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You may think it looks cool or seems really sophisticated to listen to my dining order without writing anything down, but it is actually just plain stupid. Oh, what a big surprise it is when my order comes and you've gotten it wrong. I make you take it back because I ordered the one thing on the menu that I wanted to eat. No one expects you to have a mastermind brain that can hold five or more separate pieces of new information at a time. You are bound to get my order and many other orders wrong. Drink, appetizer, salad, main dish, multiplied by however many people are at the table. Oh, and hold the sauce and the mushrooms. And another thing, it is not appetizing to have your meal handed to you by a skeleton who doesn't appear to eat. Please: Grab a paper and pen, eat a sandwich, and leave your brainpower to something greater!
—Anonymous
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But never give a full-tip to a Server that gets your order wrong. Getting the order wrong is failing too.
First an I, anonymous bitching about Yelpers and thier reviews.
And now an I, anonymous that pretty much sums up why Yelpers write reviews.
I'm confused.
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However, calling somebody out for looking like a skeleton is a really shitty thing to say. Are you fat and feel justified? Are you just a dick who thinks people are on this earth to look pleasing only to him? Are you single, sad, alone, and hungry?
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And clearly there are too many waitstaff in the comment corral. Jesus, can you all bridle.
I am done with style over substance when it comes to my order. Write the damn thing down. And if your managers won't let you, kindly alert me to that fact and I'll tell them myself to take the heat off you.
You don't know if I have a (doctor-tested and -documented and life-threatening) food allergy.
You don't know if I'm hankering for a particular taste that's haunted me since childhood.
You don't know if I just fucking hate onions.
And you know what? You're not going to. But you're going to write down my order anyway, and not judge, because it's why you're getting my 20% for bringing me water I could have poured myself and a beer I could have had from a bottle while I wait for a meal I could have heard my number called for. That's our social contract.
(And @2, hold the sauce and mushrooms isn't many—it's two. It's two holds I need to turn my order from food I am biologically forced to consume to a thing that pleases my soul.)
I didn't want to order from you anyway. I want every restaurant to operate like my favorite food truck or Chipotle and Chop't—to provide me with healthy, restaurant-quality meals without the restaurant bullshit. I order what I want, I get what I want, and I pay right there with no waiting for you to seat me, no waiting for you to take my order, no searching in vain for you to give me the check (just to have you walk away in the split second it takes me to get my wallet out when I'm trying to pay you with the credit card that you have to leave me yet again to swipe).
A decade ago I could only get that speed and convenience from fast food, but nowadays that's no longer the case. New restaurants and trucks are proving that every day.
So as far as I'm concerned, you, the server, are far more likely to be an impediment to my restaurant experience than the thing that makes it sparkle. But I'll still sigh and give you my order. Just like I sigh and go to the checkout clerk rather than the self-serve line at the grocery store, even when there's a line—because I don't want her to lose her job for my convenience—I'll keep going to your restaurant and tipping you to keep you afloat, too.
But I don't have to like it, and I don't have to eat something I didn't order just so you look classy doing a job I don't want you to be doing anyway.
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Yeah, I've had an occasional mistake from a server, but certainly not on a regular basis. And the need to modify every order and snarky comment on the server's appearance ("it is not appetizing to have your meal handed to you by a skeleton who doesn't appear to eat") tells me all I need to know.
This self-indulgent individual thinks that the 12% tip being paid (the service wasn't good) gives them the right to act like the Queen Mother dealing with a royal servant. I hope the kitchen staff dragged their little danglies through your meal before you were served.
Because really we're all agreed that the most important thing here is that you should enjoy your job creatively and providing food to people in an efficient and unobtrusive manner obviously has to come second to that.
Oh, and @14... Why don't you just go eat at Chipotle if that's what you want? I'm sure the people who work there would also benefit from your patronage if that's what you're concerned about. Since it's apparently such a chore for you to go out to eat, you may as well enjoy it.
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It's a shit job, prob never do it again. But I'll tell you one thing......
I COULD'VE GAVE A FLYING FUCK IF YOUR ORDER WAS WRONG!
Most servers, in the end feel the same. Your complaint is dumb.
Don't tell people how to do their job.
Come down to the gutter you work at and knock the diiiiiiiiiick outta yer mouth.
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I used to hate customers like you - whiny bitches who seemingly make a hobby out of complaining about the service in restaurants because they don't have any real problems. Oh, and how terrible that the server's appearance wasn't up to your standards. (Hint: complaining that skinny people gross you out is no better than complaining that fat people gross you out. You come across as a grade-A d-bag when you do this.)
On behalf of myself and restaurant staff everywhere: lick me where I pee, bitch.
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As a patron I'd much rather be served by someone who isn't wearing a straightjacket of "good etiquette"
use your brain for something more interesting indeed!
(fuck hospitality)
@24, because man cannot live on burritos alone. He must also have pad thai and fish tacos.
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There is so much attitude in the service industry out here it's unbelievable.
Thanks to Yelp, etc...these jerk customers can complain to more than just their jerk friends, and they have the power to destroy a business's reputation. A new restaurant opened up in my neighborhood and after reading the reviews about how godawful the service is, I decided not to bother going. There are so many other options, why bother.
But I was the best damned busboy I could be. Today I am the best damned curmudgeon I can be. If my order isn't right the first time, I'll politely ask you to make it right.
The second time, I may very well harsh your mellow (unless its Princess' steak not being "well done" enough, I don't know how she can eat them that done".
The third time, and it has only happed twice in my life, I will dismiss you from my table like the officious ass I can be.
I AM THE CUSTOMER, AND MY ORDER SHALL BE RIGHT.
When the shoe is on the other foot, I will bend fairly far to exceed your expectations or I will excuse myself and get someone else to serve you in the manner you deserve. Yes, because you deserve value for your dollars.
Too many foodservice workers think they are above their jobs, just do it, do it as well as you can, and move on to your dream job.
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Many servers are not permitted to write down orders, and I've yet to dine at an establishment in Seattle where the server was angry/upset when a mistake was made. The only time I've had issues is when the server was uncomfortable with serving two men on a date--- and House Management in Seattle doesn't stand for that, let me tell you!
Going out to eat should be a fun and relaxed experience, and my goal is to make the server's job as least annoying as possible while they are waiting on us. Here's hoping that trend continues.
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Besides, as someone who worked a couple different service jobs during college, I feel compelled to inform you that restaurants typically have more than one customer each. For every customer who wanted me to do things [this] way, there was a customer who wanted me to do things [that] way. While forgetting your order was a fuck-up, this waiter can't predict which customers will get pissed off that he IS writing things down and which ones will get pissed off that he isn't. And then there are customers who will get pissed off (or treat him like a moron) if he asks ahead of time.
And while forgetting your order was a genuine fuck-up, it's worth mentioning: in customer service, you are constantly being watched by SOMEONE. Unlike other jobs, every single fuck-up is witnessed by a customer. If you had a shit-ton of bosses, and so there was constantly one or another of them looking over your shoulder, you would realize that you fuck up at work all the time also. Be glad that there isn't guaranteed to be someone there to bitch at you for it each and every time, and quit assuming that a single fuck-up means that the waiter must be an absolute moron.
Also, writing down orders helps to split checks.
I am surprised (compared to the South, where I waited, and min. server's wage is $2.13/hour), however, that many servers in Seattle are not attentive about empty glasses. I always considered refilling glasses to be Waiting 101.
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But going by your username, you're a right-winger, so I wouldn't expect you to have the best reading comprehension skills.
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That'd be awesome!
But I'd hate to have to wash my dishes at a stranger's place -- especially if the woman who cooked my food dirtyed up a whole shitpotfull. Paper plates and Microwavable Meals only, for me!
Who's the skinny chick?
As for not caring about customers. I'm sure that serving sucks as a job. I've done my best (and luckily succeeded) to stay out of food service for just that reason. Because I assume it sucks, I try to treat the waitstaff really nicely. When I am picky about something like "no onions" (which isn't too often) I try ask really politely. I know I'm making someone else's life a little bit harder. It would be nice if my consideration were met with consideration in return and, if the order is wrong, the server showed a small amount of concern over the mistake.
I suppose concern over a job is generally proportionate to the rewards for a job well done, and the rewards for most waitstaff jobs are probably not too high. But the fiction that you care about my evening being nice will get you a better tip.
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To all the waitstaff out there. I will never ever think less of you if you write down my order. I will think much less of you if you frak up the order though. (I'm talking to YOU, girl waitress at Octo Sushi who screws up our order every time! Wrong food, wrong beer, stuff we didn't order).
You're doing a difficult job, not the remembering and bringing food part, but the dealing with the myriad of people part. 95% of people these days are self-entitled egotistical pricks. I can't imagine being in a customer service job. UG.
54
This sounds like the type of person who goes to a nice restaurant and orders something, but changes the dish by removing an ingredient. Then they complain it tasted bland.
There are professionals who take time to construct a dish and when you remove the sauce, the lemon, the whatever it changes said dish completely.
If there's not salt on the table (or A1, or hot sauce) don't ask for it because it's not there for a reason. If you allergic to peanuts, don't order the peanut chicken for fucks sake.
Just a pet peeve of mine.
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Get off your high horse like your job is so brutally hard, shut the fuck up, and do your job. You're job isn't hard, I've done it, it's only hard when you're the type who is lazy and bitches non-stop. I'm guessing like all the servers in the comments here.
You're there for serving the customer, not serving your convenience. Now stfu and beg for your tip you don't deserve.
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Servers : Be skinny, fat, high, horny, bitchy, ugly, cute .... doesn't matter. Just bring the correct food to the correct table. It really isn't that difficult.
(Now for the asshole customer who insists on modifying every dish in their order, implicitly stating that the chef doesn't know how to cook, feel free to grind some dirt into that shit. Those are the assholes who ruin dining for everyone, creating confusion and delays.)
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@60 what?
Anyone on either side who's too sensitive to handle a fucked up order or a rude customer should avoid restaurants, and human social interactions in general, and should probably think of investing in a nice hermetically-sealed bubble. Come on people.
The skeleton comment was just out of line though.














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