Ever been rushed out of a restaurant?

[MIGrandma]

I don't recall being rushed very often, but a year ago at Red Lobster we were. The whole experience was just off, from the salads to the end. I was trying to avoid gluten at that time so asked if the salads were pre-made (with croutons on them) or made fresh, our waiter said they were made fresh and he would make them so I asked to have mine minus the croutons.

He brought the salads out and DH and I looked at each other like "where is the rest of the salad." They were so tiny! We go to Red Lobster once or twice a year, so we knew the salads were supposed to be larger. The server noticed our look, and said "I'll bring you another salad, those are kind of small." It just seemed odd to me, since he said he would make them. Why would he deliberately make them small to begin with?

When he brought our entrees he dropped the bill at the same time. Big mistake. That is one of my biggest pet peeves when eating out. Do not drop the bill with the entrees, and do not give it to us without asking if we want dessert. When I waited tables I would always, always ask my customers if they saved room for dessert. I may have had their bill in my pocket, but I would not put it on the table unless they said no dessert. If they wanted dessert I just made out a new bill, they never even saw the first one so never knew I had it all ready to put on the table. But 9 times out of 10 people would not order dessert, so it was just easier to have the bills ready to give them, but I wouldn't dream of putting it down on the table without asking if they wanted dessert and it just annoys me to no end when a server, anywhere, does that. I feel it's rude.

So many times, in all restaurants, the server will just drop the bill and then say "if you need anything else, just let me know." Since we know they would have to make up another bill if we ask for dessert, we just skip it but the tip does reflect that.

But back to the server at Red Lobster, he kept hovering while we were eating, whisking away the plates as soon as the last bite was in our mouths. Oh, and he asked during the meal if the bill was ready for him. I told him we were still eating and would get to it when we were finished. Immediately after grabbing the plates he asked again. It was obvious he wanted us out of there.

I am a former server myself, and we almost always tip well. This guy got no tip and I e-mailed the restaurant about his poor service. We received $15 in gift certificates, which was nice, but I just really don't understand why we were rushed so much. It wasn't anywhere near closing time. And he had to know he wouldn't get a very good tip, wouldn't he? In fact, he got no tip and we almost never, ever do that.

 

[rgf207]

When this happens, I tend to eat very, very slowly and we sit and talk quite a bit more than normal.

The server's tip also gets adjusted for their attitude (I will usually write on the bill why the tip was lower than normal). I have returned to a couple of restaurants that this has happened at and amazingly enough, the service is way better.

By the way, what the PP has said almost always happens at Blue Bayou @ Disneyland now according to everyone we have heard from that goes there. We stopped going a while back when service was so bad, I actually asked the manager for a 60% discount (yes, it was THAT bad), of course at higher priced places like that, I have higher expectations for the level of service. But I probably would have asked for a discount anywhere based on that level of service.

Also, if a server walks by without refilling my drink that needs it, that is almost an automatic no tip for me (I mean obviously, if the waiter walks by the table, notices my drink needs refilling, but is going to take someone's order, then refill my drink, that's one thing, but as described above, I will not accept) and if it happens more than once, then I will ask for the manager and in one case I have had to ask for the general manager.

Springs1 is that you ?

 

[winnapooh]

We were at Red Lobster once, and I had ordered the crab legs. I tend to take all of the meat out at once, and then eat it; it's just easier.

Well, I took all of the meat out, had my fork in hand, and started to take a bite. The waiter came by and, I kid you not, in the 3 seconds between moving my fork from the plate to my mouth, he grabbed my plate and dropped a dirty dish on top of the crab meat. My husband and I just sat there and stared at him; the waiter had no idea what was wrong! I had to explain to him that I had only taken one bite of food, and I was no where near done. He tried to just take the dirty plate off the food and give it back to me!

I told him I was very unhappy with that idea, and I would need a whole new order of crab legs. He was not happy with me after that, and when he brought the new food out, basically threw it at me and walked away.

A manager had been standing nearby and came over afterwards to ask what happened. I explained and he said he would talk to the guy. He ended up bringing us an extra order of crab legs to go.

Would you believe that the waiter tried it again the second time? As I was in the middle of eating, the second try now, he tried to take my plate again. I grabbed the plate and basically yelled at him. I was so dumbfounded, I couldn't believe he couldn't tell that my fork was between my mouth and the plate and therefore I might still be eating! This almost sounds too silly to be true, but it is.

Overall, he didn't see anything wrong with it and argued with the manager, in our presence about it. The manager made it right, but it was unbelievable!

 

[Squirlz]

We went to the Grand Canyon for my 40th birthday. For my birthday dinner we found this Tex-Mex joint in Fairbanks, walking distance from our hotel.

The food was great and they had $1 Coronas! Our waitress was fantastic and she gave me a free hot fudge sundae. We were having such a fun time.

By the time we finished our food, the place was packed. People were standing around waiting for tables. We intended to have a couple more beers. But now our waitress was ignoring us. Rushing right by our table and the empty bottles. I finally stopped her and she said if we wanted to keep drinking we'd have to move to the bar. Saying that was bad enough, but there were no open seats at the bar!

I found the manager and told him the story. He was MAD. He gave us a couple free beers and had some words with the waitress. She continued to serve us but now she was very curt. She completely blew a huge tip.

I left about 10% and as we left I gave our booth to a group of college girls.

 

[JoiseyMom]

It started happening to us at Chili's, it was annoying, and we complained to the manager. She made them stop. Whenever she was there the service was good. We would be eating the apps, and thenthe entrees would be out...serioulsy...where did they expect to put those plates on a 2 top?? We would make them take the entrees back and made sure that they were fresh when we got them again.

It also happend at Longhorn (our last time there). It was insane..we complained, never heard back and never went back. There are enough restaurants where I live that they should do better!

 

[Kirby]

On a good note, my husband took me to lunch today at Cotton Patch. Our waiter was fantastic! He brought my husband another bottle of ketchup when he noticed that the bottle my husband was using was going empty without us asking him too. And offered my husband a tea to go when we were ready to leave. We always pay 20% for good service but we gave him more.

 

[jujube]

My husband and I went to a new restaurant in town. It was very crowded. After a bit we were seated. ordered, our food was brought to the table. He and I were had just started eating and we were talking about something. The waitress came and started removing the dishes. It was obvious that the plates were still almost full. We finished but did feel rushed out of the restaurant. That was the only meal that we had at that particular place. It closed after about 6 months.

 

[pixiewings71]

When this happens, I tend to eat very, very slowly and we sit and talk quite a bit more than normal.

The server's tip also gets adjusted for their attitude (I will usually write on the bill why the tip was lower than normal). I have returned to a couple of restaurants that this has happened at and amazingly enough, the service is way better.

By the way, what the PP has said almost always happens at Blue Bayou @ Disneyland now according to everyone we have heard from that goes there. We stopped going a while back when service was so bad, I actually asked the manager for a 60% discount (yes, it was THAT bad), of course at higher priced places like that, I have higher expectations for the level of service. But I probably would have asked for a discount anywhere based on that level of service.

Also, if a server walks by without refilling my drink that needs it, that is almost an automatic no tip for me (I mean obviously, if the waiter walks by the table, notices my drink needs refilling, but is going to take someone's order, then refill my drink, that's one thing, but as described above, I will not accept) and if it happens more than once, then I will ask for the manager and in one case I have had to ask for the general manager.

I have to ask, how did you decide to ask for 60% off the meal? Just curious, it's an odd amount.

On a good note, my husband took me to lunch today at Cotton Patch. Our waiter was fantastic! He brought my husband another bottle of ketchup when he noticed that the bottle my husband was using was going empty without us asking him too. And offered my husband a tea to go when we were ready to leave. We always pay 20% for good service but we gave him more.

That's great!

As for the original question, I have been rushed before but not recently.
We ate at Red Lobster just the other day and had a great long meal, our server was wonderful and the food was extremely good!