We Just Like The Way It Looks
I was cleaning the bathroom one day when the bartender came in with steam practically coming out of her ears. She's the best bartender around, such a sweetheart, and one of our original employees. It really takes a lot to get her riled up. She starts telling me about these two women that were sitting at the bar. They asked for a special drink, one where you have to layer the two or three different kinds of alcohol, one that the bartender has made before. Whatever the reason, her mind was somewhere else or something else, she couldn't seem to get the alcohol to layer properly. It took several tries. During the time she was attempting to layer the drinks, the two woman were talking to each other, calling their friends, and asking the people around them in the bar what was in the drink and how to do it, all while the bartender was right in front of them. She knows how to make the drink, she's done it before, and these two women, who I'm sure were not bartenders themselves, were giving her a hard time about it. Finally, she was able to layer it and the drinks were done. One of the servers that the women had been talking to asked if it tasted different layered like that. Their reply?
"No, we just like the way it looks."
They gave the bartender all that grief and made her so frustrated all because they just liked the way the drink looked? How completely ignorant is that??
I'm Just Messing With You
This guy and his son come in one day. I ask if it will be just the two of them and the guy says, "Yeah, well, it might be three. Do you have a phone so I can call my wife and see if she's coming?"
I said that we didn't.
"That's mean." He said.
I told him that we had pay phones but they didn't work.
"That's really mean." He said.
Then he stormed off to the bar. He talked to the bartender before spotting a manager and then talked to him. He came over a few minutes later.
"You know, if you came to my house, I'd let you use my phone."
I tried to explain that the phone up here didn't call out at all.
"I'd still let you use my phone if you came to my house."
I told him that if I could call out I would most definitely let him use the phone, it just hadn't been able to call out for a long time.
"I'm just messing with you." He said.
I sat him, I told him to enjoy his meal, and I went back up to the hostess desk and exploded. I was furious at this guy. I didn't care if he was kidding or not, that whole this was totally unnecessary and completely rude. It's not uncommon for phones in restuarants not able to call out and it's not like it's my fault anyway that the phone can't call out. It used to be able to, I've let customers use it before. I've called out on it once or twice myself. But it got to be a bad habit for people to make personal phone calls from up there and the managers got rid of that feature.
Just Plain Wrong...
I don't have a big long story on this one, but these customers make me mad just the same. One of our servers had a party of about 6 or 7 (not enough to grat unfortunately), one of whom had worked with a couple of our other servers at another restaurant. Usually, that means decent tip, if the customer has worked at a restaurant before. Not this time. Their food took a little longer than it should have, but there were several of them and everyone's food was taking a little long that day. The guy at the table that had worked with our other servers was a cook at that restaurant, so he of all people should have known that it wasn't the server's fault the food took so long. Their bill? $80. The tip? $1. No, that's not a typo on my part. They actually left the server one dollar on an eighty dollar check for no reason other than their food took too long. *Shakes head* what is wrong with people??
Stinky Guy...
There's not much to this guy, just that none of the servers want him because he always smells like he hasn't showered in a week and he doesn't tip. Although, one of our cuter female servers did manage to get a decent tip out of him by being extra friendly. He always comes in by himself, (I think he orders a chicken sandwich everytime) sometimes a couple of days in a row, but at least once a week. It's not just that he doesn't smell very good, it's that you can smell him several tables over.
Chicken Guy...
This guy is a trip. He comes in with his family (his asian wife and two daughters), orders for them water and all three of them share one soup and one salad (the soup & salad combo) while he gets soda (alcohol sometimes I think...) and a big entree all to himself (the chicken sandwich). One time, he made a comment to either the hostess or the server about how they had fed the girls before they came, which makes sense, sort of...One of the theories about this guy is that his wife is a mail order bride and getting to eat out is a big treat for the family, even if all they get is soup and salad to share...If he does tip, it's usually not very good, I don't think...
Wing Lady...
This lady is mean! She usually sends her wings back at least two or three times before settling for what comes out and eating them. She has specific instructions for how her wings are made and she's not afraid to send them back if they don't come out right. None of her instructions are even close to what she wants either! She tells the server to have them cook the wings for a certain amount of time, and when they do, it's not long enough and she sends them back. And that wouldn't be so bad if she were nice about it and left decent tips, but noooo, she's nasty about it and none of the servers want to take her at all!
