UNITED STATES—Going out to eat is a luxury in my opinion. There are so many people that would love to do it, but they don’t always get the opportunity to do it. So, when I get the opportunity to make it happen, I try to do so. However, I wonder what are you supposed to do when you go to a restaurant and you don’t get top tier service that you expect? You find yourself in a dicey predicament.
I’m not a snob or asshole when it comes to people behaving badly, but at the same time I like to call out BS when possible. Why? I went to a decent restaurant where I was celebrating my mother’s 65th birthday. It was a very nice restaurant to say the least, but the problem was the waitress. There was a party sitting next to us that was pretty large to say the least. We already know that when it comes to large parties, most restaurants already include the gratuity/tip in the bill because it’s just a given.
Why was I annoyed? That meant my party was like ignored during the process. The waitress only came one time to our table asking if we wanted a refill. She never checked in on us to see if we needed anything and if all was ok. It took her nearly 20-25 minutes to bring us our bill; it was just terrible service all around. The only thing I could say is that the food was fantastic and the portions were great.
There was so much food, that I got full quickly and had leftovers for the next day. I just couldn’t shake the waitress and her service. It was fuming my blood, so much to the point that by the time she brought the bill, we paid for it and we couldn’t wait to get out of the restaurant. I know what many of you are thinking: did you leave the waitress a tip? Yes, but she didn’t receive a large tip.
Why would we, considering her laissez faire attitude? If you’re going to give bad service, I’m not going to reward you for it. It’s not fair for people to have to deal with nasty attitudes and just a lack of attentiveness to your diners. Look, I’ve worked in the customer service arena for more than a decade plus.
I first-hand know what it’s like dealing with the public, and how some people can be complete tools and annoying as hell. You have to just hold your tongue and deal with it, but sometimes people need to be called out for their antics. I wanted to complain to management, but then I realized what good would that do. The bad service had already been implemented. So as a result, a smaller tip was left than what could have been received by the waitress.
I told myself I would return to the restaurant for the food alone, but as I’m writing this column, a realization has hit me: NO. I will not return to this establishment. If you can provide great food, but terrible service, you don’t deserve my dollars. I can give that money to another restaurant who would be much more appreciative.
