Common Server Mistakes That Frustrate Your Guests
Posted by estiator at 10 February, at 08 : 14 AM Print
SERVICE 101 By CONTANSTINE N. KOLITSAS
Some servers require very little training and grasp the tasks, priorities, and standards of table service quickly and profoundly. Others have spent decades in the business and still make the same mistakes over and over. Training is, of course, critical to drive your restaurant’s culture and minimize the mistakes. And continuous monitoring is necessary to make sure your training efforts are not in vain. This month, we’re giving you a list of tips of things to look for that will hopefully help you to tighten up your ship and press forward with a culture of guest satisfaction.
Just Don’t Add It to the Check
It’s important to protect the restaurant’s profits, but it’s worse to knitpick to the point that your guests feel unvalued and unappreciated. Two examples that were recently conveyed to me by readers illustrate this perfectly. In the first case, a customer who is a regular called to complain to a restaurant owner when his server charged him for a Diet Coke after he had finished a glass of iced tea. The restaurant serves free refills. The server was going by the letter of the law in that it was indeed a different beverage. However, common sense would dictate that the guest should not have been charged. He did not want a refill of iced tea, but instead wanted his refill to be substituted with a soda. What’s the difference? How would the server have felt if it were him that was charged for two beverages when a refill is complimentary? The guest didn’t hand it to his dining companion; he wasn’t trying to scam a free drink. He was just tired of iced tea.
In the second case, a restaurant owner received a phone call from a first-time guest who was angry about a charge for bread. Here, the restaurant does not charge for bread, but the chef is always after servers for giving away too much food. When the guest asked for a fourth helping of bread because his dish was saucy and he wanted to enjoy all of it, the server took this as justification to add a bread charge to the bill. What the server didn’t contemplate was that the check for four people was over $200, and it seems outrageous to add another $3 for something that is a complimentary part of the service.
All Thumbs
Carrying plates is an art. I’ve seen servers with five large plates stacked up on one arm, and more plates in the other hand. I’ve seen servers stack coffee cups two to a palm, and three high. But for the plate-carrying acrobatics, the thing to understand is which part of the plate is untouchable. Having a server bring a plate to the table with his thumb resting millimeters from the food, or a click away from a pool of sauce, is unappetizing and offensive. Dishes should only be touched at the rim and never below it.
I’m Not Done with That
Most servers are very good about knowing when a guest is done with his or her meal. There are so many common unspoken cues: The fork is placed on the plate; the dish has not been touched in minutes; the guest leaves the table to go to the restroom; etc. But there is always that rare guest who isn’t in on the cues, and gets annoyed when a plate is whisked away when they still wanted to savor a few more bites. The easy fix is to always communicate with the guest. It is never offensive to ask if a guest who appears finished is actually done.
Kitchen Math
It’s not about numbers, but about substitutions and modifications. For some reason, servers think they can substitute anything a guest requests without asking the manager or chef. And if the rule is no substitutions, it doesn’t matter. Because you inevitably will allow a substitution, and the server will take that one exception to mean that everything is allowed. I’ve seen servers try to substitute a side of a specialty pasta for French fries; I’ve seen servers ask for extra bechamel on a moussaka; I’ve seen servers 86 the garlic in a marinara. Of course, when they put these substitutions and modifications in and then have to go back to the table and explain, they look like complete idiots. One remedy is to continually test server knowledge on menu items and ingredients. Another is to shoot the first server who makes a ridiculous request. That second option is, of course, the most effective, although highly illegal.
