These are true stories (about customers) that have happened while I have been in the restaurant, not from what I've heard from other people (although I would have to start a whole other blog for that)! This is only part one, I'm sure I'll have even more soon!
The Salmon Guy...
The Salmon Guy is, unfortunately, a regular at the restaurant where I work. Normally, regulars are the best source of revenue for a restaurant, but this guy takes the cake as far as regulars go. He comes in every week, on Tuesdays, and orders the salmon and his usual soft drink, is very specific about his food, hardly cracks a smile, and then tips the server a dollar ($1!), no matter how much s/he bends over backwards for him. One week, he complained about how loud the music was; I hadn’t particularly noticed, but that could be due to the fact that I hear it all during my shift and tune it out. The next week, I had the distinct pleasure of seating him, and though I managed to see a smile attempt to spread across his face when I asked if he had a good weekend, he still made a crack about forgetting to bring his earplugs when he “comes to this restaurant” and asked me why we kept it so loud. All the servers hate waiting on this guy and usually trick the new servers into taking care of him. That only works once though...
*Edit August 2005* Salmon Guy has been seen, by me and other hostesses, as leaving the restaurant with earplugs in his ears. No folks, he wasn't kidding when he said he forgot them that week, he really has earplugs that he wears! We all wonder about him and why he comes into our restuarant so much if he doesn't like it. He seems not to like it anyway. He never smiles, doesn't tip well, orders the same exact thing every time (and is very specific about it), and doesn't like the atmosphere. Why doesn't he just get carry-out if the food is all he likes?
The NA Party...
The NA party always comes in on Sunday nights, usually around the same time every week. The number of people always varies, and it usually ends up being more than they tell us anyway. On top of that, they always seat themselves and take over any tables they want, even though most of them know better! This bugs the hostesses because if they take active tables, then that’s that many less tables that the hostesses have open to seat other customers. It bugs the servers because that’s that many tables the server waiting on them will have to clean, especially if out of the server’s section. The NA party looks like a bunch of redneck motorcyclists and they act like it too! They have no problem sitting themselves at a dirty table before giving anyone a chance to clean it, they have no problem remaining seated while someone is cleaning it, and they have no problem just sitting there and watching, not doing anything to help. The NA party is the one I mentioned in the previous post "Customers Do Not Own The Restaurant", they were the "A Party of 8, No 12, No 15, No 20...It'll Be 22..." party.
The Two Guys...
There are two guy friends that are always coming into our restaurant, either together or with wives/girlfriends/whatever, and they are the kind of customers every server dreams of waiting on! At least, as far as I know. They are the kind of customers I like taking care of as a hostess. They are so patient and understanding, it doesn’t matter where we seat them (some people don’t like sitting close to smoking, which I can understand) or whether they have a booth or not. One of the guys came in by himself one night and his server didn’t know he had been sitting at his/her table until he came up to me and said something! He had been waiting five or ten minutes just for a greeting from his server and he was totally laid back and cool about it! I did find his server though and whoever it was took care of him and he, presumably, enjoyed the rest of his meal. Another night, we were on a bit of a wait, and they waited patiently in our little foyer thingy chatting away with the hostess that had been posted out there to open the door. She enjoyed them so much that she didn’t mind staying out there longer than she had to (we usually take half-hour shifts).
Water Shirt Lady...
Every server, at some point, spills drinks on or near his/her customers. It just comes with the territory and it’s something that bound to happen sooner or later, especially with new-to-the-job servers. However, there was this one lady recently who just totally blew the entire thing out of proportion just to get a free meal. This server did spill a couple of drinks when she got to the table she was delivering them to, but from what I saw and heard, most of the soda ended up on the floor and some ended up on the table. Two, maybe three, tiny drops had bounced off the table and landed on this woman’s blouse, no big deal right? Wrong. She went into the bathroom to “clean” them off, and next comes up to the hostess desk with huge water spots on her blouse demanding to speak to a manger! Naturally, we asked where she was sitting and promised to send a manger right over while one of the hostesses went to search for one. The manager talked to this woman for several minutes and then left them. We found out later that this woman had gotten a free meal for messing up her own shirt in the bathroom and blowing a few drops of soda out of proportion. The server was not happy at all for the rest of the shift because this woman had been rude for the rest of her stay (and rude is apparently not a strong enough word).
“Can We Have A Big Booth?”...
When the restaurant is on a wait, most people don’t care where they sit. The ones who really care generally tell the hostesses ahead of time that they would prefer a table or a booth (or far away from smoking if your state hasn’t completely outlawed smoking indoors yet), and others just assume we’re all telepathic. There this one couple recently who came in while I was working the wait list. They gave me their name, number in their party (two of them), booth, and non-smoking right off even before I could tell them how long the wait was. I said that it might be a little bit longer for a booth (just a precaution I take that covers my butt, but I can usually garauntee a booth for them if I just tell them it might be a longer wait), but that I could definitely get them one. You would think that would satisfy them, but it didn’t. When their turn came up (within the quote I had given them thank-you-very-much) and one of my runners sat them down, in a booth, they asked her if they could have “that big booth” and pointed to a clean six-top. Thankfully, we had already assigned that booth to a party of six and my runner knew that and politely told the couple that it was for a larger party that wouldn’t fit into a smaller booth. That, thankfully again, was the end of it from that couple. People really bug me sometimes! Here we are, a relatively small restaurant, on a 30-40 minute wait, and two people, who know there are other people waiting, want to sit in a booth that can accomodate six people! Yeah, like I’m going to stick two people in there and make six people wait longer just because the two people wanted it. Do your math people! Six people who want the big booth out number the two people who want it by four! There ain’t no way that couple was getting that table unless they sat themselves there, which is too hard to get away with on a busy night because all the hostesses know what’s open, what’s about to be open, and what’s not.
