I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

It rained tonight.  Actually it stormed. 

Think summer afternoon in the south.  Torrential rain.  Thunder.  Lightening.  Wind.  Hail in some places in the state.

A good ole southern thunderstorm. 

We don’t get them here often. 

We get nor’easters, but they just have wind and rain. 

We get hurricanes.  Once again, wind and rain. 

We get snowstorms, sometimes with thunder. 

But the storm we got today doesn’t happen much at all. 

The moral of the story is that I closed the patio.  By 2:00, the staff had been called.  Substitutions had been made.  Tables had been moved inside when we could, and cancelled when we couldn’t.

I moved about 30% of the tables inside today.  The rest got called.  Hi this is Jeff, calling from the restaurant.  You have a reservation for our patio tonight, unfortunately due to the thunderstorms forecasted for the afternoon, we are closing the patio.  We unfortunately (I’m aware every time I say, that I say unfortunately twice) don’t have a spot for you inside.  Would you like to reschedule for later in the weekend. 

Every time today they said no. 

Of the 10 or so reservations I had to cancel only one person was unreasonably upset. 

She responded by saying, BUT I MADE THIS RESERAVATION MONTHS AGO.   You can’t just cancel it. 

It was an 8 top.  There was absolutely nowhere to put an 8 top inside tonight.

I apologized again.

She once again, suggested the age of the reservation should change things. 

I wanted to say to her that I was no god and I could not control the weather. 

But I said, I’m sorry.  Reach out when you want to reschedule. 

At 4:45 as we were opening, the dining room was stacked.  Every table had 2 turns on it.  Some had three.  The bar was crazy, with every stool down to the second with reservations. 

And then it started.

It’s 4:50, we’ve just sat our first three reservations when Chef appears.  Do you have room for 3 tonight.  Friends of his. 

The host and I confer.  Find them a spot. 

Then, the other host comes to me and says that Mr. Smith has asked her to ask me if I’m sure I don’t have room for them tonight.  He’s on the phone waiting for an answer. 

I find him a spot, by moving reservations to a tighter turn, knowing we’ll be screwed eventually. 

The Mr. and Mrs. Jones come in.  Can we squeeze them and their son in.  It’s 5:10.  I tell them I can get them seated but they have to eat fast.   I need the table back by 6:30.  They were grateful and slipped me a crisp $100 bill upon a pass through the dining room. 

Then I get a text from a government official wanting to know if I can get he and his four friends in.   Once again, I get to work and make the magic happen.  I find him a table. 

All in all it was 6 reservations I made from 4:45 to 5:30 squeezing people we knew in.  It actually worked out great.  We only sat one party late and they were an 8:00 at the bar. 

We did have one couple that showed up at 7:30 for their reservation which was scheduled at 8:30.  At the bar.  They were upset they couldn’t wait at the bar.  They were upset that they couldn’t get a drink while they waited.  And the husband did the thing where he talks about how stupid our rules are to his wife just loud enough for us to barely hear him but not loud enough to cross a line. 

When they came in I told them it would be 8:30 before I could get them seated.  We sat them at 8:32. 

It was good night.  But I’ll be happy to not have to deal with the rain tomorrow.  It’s easier to get everyone in when there are more tables to play with. 

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

It’s 3:00 a.m.

I’ve been down a very exciting rabbit hole tonight. 

More on that later. 

Meanwhile, it’s way too late to post more than one of the 11 things I recorded on my sheet of paper tonight.

So I’ll do one very humorous post. 

I was on the door by myself tonight. 

This means that phone doesn’t get answered much.  I used to get very anxious, but now I just let it ring. 

Chef and I are talking.  Let it ring.

Adam and I are chatting on the phone.  Let it ring.

Getting coffee.  Let it ring.

So tonight around 5:30 I do pick up the phone.

And a woman says very politely that she is calling to let me know she found her corn.  She’d called earlier to let us know that we’d forgotten it and charged her anyway.  But it was in the bag after all. 

I start to say excuse me, but she interrupts and repeats her story. 

I start to say something else, and she says, that she just wanted to make sure we knew that she’d gotten her corn after all.

I thank her for letting us know, and hang up. 

We do have corn on the menu this week, but I have no idea what she was talking about. 

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Around 8:00 tonight a server comes to me to say that table G-8 would like to speak to a manager!!!

They are not pleased.  Not pleased at all. 

I get there, say hello and ask how I can help. 

They begin. 

They are not happy with the meal that they have been served. 

They ordered our 32 oz Waguy tomahawk ribeye.  They felt that they had been promised a meal for four and that it had not been delivered.  They were expecting two pounds of steak and that was NOT what they go. 

I’m not sure how to respond. 

But I say, I’m sorry, but the steak is 32 oz, with the bone, I’m not sure how much the bone weighs but it is a fair amount of steak. 

They insist that they were told it would be a 2 pound steak. 

I say well it is 32 oz. 

At which point the man says, well isn’t 32oz 2 pounds. 

I say that it is, but I have to admit that in my head I was thinking that it was 36 oz.  But I’m not wrong at all. 

The wife says, that they were expecting a feast for 4 and that’s not what they got.  They were expecting to take food home and they are not, which is surprising as she eats like a bird. 

The husband continues, they were not only unhappy with the size but felt that it had too much fat content.  He then points to a plate on the table with about 6 small pieces of fat they’ve cut from the steak.

I should point out that they finished the steak.  Completely.  Except for the small pieces of fat.

I look at the plate and think to myself, you need to grab a fork and eat that shit, it’s the best part.

 Instead I say, well, it is a ribeye, and a ribeye has a fair amount of fat content to it.  Also, it’s a Wagyu which multiplies the amount of fat content. 

He interrupts me to say that he understands all that but it was way too fatty and the quality was not good. 

At this point, I don’t know how I’m supposed to help him.  He ate the whole steak. 

I also know what’s coming and I’m going to say what I say every time.

He says, so I guess what I want to know at this point is how we are going to move forward?

Ahhh.  Here it comes. 

I say, I’m not sure what you are asking….

And he says, I want to know what you are going to do for me…

THERE IT IS!!!

I look at him and without a seconds thought, explain that I won’t be doing anything.  You’ve eaten the steak.  I’m sorry you weren’t happy with it, but we’ve served 100’s of these steaks, at least 10 tonight with no issue. 

He looks at me like I’ve called his first born something horrible and says you can’t be serious. 

I assure him I am. 

He then tells me I’m clueless. 

I’m not sure what this means, but I say, and I quote, “Sir, I have all the clues.  I’m not sure what you want me to do, but I’m not discounting the steak”. 

He then does the next best thing people do when they’ve spend money and don’t want to pay, he begins to tell me it’s not about the money. He has no problem spending money on something when there is quality involved. 

I think to myself, sir, my response is not about money for us either. 

The steak he bought is $165 with two sides.  I have had this steak.  It’s deliciousness on a board.  It’s wonderful.  We’ve served 100’s of these steaks without issue. 

He changes his tactic at this point deciding it’s about the service instead of the steak.

He had to wait for the wine he wanted to enjoy with his steak.  It didn’t arrive until after his steak.  He had other complaints but I stopped listening.

I finally say, Sir, I’m not sure what you are expecting but I’m not discounting the check.

He says, fine bring me the check and I’ll pay it. 

So I bring him the check, tell him to pay his server and leave. 

He told his server that I was rude and mean.  He wrote on his check that I was inappropriate. 

He left his server $20 on a $215 check.

I waited at the front door for them to leave but they left through the back door.  AFTER.  Sitting at the table for another 30 minutes holding hands and laughing. 

I don’t know what their game plan was, but we won’t comp things you’ve completely consumed.  Never.  It will NOT happen. 

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

I’ve worked in a New England coastal setting for 9 years. 

9 years. 

So I kind of have a grasp on the fluctuation of the season.

Two weeks ago, I told chef that we should start to see a falloff in business.  Traditionally, the last two weeks of July and the first two weeks of August are the busiest.

Imagine my surprise, when that didn’t happen last week. 

He reminded me on Sunday that I might have lied to him. 

I knew that it was an anomaly and we’d definitely see a turn down this week. 

Imagine my surprise today when we had the 2^nd busiest Wednesday all summer, and one of the top 10 busiest days all summer.  There is no end in sight. 

This is awesome for the business. 

But mama is gettin’ tired and needs for things to slow down. 

Only 6 more Mondays to go till 2 days off again!!!

Id like to speak to the manager!!!

I go into the vestibule to make sure the front door is locked and I’m greeted by this.

I left him to his own devices.

I’m sure he got In under the door because of the rain.

He can’t get in to the restaurant.

If he does I’ll need a new job on Wednesday.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

He didn’t show.

No word from him since he said he’d be here today between 1 and 3.

Never mind.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Update:

Some of you asked what Chef’s response was. I appreciated that he deferred to me. My decision.

It was his decision to tell the guy to call the restaurant to reach out to me.

So he has my back and I don’t doubt for a second he’ll support the outcome.

As for the outcome.

Stephanie, pointed out that I am a manager of second chances. And this is true.

My response:

Hi dude, Jeff here. You will need to meet with me and chat before we will make a reservation for you. I’m available at the restaurant between 1:30 and 3:00 tomorrow if you’d like to stop by. Thanks!

He said he’d be by tomorrow afternoon.

I am very doubtful that he will grovel. And if he doesn’t then I think he may be having dinner at Burger King tomorrow night.

I’d like to speak with the manager!!!

At 6:35 a woman calls to make a reservation.  Two people at 7:00. 

We had the room.  We booked the reservation.

They arrive and are led to their seats.

They march back to the host stand, angry about the table we are giving them.

Seriously, people. 

You are lucky to have a reservation at all, when you try to make it after the shift has started.

I don’t know what you want me to do, but the table you have is the table you have. 

At least that’s what I wanted to say.

We found them a different table. 

And everyone lived happily ever after. 

Except table 25. 

We’ll talk more about him tomorrow.   

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

Anyone remember 2 months ago, at the beginning of the summer when a French Canadian told me to go fuck myself because he couldn’t be seated as a 12 top, after they made 3 four top reservations.

Remember how they shouted at me about how bad of a manager, person, human being I was, because I wouldn’t allow them to sit together.

Remember?

If not…

https://id-like-to-speak-to-the-manager.com/2022/06/28/

When they left that night they were shouting that they’d never be back.

And as always, that is never the case.

Today, chef comes in and shows me a message we got on Instagram messenger.

I check both Facebook and Instagram, but not till I get home at the end of the night.

The messages says, Hello, I was part of the group that we have a conflict at your place in June. We are in maine now and would really enjoy your place again. We are open to have a talk with you and resolve this conflict with you. We are 7 and would like to enjoy this beautiful place again. Im avaible when you want.

The text is a copy and paste. English is not his first language. But that’s not the point.

First, he’s chosen a social media platform to reach out to us. To quote Chef, that is not the way to go about communicating with us about the situation.

Second, I thought you weren’t coming back to the best restaurant in town?

Chef reached out to our social media guy, although any of us could have responded and had him say: Hi! Please, call the restaurant and talk to Jeff our general manager. Thanks!

He responded a few hours later saying: Hello, thank you for you answer but we had the conflict with Jeff so im ambarassed to talk to him.

My first instinct was to tell him to go fuck himself.

However, my manager instinct says to reach out on social media and say, hi, this is Jeff, I’m willing to hear what you have to say.

But also I’d like to just say, hey dude. Actions have consequences. Guess what your consecquence is? Burger King out by the highway.

So.

I’d love to get your take on what I should do?

Take the high road?

Or tell him to have a nice day.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

The owner of my restaurant is also the chef. 

Not in name only.

He cooks.  Every night.  Front and center. 

And when I say front and center, I mean it.

We have an open kitchen and he stands in the center of it, grilling meat and exposing, which is to say, controlling the flow. 

He is on display from the time we open until about 30+ minutes after the last reservation.  (Notice how I didn’t say close?).

Here is the thing, A LOT of people don’t understand that he is not just standing there being pretty.  He’s actually working. 

They walk up and want to shake his hand.  He just pulled 10 steaks out to put on the grill.  His hand is not clean, nor does he want to shake hands with you while he cooks. 

He is in the process of cooking for hundreds of people and needs to stay focused. 

So many people don’t understand that if you are going to say hi, say hi and move on. 

So many times in the last year, I’ve had to go to the window, pretend I need to ask him a question and then intervene and steer the people away. 

Especially women.  Our chef is attractive.  He’s also very charming.   And he always is nice to whomever comes to the window no matter how busy he his, but it can be a pain if he starts to get lost when he turns back to the grill.

Tonight a woman asked if he was here.  I pointed him out in the kitchen and without thought; she marched toward the kitchen to give her compliments to the chef.

Luckily she just said hello and left. 

But I’m standing at the host stand just in case I have to swoop in and escort her away. 

PS.  It’s really gotten bad since he published his cookbook.  People go the window insisting her write them a personalized message in the book.  Meanwhile the window is full of food and he’s trying to focus and doing his best to say no, without being rude.