Restaurant Gripes and Peeves

hen I first received this assignment, I thought, uh oh! I am a former restaurant owner (two, actually), and work as a restaurant and hospitality consultant. What is a fair and unbiased opinion when it comes to a consumers and their pet peeves? Well, I AM a consumer. I eat out all the time and there are some annoying habits, situations, frustrations that constantly arise.

I did, however, do my research. I have  interviewed many a restaurant goer, restaurateurs themselves, servers, chefs, my Suncoast Cuisine partner, Michael Kradlac, and, of course, my hospitality students at USF School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. It is with plenty of ink in hand that I now pen some of the more popular “gripes” that have been expressed.

• Placing the menus on top of the clean silverware when you are taken to the table. (DUH! Can anyone say germs!!!!)
  
• Dirty menus. Something about the ketchup stain that takes away the anticipation of fine cuisine.
• Spelling mistakes on the menu. OK there is the occasional mishap. Is Tillamook with one L or two, or shiitake not shitake, but sauté?
• The host carrying on a conversation with a server or two, while walking you to your table.
• The host chatting with a friend on the phone while you are waiting to be seated.
• Professional attire, please. The short tops with the belly rings do not add  to a fine dining establishment.
• Waiting 20 minutes to receive a glass of water. Getting the water without the lemon you requested. Not getting your water refilled (This was a constant gripe, a biggy, so listen up restaurant people!!!)
• Asking for a glass of Merlot and being sent the MOST expensive glass on the menu.
• Not being told the nightly specials; and being told them without being told the price
• Even worse, finding out too late that one of the nightly specials, which you weren't told about, just happens to be one of your favorites.
• Ordering your entrée and being told, “Sorry we are out.” If only we were told that in the beginning, my tastebuds would have prepared for second choice.
• Being told by the server that each item you select “Excellent choice.”
• Upon finishing your meal, being told, “You belong to the clean plate society.”
• Being asked very frequently ­ “How is everything?” Or worse, never being asked.
• Not being allowed to substitute. Hey, it's our food, let us eat it the way we like it right?
• Making a reservation with a larger party, say eight, not having the table set up when you arrive, and when they do, push some mixed matched tables together that wobble all night.
• Ordering the low carb special and being served bread.
• Over friendly service! Please do not sit next to my husband when taking our order, unless you want a salad fork in your arm!
• Not being told the price of a daily special and finding out when the bill comes that you will miss your mortgage payment.
• Background music that doesn't fit. Disco with my Veal Piccata just doesn't set the tone.
• Getting a medium well burger when I ordered it medium rare.
• Dirty salt and pepper shakers.
• The cheese on the pizza is not cooked enough.
• Having to ask for the appropriate condiments after your food is served.
• Old French Fries.
• Undercooked French Fries.
• 30 minute ticket times.
• Being sat right next to an occupied table when the rest of the dining room is free.
• The table not being completely and properly cleared before coffee and dessert.
• Or, not being offered coffee and dessert.
• Waiting, and waiting, for the check.
• Waiting, and waiting, for change from the check.
• One pen when there are four checks on the table with credit cards to sign.
• The bathroom is out of toilet paper at 7:00PM.
• The bathroom is out of soap ­ apparently, since last Tuesday.
• Servers discussing tips.
• Bartenders watching soap operas or game shows.
• Dirty, empty tables, full of plates and not bussed in a timely fashion.
• Witnessing a dining room understaffed and management nowhere to be seen.
• AUCTIONING the food!!! This is a Rocco DiSpirito favorite! A waiter arriving with plates of food saying, “OK, who gets Momma's meatballs?”
• Mushy vegetables.
• Watery vegetables.
• The same vegetable every time we go to this restaurant
• Freezer burnt ice cream.
• Unmelted cheese on a grilled sandwich.
• The lighting too bright
• The lighting too dark.
• Light bulbs out.
• Dirty lamps and walls
• The only vegetarian offer is pasta.
• Cold food that is supposed to be hot.
• A warm plate for your too cold Caesar salad.
• A very cheap wine glass.
• Lipstick on the very cheap wine glass.
• Inconsistent hours of operation.
• Allowing employees to drink or eat at the bar after their shift.
• Requesting a little more sauce or salad dressing and getting it 15 minutes later.
• Being able to hear silverware being polished.
• Old coffee.
• Milk instead of cream for my coffee.
• Being told it is decaf, when you knew it must have been regular.
• Poor quality decaf.
• A gum chewing host or server.
• A bus person that puts fingers in the dirty glasses as the table is cleared.
• Dining alone and having the host ask, “Only one???”
• Watching a bartender eat behind the bar while on shift while food is dying in the window.
• Not being wished a good evening and, even more importantly, not being thanked when you receive the check.
• Dirty sugar packets and/or straws on the floor.
• Half empty sugar packets.
• Not being served a spoon with coffee.
• Sticky tables.
• Table tents.
• Not being told the truth about a “wait time.”
• Rushing you out in order to turn the table, especially when you really wanted to linger a bit over dessert and coffee.
• There not being silverware when your food is served.
• Hard butter.
• Having no butter. How many people out there do not like to dip bread into oil?
• Servers or bartenders with an attitude.
• Younger guests being overlooked, so the server can attend to the older, perhaps more affluent, clientele.
• Congregating staff...oh this one really gets us. Especially in the beginning of the night when staff congregate in one area having personal conversations or complaining about last night's tips.
• When asking for a second napkin, I don’t need a server to bring me enough to clean my house after I leave. A napkin means one. The same with ordering a lemon with my water. Don’t bring the whole tree, just one slice will do! (ie- wasteful servers.)
  
• Serving glasses by handling the top rim and when refilling. Cleanliness 101 please.
• Restaurants that don’t recycle.
• Too cold salads, butter or interior. Cold food should not be served so chilled, but at room temperature. I shouldn’t need to scrape the icicles off my lettuce (or my partner for that matter). Why do so many restaurants insist on keeping the temperature so low? This is supposed to be for my comfort not to keep the waitstaff as cool as they think they are.
• Why are white wines usually less of  a pour than reds? Is it just the shape of the glass? Where is the standard 6 oz. pour?
• A wait person not knowing about wines and then telling me so.
• White wines being served too cold and reds too warm.
• Inferior bread. With all the terrific bakeries there is no excuse for this any more.

Having said that, as a frequent diner, I must say that I have had wonderful dining experiences everywhere. While we all respect the demands and difficulties of the food industry, we very much hope that all restaurateurs and their staff will take heed of the above article. Please listen to their guests and pay attention to the details.

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Keep on dining out!

Judi Gallagher and Neal Finelli