I walk out to the patio tonight.

As I approach the host a table calls me over.

The let me know they aren’t happy with their table. It’s in the middle of everyone.

And.

They haven’t had a meeting moment of privacy.

I don’t know what they need to discuss in private.

I echo their sentiments. Tell them we’ll discuss it with the team at our manager meeting on Thursday.

About fifteen minutes later I go back to the table to deliver a steak that was undercooked.

I drop it off.

And go back to work.

Then.

I get this review tonight.

We have been coming to LF since you opened. always have had great service, especially with Tina, we understand she left. Last visit with Tom was memorable with great food and 5 Star service. Tonight was our worst experience ever. We were placed at a table directly in front of the bar/ host stand where all check ins were standing and overflow guest waiting all around us. We called the manager over and he basically ignored our feedback saying how this table should not be placed in this high traffic area. Our steak arrived rare when ordered medium and had to be sent back, once again the manager came to our table to return to steak, no apology offered. We tipped 20% with a bill over $150, Not at all high end dining that one would expect. Neither manager or Wait staff did anything to make up for a night of dissatisfaction. Need to remove the table from this high traffic area and give customer service when needed. Basic curtesy in the restaurant business. Hope this helps future guest and us on our next visit.

Hmmmm

I’m not sure what they expected me to do in the moment. Pick up the table and move it across the patio?

As for the steak. Yes I brought it to the table. And no I didn’t apologize. I stopped apologizing a few weeks ago after I read an article about customer relations.

Hi. I heard you wanted your steak cooked a little more to your liking. Enjoy. Please let me know if you need anything else.

It’s worked for more than a month.

Acknowledge that it wasn’t to their liking. It’s better now. Ask for me if you need something else.

Until tonight.

Meanwhile.

I’m bad at my job again.

Tonight I get called to the host stand.

I get there and an older woman is waiting to speak to me.

She launched into her complaint.

She has ordered the mashed potatoes. She did not know they had garlic. She is allergic to garlic. She is now going to be very sick because no one told her that the mashed potatoes have garlic.

I wait until she is finished.

I ask her if she told her server she was allergic to garlic.

No but…the menu should have said it had garlic.

I ask again did you tell your server.

No but…

She insists that the menu should have said it.

Fun fact.

Our menu doesn’t describe any of our sides.

Mashed potatoes.

Potato salad.

Quinoa salad.

French fries.

House salad.

Creamed spinach

Broccolini.

No description.

Just a list.

The potatoe salad has egg. The broccolini is grilled. The mashed potatoes have garlic.

Last night a man sent back the creamed spinach because it has cheese.

More than once someone has sent back the quinoa salad because they didn’t know what it was.

But.

I’m going to go out on a limb here.

If you have an allergy. One that is serious. One that will make you sick. It is your responsibility to tell us about it.

And.

It wasn’t till later I learned she had ordered the filet. It is brushed with seasoning that has garlic powder. But she wouldn’t know that because she didn’t ask or tell us about the allergy.

Tonight was a treat.

Around 5:30 a server comes to me carrying two empanadas. She says table 31 said they were disgusting. And burnt.

They look exactly like they were supposed to.

About ten minutes later I hear the bell in the kitchen ring twice.

One ring or a bunch of times means hands to run food.

Two distinct dings means they need me.

I go to the window and chef calls me over. A table has asked for a new server.

Table 31.

I go over and the man says he wants a new server.

This never happens.

I take the appropriate steps. Get them a new server.

40 minutes later they were gone.

They complained on the way out about to food. They gave us a zero on our survey.

And.

The tipped nada, nothing, zero to the server who took over the table.

This really is more about them.

And.

The server who was replaced?

Her cat was hit by a car about two hours before she arrived to work. She was doing her best to hold it together.

She was a class act.

Those two guys.

There aren’t words.

We’ll there are but I’m too much of a lady to use them.

We opened the doors at 5:00 last night.

I entered the lobby just as table 13 was being sat.

The host returns 45 seconds later and let’s me know the man is angry because it’s cold in the dining room.

I checked the thermostat and it was 68. Not cold. But the air was on. It gets warm in our dining room very quickly.

Three minutes later his server comes to me and says that he is angry at her because it’s cold in the dining room.

I go back to the thermostat and click it up one degree.

I approach the table and let him know that I’ve adjusted the temperature.

Here’s the thing though. Your comfort doesn’t supersede everyone else’s comfort. We adjust the temperature to be nice in the dining room.

For everyone.

I thought this was the end of the discussion.

Until we got this on a survey today.

My experience was not good at all. The ambiance was nice, but the food was just mediocre. My biggest complaint was it was freezing in the restaurant. I complained to the hostess, but she just ignored me. I then spoke to our server who did speak to the manager. He came by and said he’d make it less cold. This lasted maybe 10 minutes and then it became very cold again and stayed that way. I mentioned this to the manager when he came by, but he too ignored me. Basically, he was a total jerk. He walked by me several times and never once inquired as to how I was doing. I was not the only one freezing. Several other customers were complaining among themselves and were wearing sweaters and jackets. My wife and I had to keep out coats on during the entire meal. This is total BS and no way to treat customers . My bill was just short of $400. If it was me I would get rid of the manager immediately! I will never go back and will advise all my friends to do the same! I wanted this to be a fun evening, but instead it was horrible!

So.

Here’s the thing about people who write this shit.

At least tell the truth.

I spoke to the guy once. To tell him I’d adjusted the temp. I never spoke to him again. And more importantly he never spoke to me again.

Yes I walked by the table a bunch of times. As a manager it’s my job to walk through the dining room. It’s my job.

And no I didn’t ask him how he was. But he never indicated he needed my help.

And to call me a jerk.

Seriously.

As for being fired.

I shudder to think what it would be like to work for this man.

He played the victim.

And isn’t it inconvenient that the food was just mediocre. 99.9999% of the guests we serve love our food. Funny he is cold and just happens to hate the food.

I also love how he speaks for others in the dining room. I spoke to 70% of the guests last night. No one complained.

And the so called coat he kept on was a sports coat. It’s not like it was a parka. He’d have probably kept it on anyway.

And I spoke to his three friends on their way out. All three said they had a lovely evening.

Summer is coming.

Tonight I approach the host stand as a lady in white is asking questions about a large party.

The host answers the question correctly.

Later I’m at the front again and the host says the woman came back and wanted to know if we could do 10 people at the chefs table.

The chefs table are the two tables in front of our open kitchen.

We hold those tables for VIP’s and chefs friends.

The host tells the woman we don’t pull the tables together, so we probably can’t do it.

The woman won’t take no for an answer.

She is insisting we say yes.

So I tell the host.

Tell her to email me her request.

For big parties we use a pre fixe menu. I’ll offer her that and let her sit at the chef’s table.

I’ll let you know how it plays out but if we can charge her more we’ll gladly let her do it.

A year ago today I was invited to drive 45 minutes south to interview for a job as a restaurant GM.

A friend of mine was the executive sous chef there and had recommended me.

Actually he’d asked me about it a month earlier. I had asked a couple of questions but I already had a job.

Fun story.

My current boss the chef/owner had visited my previous job before we opened and we pretended neither of us knew each other. I shook his hand and said nice to meet you.

The interview.

I arrived 15 minutes early. Resume in hand.

The chef came out early and I was invited in to chat.

We sat at table 33.

I asked if he wanted to see my resume as he’d never seen it.

He told me my reputation spoke for itself.

I spoke less in this interview than any other interview in my life.

He told me about his vision.

He told me about his passion.

He spoke of the challenges he was facing.

He spoke about the things that were working.

He gave me a tour. The space was beautiful.

Finally he asked me to dinner that night.

Come see the restaurant in action.

I left.

Adam and I went back for dinner at 6:00.

It was amazing

Service was great. Food was great. Space was beautiful.

I could see things that needed to be fixed. (They have been).

But it was clearly a special place.

I accepted his offer the next day.

I gave my notice the same day.

Two weeks from today was my first day.

It’s was a great decision.

This is a 2 part story.

A year ago this past Saturday I was at work at my new job. We had been stupidly busy. Insanely so for a new restaurant still struggling with staffing.

At the end of the night the owner appeared to complain that two employees had parked in the guest parking lot. He reminded me that not even I was allowed to park in the restaurant parking lot.

I had ignored this fact since I started. As GM there needed to be some perks. So I parked behind the chef who was allowed to park in the lot.

I told the owner that I’d speak to the server who parked in the lot.

At the end of the night the server came into the office to give me his cash out. I checked his report and said:

Hey. Just so you know you can’t park in the restaurant parking lot. You have to park in city parking a mile away. (Really a mile away. It cost a 100 bucks for a pass).

The server lost his shit.

He shouted at me about all the reasons this sucked. And the reasons I sucked. All the reasons the rules didn’t apply to him.

I listened to him and let it slide.

This was not a star employee. I once had a guest he was waiting on call the restaurant ask for me then ask if they could get a round of drinks as they’d been waiting for service for 30 minutes.

This is not an exaggeration.

So Then.

I called the person I reported to so that I could tell her I’d be letting the sever go the next day.

She said okay.

She arrived at noon the next day to tell me all the reasons I couldn’t fire this particular employee.

All the reasons.

Then the owner appeared to explain that I just needed to get to know the employee. Perhaps I should invite him out to lunch and I’d see his side of things.

I sat there.

Seething.

The server was not much better that day.

I was off on Tuesday. .

That afternoon I called my boss and told her that if I was not permitted to let the offending server go I’d resign.

Six seconds later the owner calls.

He is asking me to calm down.

Not owning the issue.

Just telling me to calm down.

On Thursday I walked in and gave my notice.

The following Monday was my last day.

It was the first time I’d ever given an ultimatum.

Everyday we get messages on social media.

What is your address?

Can I get a reservation for 2 on July 3.

Where are you located?

What kind of food do you serve?

Do you have parking?

Can I send a friend of mine a round of drinks tonight?

All questions on messenger.

Both Facebook and instagram.

Here’s the thing.

You have an internet connection.

I know this because social media is on line.

So you have access to our website. You have access to our photos. You have access to a map. To reservations. To a phone number.

Fun fact.

Only Fortune 500 countries and probably not all of them have people monitoring their social media 24 hours a day.

We have three people who can check our messages and still a couple of days can go by before someone sees the message.

Our auto response gives our address and phone number.

And still people don’t call.

They respond to the auto response.

Seriously.

99% of America has an answer box in their hands.

I know only one it’s on who doesn’t have a cell phone.

So use it.

Google it.

Just do it.

I’ve seen this poster being shared over the last couple of weeks.

It sounds great.

But $22.25 would be a pay cut for most servers.

Even at the worst restaurants.

That’s only $890 for 40 hours.

I was making more than that in the 80’s not working 40 hours.

I know very few servers today who aren’t making double that on 25 hours a week.

It’s why servers do what they do.

And why they end up trapped.

Even at mall restaurants servers make more than that.

So it would be a huge payout to switch to a hourly rate.

And who the fuck wants to get beaten up everyday by the public for that price?

Yes.

The BOH also gets beaten up. Their work is hard in a different way. Should their be a more equitable pay structure.

Absolutely.

However, cutting the pay of more than half your staff is not the answer.

The person who finally figures this out the answer will win a Nobel Prize.

I have a new host. She has worked with us for two weeks.

She is absolutely wonderful.

Tonight a person calls to ask what time our kitchen closed.

She asks me as I’m standing next to her.

I say 8:00.

She said into the phone around 8:00.

When she hung up I had to explain the difference between what I said and what she said. And what it means to the guests.

At 8:00 means you need to be here by 8:00. Not 8:01. Not 8:02.

Around 8:00 means you can show up at 8:20 and insist we feed you.

It might sound extreme but these are things you learn while dealing with the public.

I think she might think I’m crazy.

Which is not wrong.