On fine dining
However there is one thing that I can't seem to forgive:
General attentiveness
This is always a careful balance. I don't want a server stopping every five seconds so that I know them more than my dinner guest. However I also don't want to have to assemble a radar array and attempt to track "my" server in hopes of another napkin or water refill.
This happened at both restaurants over the weekend. I was not in a hurry at either, so it took some effort to draw my ire. On Saturday I was at a place with a large open room, so I knew what my server was doing the entire time. It was busy, but not jammed. And the type of food served is not considered to be high maintenance. I am not really writing a restaurant review otherwise I would tell you exactly where I was. When ordered, the food was excellent. But I knew I might be in trouble when I asked the server for drink and food recommendations and her face went blank as if no one had ever wondered what was good on the menu. After the "ums" and "ahs" everything went fine. That is until she dropped off the bill which was not ours that also happened to be about the size of the national debt. The shame is that this place drops the bill off neatly cradled inside of a paperback. The mistake came in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the correct bill came in "Atlas Shrugged" so at least there was some symbolism there.
Once we had our tab, we applied an ample gift card and had 5 dollars extra on it. I had already thrown a ten on top of the tab after the waitress explained the extra five couldn't be used as a tip. A few minutes later she reported that it could and would I also like to give her that? Well, it is not like you take a tip away from a server right in front of their face; so she did rather well on a smaller tab despite her best efforts.
Sunday was not such different. With very low-key aspirations we went to a smaller place in Shell Beach which serves food near the sidewalk in the elements. Some care was considered for the guests since blankets are nearby when the chill of the marine murk closes in like it had this afternoon. As one of 8 diners in the mid-afternoon we expected great service. There were at least 3 visible employees so the ratio couldn't be much better. This experience started much better with water almost instantly appearing, and a fast order taken and prepared and delivered. But it was sometime after that my skin must have become translucent. I am the kind of guy who splits entrees all the time, so with this ample plate of fajitas more tortillas were required. I figured the "status check" visit was coming, "How was your food, sir." Alas it almost appeared the entire place shut down, there was not even an alternative employee to contact for a basic request. It was like bullet-time in the Matrix. Then as if the pause button was released the activity resumed and my needs attended to.
Again the process with the bill was a process you should get right. This time I had to ask for the bill after my patience grew thin. At which point I immediately gave them my card rather than wait and consider the bill. I took a nanosecond peek inside the cover, it was a reasonable price. This is where my credit card and tab must have fallen over the event horizon into a distant oblivion since it never returned. Another 15 minutes later I asked about the card and got a quizzical look back from the server. It took another ten minutes for Holmes and Watson to bring back the paperwork. I am such a softie, I still tipped better than 15%. Food was good, fumbling aside.
I have to hand it to the chefs this weekend, the food was great. As for the front of the house, I might recommend "5 hour energy". Just say "hi" every few minutes and I will guide you along. And take care with the bill, drop the right one and lets finish the transaction without me having to think too hard about it.
Every time I see those stories we run about being able to pay for bills with an iPhone, or something like that I generally lift an eyebrow because it seems rife with potential problems. But I am loosening my view on that. I don't want to calculate the amount of cumulative hours I must have spent in my life waiting to transact bills when my head-space is already at home curled up ready to watch a movie.
You're so right about how incompetent servers can be these days! I've always thought there is a real art to being a great server, and those who make the grade don't really get recognition like they should. Usually we get these knucklehead servers.
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