AA Restaurant Pet Peeves 1thru10 Dec16 eBook (1)

8/13/2019 AA Restaurant Pet Peeves 1thru10 Dec16 eBook (1)

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RESTAURANT

PEEVES PET ARE YOU READY TO ORDER?

1-10

http://www.aaronallen.com/



RESTAURANT PET PEEVES

NO GREETING

Starting a meal without a greeting is like starting an article

without an introduction. It’s like skipping not only the

foreplay, but skipping the date. I am immediately set off when

waitstaff walk over and start with “Are you ready to

order?” Yes, really, only those five words and no more. No

exaggeration. And it happens more than I can count – even

at high-end joints. Why not just walk over and ask me to pay

for my meal first? Why not just walk over and kick me in the

shin? When did we forget that hospitality is about being

welcoming? How can you be welcoming if you don’t extenda welcome? No matter how good the food is, it will never

compensate for a poor start.

1 ARE YOU READY TO ORDER?




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: NO GREETING?

5

Really? This is how the

evening’s going to go?




“OH, OKAY, JUST TAP WATER”

Adding insult to the injury of not getting a greeting is to order anice water and then get a disapproving repeat of your order from

waitstaff expecting to score the check- builder of premium

bottled water. Most restaurants worth their salt these days offer

filtered water (and do it for free). Not only is bottled water bad

for the environment, maybe I wanted to get something I knew

would be cold so I ordered ice water rather than paying $7 for

bottled water and then putting ice cubes made from that tap

water I could have gotten for free to chill it.

Maybe I was saving that extra $7 to add to his tip. No more

should someone feel insecure coming to a restaurant alone than

he should feel insecure ordering tap water. If your tap water is so

bad that only expensive bottled water is kosher, then you neednot only new waitstaff but new plumbing.#

2 2




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: “OH, OKAY, JUST TAP WATER”

6

Yeah, I just ordered the Steak

& Lobster, but you’re going to

roll your eyes because I just

want tap water?




TOUCHING THE TOP OF THE GLASS 3 It’s so sweet when they ask, “Would you like lemon in your ice water (or tea or

whatever)?” You reply: “Oh, no thanks.” Then, when you put your parched lips against the straw to suck your refreshing beverage, you taste lemon. But how could that be? You said no lemon.

It’s because the server’s contaminated little mitts just touched the working end of your straw

or the rim of your glass. If you taste lemon on your straw, there’s no telling what else is on that

straw you can’t taste.




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: TOUCHING THE TOP OF THE GLASS

9

I don’t remember

ordering a glass of

DYSENTERY!




TAKING THE GLASS FROM THE TABLE

“Yes,” you reply. Then, with lightning speed, just as you’re

taking another big bite of those blazing hot chicken wings,

the waitress speeds off with your glass. Rather than bring a

fresh one (the restaurant is stocked with more than oneglass per patron, you know?), she scurries off with yours,

leaving you at the mercy of her return schedule. Oh, she just

remembered, she forgot to get another set of blazing wings

out to table 34. It’s not until you’re face first in the Coca-

Cola from the table next door that she remembers to bring

back your cup. Senseless. Since the waitress doesn’t have to

wash the glasses she brings out, I can’t imagine for the life ofme why they don’t just bring out a fresh one. At least leave

me with the comfort of sucking on the ice cubes until you

get back. Don’t take my only lifeline.

4 WOULD YOU LIKE A REFILL?




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: TAKING THE GLASS FROM THE TABLE

7

I’m seriouslyconsidering drinkingfrom the bathroom

faucet at this point.




INTERRUPTIONS

AN D YOU SU RELY S HOU LDN ’T BE ABRU PTLYINTERRUPTED BY SOME MACHO WAITER WHO THINKS

IT’S OKAY TO BARGE INTO YOUR PARTY EVERY THREE

MINUTES WITH AN ANNOUNCEMENT.

Someone I respect once told me the sign of good service is when you have everything you

need but were never asked if you needed it. Powerful. I agree. A pet peeve is the over-

zealous waiter who thinks walking over and, in a booming voice, commanding the undivided

attention of every member of the table and asking, “Is everything okay...(pause)...is there

anything else I can get you?” is a measure of good service. It’s not. If your water is empty,

you shouldn’t have to ask to have it refilled.

5

To me, this is like going on a cruise and having some over-helpful cruise director blast into

your room every three minutes with an announcement. Silent service is golden. You don’t

have to be loud to give good service – it’s just the opposite actually. #




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating are: INTERRUPTIONS

9

I GET IT!

YOU EXIST AND

WANT A TIP!

NOW GO AWAY.




THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES INJECTING THEMSELVES INTO THECONVERSATION LIKE A PART OF THEPARTY

Waitstaff, of which I used to be, get to hear some really

interesting conversation. Unlike anyone else in the room, you

get to butterfly around from table to table. No one gives a

moment’s pause in the conversation, and you get to hear it

all. But does that mean you are one of the dinner guests? Of

course not. It drives me nuts when waitstaff feel that just

because they are waiting on the table their opinion is valued

and that they have the same platform from which to speak. Ihave no doubt this person may have something very

interesting to say and is an interesting person. But unless heor she is invited to the conversation, the stance of objective

server is a must.

6




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: THE MASTER OF CEREMONIES

7

I didn’t know you

were invited to

dinner too.




“YOU GUYS” This is a funny pet peeve. And it’s not even mine. When I was

at the tender age of 15, I waited tables at the only restaurant

in town that would hire 15-year-ld waiters. It was in the

South. I made the mistake of welcoming a party to the

restaurant and asking “Are you guys ready to order?” to a

nice couple. The man gave a pause like he was holding back

barely controllable anger. He said, “BOY, I want you to look at

my wife. Does she look like a GUY to you?” I said: “No sir. ” “Well then, why in the hell would you ask what “YOU

GUYS” want to order?” At the time, I thought this guy was a

lunatic. Later, I came to realize that this is a major pet peeve

for many, and it makes sense. I learned the hard way. Unless

it’s all “guys,” don’t ask “Are you guys ready to order?”

7





FAILING TO YIELD “YOU LEAVE THE SANCTITY OF YOUR TABLE AND PLAY A GAME OF “FROGGER”

TO BOUNCE TO AND FROM THE BATHROOM IN BETWEEN THE HURRIED STEPS

OF WAITSTAFF”

The best service of any chain restaurant is found at Hillstone (formerly Houston’s). A quiet chain. It does several

hundred million dollars per year in revenue, but not much fuss is made about it. Like its waitstaff, its corporate

publicists “yield” to the food and remarkable service. Try it. Next time you go to a Hillstone, go to the bathroom and

watch what happens. Even in the peak of the dinner shift, the waitstaff will yield. What a beautiful word in hospitality

– “yield.” They yield to the guest. When you walk by, they stop….they pause…they smile, look you in the eye and

graciously let you go first. Sure, they’re slammed (their restaurants pump out up to $8 million or more per year, so a

Friday night shift is jamming), but they still put you first. Your trip to the bathroom is more important than their

rushing around. They’ll make the time up somewhere else, they think – in the kitchen…out of the guests sight…but

certainly not at the expense of the guest. All too many restaurants have no clue of this remarkable and beautiful

service technique. Instead, going to the bathroom is like navigating a city intersection at rush-hour. You leave the

sanctity of your table and play a game of “Frogger” to bounce to and from the bathroom in between the hurried

steps of waitstaff.

8




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: FAILING TO YEILD?

4

Okay. I’ll just be over

here.




“IT DEPENDS WH T YOU’RE

IN THE MOOD FOR” It’s been a long day. You’ve made hundreds of decisions. People

counted on you and you delivered. You spent every bit of

mental energy you had. Now you just want to be taken care

of. Chicken, steak, scallops – you could eat any of those. They

all sound good. “What’s best?” you ask with a cracked smile,

expecting you will get an exuberant response from a waiter in

love with the chef ’s orgasmic rendition of scallops. “Oh....well....it depends on what you’re in the mood for....” the

waiter mumbles, while his eyes jolt from table to table in an

effort to telepathically refill drinks and collect tips at his other

tables.

9

You’re frustrated. To be polite, you ask a few more qualifying questions while he scribbles doodles on his

pad of paper. It shouldn’t be this way, though. He should have an opinion. He should give you insight. Yes,

yes, I realize the scallops and Rib Eye are quite different dishes. I didn’t ask if they were as apple is toapple, I asked which one would you recommend! I could do either. Sell me on one and make me feel

good about it. I’ll buy either. I asked you to more or less make the decision for me because I’ve made too

many decisions today, and I want to follow your recommendation and feel good about doing so. Don’t

say, “Depends on what you’re in the mood for.” Oh, wait, you just reminded me – I’m in the mood for

another restaurant…one that makes me feel good and can read my mood, not ask me to spell it out.

RESTAURANT PET PEEVES N G i




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: “IT DEPENDS ON WHAT YOU’RE IN THE MOOD FOR”

8

Clearly I’m in the

mood for any ofthe ones I just

asked about, egg

head!




THE WONDERFUL ME! “Tonight I (the wonderful me,because it is my restaurant) have…”

Ever go to a restaurant and a puffy chest waiter comes over to tell you what

“he” has on special tonight? “Tonight have…” and “I can also do”…

hmmm….so wait a minute….the owner is actually the waiter

too?! Cool. When I hear “I” so much in a waiter’s pitch, I think about the sorry

souls actually doing the work in the kitchen, pouring their heart into the

dishes they make. A worried entrepreneur owner seeing to everything and

making sure it’s just right; a dishwasher going through the grind hoping for a

promotion to the cooking line. Unless the waiter owns the place, it should be

tonight “WE” are featuring and “WE can also do.” It’s about a team of

people. Unless this waiter owns the joint, cooks the food, washes the dishes,

parks the cars, pays the taxes…unless he does all of that, I think it’s a slap in

the face to everybody else on the team to say “I” to everything like he’s the

center of it. Yeah, it’s because I’ve worked in the industry. But then again, so

have millions upon millions of people. Show respect. Don’t take the

credit. Share the credit. If it’s a killer special tonight, don’t say “tonight I have

the most remarkable sea bass”. Instead, say “tonight our chef has come up

with the most remarkable sea bass preparation and we have been

recommending it to all of our guests”

10

RESTAURANT PET PEEVES N G ti




RESTAURANT PET PEEVES: No Greeting How Irritating is: THE WONDERFUL ME!

6

Wow.

What a rare pleasure to

meet the one-person

restaurateur. You must beexhausted from doing

everything yourself. Where

DO you find the energy to

be so self-aggrandizing?

8 COMMON RESTAURANT MISTAKES



8 COMMON RESTAURANT MISTAKES

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Third generation restaurateur Aaron Allen has held every industryposition from line-level employee to unit manager. By age 19, hewas running a $10 million food and beverage operation at a 625-

room resort. By 20, he was overseeing a $4 million gulf-frontCaribbean-themed restaurant that served more than 1,800 covers

per day. Having cut his teeth in operations, Allen eventually transitioned to

restaurant-focused marketing. In 2001, he founded his ownconsultancy. By 2008, he’d skyrocketed the company to become

the world’s largest restaurant consulting firm. Major clientsincluded esteemed brands such as Starwood Resorts and Hotels Worldwide, The Cheesecake Factory, TGI Fridays, FEMSA (Dos

Equis), BJ’s Restaurants, Hofbrau, Land O’ Lakes, Marriott, SSP anddozens of other global restaurant chains, regional powerhousebrands, high-volume independents, food and beverage

manufacturers, distributors, resorts, entertainment districts, hotel

chains and more. Allen has become one of the most sought-after speakers andsources for restaurant industry media. He has been a go-to source

for esteemed media outlets such as the Wal l Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Smart Money, MSNBC, TIME, Forbes, USA

Today, Nation’s Restaurant News, Chain Leader, Restaurants &Institutions, European Food Service News, Food Service MiddleEast, QSR Magazine and hundreds more.

22

Aaron Allen



www.aaronallen.com

www.aaronallen.com

United States 390 North Orange Ave Suite 2300 Orlando, Florida 32801 407-936-1010 (US) (866) 436-4002 (US fax)

Central Europe 1051 Budapest

Október 6. utca 17, Budapest, Hungary

+36-1-798-3578 (Europe)

[email protected]

http://pinterest.com/aarondallen

http://www.youtube.com/user/restaurantit

http://www.linkedin.com/in/aarondallen

https://plus.google.com/u/0/109287881705267691030/posts

https://twitter.com/QMG

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aaron-D-Allen/169809293089989

http://aaronallen.com/contact/




AA Restaurant Pet Peeves 1thru10 Dec16 eBook (1)

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