I wrote a post months ago about all the stuff I do as a manager.

My favorite is fixing the printer.

Any printer.

I’m am an old man. Three months from being a boomer.

I. Don’t. Know. Shit. About. Printers.

You start by making sure it has paper.

Then you make sure it’s thermal paper. Not kitchen paper.

Then you turn it off.

Then you turn it back on.

And if all else fails you do a hard reset.

But 99.9999% of the time turning it on and off does the trick.

But nevertheless, at 6:00 when the bar printer isn’t printing they yell as if somehow I can actually fix it.

Someday they’ll realize I’m a fraud.

PS. A couple of times it’s been unplugged.

I worked at a restaurant in high school.

I’ll chat about that some other time.

But.

My first real serving job was at Bennigan’s in Atlanta in 1987 .

I still value that job as we did a week of classroom training and I was taught how to be a good server.

They assumed all of us knew nothing.

Day one.

We are going over restaurant terminology.

86’d.

Fir you non restaurant people it means to be out of something. For example my chef 86’d the tuna tonight when he dold the last piece.

Jimmy our trainer told us stat it meant.

And I asked if it was called 86 since that was last year.

86. Now 87.

I still remember him laughing.

No it was not the reason.

Meanwhile.

I still don’t know why it’s called 86’d.

We have a fish of the day.

Everyday.

Today our fish was tuna.

However, it was limited as we only had about ten servings tonight.

So a server comes to me around 7:15 to say:

Table 12 wanted the tuna but we ran out. He was ordering a filet but felt he should get a discount since we didn’t have the tuna he ordered.

I said to the server.

Ask him if he went to Macy’s and wanted a blue shirt but had to buy a yellow shirt because they didn’t have a blue shirt if he’d get it discounted.

Try it at the grocery store.

A car dealership.

A shoe store.

Seriously.

We have an email posted on our website: info@…

We get interesting things sent to us.

Todays?

We’d like to come eat at there to celebrate my son’s college graduation, and I have an unusual question…
Some people in our group are very strict about only eating humanely raised food, not from factory farms.
Can you tell me where you source your meats and seafood?

I get it.

You don’t want animals mistreated. You want them treated kindly.

But.

Is any animal who’s killed for your dining pleasure treated humanely?

It’s too little. Too late.

Meanwhile.

Our beef is grass fed right up until they are killed for your pleasure.

The phone rings around 5:30. The host answered. It’s a woman calling to pay for her parents dinner.

The host explains that we can’t accommodate them after service starts.

Fun story. Last weekend a person called at 4:00 to order champagne for a table. The host was on the phone for 15 minutes trying to take care of them.

Anyway.

The person on the phone loses her shit and says she’ll come down and do it in person.

An hour later a man appears in our lobby to give us his information.

The host doesn’t know what to say or do.

Fun fact.

The following interaction took me out of play for 15 minutes.

We had to get his credit card information.

He insisted we run his card so he could sign.

But.

You can’t run a card for a tab that hasn’t been created yet.

I take his information. But of course his card is 27,000 years old. You can’t read any of the numbers.

Then I have to find the server.

Explain what is going on.

Explain that the CVV code could be any of three choices as the card is broken and you can’t make out the last number.

I go back hand the guy his card.

He’s still perplexed as to why he can’t sign anything.

So.

If you want to treat a friend to dinner at an expensive dinner.

Go with them.

Or.

Pay for a gift card.

It’s easier. You can do it online. They get an email.

And it’s not a pain in our ass.

Oh.

So.

Much.

To.

Write.

About.

Tonight!!!

First.

We have a company who sells their products nationally, who’s headquarters are near our our restaurant. Their staff eats at our restaurant regularly on business dinners.

They also used to frequent my old restaurant. They were known for bringing in ten to twelve for staff outings.

They are all super nice. Easy to wait on.

But.

They are often late. Like tonight.

They had a 5 top reservation. Two of them showed up 30 minutes early. Two others showed up 30 minutes after the scheduled reservation. One of them never showed at all.

The four people spent $400 dollars.

And here’s the reason for the post.

They tipped, to the penny, 15%. This is up from the 10% they used to tip.

My staff at the old restaurant hated waiting on them.

My current staff hates waiting on them.

My question to my valued readers is:

Do I just ignore it?

Do I add the gratuity as chef suggested when they are in?

Do I call their CEO and explain that it’s bad PR?

Do I send an email?

Do I not take their reservation?

It’s just annoying.

And before you say it. It doesn’t matter is it’s our worst server or our best. 15%.

Thoughts?

As I’ve mentioned here before, once upon a time I worked at a different restaurant in town.

I did a great job and was rewarded by being fired along with all of my staff.

Fun times.

As I’ve also said lots of people who work at the other company frequent my restaurant.

Two of them who have commented about my abilities before were in tonight.

We were chatting after their meal.

The old company is about to open a new restaurant.

On Friday.

I asked if he was ready.

He said he was, but couldn’t speak to the staff being ready.

He continues.

The restaurant is lacking (I don’t remember the word he used) inspiration.

I asked what he meant.

He said, they could really use a you. Someone to build them up. To inspire them. To cheer them on. Someone who can make sure things are getting done. He mentioned to the managers that candles need to be lit at the start of service and they said “we’ll try.” No one is picking up the things that fall through the cracks!

It’s hard not to gloat (a Wordle word this week). I’m not a brilliant GM. But I’m good at it. And I do try and motivate my staff. And just this week one of my employees said I was the best manager they’d ever had. I do know that as hard as it is to be amazing, it’s not hard at all NOT to be bad. I just don’t do all the things the assholes I’ve worked forvovervthecyears did.

Anyway.

It feels nice to be noticed.

To have people realize I run a good ship.

It might not be tight.

But it’s good.

A woman walks into the lobby. The host asks her how her dinner was.

She replies:

Fucking amazing! Fucking great! It’s the first time I’ve ever had a food orgasm.

And scene.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Our reservation app asks if you have any special requests.

These are some that we have received.

A table on the water: We are a mile + from any sort of water.

A table near the fireplace: we don’t have a fireplace.

A table with a view: We don’t have a view.

Two seats at the corner of the bar: our bar is horseshoe shaped. It doesn’t have corners.

A table in a quiet corner: we don’t have a single table in a corner.

A quiet table: Our restaurant is loud. The music is at 100%. Quiet doesn’t exist.

I often wonder when they are seated in the center of the dining room if they are upset.

Perhaps I’ll never know.

It’s my Friday!!!

By the time you read this it will be my Satunday.

I get one day off.

Three weeks ago I was overwhelmed by this fact. Not because I mind working, but because I miss spending time with my boyfriend.

I still hate not getting to see him, but I’ve resigned myself to just doing it. Something to get through.

I enjoy the business. I enjoy the volume. I enjoy the excitement. The chaotic energy at 4:00. The opening of the show at 5:00.

On Wednesday it will be one year since I started.

I like my job just as much now as I did then.

I’m happy I can say that.