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Willie Myers

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Brought down by their own success...

by Willie Myers » Sun May 19, 2019 1:01 am

I was going to post this under a previous thread about the specific restaurant we visited this evening, but then I thought that the problem that was so pervasive this evening - and truly ruined our dinner - is really not specific to this particular venue, but rather a fail on the part of management that could have happened at many - hopefully not all - of our fine dining Louisville establishments.

The problem I'm referring to is what appeared to be under-staffing of the service team, resulting in unacceptable waits between courses and even simple requests for service. And let me be clear, I am not laying this at the feet of the service staff - - they appeared to be hustling around like bees. But there were simply far too few of them to handle the crowd in attendance.

It might have been laid off to our particular party and/or our server(s), but the fact that two different parties seated near us were registering similar difficulties. 15-20 minutes from a request for a cup of coffee and receipt of that cup is just not acceptable. I could list a half a dozen similar problems. And at the end of the evening, no "have a nice evening"'s or "hope you enjoyed dining with us", because our server was on the verge of tears, offering explanations and apologies to us regarding the long waits for *everything*.

Just not a good experience from a restaurant run by a *very* experienced management team. It seems that they (and we) have still got a bit to learn....
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Robin Garr

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Robin Garr » Sun May 19, 2019 6:39 am

Funny you mention that, Willie. We just recently went to a really nice restaurant with a sweet young server who unfortunately was in the weeds all evening because he was the only server in a busy room. I couldn't blame him, but I did reserve some thoughts for management. :twisted:
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Andrew Mellman

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Andrew Mellman » Sun May 19, 2019 12:11 pm

Last night was gorgeous, so we made our annual trek to Mike Linnig's.

85 minutes from order to food. To be perfectly fair, when we ordered we were told how long it would take, and they actually got it out 5 minutes early!

I wonder if in part it was the weather? We overheard the bar/check-out staff talking, and they said the crowds were 50% more than for Mothers' Day, which is normally their biggest day of the year. When we were leaving, they were calling "order up" for check number 1160, and I think that's just for the one day!
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Jeff Cavanaugh

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Jeff Cavanaugh » Mon May 20, 2019 10:43 am

We've had this experience a couple of times recently, too, at different restaurants, none of which were new. It's really irritating.
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Bill Veneman

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Bill Veneman » Mon May 20, 2019 10:50 am

I've noticed this as well, and in discussing it with various members of the staff, the problem is that there is not enough qualified (both with the willingness to work those thankless house and the proper experience) workers to go around.

In the 16 years that I've been back, the food scene has exploded, and unfortunately, the worker pool has not (at least to the point of keeping up with demand).


Just my humble observation.
If life's a Banquet, what's with all the Tofu?

Cheers!

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neal.johnson

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by neal.johnson » Mon May 20, 2019 11:44 am

We went to Jerusalem Kitchen last night. 2 servers, 1 cook. Everything was on point.
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Carla G

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Carla G » Mon May 20, 2019 1:52 pm

I’ve noticed this in grocery stores and other service oriented businesses as well. A real reluctance to add any hourly help to the payroll.
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson
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Chris M

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Chris M » Tue May 21, 2019 3:34 pm

It's not an unwillingness to hire, it's an inability. As was mentioned there is a HUGE shortage of available/qualified workers. Unemployment in Louisville is below 4%. Often the few workers that are available don't live where the jobs are (cause we can't have those darn dark people living in our pretty, white neighborhoods), and we have HUGE transportation issues in this town. In addition, a big chunk of restaurant staff (especially back of the house) and really any minimum wage type position has traditionally been immigrants. Legal and otherwise. Our present political climate is not friendly to immigrants. Especially in Kentucky. So despite the "crisis at the border" over the past few years there have been more people leaving that arriving. So what you have is jobs and nobody to fill them. Which usually leads to rising wages, but since the same people who don't like immigrants also don't like things such as a living wage, workers rights and unions, here we are. You get to wait an extra 15 minutes for your food. Or you could stop voting for selfish racists. One of those.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Robin Garr » Tue May 21, 2019 4:07 pm

:!:
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Carla G

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Carla G » Wed May 22, 2019 5:51 am

Chris M wrote:It's not an unwillingness to hire, it's an inability. As was mentioned there is a HUGE shortage of available/qualified workers. Unemployment in Louisville is below 4%. Often the few workers that are available don't live where the jobs are (cause we can't have those darn dark people living in our pretty, white neighborhoods), and we have HUGE transportation issues in this town. In addition, a big chunk of restaurant staff (especially back of the house) and really any minimum wage type position has traditionally been immigrants. Legal and otherwise. Our present political climate is not friendly to immigrants. Especially in Kentucky. So despite the "crisis at the border" over the past few years there have been more people leaving that arriving. So what you have is jobs and nobody to fill them. Which usually leads to rising wages, but since the same people who don't like immigrants also don't like things such as a living wage, workers rights and unions, here we are. You get to wait an extra 15 minutes for your food. Or you could stop voting for selfish racists. One of those.


I think you accurately summed up the situation.
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson
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TP Lowe

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by TP Lowe » Wed May 22, 2019 7:19 am

Carla G wrote:
Chris M wrote:It's not an unwillingness to hire, it's an inability. As was mentioned there is a HUGE shortage of available/qualified workers. Unemployment in Louisville is below 4%. Often the few workers that are available don't live where the jobs are (cause we can't have those darn dark people living in our pretty, white neighborhoods), and we have HUGE transportation issues in this town. In addition, a big chunk of restaurant staff (especially back of the house) and really any minimum wage type position has traditionally been immigrants. Legal and otherwise. Our present political climate is not friendly to immigrants. Especially in Kentucky. So despite the "crisis at the border" over the past few years there have been more people leaving that arriving. So what you have is jobs and nobody to fill them. Which usually leads to rising wages, but since the same people who don't like immigrants also don't like things such as a living wage, workers rights and unions, here we are. You get to wait an extra 15 minutes for your food. Or you could stop voting for selfish racists. One of those.


I think you accurately summed up the situation.


Amen.
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Steve Shade

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Re: Brought down by their own success...

by Steve Shade » Thu May 23, 2019 4:05 pm

Chris M wrote:It's not an unwillingness to hire, it's an inability. As was mentioned there is a HUGE shortage of available/qualified workers. Unemployment in Louisville is below 4%. Often the few workers that are available don't live where the jobs are (cause we can't have those darn dark people living in our pretty, white neighborhoods), and we have HUGE transportation issues in this town. In addition, a big chunk of restaurant staff (especially back of the house) and really any minimum wage type position has traditionally been immigrants. Legal and otherwise. Our present political climate is not friendly to immigrants. Especially in Kentucky. So despite the "crisis at the border" over the past few years there have been more people leaving that arriving. So what you have is jobs and nobody to fill them. Which usually leads to rising wages, but since the same people who don't like immigrants also don't like things such as a living wage, workers rights and unions, here we are. You get to wait an extra 15 minutes for your food. Or you could stop voting for selfish racists. One of those.


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