JerseyJanice
A Disboards original...
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 10,764
Just a vent about the lousy service we experienced in a restaurant last night.
We ate dinner at a place called Charlie Brown's, which is a chain of steakhouses that I believe is only in New Jersey. It is similar to Outback or Lonestar. Anyway, the food is consistantly good; I prefer their steaks over Outback's, and they have a nice salad bar.
So last night's dinner started out well. Our drinks and food were good; the salad bar was freshly stocked.
But then we finished eating and waited and waited and waited for our waitress to reappear from wherever she was hiding so that we could order dessert. She was absent so long that we decided to skip ordering a dessert, figuring we could be stuck there another hour if we did. My son's meal came with ice cream though, and he wanted that, so we thought we'd ask for it and the check at the same time.
Our waitress was nowhere to be found, so we asked the busboy to get her for us. He went over to a hostess/manager-type woman and another waitress and said something, but still, no one got her, and we continued to sit there cooling our heels. Meanwhile, I should tell you that the place had largely emptied out; busyness could not have been the excuse.
My husband got the hostess's attention and asked her to find our waitress. Then, she finally showed up with a big attitude, and we asked for the ice cream and the check. But then we needed change. And again, we sat there waiting and waiting for her to pick up the bill. My husband went to the bathroom and found her standing in the bar, smoking a cigarette. He told her we needed her to settle up.
I told him not to leave a penny over 10%, and she'd be lucky to get that. Her rotten service ruined what could have been an enjoyable meal.
Is it just us or does it seem like service in restaurants has gotten extremely poor over the past few years? I've been saying for months and now I mean it--from now on, we are going to tip according to the service we get. Usually, we wind up feeling bad for the server, but we've had it up to here.
We ate dinner at a place called Charlie Brown's, which is a chain of steakhouses that I believe is only in New Jersey. It is similar to Outback or Lonestar. Anyway, the food is consistantly good; I prefer their steaks over Outback's, and they have a nice salad bar.
So last night's dinner started out well. Our drinks and food were good; the salad bar was freshly stocked.
But then we finished eating and waited and waited and waited for our waitress to reappear from wherever she was hiding so that we could order dessert. She was absent so long that we decided to skip ordering a dessert, figuring we could be stuck there another hour if we did. My son's meal came with ice cream though, and he wanted that, so we thought we'd ask for it and the check at the same time.
Our waitress was nowhere to be found, so we asked the busboy to get her for us. He went over to a hostess/manager-type woman and another waitress and said something, but still, no one got her, and we continued to sit there cooling our heels. Meanwhile, I should tell you that the place had largely emptied out; busyness could not have been the excuse.
My husband got the hostess's attention and asked her to find our waitress. Then, she finally showed up with a big attitude, and we asked for the ice cream and the check. But then we needed change. And again, we sat there waiting and waiting for her to pick up the bill. My husband went to the bathroom and found her standing in the bar, smoking a cigarette. He told her we needed her to settle up.
I told him not to leave a penny over 10%, and she'd be lucky to get that. Her rotten service ruined what could have been an enjoyable meal.
Is it just us or does it seem like service in restaurants has gotten extremely poor over the past few years? I've been saying for months and now I mean it--from now on, we are going to tip according to the service we get. Usually, we wind up feeling bad for the server, but we've had it up to here.
I would not have left her one single penny and I'm a server. I've worked plenty 10-15 hour days and I may be tired, but my service is NEVER as bad as what you experienced. Up at the bar smoking a cigarrette....UNEXCEPTABLE!! PERIOD!! 
