'Ohana luck ran out

[Nancyg56]

How is the charcter breakfast there?

I like it. I find the food is plentiful and fresh, and the service is excellent. My DD and her family were not impressed that last breakfast, however I truly believe they were still peeved by the experience we had a few days earlier at dinner.

 

[Nancyg56]

The problem isn't just the buildup but also the cost. For that cost, a lot of the "luck of the draw" issues could be dealt with.

1. You get a waiter that is new to the restaurant.-The restaurant could train servers better before they are on their own.
2. You get a waiter that is having a bad night.-It is hard to counteract for this, but if the serving staff is paid properly with days off, ability to call in sick, etc., then this would be reduced
3. You book a night that is overbooked.-No excuse to overbook, this can be easily managed
4. The kitchen may be understaffed that night due to reasons. The restaurant could always staff one extra person or have a good amount of people who can be called to substitute
5. You get sat at the wrong moment due to an inexperienced host(ess). I.e. you get sat in a waiter's section the same time as 1 or 2 other tables thus over burdening the waiter. Depending on the waiters experience he or she may not be able to handle this. Again, hosts could be trained better before they are on their own.
6. You put your order in the same time as other large tables thus creating a backlog.

I think that it is always possible to hit any restaurant on a bad night. I agree that the cost of your bad night makes a difference. My major issue with 'Ohana lately is that even while there are positive experiences to be had, the number of negative discussions are rising. To me, this means that there is more going on there than a server having a bad day, a temporary staffing issue, or a kitchen that somehow got overwhelmed. I may be wrong, however I see a chronically overbooked restaurant that is neither willing nor equipped to deal with the fact that the no shows are drastically reduced due to the cancelation fees.

 

[themommy]

We’re skipping it this year. Due to all of the poor reviews lately, it didn’t take us long to scratch it off of our list. Hopefully next year they will get their stuff together. We really love this place when it is ran correctly!

 

[YesterDark]

The problem isn't just the buildup but also the cost. For that cost, a lot of the "luck of the draw" issues could be dealt with.

1. You get a waiter that is new to the restaurant.-The restaurant could train servers better before they are on their own.
2. You get a waiter that is having a bad night.-It is hard to counteract for this, but if the serving staff is paid properly with days off, ability to call in sick, etc., then this would be reduced
3. You book a night that is overbooked.-No excuse to overbook, this can be easily managed
4. The kitchen may be understaffed that night due to reasons. The restaurant could always staff one extra person or have a good amount of people who can be called to substitute
5. You get sat at the wrong moment due to an inexperienced host(ess). I.e. you get sat in a waiter's section the same time as 1 or 2 other tables thus over burdening the waiter. Depending on the waiters experience he or she may not be able to handle this. Again, hosts could be trained better before they are on their own.
6. You put your order in the same time as other large tables thus creating a backlog.

1) there is no substitute for live action regardless how well they are trained. Even for experienced waiters.

2) people have bad days. It just happens.

3) problem is when parties stay longer than normal. Then you get a backlog. Happens every busy night.

4) restaurants have tight margins, you can't staff that way. Labor costs are usually tightly controlled.

5) it happens to the best.

 

[Nancyg56]

1) there is no substitute for live action regardless how well they are trained. Even for experienced waiters.

2) people have bad days. It just happens.

3) problem is when parties stay longer than normal. Then you get a backlog. Happens every busy night.

4) restaurants have tight margins, you can't staff that way. Labor costs are usually tightly controlled.

5) it happens to the best.

I agree. I have worked n nights that we were both short-staffed, and way overbooked. It happens. What should not happen is a chronically filled to capacity restaurant refusing to adjust staffing or turnowver time, but chooses to try to make guests adapt. If I wanted my meal to be a race to the finish, 'Ohana would not be my choice, however it seems that the response to the current conditions of 'Ohana is to try to rush guests out as quickly as possible. This is an issue that happens to the worst, not the best.

 

[smiths02]

1) there is no substitute for live action regardless how well they are trained. Even for experienced waiters.


2) people have bad days. It just happens.
Agreed

3) problem is when parties stay longer than normal. Then you get a backlog. Happens every busy night.


4) restaurants have tight margins, you can't staff that way. Labor costs are usually tightly controlled.


5) it happens to the best.

Chronically understaffed, under trained, and overbooked can definitely be made better if the restaurant is willing to spend the money on that.
I understand tight margins...at my local Olive Garden or Waffle House. If my meal costs upwards of $45 plus tip...I'm expecting that the restaurant can find margins to staff appropriately

 

[freshmanjs]

3) problem is when parties stay longer than normal. Then you get a backlog. Happens every busy night.

If it happens every busy night, then it's not longer than normal. It is normal. Obviously, some parties will stay longer than average and some shorter.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

It's our must do and we go every trip, usually with good results. Well the odds caught up with me and this past visit the service was terrible. Not that the server wasn't trying, but we had no drink refills, no app refills (until later on) and just generally non-existent service.

When I finally got ahold of the waiter I told him I thought he had too many tables (he did). He had 3 six tops, 2 4 tops, and a couple. I mean really. He was running like a madman and the service was still

After that things started to get better. We got more apps after the meats came but my kids didn't care and he seemed like he was trying to make it up so I didn't complain further.

Good grief, that would be a complaint lodged against whichever manager who thought THAT was a good idea to under staff the restaurant! Most of the time the poor servers have little power to undo what has been done to them, so you need to take their side and go to toe with the manager (and the manager's manager) to assure that the server is able to provide top-notch service to guests - hamstringing them with too many tables causes nothing but 18-22 unsatisfied guests. and that is NOT the server's fault!

 

[Fireline]

We started off loving Ohana. Although it has been on a downward trend since our first visit. To the point where we no longer want go there for dinner. I did notice a very noticeable drop in both service and food quality. To drive my point home, my chicken wing still had feathers attached to it. (I wish that was a joke)

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

We ENJOYED 'OHANA durable no our most recent trip in early May. We had not one servers, but two. The both were among the best! Food was all outstanding. We will return next trip!

 

[Lilsia]

We had the same experience. The servers have way too many tables, especially since their job is much more involved then other servers.

 

[kerri0616]

We visited 6/1/18 and had one of our best 'Ohana meals. Fantastic servers. Drink refills were prompt and done before we even had to ask. We were offered additional chicken, steak, and shrimp several times. We got refills on the dumplings and wings quickly. We even asked for more bread pudding and ice cream and it was delivered promptly.

Couldn't have been a better meal!

 

[Tigger1]

It's our must do and we go every trip, usually with good results. Well the odds caught up with me and this past visit the service was terrible. Not that the server wasn't trying, but we had no drink refills, no app refills (until later on) and just generally non-existent service.

When I finally got ahold of the waiter I told him I thought he had too many tables (he did). He had 3 six tops, 2 4 tops, and a couple. I mean really. He was running like a madman and the service was still

After that things started to get better. We got more apps after the meats came but my kids didn't care and he seemed like he was trying to make it up so I didn't complain further.

we get bad service often at Ohauna. Just love the food.

 

[Octoberbaby]

Ohana has been my favorite for as long as I can remember. Even before I had children. Over the last few years I have defended them to the death, but a couple of months ago was the last straw. Grand Floridian Cafe is my new favorite, and I probably won't return to Ohana for a while. If I want a Lapu Lapu or bread pudding, I'll get it from the Tambu Lounge.

 

[e mcduck]

We started off loving Ohana. Although it has been on a downward trend since our first visit. To the point where we no longer want go there for dinner. I did notice a very noticeable drop in both service and food quality. To drive my point home, my chicken wing still had feathers attached to it. (I wish that was a joke)

wuhhh

 

[merdie]

We visited 6/1/18 and had one of our best 'Ohana meals. Fantastic servers. Drink refills were prompt and done before we even had to ask. We were offered additional chicken, steak, and shrimp several times. We got refills on the dumplings and wings quickly. We even asked for more bread pudding and ice cream and it was delivered promptly.

Couldn't have been a better meal!

We had a fantastic experience this past Saturday night and they were busy! We were seated within 15 minutes of our reservation and food was delivered quickly and it was a plentiful amount. We had to ask for nothing. I was nervous because of negative reviews, but it was one of the best experiences we’ve had all week here! We’ve been to ‘Ohana many times and it did not disappoint.

 

[Eastern]

We had a fantastic experience this past Saturday night and they were busy! We were seated within 15 minutes of our reservation and food was delivered quickly and it was a plentiful amount. We had to ask for nothing. I was nervous because of negative reviews, but it was one of the best experiences we’ve had all week here! We’ve been to ‘Ohana many times and it did not disappoint.

You can have great service during a busy time. The problem was that my server had way too many tables to handle on his own. We have been several times before and it has never been a problem, hence my thread title.

 

[Beer Me]

Our bad service at ohana last summer was almost certainly caused by the server being overwhelmed. Too many tables would explain a lot in addition to a strong motivation to turn over tables. My kids did not get drink refills (my wife and I would have like another cocktail - you'd think they would want to pad the tab). Before we received any beef skewers the server stopped by our table to offer dessert. I started to say we never got any steak and before I could finish he said "oh so you want more steak" and ran away.

He was moving too fast to provide good service. Running around like crazy, not checking on us for long periods of time and not listening well or really giving us a chance to speak on the couple of occasions he did stop by.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

We went and didn't have any glaring problems... perhaps because both times we were with a bigger group (10 the first time; 8 the second). Poor service is more noticeable when you have a family of four - with 8 you tend to get distracted with conversation.

Anyway - our cousins who came back in October are food snobs and loved Ohana. They can't stop talking about it.

I will say - the second time around the food service was a bit slower. The problem here is you fall into the mentality of "lemme load up, because idk the next time they're gonna come around"... then you wind up wasting food because you took too much.

 

[Eastern]

Our bad service at ohana last summer was almost certainly caused by the server being overwhelmed. Too many tables would explain a lot in addition to a strong motivation to turn over tables. My kids did not get drink refills (my wife and I would have like another cocktail - you'd think they would want to pad the tab). Before we received any beef skewers the server stopped by our table to offer dessert. I started to say we never got any steak and before I could finish he said "oh so you want more steak" and ran away.

He was moving too fast to provide good service. Running around like crazy, not checking on us for long periods of time and not listening well or really giving us a chance to speak on the couple of occasions he did stop by.

Similar to what we experienced. To see someone running around like crazy, and yet you are not getting any drink refills, or any food, and when they stop by they run away in seconds, is very frustrating. Probably the worst service I've had in years, and we eat out a lot. I still tipped via TIW and I didn't complain beyond the server because I felt it was not his doing. I think I am going to write to Disney to tell them that their method is not working.

*sent