Monday, June 22, 2009
Restaurants Hi, I'm Chris and I'll Be Your Server Today
Posted by Chris Chamberlain on Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 2:03 PM
Nobody quantifies the unquantifiable better than the Zagats. For years, Nina and Tim have slapped a score from 1 to 30 on Food, Decor, Service and Cost. Service actually seems to be one of the most subjective criteria of all, but I guess a 1 would be the owner of Sam's sushi if you pissed him off every day for a month and a 30 would be your bubbe hand-feeding you chicken noodle soup when you have the flu.
But the Zagats have officially called out the servers of the service industry. In an article for Atlantic, they assert that American restaurants need to focus less on celebrity chefs and more on hospitality and professionalism. It's a thought-provoking read.
Trade schools are popping up everywhere to prepare future chefs and kitchen workers, but the concept of a career server is largely lost outside of the higher-end steakhouses in Nashville. Where do you find the best service in town? Does an excellent server affect more than just the size of your tip? Would you actually choose or avoid an establishment based of the performance of the front of the house?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Comments (9)
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Would you actually choose or avoid an establishment based of the performance of the front of the house?
Yes. Sam's is a good example. As is Prince's. I love cheap sushi and hot chicken, but waiting 45min to an hour is unacceptable.
Additionally I avoid Mafiaoza's & Ken's Sushi because of both bad service and bad food.
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I love cheap sushi and hot chicken, but waiting 45min to an hour is unacceptable.
So call ahead for the hot chicken. Believe me, the last thing in the world I want anyone to rush is the frying of chicken. Mrs. Pink was made deathly ill for a couple of days last week by an uncooked chicken strip at a Hickory Hollow fast-food establishment.
In answer to your question, Chris: an excellent server definitely affects more than the size of the tip. My wife and I made sure to return to Brasserie Jo in Chicago because our server Amy was so amazing. She was more than someone handing us food: she was an ambassador who set the tone for our entire trip.
Of course, to keep servers that good, I would imagine (or hope) you have to pay them something that makes them want to stay. They're worth the money, I can tell you that.
I was a waiter here in town for over a decade and at this point I have learned that I just want them to be invisible....I don't mean that in a bad way, just that when I'm out with friends, I'm OUT WITH FRIENDS, so I don't need to make new ones. Tell me your name, fine, I won't remember it. But don't chat me up and especially don't reach across me without acknowledging it.
Though that can go both ways - I had a lovely dinner at Blackbird in Chicago once that was marred only be the server saying "pardon my reach" every time she reached across me. It was almost comical at one point. I excused you the first time, lady, quit making me answer you. I am in the middle of a fascinating story about myself!
I like the service at Marché; it's smiley without too much chat. Germantown Café has invisible servers (they wear black in that dark room; that helps). Park Café gets it right. The middle ones seem to not bother me - the too fancy ones get on my nerves and the casual ones make me insane with "personality."
Ahh Mafia0osa's or whatever that place is called....
The last time (ever) I went there, we were seated. Within moments one of 'them' approached our table and advised us that we had to move to another table. I said that would be BeLOW ME.
never again.
I'm commenting specifically about the owner of Sam's Sushi.
I know, I know,...it's supposedly so cute to some to think he's our loveable Soup Nazi guy and it's so cute to see him be gruff.
Not for me, the guy is a jerk, plain and simple. If some of you yuppie types like it, fine. To me, he's a jerk I'd love to see go out of business. Why some people think it's cool is beyond me...probably the same people who think it's cool to spend over $100 to cook your own food at Melting Pot or sit on a patio in 90+ degree humidity.
For the good, just be a decent person. I don't need the waiter to be my pal, just don't be a jerk, be pleasant and cheerful.
Mostly, refill, refill, refill the drinks, and don't sit me and wait more than 2 minutes without at least some kind of acknowledgement, even if it's a "Be there in a bit."
I stay away from Mellow Mushroom because hippies make for terrible waiters.
That and it takes an hour to get a pizza & they don't take orders over the phone.
12south taproom. proper sense of both urgency and indifference. it's about the beer and the grub, and they are smart enough to stay away until you're ready for a refill.
Cha Cha's had superb service when I was in town. From the fellow who greeted and seated us when we walked in to the Australian gal who was our server, it was an all-around great dining experience.
Good service makes for a heightened encounter with a restaurant. Waiting tables is a job done with pride in most parts of Europe, and the stigma Americans have attached to servers doesn't exist over there. When this country finally accepts the art of service, only then will servers be less reliant on tips and more on actual salaries...and diners will thus get the biggest bang for their buck if they've come into a sit-down restaurant.
