What's the most important thing to you when eating out?

[jkath]

.....and who exactly made the decision that people want to be sung to on their birthday by the tone-deaf staff?

 

[norgeskog]

.....and who exactly made the decision that people want to be sung to on their birthday by the tone-deaf staff?

I would like to know that too, jkath, take a 2x4 to their tone deaf ears.

 

[middie]

cleanliness, price, quality, atmosphere

 

[Erik]

We eat out a lot...I just want good food, good service, and a clean restaurant.

 

[Lifter]

Erik makes a good point of a "clean" restaurant...whether it be a "greasy spoon" or "untidy" or "unequipped" washroom or whatever other unpleasant "discoveries" you might have experienced, this is probably one of the biggest...

Next, in my own opinion, would be the service...and I understand exactly what many respondents are trying to get at...from the "quarter empty glass" thing, to, umpteen years ago, pulling out a cigarette, after eating and finding a waiter at my elbow with a lighter, before I could dig my own out! Likewise, some "knowledge" of where they access their products, how its cooked, or, in the case of our allergetic son, what its cooked in...there's nothing worse than having a "grand family dinner" and experiencing your child going through "toxic shock", puking, choking, turning "blue", etcetera, because the service staff "didn't know" that their product was cooked in peanut oil, or that this can (and does!) literally kill, or that contact with "fish" products does only slightly less...

"Wine knowledge" on the part of a serving staff is likewise appreciated...they are supposed to know what's available...

If you want to eat at Red Lobster, East Side Mario's, or similar, you have to accept that these are "price driven" places, and some eaters are probably going there with a "purpose" of seeing a conga line of staff discordantly "singing" Happy Birthday to some "diner"...tho' I really have no complaint with the food at the pricing offered!

Lifter

 

[Erik]

We try to pick our restaurants accordingly, depending what we are in the mood for.

We try to stay away from buffets, "fad" chain restaurants,and fast food when we go out to eat.

With my "knowledge" of food, wine, drinks, running the front and back of the restaurants, I kinda keep a watchful eye, and ask a lot of questions.

I try to not make employees feel uncomfortable, but sometimes I mistakenly succeed, because I "help" them if they seem out of sorts, or know what's going on with what they are serving.

 

[Lifter]

Can we accompany you some night?

Would seem that it would be a real pleasure!

Lifter

 

[Erik]

That would be very cool!!! I try not to embarrass ANYONE...I wish that servers would be more open-minded, and learn. There are quite a few great ones. Sharp, and know their food, drink, cooking procedures, etc.

I work with a lot of servers, that are there to make a quick buck, so they can go out and party at the end of the night. Ignorance flows freely, and I really get angry when they turn their nose up at Black Bean Soup, because it's not Cream of Broccoli.

 

[Lifter]

If you'd called it "Navy Bean" soup, Erik, you'd have scored a 4.0 with me!

"Servers" "knowing" their "Chefs" and what was freshest and "best" out of the kitchen that night, what "went well" together....(if not "why"!)

Pity the servers seem seldom "exposed" to what "chef" can or cannot "do" within his/her restrictions...

If we can get together for dinner, bring your wife (as I will!) and will see if we cannot find the limit on my VISA! Expect you and I would have a WONDERFUL "post mortem" on just about any menu!

LOL!

Lifter

 

[DampCharcoal]

As much as I rip on Friday's, that is one of the cleanest restaurants you can find. The kitchen is taken down and scrubbed top to bottom every night, they employ a special crew for that.

 

[Barbara L]

Good food is the most important thing (if we want bad food, we can eat at home! LOL), but service is definitely a big factor.

My mom and I went to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for lunch one day. It was a small place with just one or two servers. It just happened to be right at the time of day that all the businessmen started coming in for lunch. AFTER we were seated, several groups of men came in. Every one of them was waited on before we were. In fact, we never were--after 20 minutes we walked out. Like my mom said, I'm sure the server was afraid she wouldn't get as good a tip from us, so she ignored us. We never went back there again. I'm sure it was a coincidence, but that place shut down within a few months.

Barbara

 

[lyndalou]

Cleanliness, good service quality of the food are all important. I don't like to gowhere I have to shout to be heard by my dinner companion(s). Wait staff should be courteous and friendly, but not over the top. I really don't like being called "hon" or , as someone pointed out, having the waiter sit down for a chat.

As for the food, I think that if you are dissatisfied a person should voice complaints. They can't fix it if they don't know about it.

 

[DigitalAether]

If one thing can get me turned off about a restaurant other than the obvious (bad food, dirty place etc) it would be over-friendly waiters. Here in Houston we supposedly have more restaurants per capita than any other city in the US. That creates a lot of competition here in the food business and I think that is the reason it has been a long time I have been served by waitstaff that I consider rude, so that is not an issue with me. But I have had waiters sit down and talk to me like they were one of my best friends. I don't care for that at all. I like the 'ninja' waiters that someone had described earlier, and it is tru, you don't see them much here in the US, but that is exactly how they are in Mexico and I wish there were more places here where the serving style was like that.

 

[buckytom]

i love lugaru's description of "ninja" waiters. that is the best you can get, imo.
to me, the quality of food is first, then service, then ambience. i just hope the health dept. is doing their job so i don't have to worry about cleanliness. gb nailed it when he said he expects all three to be top notch in a high end place, but the food just has to be good in a dive.

i don't mind friendly waiters, but make sure my drink is full, and you've checked to see if there's anything else i need first. and if you want to sit down and chat, i'd better be getting something for free, like a drink or dessert. and if you screw up an order, friendly or not, i'd better be getting something comp'd as well. i will tip accordingly. usually too much.

this past year, my wife and i had a bad experience on our anniversary. we went to one of our all time favorite places near home, the south city grill, where we went at least once a month before the baby and dropped at least $125 every time, but now will not be going back again anytime soon. we noticed the entire staff had changed, to people that didn't have a clue or seem to care about the fact that this was their current job. we were seated, waited forever for a menu, then the first round of drinks, the for the waiter just to take the order. then, after eating dried out (pre-shucked hours before i guess) oysters, we waited some more, and then a different waiter told me that the entree i ordered was out, and i would need to select something else. i did, and ordered another round, and a little while later, our meals came, without drinks, and my wife's dish was cold, but she was so hungry she ate it. mine was seriously lacking the seafood that it was supposed to be made out of. mostly just pasta and a heavy cream sauce.
well, our second round of drinks never came, and after we finished our dinners, the original waiter ran over (i saw him watching a football game in the meantime) and asked if our dinners were ok and if we wanted dessert. before i could answer came the "friendly" routine. he started asking how old my son was, and commenting on how cute he is, and telling me his whole life plans on having kids. i felt like telling him to get a career he cared about first. i eventually got a word in, told him about the food and drinks, and he actually got a little snotty, then came a dozen excuses about how understaffed they were that day. i was gonna argue about the throng of waiters watching football at the bar, but what would have been the point? we tried to tell the airheaded hostess about it when we were leaving, but she was obviously just window dressing with an iq of a wet bag of manure, more interested in her nails and hair than customers.
well, to say the least, i'm not going back. dw went with a coupla friends for a birthday recently, and nothing has changed. she tried to warn her girlfriends, but they insisted on going there. now they are ex-customers as well.
fortunately for us, there are so many restaurants around that we could go to a different one every week for the rest of our lives and still not eat in them all.
(btw, if you are in nj, my advice is aviod the south city grill on route 17 south)

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Hot chicks!

 

[buckytom]

lol, ok sush, then the south city grill is for you. the hostesses are babes...

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Im THERE Bucky!

LOL!

 

[mish]

Wow, I can certainly relate BT.

You plunk down big bucks, want a great dining experience, & you get Mel's diner.

Wonder if we could start a topic here re our/Discuss Cooking restaurant reviews.

"I'll be back" (or in the case of visiting a really bad restaurant, "I won't be back") to share some of my observations. Thanks bt for passing that along.

P.S. What does btw stand for, anyone?

 

[buckytom]

btw = by the way, sorry, i'm pressed for time today... hard to chat and work at the same time, lol.

 

[-DEADLY SUSHI-]

Bucky dont you work in a hospital? If so, where do you find the time?