A question for servers and or restaurant operators

[Uncleromulus]

Posted a review last week about Narcoossee's and how our dinner arrived moments after we finished our appetizer. And how the "runners" serving the food simply shoved the empty appetizer plate aside.
Last night a similar scenario--only worse. At dinner at an Applebees in York, we ordered an appetizer and two dinner entrees. We hadn't even finished half of the appetizer (a veggie pizza) when the runners brought the entrees. They apparently had no clue that this might be inappropriate (and they couldn't take away the food) so once again the entrees joined the appetizer on an already crowded table. And since they had their hands full with hot plates and food, we had to move the pizza and two plates aside to make room. And because the entrees were there, we had no desire to even finish the pizza.
Now we won't be going back to either spot anytime soon, but my question is this:
Who is responsible for seeing that an appetizer arrives long enough before an entree so that it may actually be eaten first??
Is it:
1) The server
2) The kitchen
3) Both
4) Neither (no one really cares, whatever happens ,happens)

Getting to the point now that when I order an appetizer, I think I'll wait until after it actually arrives before I order the entree. Don't want to cause any problems, but this sort of thing happens all too frequently.

 

[scanne]

I've noticed this too, both in Disney and at "home." Sometimes I tell them to hold our entree if it comes out too close to our appetizer/salad/soup. I have told the server/runner to take an entree back and keep it warm while I finish my first course.

I think there should be a kitchen supervisor that oversees what foods are going where and when. But I think you're right that the runners don't care. They just want to run what they've got to the right table.

When I waitressed at Pizzaria Uno (about 11 years ago) we didn't have runners. I think that's a fairly new trend. I did all of the ordering and delivering of food.

So who knows what is going on in restaurants. Is there that big of a turnaround that they just want to get people in and out? I prefer to take my time when I eat, not rush through each course. Now I'm rambling, sorry!

 

[jann1033]

i too worked as a server pre runner days and if they ordered an appe the kitchen was supposed to give them time to finish it...i have noticed a trend in rushing your food out which is getting nuts imo. a local applebees type place stamped the time in and out on the receipts like that was something to be proud of. i also think the only way around it would be order the entree when you get your appes. since it must be the kitchen . who wants an entree that has been sitting under lights for 20 mins? we also encountered this recently with a hot appe so either the entree got cold or we ate them together, then what's the point of the appe.?

fyi there was a big argument about this about Ohana lately and some said they like everything piled on top of one another so no accounting for tastes.

 

[kpk89]

When I worked as a server it was OUR responsibility. I would not even give the entree order to the kitchen until the apps were on the table. That usually ended up with good timing, unless the guests were really lingering over the app -- then I would hold the entree back until they were finished.

It was something they taught us in our training for that restaurant, so I suppose ultimately it is the responsibility of the restaurant manager.

 

[chobie]

I was a server years ago and sometimes it was my fault and sometimes the kitchen's fault. With places like Disney and Applebee's I'm going to vote for managment/corporate fault. I'm willing to bet both those places are trying to get people in and out as quickly as possible to "turn 'em and burn 'em".

 

[stinkerbelle]

without blaming anyone...in the future, why not just ask your sever to "not put your order in" until after the app comes.

DH does this often...as we'd like to finishes our nachos or whatever before our meals comes.

 

[KCMiller]

When I waited table, we dropped the entree order in the kitchen when we picked up the appetizer (or after the last 'pre' item, like salad or soup). That way, there would be a decent interval to clear the table before the entree was presented. And it was my job to time my table.

KC

 

[Alaska Catdog]

Depending on the restuarant. I work in a Culinary School and the student servers are graded down if they neglect to clear plates properly between courses. The kitchen lab gets the whole order on the ticket and prepares the items with timing in mind. These students are training for fine dining so it may be different at the chain type restaurants but for both servers and chefs timing is important and is being taught in the schools. I've found that if you ask a server, it's the kitchens fault and if you ask a chef it's the servers fault. The old front of the house, back of the house contention.

 

[jennymouse]

I've been both a server and manager and it's the reponsibility of the server to time their own table. The kitchen can't see/know when to start the entree.

 

[budbeerlady]

It is our responsability to time your food to give you the most enjoyable meal, not to push you through your dinner and out the door. I usually "cheat" and ask the server to put in the app and then give us a minute to look at the menu for our entrees. Serving isnt hard so I am brutal on a bad server. I understand busy and slow kitchen but no excuse for attitude or plain lazy. I might have had the worst day in the world but I am smiling and pleasant even if it kills me, as my tips depend on my attitude. Just my Opinion!

 

[jann1033]

where i worked they could see on the ticket that there is an appe and i know some places put the tickets in order of arrival so they ought to have a clue if the ticket is a min old or 10. i'm not saying they would know if the guest is lingering over the first course but in this case they are coming out basically simultaneously so they appear to be beginning to prepare the entree very close to the same time they begin the appe. i wonder if it's because they find it easier to finish one ticket than have to go back to it( unless it is one of the stamp time on it places then they probalby are in trouble for not turning the tickets over fast enough). personally i always mentioned if they had an appe but that didn't mean the kitchen always listened.

 

[Lulu's Mom]

I work as a server now PT and have to say that it is the server that times your tickets... for instance where I work, I will time an app ticket by the clock, saying it is 5:02, the ticket gets timed at 02. Now depending on the app it should take anywhere from 2-10 min for it to be put out to be ran. (Where I work there are no food runners, a lot of places are like this so keep this in mind, it is servers that are running food to other servers tables) Once the app is 1/2 done you time the ticket for the next item, whether salads or entrees. Entrees are suppose to be done 12-15 minutes after the ticket time. Now there are cases were it takes longer or less, I have had tickets come out within 3 minutes of being timed.

So my point, sorry this is so long, is that it is everyones responsibility, at least where I work. The servers time the tickets according to how long it takes for things to be made, the kitchen ensures that it is made within the alloted time frame of when the ticket was timed and the Manager working the window makes sure that the food goes out on time, and not early. Maybe this explains somethings

 

[chobie]

Gee maybe I just worked in bad places....Every restaurant I ever worked out had a huge turnover in the kitchen, both line cooks and chefs, and it was very hard to time your tables. Sometimes the cooks would get things out in record time and other times they could get your apps out right away and take forever gettting out the entrees. Sometimes, I did mess up the timing but usually it was the unreliability of the kitchen staff. However I might add that that it was the owners/managers who caused the kitchen staff turnover through their lousy treatment of them.

I'm more sympathetic to waitstaff as a former server. I understand why the wanting to blame servers, the only way you can punish someone for not enjoying your meal for whatever reason, is to take it out of the tip...But that's a whole other issue.


Anyway, just reading a thread like this helps remind why I'm in graduate school right now.

 

[Chuck S]

But don't you think part of the problem is that everyone is in a hurry these days? I mean, a lot of folks no longer want to wait 20 minutes for an entree to be freshly prepared, they want it NOW. Lunch in 15 minutes or less is a common marketing theme. Folks no longer take the time to "enjoy" the pleasure of a good meal. How many theads do you read here that say "Oh my, we wasted an hour and a half eating a sit down meal when we could have been on the parks?" or "Table service takes too long, it needs to be faster."

Plus at WDW it isn't uncommon for people to order appeteizers AS entrees.

You can't please everybody all the time. I am one that, when I do order an appetizer, I like to relax and enjoy it...and generally WDW has been good on the timing, but there were also those occasions when everythig arrived almost simultaneously. I simply sat the entree to the side until I finished my salad, and then switched the plates.

 

[liamsaunt]

My DH and I really hate to be rushed when we go out to eat. We like to take the time to enjoy our meals slowly, savor a good bottle of wine, etc. So, if we are dining in a restaurant where we are not sure of the timing of the meals, our strategy is that we won't put in our whole order at once. We order our appetizers, and when they arrive we order our entrees. We like to have a bit of a wait between courses--makes digestion easier!

We might take a little longer at the table than some other couples, but our tab is probably higher also, since we always order wine, sometimes a cocktail while looking at the menu, or sometimes after dinner drinks, coffee etc. We don't linger at the table once we are done eating, we are very good tippers (I was a waitress many moons ago and know the pain of the small tip), and if we are at the table for an extended period, we factor in an extra tip.

This is what works for us.

 

[lagunaseca]

It is our responsability to time your food to give you the most enjoyable meal, not to push you through your dinner and out the door. I usually "cheat" and ask the server to put in the app and then give us a minute to look at the menu for our entrees. Serving isnt hard so I am brutal on a bad server. I understand busy and slow kitchen but no excuse for attitude or plain lazy. I might have had the worst day in the world but I am smiling and pleasant even if it kills me, as my tips depend on my attitude. Just my Opinion!

I bet you make good tips because you have the right attitude. I wish you worked somewhere near me. I go out of my way to be friendly and patient and when I get friendly service I tip very well .... When we do get a server with an attitude which isn't often, but it happens, I don't tip as well. There have been a few times that I wanted to say, "I'm sorry you are so miserable with your job but it's not my fault."

P.S. The most "mis-timed" (maybe not a real word but you know what I mean ) meal we have EVER had was at Alfredo's in Epcot. I wanted to enjoy my meal not race to see what I could get down before it got cold.

 

[jann1033]

"Oh my, we wasted an hour and a half eating a sit down meal when we could have been on the parks?" .

i always wonder if these are the same parties that think nothing of going back to the resort for 1/2 the day

 

[NeverlandClub23]

We don't order our meal until we've received our app. I've been a server at four different restaurants and some people do like to go out to a sit down restaurant and only be there for 30-45 min. others want to linger for a couple of hours. I would recommend letting your server know that you're not in a hurry (if it's that important to you to have sufficient time to eat your app.) and would like to have your app. out well before your meal. I'm so glad I'm not a server anymore.

 

[firemanx]

OK well i work @ two differ corporate restaurants, and both have the same philosophy. 2 Mins drink orders, 5 mins salads, 8-10 mins apps, 15-18 mins for dinners. This of course after the ticket has been rang in. So after a salad is ordered it should be on the table withing 5 mins, after the app ticket is put in it should be on the table within 8-10 mins and so forth. We cooks are responsible for having the tix out within time we recieved it, and the servers responsibility for the timing as they are responsible for the customer.

 

[MandM-Mom]

I am a prep cook at a an upscale restaurant and the waitress is responsible for telling the line cooks when to fire the meal (cook), if they get hot apps, then the server waits till they are finished with apps and then she comes back to get her salads, when salads are about done she tells line to fire table # XXXX then it all gets spaced nicely, nothing bothers me more than being rushed through dinner!