Ask George: How is it possible that a highly regarded restaurant—let alone any restaurant--completely ignores a new table? Roger D, St. Louis
That’s certainly not a restaurant’s intent—ever—as such occurrences don’t exactly convey that all-important “positive first impression,” but there are several reasons this situation can occur. (There is a similar conversation on this subject in this thread in the P-D’s Food Talk.)
- Closed Station – It is possible to be seated in a closed station (or more often the customer moves into a closed station), so that station's server is quite possibly off the floor. Neither the host nor the other servers are aware and the customer gets ignored.
- Seating Chart Changes - As servers get cut, a restaurant’s seating chart often changes, so what was server A’s table initially may become server B’s.
- Miscommunication – Two servers both think the other has picked up the table in question, and neither one does. It’s like the two outfielders considering the same incoming fly ball—the “I got it…you take it" syndrome--which results in a literal dropped ball.
- Server Occupado – Your server has just begun taking orders at a demanding, 12-top when your party gets seated, an exercise that frequently takes 10+ minutes. Bad timing and bad luck. But it happens.
- Lapse at Shift Change - Your early evening table gets seated as the day server/crew is nearly finished. Two servers each think the other one has picked up the table in question.
- Bad Table Switch – Server A is assigned a station where everyone and their brother wants to sit--and right now. The host complies, which can mean triple-seating that server. In such instances, server A trades server B for one of his/her tables. Anytime switching (and switching back) occurs, the opportunity for a “missed” table increases.
- Tableside Service – Restaurants where staffers finish entrees tableside (or places like Cyrano’s where desserts often get flambéed at the table, a somewhat lengthy process) are prime candidates for server timing lapses.
I know what you’re thinking…the job of a good floor manager is to see that none of the above ever occurs. Absolutely true. But it will absolutely happen, sometime, as the seven above examples indicate, no matter how efficient the manager is.
So dear restaurant customer, accept this occurrence for the anomaly that it is…which also means refraining from instantaneously dissing the place on social media. Explaining the situation to the floor manager will result in a more effective and instantaneous solution.
For more on this subject, a related question was answered in this prior Ask George.
