Hostess Earns $20

Got my two older kids and their families to agree on an early breakfast on Saturday the 4th. We were meeting at 8:45 so I thought Wild Eggs (Westport Village) would be okay at that hour.

WRONG!

I was the first to arrive at 8:45 and there were already 10 on the wait list. My crew made it 16. Over the next 10 minutes the wait list grew to 25-30. They were slammed! About 20 minutes into our 30 minute wait things got interesting.

A family of 6 (couple with 2 young children and 2 grandparents) walks in and when the father sees how many are waiting ahead of them, he approaches the hostess, and in a hushed voice, says "we have a dance recital at 10:15, I have a 20 dollar bill for you if you can get us the next table." Hostess steps away for a minute and father turns to father-in-law and says "that's just how I roll".

The $20 was apparently well spent becasue sure enough, the hostess comes back and escorts them to a table! She was dumb enough upon her arrival back at the hostess stand to giddily exclaim to her partner, " I just got $20"!!

My son looked at her and simply said "we would have given you $40." Lucky for us (or them) we got a table within 5 minutes.

I thought stuff like this only happened in the movies.

Got my two older kids and their families to agree on an early breakfast on Saturday the 4th. We were meeting at 8:45 so I thought Wild Eggs (Westport Village) would be okay at that hour.

WRONG!

I was the first to arrive at 8:45 and there were already 10 on the wait list. My crew made it 16. Over the next 10 minutes the wait list grew to 25-30. They were slammed! About 20 minutes into our 30 minute wait things got interesting.

A family of 6 (couple with 2 young children and 2 grandparents) walks in and when the father sees how many are waiting ahead of them, he approaches the hostess, and in a hushed voice, says "we have a dance recital at 10:15, I have a 20 dollar bill for you if you can get us the next table." Hostess steps away for a minute and father turns to father-in-law and says "that's just how I roll".

The $20 was apparently well spent becasue sure enough, the hostess comes back and escorts them to a table! She was dumb enough upon her arrival back at the hostess stand to giddily exclaim to her partner, " I just got $20"!!

My son looked at her and simply said "we would have given you $40." Lucky for us (or them) we got a table within 5 minutes.

I thought stuff like this only happened in the movies.

Happens all the time on the river !.....I forbid it with the front door staff....but guests try it all the time..!
Of course Derby week, Mothers Day, Fathers Day...etc...it is more viral....

I'd bet that hostess is about to be out of a job.

G I thought Wild Eggs (Westport Village) would be okay

...Thinking of "Wild Eggs" was yer first mistake Jerry...Next time think Verbena for a Sunday breakfast, the food is better and there is rarely a wait...you'll probably be MUCH happier in the long run. Just MHO.

Had breakfast at Wild Eggs this morning at Landis Lakes and arrived at 8 a.m. There was no wait and when we left at 8:45 there still was no wait. I think a lot of people forget about this location.

I'd bet that hostess is about to be out of a job.

Probably. Management frowns on hostesses cutting into their bribes.

I'd bet that hostess is about to be out of a job.

Probably. Management frowns on hostesses cutting into their bribes.

Probably so...

Wow. Everyone was dumb enough to not do this quietly without anyone else finding out. No, it should not happen, but it does. That it was out in the open like that means that everyone is pissed off. Including the management of the restaurant if this gets back to them.

That hostess "earned" nothing. In fact, she lost quite a bit.

As a former hostess for several years, I always imagined I was hostessing at my own home. To tell my guests that they would get better treatment should they bring me an expensive gift is offensive to all parties. The young lady (who obviously hasn't been trained properly) alienated her other guests and made herself and her fellow employees look bad by being so tacky.

Have I been offered money by a guest? Absolutely! Did I ever take it? Only once, AFTER a party was seated and the money was handed to me by their server. (I didn't give them any special treatment. I assumed I was tipped for good service just like anyone else.) I always found that a smile and an earnest effort to get everyone seated in a timely fashion was the best bet. That seemed to keep EVERYONE happy.

She bragged about it in front of waiting guests? Wow! That's just bad manners. She needs someone to take her under his/her wing. Too often, I find the job of hostess often relegated to young, untrained kids (who aren't of age to serve liquor) who'll work pretty cheaply. Smart owners and managers realize that it's worth a few extra bucks an hour to find a person who has good people skills, is quick on their feet, and can seat the restaurant so that the kitchen doesn't go off the rails.

Sounds like she was trained to be a GREAT American!

Sounds like she was trained to be a GREAT American!

What does this have to do with anything? Sounds like someone is having a bad morning...

While I know this stuff happens, if this had happened blatantly in front of me, I've have no choice but to leave. Truly disrespectful to the waiting guests; also not sure how I would have explained that to my kids- who would definitely notice. I think I'd have had a pleasant word ( not sarcastic) with the Manager about why I was leaving too- that's an awful impression to have given 30 people.


Deb

Sounds like she was trained to be a GREAT American!

What does this have to do with anything? Sounds like someone is having a bad morning...

She's her own hostessing superPAC. Through donations, she has the power to influence everyone's position on the wait list!

I'd like to fault this hostess, but she did just make 2.5x her hourly salary in less than 30 seconds. Maybe she isn't that naive?

[Sure, she should have kept her mouth shut. But what fun is making money if you can't brag about it?]

Great lesson to teach your kids! Who cares about those other people? I throw around money to show "that's just how I roll." You are the most important person in the world, and rules are for those people who can't afford to break them.

As for the server, yes, she should not have taken the money and seated them. But who's really to blame? It's the jerks with the money who pulls the strings in this world, not the people who work by the hour.

While I know this stuff happens, if this had happened blatantly in front of me, I've have no choice but to leave. Truly disrespectful to the waiting guests; also not sure how I would have explained that to my kids- who would definitely notice. I think I'd have had a pleasant word ( not sarcastic) with the Manager about why I was leaving too- that's an awful impression to have given 30 people.
Deb

Hi Deb. But WWKGD what would Kitch Girl do in this situation...........

The father sees how many are waiting ahead of them. He approaches the hostess and, in a hushed voice, says "We have a dance recital at 10:15. I have a 20 dollar bill for you if you can get us the next table." Hostess steps away for a minute and father turns to father-in-law and says, "That's just how I roll".

Kitch Girl was walking past Westport Village at 8:45 on Saturday morning when she looked up suddenly. Well pat my buns and call me butter - when did they put a new shopping center on Frankfort Ave..... ? - her voice trailing off. Well Shiii@!, I've done it again. Why can't I remember where I parked the damn car (hiccup).

Let's see, she thought, and raised her hand to block the painful rays of early morning sun spearing through the trees along Herr Lane. As she methodically recalled the events of the previous evening she clearly remembered......

breaking up that fight between the Comfy Cow mascot and Jamie from 14K Cupcakes on Baxter. THAT EFFing COW, according to Jamie, was grazing on her cupcake bouquets and leaving brownie dough droppings all over the floor! Then Kgirl's kitchy sense started tingling and, in a blink of an eye, she was in front of Bruegger's Bagels on Breckinridge.

Mary was desperately trying to get Robin in the car. Robin kept turning around and trying to go back to the darkened store. Kgirl watched for a moment with an indulgent smile. Then she saw Mary pull something from her purse. With alarm, she realized it was a taser! “Whoa Mary I'll get him,” she said. Kgirl frog marched Robin towards his car; a massive 1972 Lincoln town car in flamingo pink with whitewalls, parked half way on the sidewalk. Mary, catching her breath gave Kgirl a grateful glance and said, We were sitting at the bar at Majid's and Stephen D was dealing one of a kind drinks like a side show carny handing out free passes to the “Traveling Vampire Show.” Robin all of a sudden wanted a bagel-tini. Stephen tried to tell him that there hadn't been a bagel in this town worth infusing since Sid's. Robin got quite excited and said that the new place around the corner was open. After all, there had been twenty-something posts about the damn place! It had to be open – didn't it? As Kgirl placed her perfectly manicured hand on the top of Robin's head and gently guided him into the passenger seat Robin mumbled, “Don't even try to take me to Nancy's – I wouldn't feed those things to BrianC.” Sure you would Robin.

After that, it was more of the usual. No, no, you musn't use the bathroom at Nachbar, lady; not if you want to keep those nachos down. Picking JoelH up off the sidewalk in front of Taco Punk, of course you can tip less than 20% on a $10 check Joel – you'll be a big shot at Qdoba's. Yes MartyR, I'm really a Foodie superhero, no, I don't know which restaurants used to be in the old Masterson's location, and even if I knew who Robin was reviewing next I wouldn't tell you. The last thing was.....oh yeah, helping that hipster priest back onto his moped in front of Hammer Heads then.....let's see. Oh yeah. A night cap at Bourbon's Bistro.

Heh heh, that twenty three year old Pappy sure packs a kick. Course, so did the fifteen, the twelve, and the ten year old come to think of it. Man, hubby is going to be so pissed! I was supposed to have the Porsche back in time for him to go golfing this morning.

Well, I'll just turn on the charm a bit when I get back and he'll forget all about golfing. Yeah right, maybe I'll just breath in his face and he'll pass out from the alcohol fumes, she grimaced. I better call him and then get the car. Now where did I leave the car?

(Oh that's right – Wild Eggs, WWKGD)

First, I need some coffee. I know Wild Eggs won't be busy on Saturday morning at 8:45. Yeah right, and Steve P turned vegetarian last night and is learning to sing for his tater tots at Sonic! I'm going home; that place will be slammed.