Interesting Observations

I am a people watcher and I enjoy noticing little oddities that seem to be prevalent in the restaurant business.

These are a few odd things that i've noticed over the years.

1 - Customers want to sit at dirty tables. Given the opportunity most customers will walk past several empty and clean tables and head directly for the only table which hasn't been cleared.

2 - People always want more room than they need. The eight top tables are like magnets for single diners and parties of two.

3 - The customers who make the least mess are the most apologetic about it.

4 - At 7:30 pm on a Friday night, servers across the country check the time and sigh in unison, "It's only 7:30"

5 - If you're going to drop/spill something while in the Front of House, it will be at the most quiet moment and in the most visible location.

What little oddities do you folks notice during your daily grind??

Shawn

It never fails to amaze me, that bastard Murphy is always right.
Whenever prepping for a busy night, usually a Friday or Saturday. It never fails that the one item on the menu that hardly ever sells and were thinking about replacing and you only prepped a few orders of, is the thing that every one seems to order right off the bat. Then you scurry to prep up more of whatever it was and then no one orders it again.

When the menu boldly posts "NO SUBSTITUTIONS", they always ask to substitute.....

When the menu boldly posts "NO SUBSTITUTIONS", they always ask to substitute.....

That could be because some places don't respect their own rules in this respect.

No substitutions?????? wrong in the first place, customer satisfaction along with dislikes and allergies, AMEN

If a menu at a restaurant, cafe, whatever says "no substitutions" it means the same think to me as a saying "You really don't want to eat at this place because we don't give a hoot about your satisfaction."

God forbid a customer does not get everything they want while dinning out.

Kyle, I think it is more of a health issue, as Chef Howerton said just before my last post:

No substitutions?????? wrong in the first place, customer satisfaction along with dislikes and allergies, AMEN

but if you don't see that, it is okay with me, because when I am out and about I am the one who is paying.

I watch my money carefully and I have no intention of spending it on items that I don't want. I often don't buy clothes that are sold in sets because my top and bottom are two different sizes. I know that I could buy the set, and have it altered, but I choose to buy separates that fit me from the start.

I don't buy a vacation tour that takes me to an isle that I have been to previously and found less than satisfactory.

Not wanting something because you're allergic vs not wanting something because it's icky are different subjects. I'd never try to imply people are forced to order something their allergic to in the first place; it's not logical. My problem stems from some customers believing a restaurant does not hold itself, most of all, customers in high regards.

That's my take on it. No maliciousness intended.

It never fails to amaze me, that bastard Murphy is always right.
Whenever prepping for a busy night, usually a Friday or Saturday. It never fails that the one item on the menu that hardly ever sells and were thinking about replacing and you only prepped a few orders of, is the thing that every one seems to order right off the bat. Then you scurry to prep up more of whatever it was and then no one orders it again.

Definitely been there on that one, Dan. Can't even tell you how many times we had the same thing happen. Typically with items that were then highly perishable once you made an extra batch in advance...

Regarding the "walking by clean tables to get a dirty one"- I'll admit I've done that once or twice, when the dirty table was is a better location. I'd rather wait 5 minutes to have to the table wiped down, and then have a more enjoyable setting for my dinner. ( Sorry)

Deb

Back to the topic at hand:

You answer the phone.
Hello, _________ _________ __________, How can i help you?
"We need...", ( a brief pause before the caller yells loudly) "Honey, what do you all want for dinner?"
And then there is a lovely conversation between you, the caller, and the person or persons yelling in the background.
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on the pizza side of things -
The Works, Supreme, Big Ten, Everything, Ultimate, and Combination all mean different things at different pizza places, yet this never stops one from attempting to order these at the wrong pizza place.
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When walking into a business a Solicitor will never see or read the NO SOLICITING signs.
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The amount of near freezing yeast slurry I accidentally hose NABC Brewer Jesse Williams with is directly related to the number of people peering through the brewery windows.

When walking into a business a Solicitor will never see or read the NO SOLICITING signs.

Especially if their sales are on commission. More often than not, we'll have the SAME PERSON try again next week. And, then the next week....etc...

Here's one I really love:

Our offices have a specific phone system. One day my brother , in charge of most of the sales and buying , gets a call from these people asking for their business. *shakes head*

Hello Left hand. Have you met Mr Right Hand?

Back to the topic at hand:


When walking into a business a Solicitor will never see or read the NO SOLICITING signs.
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I think many of them don't know what "soliciting" means- (other than prostitution). The ones I like are the sale reps who show up in the middle of lunch service claiming " we know alot about the restaurant business...

Deb

This has been happening quite a bit here of late. Customer(s) walk in (not call in) & want to place a carry-out order. After their food is packed & bagged up, they proceed to sit down & eat it in the house. WTF?