I got scolded tonight.

My restaurant, inside, is divided into three parts.

The bar.

The main dining room.

The gallery.

The gallery is a green house space with four large tops (8 to 12) people. Four 2 tops.

The gallery was originally garden space between the restaurant and the house it’s attached to. The chef had it enclosed two years ago. Then during COVID had it heated and air conditioned. It’s a beautiful space.

Yes, it’s heated and air conditioned but it’s not insulated. So we struggle to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

The key. The key. The key.

Is for the back door to never be opened summer or winter.

There is an emergency exit from the gallery that leads to to the parking lot.

The minute the door opens the heat/air conditioning is sucked from the space because of the air being sucked out by the hoods.

In the winter when it’s 5* degrees like today it’s really bad. The temperature in the gallery will drop 30 degrees in 30 seconds.

The door can’t be locked because it’s a fire exit.

There is a sign that clearly says use front entrance.

So tonight I look over and two people are seating themselves at the bar. Oh no you dihn’t.

I meet them at the bar, explain they need to check in with the host.

I know. You only want to sit at the bar. You still need to check in with her. Yes. I know. Just a drink and a snack. I appreciate your ability to be fast. Check in with the host.

They eventually get seated.

Fast forward 90 minutes and they are getting ready to leave.

They start toward the gallery to leave. I stop them and explain they need to leave through the front door.

You’d think I called her some unfortunate name.

She was outraged.

She started to scold me about how close it was to the parking lot. Etc etc.

She ended by saying we should lock it if we don’t want it used.

It’s a fucking emergency exit. It doesn’t have a panic bar. It has to be unlocked.

Fuck this.

Some times I’d like to say open your own restaurant if you want different rules.

Meanwhile the people in the gallery want a comfortable dinner. In a warm space.

I’d like to speak to the manager!!!

We received a postcard in the mail over the weekend. It took all of us a couple of reads to figure out that it was not a complaint but a compliment.

The card read:

LF Team:

I’ve been here four months. The steak is horrible. You still have to crown. The service is worse than the steak. Merry Christmas.

Turns out it was from a regular who was transferred to France for work.

He came in a lot and loved loved loved our restaurant.

We all laughed once we figured out who it was from.

Tonight was the slowest, I mean the quietest day at the restaurant in over a year.

We sat our last reservation at 7:30. A two top at the bar. We sat all our other reservations by 7:00.

Whew. It’s going to be an early night.

8:00 came and went and everyone is finishing up. Including the two top at the bar.

8:30 comes and goes and everyone is starting to leave. Including the two top at the bar.

By 9:00 everyone is gone except for table 25. A four top sat at 7:00.

And sit they did.

At 10:00 they asked for refills on their water. They finally gathered their coats and left at almost 10:30. For 90 minutes they’d been the only guests in the restaurant.

They leave and I wait for the server to finish up. She comes over to sit with me to do her cash out. At this point I learn that the table had only tipped 16% on a 300 dollar tab.

I usually don’t get involved with servers and their tips. On the whole the guests at my restaurant treat the staff very well. But this annoyed the fuck out of me.

The server, me, the bartender should have all been home drinking a cocktail by 9:30. Now we all three had a 45 minute drive for a fraction of the money it should have been.

Frustrating to say the least.

https://www.distractify.com/p/server-coupon-hack-tiktok?utm_source=dfy&utm_medium=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2VYTpK0mQW10ZDTLUOux4hJXQSLVAsdUafQ1QgBhUrvIzSY6ZtImVkffU

I’ve been in the business for a million years. Oh the stories I could tell. And someday might. The scamming has always been strong. There is a reason the computerized POS came in to play. Yes it made things faster but it stopped a million people from stealing.

I’ve never caught a server/bartender stealing with an original system. And it’s stealing. No matter how you play it.

What amazes me is the support for this girl by the general public. Do they support the bank teller skimming? Or the grocery store clerk skimming. Or the line cook walking out with steaks.

Thoughts on this??

I gave up Diet Coke 529 days.

I mostly stick to club soda.

When I drank Diet Coke I’d drink McDonald’s fountain Diet Coke whenever I could. I’d drive five miles off an exit in the highway to get a McDonald’s Diet Coke.

Now that I don’t drink diet soda I often just take a can from the fridge.

But.

When I’m out running errands I like to drive through and get a fountain soda. McDonald’s is still the best.

Here’s the problem.

McDonalds doesn’t have a button on its computer sumtstem for soda water. Because of that the following two things always happen.

First I have no idea what it’s going to cost.

I’m almost always told they don’t sell soda/seltzer water.

The cost is either free, 22 cents, 1.08 (the cost of a Coke), 1.26 (the cost of a sweet tea), 1.76(I have no idea why).

There’s no rhyme or reason. I can drive through the same McDonalds three times in one day and it will be a different price each time.

As for being told they don’t serve it. This is the reason for the post. I have yet to find a way to say that yes they do without sounding rude. And the kid on the window isn’t interested in a dialogue. And I don’t want to be an ass.

But they DO have soda water. I’ve even watched how to make it on the fancy machine so many times that I sometimes explain how to make it.

So how do I order, then explain they do have it, without being an ass. I am also sure to check myself for impatience. I’m not annoyed. At this point it’s just funny. I also don’t mind paying, although a consistent price would be nice.

Any advice?

Reservations are funny things.

You’ve told a business that they have to hold a table for you. That you will come and spend money at 7:15 if they seat you at a table exactly at this time.

My favorite is the comments/requests/demands that are added to the reservation.

Most are awesome.

Birthday. Anniversary. Retirement. Promotion.

Some however are demanding.

I insist you move me to to this specific table. Or provide this specific item. Or do this insane thing.

However.

Sometimes they are funny.

Not on purpose.

This week someone requested a window seat with a water view. (We are in the middle of nowhere. Definitely not near the water.).

Someone else requested we have mussels brought to the table as it was their favorite. (We haven’t served mussels since I worked there!).

Someone else insisted we call them to arrange payment before they arrived.

The thing no one realizes is that when we are busy we don’t often look at these requests until day of.

We will accommodate them with in reason.

But we don’t have window seats. And we are a mile and a half from the water.

We can’t provide you a menu item we don’t serve.

I also seriously, seriously, seriously mean it it that if you need something something specific call the restaurant. Sometimes it’s a 17 year old kid who reads this first. And they won’t be able to help you.

And I’ll finish by saying that allergy info is great. But remind your server. We pay attention but if it’s life and death say it to everyone you come in contact with.

I wanted to put a bowl of water on the table for the water view guy and say here you go!

Phone rang today around 2:00.

Older man on the phone.

Wanted to know if we were open because the weather was bad. (It was only raining).

I assured him we were. He hung up.

Phone rang again around 2:10. I know from caller ID that it’s the same man. 

Wants to know if he needs a reservation to come in for dinner. I advise him that it’s always best to have one, because we don’t save room from walkins.

He thanks me and hangs up.

The phone rang again around 2:20.

Guess who?

He wants to know if he can make a reservation. I get the important information. 2 people at 5:00 for tonight. I get to the last step. I’m about to hit confirm. He stops me. Says he needs to confirm this with his wife. He’ll call back. I cancel the reservation and hang up.

Phone rings around 2:30.

It’s him again. He wants to make a reservation but he wants the the room to the left of the bar with the doors that shut. I explain that those rooms are for 6 to 8 people. I say I can’t reserve the room for just two people. He says he’ll check with his wife. And call back.

Phone rings at 2:40.

Guess who.

He wants to know if he makes the reservation for a later time can he have the room. I explain that unfortunately no. It’s only for larger parties. He says okay. Hangs up.

Phone rings at 2:50.

He wants to know if he can get one of the booths that are separate in the dining room. I say yes. We have one open. He makes the reservation. 2 people. Table 11. 5:00. I confirm everything and we hang up.

Phone rings. It’s 3:00.

He apologizes but says he’d like to cancel.

I cancel the reservation.

We hang up.

So I just posted what’s a good server do!

So a different question.

Lots of my friends are in the restaurant industry.

What do good customers do to make your life better?

There is a local Facebook page dedicated to seacoast restaurants.

Yesterday they ask: What’s something a server does that makes you happy.

The answers were appalling. Do this. Do that. Gives me and my kids free stuff. Don’t do this. Don’t do that!

So I ask you: What’s something a server does what makes you happy?

Sometimes the guests they amaze you. In their awfulness.

On Friday night around 7:15 a couple walked in. They had reservations for the bar.

They immediately started asking if they could sit somewhere else. The chef’s table. The dining room.

Unfortunately I couldn’t seat them elsewhere.

I take them to the bar and on the way there they ask if the chef is in tonight. I say of course. He’s always here.

I seat them.

Two seconds later the bartender comes to ask if they can move to two different seats.

We get them situated.

They order.

About 5 minutes later I see the man at the kitchen window taking photos. I have no idea what he’s doing.

Ten minutes later the bartender appears to let me know that the man wants to have a meeting with chef. He insists that he put a note in the res but his reservation had no notes.

I ask the bartender to find out what he wants so I can let the chef know.

The bartender comes back to let me know he’s a chef who bought the same grill we have and wants to chat with chef about it.

I tell the bartender to let chef know what’s going on

The couple eats, they drink a lot I find out later.

Around 8:30 I’m at the door when they leave.

Neither of them acknowledged me when they left.

Turns out they were tipsy got angry that the chef was taking too long and stormed out.

The chef was waiting for things to quieten down and was on his way out when they left.

End of story.

Or it should have been.

We use Resy for reservations and the person who makes the reservation gets an email for a survey.

We got these people’s response today.

Out of a possible 100 he gave us a 25%.

His comments:

“Food was mediocre at best! It was not a busy night, asked to speak with the Chef/Owner who never even once came out. Drove up from New York to experience this restaurant which turned out to be a total disappointment!”

So here’s the deal.

If you are in the industry you never shit on someone like this.

Period.

He knew he was driving four hours to come here. He never once reached out. He could have called and let us know he was coming. Trust me chef loves to talk about his grill.

Our chef/owner does not sit in the office all night processing invoices. If you come to my restaurant and order a ribeye the chef/owner cooks it. He’s missed maybe ten days in 3.5 years. He’s cooked 99% of the steaks we’ve served in the time we’ve been open.

On Friday night, no we were not super busy, but the kitchen was staffed for the business we did. And part of that staff was the chef cooking. If he’d walked off the line we would have been short staffed. He was waiting for things to slow down before he came out.

We very rarely. I repeat. Very rarely get a complaint about our food. And 99% of the time we can trace it back to another issue.

The same is true from last night.

He was pissed that chef took too long.

And who shits on a fellow chef. Even if the food was mediocre you’d never share that.

So today I did some sleuthing.

With Resy there is a button to Google your guest.

So I did.

First what he does is a real job.

But.

He is a chef at a country club. He creates menus for weddings. Fish or chicken? Caesar or soup.

The photos of his food online is seriously stuck in 1995. He’s had the job since 1995.

He makes a ton of money as the country club is a non profit and his salary was online.

I’d bet he processes invoices during service. He definitely isn’t on sauté or grill during service.

Here’s the thing. If he’d waited two minutes he’d have been happy. But impatience is not a virtue. The chef was on his way out when they left.

Next time make an appointment! Bet he doesn’t like when people come by without an appointment.

But for the love of god don’t be a dick.

I’ve requested to chef to let me reach out to him on Monday.

I’ll keep you posted.