Stop Doing This at Restaurants...

[RPCookin]

Okay, maybe this is just me.

While most of these seem completely justified and common sense, others sound like nitpicky server complaints. The one thing on that list that rubs me the wrong way is the if-you're-finished-with-your-meal-GET-OUT point.

I'm sorry, but I go out to dinner, not only to eat, but also to socialize with friends. It should be relaxing and enjoyable, and I really dislike feeling like I'm being pushed out the door when dinner is done. Now granted, if a place is super busy and I see a sea of people waiting for a table, I'll try to vacate and suggest we go somewhere else for an after dinner activity (drinks, dessert, conversation).

The issue with this is that in most restaurants, the servers real income is from tips. The longer you occupy a table without ordering anything more, the lower their hourly rate of earning. In most places, a server is lucky if their base pay is even minimum wage. If you must sit around after you finish, make sure that you tip commensurately. The type of restaurant where you are expected to take 2-3 hours to eat compensates by charging more per meal and/or by paying their staff a higher base rate to make up for the smaller volume.

It's one thing to do this off from normal meal times, but doing it during the lunch or dinner rush, even if the restaurant isn't jammed, is a disservice to the staff.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

This waitperson is a whiner, to the nth degree. S/he should consider another line of work, one that doesn't involve interaction with other human beings. White tiger trainer in Las Vegas immediately comes to mind!

 

[RPCookin]

Those points of contention are from a survey of many workers, not just one. They are just the points that the blogger chose to cherry pick to make his/her point. Some are legitimate, some are a bit extreme.

 

[Addie]

How about a disappearing/non-attentive server. You know the ones you have to flag down because they rarely come to the table to check how things are going or never after service until they bring the check. There are those that you have to flag down even to get the check.

Oh yeah! I don't eat out often, but when I do, just get the check to us as soon as you see we are through. My daughter and I go out to eat and make sure we have plenty of time. We usually have someplace else to go after we eat. Sometimes the customer's time is as valuable as the server's.

 

[Addie]

When I worked in the Downtown area of Boston, I used to get so irritated with customers who are out for a lark and are not part of the working world. There would be eight to ten of them in shorts or jeans with flip flops so you know they are not going back to the office. The wait staff has to push two or more tables together, and of course each one gets their own check.

There was a restaurant downstairs in the ten story building where I worked. At least once a week, this one group would show up right in the middle of the lunch hour. After about three weeks of these customers, management finally told them to please fine another place to dine or come after two a.m. Yeah, 2 a.m. They got the message. Each day they had a quick lunch special. The joke became, "I'll have the 2 a.m. special."

 

[larry_stewart]

Out at a restaurant the other night when this thread hit me , as I was stacking plates at the end of dinner.

After stacking the plates ( nicely I might add) and wiping the crumbs into a nice little pile near the edge of the table ( closest to wear the waitress would be), I found myself wondering why a waiter/ waitress would be bothered by this.

Im sure it's for the people who just randomly and chaotically stack their plates.

Anyway, as I was taking a pic, my wife was like " what the hell are you taking a pic of stacked plates and crumbs"? , Which led to a discussion between her and I about this thread.

I think every job has it's list of annoying things that the customers do just to make their job that much more difficult, but I can't imagine my neatly stacked plates being one of them.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Shrek is the table busser when we eat out. As Larry shows above, how could any wait staff object to this practice?

 

[Merlot]

I'm a plate stacker, I was trained to get them out of the way when I saw a waitress reach over my fathers plate of food to grab another dish. I'm sure it took everything in him to keep him from flying off the handle.

 

[CakePoet]

I dont tip, that would be rude here, nor do I need to end my meal quickly, if I just add a cup of coffee at the end , I have 30 minutes more before I should move.

Tips are not part of the waiters salary here, if they get one the whole staff should share it. So here you only tip if the person does an amazing job and the food is outstanding, but even then it might be seen as rude because you are then implying that the employer isnt follow the rules and regulation.

 

[Addie]

Out at a restaurant the other night when this thread hit me , as I was stacking plates at the end of dinner.

After stacking the plates ( nicely I might add) and wiping the crumbs into a nice little pile near the edge of the table ( closest to wear the waitress would be), I found myself wondering why a waiter/ waitress would be bothered by this.

Im sure it's for the people who just randomly and chaotically stack their plates.

Anyway, as I was taking a pic, my wife was like " what the hell are you taking a pic of stacked plates and crumbs"? , Which led to a discussion between her and I about this thread.

I think every job has it's list of annoying things that the customers do just to make their job that much more difficult, but I can't imagine my neatly stacked plates being one of them.

If we all read the list that the waitress had for us, she objected to dishes being stacked with food still on them, and the silver still on each individual plate. You did it the way she stated she felt was helpful for her. And that small pile of crumbs was a help to her also. She still has to wipe the whole table with a damp cloth. But at least, she can wipe the crumbs onto the top dish.

If you use common sense on how you would like your table at home cleared, and follow that, then you can't go wrong. Do you clear the table at home while someone is still eating, pile the plates with food still on them? Rush the late slow eater? Snatch the plate right from under their nose while there is still food on the plate? I don't know about the rest of you, but I always waited until the last person had finished eating and left the table. Good manners are just for those who are eating, but the person who has to clean up after.

My kids had to take turns each night for clean up. If they had something planned or a friend waiting outside, too bad. Clear the table first. AFTER everyone was finished eating.

 

[Andy M.]

If you stack plates with food bits still on them, you have to rinse off BOTH SIDES of the plate before putting it into the DW.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

If you use the right detergent, you don't need to rinse the plates

 

[Addie]

If you use the right detergent, you don't need to rinse the plates

Really? I tried that method just once. I ended up with a clogged drain with food bits and a flooded dishwasher all over the floor. I scrape the dishes first. That's the down side. The up side? I got the floor washed and nice and clean.

 

[Addie]

If you stack plates with food bits still on them, you have to rinse off BOTH SIDES of the plate before putting it into the DW.

Excellent point Andy!

 

[RPCookin]

Really? I tried that method just once. I ended up with a clogged drain with food bits and a flooded dishwasher all over the floor. I scrape the dishes first. That's the down side. The up side? I got the floor washed and nice and clean.

Somehow, I don't think that commercial dishwashers would have that problem. Ours have always had a soft food disposal built into the drain, so a little bit of stuff on the top or bottom of the plate isn't an issue. You can't treat it as if it was an actual garbage disposal, but it just means that you don't have to spend an inordinate amount of time rinsing and scraping.

 

[CarolPa]

I have found plates with food stuck to the bottom at the local casino buffet, and I know for a fact that they have a commercial dish washer.

I am innocent of all wrong doing, but DH is a plate stacker, and he also jokes with the staff, while I'm kicking him under the table. LOL

 

[Addie]

Somehow, I don't think that commercial dishwashers would have that problem. Ours have always had a soft food disposal built into the drain, so a little bit of stuff on the top or bottom of the plate isn't an issue. You can't treat it as if it was an actual garbage disposal, but it just means that you don't have to spend an inordinate amount of time rinsing and scraping.

Well, mine was with my dishwasher at home.

 

[GotGarlic]

Well, mine was with my dishwasher at home.

Well, this thread is about restaurant server gripes.

 

[jennyema]

People stack plates at a restaurant?

 

[Steve Kroll]

The issue with this is that in most restaurants, the servers real income is from tips. The longer you occupy a table without ordering anything more, the lower their hourly rate of earning. In most places, a server is lucky if their base pay is even minimum wage. If you must sit around after you finish, make sure that you tip commensurately. The type of restaurant where you are expected to take 2-3 hours to eat compensates by charging more per meal and/or by paying their staff a higher base rate to make up for the smaller volume.

It's one thing to do this off from normal meal times, but doing it during the lunch or dinner rush, even if the restaurant isn't jammed, is a disservice to the staff.

Thanks for the lecture, but I eat out a lot, and am fully aware of how the tipping system works.

I'm not talking about Denny's or IHOP kind of places, where workers make peanuts. I'm referring to first class restaurants where I'm paying a good chunk of change for a nice evening out, complete with a generous tip for the wait staff. Some of these folks are making well over $100/hour in tips alone. And for that kind of money, I don't want to hear anyone whining about not clearing out fast enough.

If my party is sitting there nursing water or coffee for hours on end, that might be cause for complaint. But sometimes we simply like to enjoy the last of the bottle of wine we paid for and have a bit of relaxing conversation without a waiter walking by every couple of minutes sighing and rolling their eyes. Plus, as I stated above, if there is a line out the door of people waiting to be seated, we generally try to head out so someone else can have the table.