At least once a week someone will call and make a reservation that ends with, will ______be working that night?

First, I haven’t even written that schedule yet, so who the hell knows. And even if it were written do you think I remember every single employee’s schedule?

And.

More importantly.

I will never give out that information.

I’ve trained my staff not to give out that information.

There are a lot of reasons why but the most important reason is for the safety of my staff.

More than once I’ve had an abusive partner call demanding this information. I’ve had angry parents call demanding this information.

The abusive partner had been banned from the restaurant so they had no way of knowing if the employee was at work.

For the parent, I’ve made it my policy since I became a manager that the parent doesn’t work for me. I won’t discuss your child’s schedule with you, their responsibilities, their pay. I won’t give you their check, their W-2, or accept your call that they can’t come to work.

I once had a parent approach me on the floor on an August Saturday night to discuss their child’s schedule. She called the next day to let me know how rude I was.

Back to the topic.

We will not tell you if anyone is working. Even night of. So if you want to know if they are working, text them. I’m sure you have their number.

We are a steakhouse.

A very good steak house.

An Amazingly good steakhouse.

We are not Longhorn. We are not Sizzler. We are not Outback.

You can get a decent steak at these restaurants.

They are the Toyota Corolla of steaks.

We are the Bentleys of steaks.

Yes, we are expensive, because the quality is reflected in the price.

So when you come to our restaurant, it’s a very good idea to take the recommendation of the server.

For example, don’t order the ribeye if you want a lean steak. They’ll explain the difference between a porterhouse and tbone. And they tell you what cut to get if you want a steak well done.

Tonight, we had a man order a well done NY Strip. The server tried to steer him toward the filet. It can be butterflied, and isn’t shoe leather when it’s finished.

He wouldn’t have it. He ordered the strip.

When it arrived at the table, and he cut into the steak it was a solid medium. The reason: the steak is so thick that to get the center cooked through, you will char the outside.

He sent it back.

It was sent out again. A solid medium well.

He sent it back again.

This time the chef sliced the steak in half, essentially butterflied it, and cooked it more.

His wife was finished eating by the time his steak was finally sent out. And I can’t imagine how tough, and how charred the steak was. He would have enjoyed a filet so much more.

They were very positive when they left. Nothing but great things to say.

But I have to wonder if they’d have not been happier ordering the pork chop or salmon.

The frost heave was worse tonight.

Could barely get the door open.

So tonight, the door had to stay open. Thank god the temperature was about 9* warmer. Also we were slower so the inside needed to be open a lot less.

It was a tad bit more tolerable tonight.

Let’s hope it gets fixed while we are closed tomorrow and Wednesday!

In Maine we have a thing called frost heave. I’ve seen it in the rest of the country. Just never heard the term.

It’s where the pavement gets so cold the pavement buckles.

Our parking lot in the front of our restaurant is asphalt. And tonight the section right in front of the front door developed frost heave.

We discovered this at 4:55 as we were opening for dinner.

The problem.

The front had to be forced open.

And closed.

Like seriously I thought someone would hurt themselves trying to open the door.

And most people gave up trying to close the door.

There is an outer and inner door but with both doors open, the temperature in the lobby was about 40 degrees tonight.

The temperature outside at 6:00 was 12*.

The host and I stood there for the first hour till the first seating was in.

I couldn’t ask her to be there longer, so I acted as host until everyone else was seated. She helped in the dining room etc.

I finally sat down around 8:45. Shivering.

It’s now 1:00 am and I am still cold.

I had my heat in the car on at full for the entire 45 minute drive home. My fingers were numb.

Even a bourbon at work didn’t help.

A bourbon at home hasn’t helped.

Hopefully, the 10 degree warm up tomorrow will help.

There’s a familiar name on the reservation book for tomorrow. Someone who has worked in the business. Someone who should know better.

The reservation is for three people at a high top.

But has a guest note to make sure they are seated at the bar. It’s her husbands birthday.

She could have called the restaurant.

She could have called me. She has my cell number.

Instead she tries to skirt the system.

Just call us. We’ll take care of it.

Truth is, this time of the year these requests are easier to accommodate. But unfortunately they do it in the summer as well!

I saw a familiar name on our reservation list tonight. Someone I had not seen since summer of 2017.

I was actually trying (unsuccessfully) to fix a POS issue, when they were sat at the bar.

Luckily, I had to go try (unsuccessfully) to fix the same problem at the bar.

The were seated in front of the POS.

I walked up and it took them about 20 seconds to realize who I was with the mask, but when they realized it was me, they had the biggest grin and couldn’t stop saying how happy they were to see me.

I was at the POS for about 30 minutes so I got to catch up with them for a long time. Hear about their kids. Their business. Their lives.

My favorite part on the conversation was when October of 2017 came up. They repeatedly told me how much they missed the old place and how after one visit they never went back.

Who knows if this is true. But it is repeated to me often. And it always feel good to hear.

This couple was at the bar tonight for two hours.

I was at the door when they left. They both gave me big hugs. He reminded me that my five year old invitation to drink wine on the porch of their ocean view property still stood.

They promised they’d be back soon.

It was amazing to see them!

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

Past the wine. Take a right. First door on the right.

I say this a million times a night.

It’s directions to the men’s room.

To be honest, it’s hard to find. The sign isn’t lit well.

We are all aware and the chef is still trying to find a solution.

The reason I add the first door on the right part, is because the second door on the right is the entrance to bar storage!

I’m thinking I should negotiate to get paid based on how I often I say this. Truly I’d make mid six figures.

Fun fact.

My hosts last summer told people to go past the wine cooler. It took a week for me to realize there was a cooler in wine storage. And to comprehend that they didn’t mean Bartle and James wine coolers.

Our restaurant opens Wednesday thru Sunday at 5:00 pm. This has been the case since the owner opened for business three years ago.

This means that we will always unlock our doors by 5:00 pm. Only once since I’ve started has it been after 5:00 and that was last November. Our opening the doors before 5:00 is dependent on business and how quickly everyone can be ready.

As we are operating with less staff because we are less busy than December, it takes us longer to be ready. Most days, currently, our doors open right at 5:00, because we are finally ready at 5:00.

This is a long introduction to a post about survey we got this week complaining about the “host” who made people wait outside in the cold last weekend.

It’s because:

We weren’t ready open.

I wasn’t being mean.

I also had no way of knowing that they’d walked to the restaurant.

We can’t be expected to open early. We can’t be expected to let you in.

Once you enter the building we are open. Someone has to greet you. Instruct you as to what’s going on. Entertain you till it’s time to seat you.

I also can’t give instructions across the restaurant once you’ve entered. I can’t leave the host stand to make sure we are ready.

And I’d bet my next five paychecks that you’d be annoyed that you couldn’t just be sat since you were there.

Would you do the same thing at the mall?

Would you do the same at the grocery store.

PS. We are all doing the best we can. Please stop beating up on us.

I was hosting tonight. As I’m always doing during the week.

A man arrives with two teenagers. He tells me his name and he says the fourth will be right behind them.

I ask if they’d like to wait. Or be seated.

He’s says they could be seated. A server arrives at this moment and off they go.

About 90 seconds later a woman walks through the door.

Gives me her name. She’s joining the man and the two teenagers.

She asks how she’ll find them. I explain that I’ll show her to the table.

She then says she needs to use the restroom.

She starts to go in and stops and turns to me and says I’m about to have dinner with my future ex husband. I hope we can make this fast.

I was kind of floored. No one has said this to me before.

In my head I’m asking does he know he’s going to be your ex husband? Do your kids know? Do you need a shot of bourbon? Will this be ugly? Why are you divorcing him?

I kind of laugh and say I’ll make sure the server brings wine as quickly as possible. She laughs and goes into the restroom.

They were in and out in 57 minutes.

I wasn’t at the door when they left so I have no idea how it went.

But I do have more questions I’ll never get to ask.

Let’s talk about the verbal tip.

The verbal tip is when a guest goes out of their way to tell a server how great they are.

Oh. My. God. You were the best server I’ve ever had.

You were so sweet and friendly. Thank you for taking care of us.

You are the funniest server I’ve ever seen. You had us laughing the whole time.

Wow! Please tell us you’ll wait on us next time we are in.

The verbal tip is awesome. Everyone likes to be told they are good at their job. People like to be liked.

Do you know what’s not awesome???

A verbal tip followed by a shitty tip.

Oh my god you are the best server I’ve ever had. Followed by 12%.

You were so sweet and friendly. Followed by 10%.

Will you take care of us the next time we are in? Followed by no tip at all.

Servers loved to be told they are great. But their landlord won’t take a compliment for their rent. Toyota won’t let them pay their car payment with a compliment.

A server I know used to say, don’t sit there sucking my dick for 20 minutes making me feel good, then leave a 6% tip.

So by all means compliment the staff. The host. Me. The server. The chef. The bartender.

But fucking leave at least 20%.

At least.

If your server was that good you might think about 23 or 24%.