Gray and Grizzled Food Fan

1) Shameless steering towards expensive items or add-ons. I’m willing to pay a lot, but I’m not willing to feel screwed.

2) Race-pouring glasses of wine to push extra bottles. I like to drink, but not to relive college hazing rituals with good wine.

3) Failing to address and correct pacing problems. Hurry up and wait is a nauseating and enervating way to get through a meal. I can’t go back and talk to the line cooks and runners, nor should I have to.

4) Not listening: Failing to bring coffee after dessert or salad after mains, when it’s been ordered that way. Overshooting a stated price range for wine. Serving the whole table according to one person’s dietary restrictions. Any and all of these result from closed ears and open mouths. A little listening speaks volumes about competence and respect.

5) Waiter wanting to be elsewhere, and showing it: If a server wants to be somewhere else, so should you. If he isn’t a knowing and enthusiastic fan of the food, setting and style of the place, why should you be?

This entry was posted on December 14, 2006 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Favorite 5 Lists, Restaurant Complaints. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.