'd be human.

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