Sometimes restaurant experiences are surreal. Like the other night when an appetizer arrived at our table, and we politely said, “that’s not what we ordered.”
Silence. Complete silence, and then the response that still has us shaking our heads: So?
That was what he actually said. So as in so what. Then, the clincher, what do you want me to do?
After I thought maybe he should just do a jig or something, I figured he would guess that he should apologize and excuse himself until he could return with the correct appetizer.
Nope. Didn’t happen. He shuffled. Looked at the floor. Seemed to believe his response was appropriate and looked at us.
Two things could have happened then. We could have admonished him and sent him back to the kitchen for the correct, as in what we ordered, appetizer, or we could just stare back and wait until he came to that conclusion. We’d probably still be at the appetizer course. We opted for keeping the appetizer, as it was something we like, and the other option might have been painful. We wanted to eat, to begin our dinner and to have limited discussions with him.
By the way red pepper dip and tzatziki do not look, sound, or taste the same. We are happy that we like this restaurant’s version of both. We opted for taste over correction!
The shock of his response still resonates. Was it worth discussing with the manager? Not really. That kind of response from a server at a well-known mid-tier restaurant is not something you can take out of him. It’s like a genetic flaw. A reprimand from the manager would, as they say, fall on deaf ears. Maybe he had seen The Absent-Minded Waiter one too many times. (If you haven’t seen it, enjoy the You Tube clip)
.
We had a good dinner and a clueless waiter. Fortunately since it is a Mediterranean restaurant, courses come out as they are ready, so we saw little more of him which probably saved the evening.
He definitely needs training, but I’m not convinced his response is that easy to change. When someone doesn’t get it, he doesn’t get it.
I do.
So?
#1 by suzy at June 12th, 2009
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my, my. you’ve really been blessed with some challenging servers lately!
#2 by allbeforecoffee at June 12th, 2009
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Some are just too comical to put aside!
#3 by Will Fowler at June 13th, 2009
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What was the name of the restaurant? I would think the management would like to use this story to improve.
Will
#4 by allbeforecoffee at June 13th, 2009
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Good point. Sorry, I probably should have mentioned the name: Zaytinya in Washington, DC.
#5 by Bill at June 14th, 2009
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That is a hilarious Steve Martin clip. Never seen it. That is a hilarious Steve Martin clip. Will have to check it out sometime! :)
#6 by allbeforecoffee at June 15th, 2009
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Very funny. So if you haven’t seen the clip…
#7 by Josh at June 18th, 2009
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It’s not complaining to explain to the waiter that he should go get your correct order. Part of the restaurant experience is service. If your waiter doesn’t “get it” he should “get a new job.”