Ask George: What restaurant trend, gimmick, or service touch would you like to see 86’d because it actually makes the dining experience worse?
Today’s question is a broader take on my recurring “Microrant,” one of the most popular features in SLM‘s Dining Out newsletter, which lands in inboxes every Friday morning. (Subscribe for free here.) Rather than complain about a personal annoyance, I’ll go with one that affects everyone in the restaurant: chairs that screech and scrape across concrete or wooden floors. Plastic or nylon chair glides are inexpensive, easy to install, and effective. I’ve never understood why restaurant owners and designers don’t make them standard issue.
We also asked SLM‘s dining team and some local restaurant owners to weigh in:
Denise Mueller-Peterson, SLM contributor: “The thing I’m hearing more and more is a large group walking in—with no call ahead—and saying, ‘We have 14 guests, but we just need a small little table or ‘section’ because we are only having drinks and small plates.’ Truly, 14 seats is still 14 seats, and I do not have any ‘small areas’ for 14, as I’d love to offer the best experience possible for you and your guests, which includes ample space. ‘Small plates/shareable plates’ is still ‘food service’ for any number of guests, because you never know what your peers/guests will order once seated, and will likely warrant the same steps of service…if not more when it comes to splitting the bill.”
Collin Preciado, SLM contributor: “I’m really tired of places suddenly not specifying that their nachos are on anything other than tortilla chips. I understand the modern desire to elevate classic fare, but you have to at least warn me if you’re doing something completely insane like using Billy Goat chips. Pita chips might look cool on Instagram, but if you didn’t tell me that’s what I was getting and I’m having to pick one up with a spoon by the third bite, I am going to call the police.”
Madi Lee, SLM contributor: “As a bit of a germaphobe, it’s off-putting when there are “community condiments” to choose from or even just condiments on the table. I think they should always be served in a nice little bowl. Nothing is grosser than reaching for a condiment bottle that many others have touched and they look crusty or greasy. A few others coming to mind: Seasonal coffees, teas, or other beverages that taste absolutely nothing like the thing they’re marketing. I’ve had it with the “banana bread lattes” excitement that leads to disappointment each time. If there’s table service, print a bill. I don’t want to be handed the portable [point-of-sale] as I skip the survey questions on how the service was while you’re hovering over me. And mocktails that are as expensive—and not nearly as creative—as regular cocktails.”
Lynn Venhaus, SLM contributor: “Dining at communal tables. Not a fan. It’s awkward. It’s different if you are at a wedding reception or a work or special occasion event function. I also prefer printed menus because we all spend too much time on phones, and I like leaving my cellphone in my purse when I am dining out, trying to be present and engage in real people conversations. I don’t like scrolling to see what the options are when it would be easier to read a menu. I also ask a server questions about an item, or read a description to the server, engaging them in my decision and allowing them to show off their knowledge.”
Mabel Suen, SLM contributor: “The use of AI-generated art. Seeing weirdly warped disproportionate food imagery definitely makes me lose my appetite.”
Pat Eby, SLM contributor: “I’ve learned to live with the mechanization of service from pulling out my phone to take a photo of the QR code to get the menu, then ordering via the internet, and sometimes watching a robot make its way to my table with my food. I appreciate the reasons restaurants use these assists, but I wish the robots would disappear. I like a personal interaction when my dinner comes to the table. Now the robots have never been surly, but the beeping, blinking machines I’ve encountered just aren’t the same. When a human server places your dinner on the table with a smile or a kind word there’s a connection, however fleeting. Hubby and I often choose to sit at the bar where robots may fear to tread due to close confines, so a kindly human bartender brings both drinks and foods. I know there are robot bartenders already, but I hope they’re not going to be omnipresent soon.”
Cheryl Baehr, SLM contributor: “I have Very Big Feelings about branded buns, the kind that have a charred logo stamped into them from a branding iron. I think they are ridiculous and unnecessarily showy, and I can’t stand them. It’s not just that they are over-the-top and unnecessary; they also take away from the bun’s fluffiness and make it more chewy around the branded area. I thought this trend was going away, but I was dismayed to see that the Obama Burger at the new Obama Presidential Center appears to have one. He’s into food. He should know better.”
Bill Burge, SLM contributor:
- “Burrata: we get it—cheese is delicious. But every restaurant doesn’t need it.
- Whipped cheese of every variety. When I was in Chicago a few weeks ago almost every restaurant had whipped cheese. One was even whipped quark which I found especially bizarre because it’s already creamy.
- Smash burgers. Thick Boyz for life! it just comes off like you can’t, or won’t be bothered, to temp a burger.
- Speakeasies—especially hidden ones—just have a cocktail bar at this point.
- Static menus: If you’re truly one of the best restaurants in a city, your menu ought to have some seasonality to it that isn’t just the rotation of the same seasonal dishes.
- ‘Globally inspired’: This just reads like you’ve lost the plot and your menu has no through-line.
- Regional menus, like Italian, that have things like sliders—yes, even on pretzel buns. (You know who you are.)
- Instructions on how to eat a dish unless it’s the suggested order of small bites on a tasting menu.
- Hot honey
- Bacon jam: see played-out speakeasies
- QR code drinks lists at nicer spots (big fan of the QR code paying, though—and ordering in a casual spot like a brewery)
- At least put a sample menu on your webpage.
- And your address!
- And hours!
- And don’t put your menu in apps like scribd. They’re hard to read–especially mobile.”
Frank Romano, The Parkmoor Drive-In, Madrina: “I’ll keep it short and only pick one. QR codes! Some restaurants are still using QR codes for their menus. I understood it during the COVID times, but having to scan the code now and look at your phone for the menu drives me bonkers. Just print the menus!”
Natasha Kwan, Frida’s, Bonito Bar, Diego’s Cantina: “Somehow the trend of complex drinks with 4+ touches and a ton of ingredients that takes 8 minutes to make is still a thing in some places. Sorry, a drink should come out in 2 minutes, or your guest might opt for a beer next round, or even worse, nothing.”
Brant Baldanza, Shack, The Corner Pub & Grill, and The Tavern Kitchen & Bar: “Great timing, as tomorrow is my birthday and the fam informed me last night that we are heading out for dinner to celebrate. I warned them all: If someone comes to our table to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ with any attention drawn to me whatsoever, I will Uber home—or straight to the casino…most likely the casino. Just let me enjoy the extra year added on to the ticker without the cheap calories of the cheap dessert that I didn’t pick out. I mean, you would think I would at the very least get to pick the dessert, right?!”
Follow dining editor George Mahe on X and Instagram, or send him an “Ask George” email at [email protected]. For more from St. Louis Magazine, subscribe or follow us on Facebook, X , and Instagram.
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