I'm a big fan of not cooking if I don't have to. It's stupid to cook for 2 people & my fiancé doesn't eat home cooked leftovers. I'll make dinner if I know people are coming over I will go all out for dinner.

Anyways, Sunday I went to Red Robin with a couple of friends & the service was horrible. It took forever for our drinks to come from the bar. We had our appetizer before the drinks. We ordered our meals & had to wait for our second drinks to come out. Then 3 of the people in my group ordered sandwiches. We waited 30 minutes. The waitress said that our sandwiches would be right out, she was waiting for the quesadillas to complete the order. Ten minutes later our food comes out. All our sandwiches were cold but the quesadillas were hot. Figures. So we complained to the manager... He offered us free milk shakes. he said he was sorry but they were too busy & everyone was backed up. Well, That wasn't our fault. My friends specifically went early to dinner so they can go to the 3 doors down concert & instead we were stuck in Red Robin entirely too long. I feel this should have never happened. Being jam packed shouldn't be an issue as The Giant Centre always has huge venues going on. This was poor management & they failed miserably

Anyways, Had to vent!

I've been to Red Robin a couple of times, and the service was always really good. I'm sorry you had a bad time, though.

It is poor management, totally. We had a huge convention in the hotel this weekend and they only scheduled two servers. Sixty people showed up at once to eat dinner, and we didn't have the seating for them or the staff to handle them. People were waiting two hours to eat. Why they didn't just go somewhere else, I don't know.

I had another disaster this evening.

I didn't feel like cooking & there is a great Italian place about 5 miles from me.

I called & ordered the shrimp with marinara sauce over linguini. My fiancé orders it for me all the time. This was the first time I ever called & placed my own order. The woman on the phone was short & rude. She said that they don't serve that particular dish. I know they do, we get it once or twice month. She finally replies that she knows what I am talking about. It's a simple order. She tells me 20 minutes & never even asks me what dressing I want for my salad.

I drive to the restaurant & pick up my order. It's $13.78. I pick it up & go home.

It's not what I ordered. It was linguini & shrimp but with a pink sauce & olives & other veggies. Did I mention it had pink sauce or olives when I called to place the order...NO!

So, I called back & the same women answered the phone. I explained that there was a mix-up with my order & she was got totally smart with me. I asked to talk to the manager & or the owner. In a cocky voice she said oh thats my husband. So, I knew I would this was a dead end. He got on the phone with me & I explained nicely want I wanted when I placed the order & what I ended up with. I explained his wife was in such a rush to get me off the phone she didnt ask me what dressing I wanted.

He said that I could come back & he would make me a new order. By that time I was so frustrated that I lost my appetite. I then told him that i worked less than two miles & the women in my office always complained that they would never call there for food because they were always so rude. (this is true because when we needed things catered ... they would never call here.

I told him that he lost a customer because of his wife's bad customer service.

I'm now looking for a new pasta place.

I dunno if you have them near you, but Romano's Macaroni Grill is a totally awesome pasta place you can pickup from.

Posted by ActionSatisfaction Esq. I dunno if you have them near you, but Romano's Macaroni Grill is a totally awesome pasta place you can pickup from.

I think its like 30 minutes away.

It's okay..I'll suffer. haha

Posted by ActionSatisfaction Esq. I dunno if you have them near you, but Romano's Macaroni Grill is a totally awesome pasta place you can pickup from.

Lol. I got food poisoning there.... 3 times.

Then I went there to pick up some supplies (they are owned by brinker, as are we (chili's) and I found out why.... their restaurants have no food regs enforced at all.... I guess they are Brinker's redheaded step child or something...

I went to a place in Memphis called Amerigo's. Someone told me it's a chain, but it's about the best Italian food I've ever had just short of this little place down in NYC.
I don't know if you'd have one of those near you.

Shael

Amerigo is awesome, there's one in Nashville. It's kind of a chain, but I think there's only three or four of them.

Stop teasing me with Italian restaurants. lol

I live in Amish Land!

I'm not a fan of huge chain restaurants.

The only reason I went to Red Robin is because:

A) Its about 3 miles from me

It's next to Hershey Park & my friends were going to a
concert, that I opted out on a couple of days before.

If I'm paying for a meal,

I just want good customer service
& a hot meal!

On a positive note, if you ever go exploring with me...
I know where all
the good restaurants are in a 30 minute radius.

wow i worked in a restaurant for over 5 years and those places sound like they are run by extremely poor management.

went to a restaurant last night and we sat at the table waiting for the server for about 15 minutes and the place was NOT busy! Anyway, she asked what we wanted to drink and then brought us our drinks. She asked us what we wanted to order and I told her that she never even gave us menus to pick something to eat! Not only that, but when she eventually brought us our food, she never provided us with utensils at all and we had to ask another server for some.

My dinner was a chicken finger dinner with fries or rice, and with salad, soup of the day and garlic bread. When I ordered, she never asked me if I wanted the fries or the rice and she never told me what the soup of the day was. The next time she walked by my table, I said to her "Do I not get a choice of fries or rice with my meal, as well as soup/salad/garlic bread??" and she replied "Um.. no... hold on.." and had to check to see if I was right. This chick has worked there for about 8 months now and still does not know the menu. Anyways, she ended up bringing me my soup AFTER my actual meal (it's supposed to be served first) and she completely forgot my salad and garlic bread. When I asked her about those things, she became rude and snappy and walked off. Needless to say, she received no tip at all, and I know the owner, and I know that the owner will appreciate my feedback about this server. I frequent the same restaurant maybe 3 times a month and I never had any problems before (mainly because I never really have this same server).

Posted by vicexsquad went to a restaurant last night and we sat at the table waiting for the server for about 15 minutes and the place was NOT busy!

You sat yourself at a restaurant?

Yesterday, I was traveling with a friend of mine and his wife and we stopped at the Friendly's off of Exit 19 in Glens Falls NY. We were seated quickly but it took 15 minutes to get our orders taken and drinks delivered, another 40 minutes for the appetizer to come out and then another 25 minutes for our meals. The food sucked and was overpriced. $8.29 for a bacon-swiss hamburger with fries? Never again.

Next time, I'll just go home and eat.

I went to four restaurants this weekend & the service was great at all of them between Friday night & Sunday.

I'm on an awesome streak of great food, amazing service, & awesome dinner companions!

If I receive poor service from a waitress / waiter , I leave them a tip of two aspirins (tylenol, advil, etc.) with a small note that says "I think you need these".


ps - I worked in the food business for many years when I was young. I picked up that trick from a 'seasoned veteran'.

Posted by PorkChopExpress If I receive poor service from a waitress / waiter , I leave them a tip of two aspirins (tylenol, advil, etc.) with a small note that says "I think you need these". ps - I worked in the food business for many years when I was young. I picked up that trick from a 'seasoned veteran'.

That's great.

I took Harley (my fiancés daughter) to lunch one day @ a restaurant we frequent weekly. We had a new server who was rude & had no personality. Everyone who works there knows us & knows what the kids like to order extra gravy & that we tip well. Anyways, The waitress was short with us because we ordered extra gravy & the waitress forgot. Also that we get free ice cream with the kid's meal. Harley was 12 @ the time & the manager (bill) came over to say hi. Harley said to Bill that she was going to ask our waitress for change for a quarter. Bill asked her why & she replied because our waitress wasn't worth the quarter tip!

Anyways, Since that day we don't sit in that particular waitress's section!

Posted by GotPaisley Harley was 12 @ the time & the manager (bill) came over to say hi. Harley said to Bill that she was going to ask our waitress for change for a quarter. Bill asked her why & she replied because our waitress wasn't worth the quarter tip! Anyways, Since that day we don't sit in that particular waitress's section!

BAWAAHAAHAAHAA!! That's priceless!

Yesterday, Shael and I went out to dinner as we very rarely ever have a weekend day off together and went to a Chinese place we both like. The service, food and atmosphere are very nice and the price is outstanding.

It's to the point where they know us...

Posted by Samurai Yesterday, Shael and I went out to dinner as we very rarely ever have a weekend day off together and went to a Chinese place we both like. The service, food and atmosphere are very nice and the price is outstanding. It's to the point where they know us...

Well...we do go there at least every other week.
Sometimes more often, depending on when we have days off together.

Shael

Hmm, well ...

A rule I've always had when eating out: NEVER be a jerk to the server. They see your food MORE than you do, and I don't care what health codes they'll be violating ... they could spit in your soda and you'd never know it. After working in a restaurant, I believe in this rule even MORE strongly, than before.




... I'm fairly new at this being a server thing, and I'm still getting the hang of it. Last week, there was a table that I didn't know was in my section, so I was going about my business ignoring the man rudely clearing his throat at me. I don't respond to that. I respond to, "Excuse me, ma'am?" I went over and helped them, and ended up as their waitress ... This was like day 3 of me-on-my-own, and I was even MORE scatter-brained than I usually am.

Throughout their whole experience ... I forgot ketchup, the cooks made the wrong pizza, another cook prepared the wrong slab of meat (I don't know the difference because I'm a vegetarian and new server), I forgot to take a refill back out to the table, I dropped another customer's dirty fork on the lady, and I'd accidentally ignored my own table.

They obviously didn't like me very much ... but they still tipped me well.


Know why? They understood that my job was hard, especially when I was new at it. They understood that they control 3/4 of the money that pays my bills. In the end, I tried my fucking hardest to make them happy and it just was a complete disaster. But it was alright because ...

In the end, IT IS ONLY one fucking meal at a restaurant. No life or death situation, and not anything truly important in the long run.




Seriously ... I've had my fair share of poor servers, but I always tip them, anyway ... Don't you people realize that the world doesn't revolve around you? Haven't you ever had a bad day, and just been a total ASSHOLE to everyone who comes into contact with you? Even your servers have bad days. Nobody is fucking Superman, not even your apparently all-knowing-godly-waiters. Maybe your shitty waitress's MOM just died --- maybe her CHILD did, but she still has to fucking wait on tables, to pay the medical and funeral bills. I definitely wouldn't be the happiest woman in the world, having to remember some selfish bastard's ketchup, while dealing with some horrible personal situation.


... But that's just me, and I try hard to bring compassion to all of my interpersonal interactions, simply because I feel that EVERY person deserves it.
That and I've seen some extraordinary cases of karma ... what goes around definitely comes around.