I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

We open the doors at 4:50 today, as always.  We open early, to be able to seat more people right from the beginning.  Somedays, all of our 5:00’s are in by 4:55.  Tonight was not that night.

However, we were mostly in by 5:05. 

As we opened the inside doors, I head through the restaurant for one last check.  Imagine if you will, checking your props before the curtain goes up.  Making sure the TVs are on.  The music is on the right channel.  The candles are lit.  The olive oil and salts are aligned.  The A/C is on.  The Gallery is all set. 

I get to the patio, check in with everyone there.  All things on the patio are good. 

I am walking back into the dining room from the kitchen as a food runner approaches me.  Seems table 24 is not happy with their table.  I follow her to the host stand to assess what the problem is. 

They are a 4-top who’ve been taken to table 24, and they are upset that it is a table for 5 and they are only 4. 

Seriously.  One extra chair is just tooooo much. 

I ask the host, and she explains that there is nothing that she can do.  She can’t move them.  I don’t ask why, but I go to the table with the menus and say, that I’m sorry that this is the only table I have for them.

A woman scowls at me and asks if I’m serious. 

I assure her that I am.  She stares at me.  I stare at her.  She stares at me.  I stare at her.

They get seated and I tell them to enjoy their meal.

For the rest of their time at the table she glares at me every time I walk by. 

At the end of their meal, they tell the server that at least he was nice.

I was at the door when they left.  Her husband told me he loved his meal.  I thanked them all, but she just glared as she left.

So.

After I got them seated, I went to the host to find out what the problem was.  Why couldn’t they be moved to one of the 5 four tops that were not seated at the moment. 

She explains:

When they arrived they made it clear that they didn’t want a booth.  That takes 2 tables out of the question. 

Then she explains that the one of the tables that is open is scheduled for a 2-top and we hardly ever seat a 2 on a 5 top.  That’s one more table.

And the other 2 tables are 4 tops, BUT, they aren’t coming in till 5:30 and the 5 top has a 7:00 5-top reservation on it, which means that it has to be sat at 5:00 if they are to have time to finish their meals and be out by 7:00.  And this is one of 2 five tops we have, so there was truly not choice.

If they’d been willing to sit in a booth this would have been a nonissue. 

On my note pad I wrote Ukraine. 

They are at one of the nicest restaurants in one of the loveliest towns in New England.  They have the money to spend on an expensive dinner, on one of the nicest days we’ve had all summer.  They all appear healthy.  

And yet an extra chair has ruined their day.

I was prepared to say all of this if they complained on their way out.

They could literally be living in the basement of a bombed out building, without water or power with no help in site. 

I truly am sorry that I ruined their night.