UNITED STATES—Dining out is something most Americans do at least 1-2 times a week. While its great to escape the kitchen every so often, is it worth it to spend a hundred dollars or more on a meal where the service is beyond horrible? I seriously don’t think so.
I recently dined at an establishment that I hadn’t been to in quite some time because I had a really bad experience years back. I decided to give this establishment a second chance, and the disappointment was just as great. Let this be clear I won’t name the place that I dined at, but it’s a place that is known for having cheap priced appetizers. Take it as you’d like.
The first impression I got when entering the restaurant was that the hostess was not as inviting. Never a good sign, as my guests and I were already thinking about bolting. It was late at night and we really didn’t want to go elsewhere, even though we should have considered doing so. So we get seated and a waitress immediately comes to our table, she seemed a bit loopy like she knew how to do her job, but not to the point where she was being professional in my opinion.
You’re here to serve me food, I’m not going to treat you like a slave, but at the same time, I expect you to uphold a bit of composure. The restaurant may I warn you was quite slow this evening. It was a weekday, so we ordered our food and it seemed like we waited close to 30 minutes or more before even seeing anything arrive on the table. That really peeves me; it should not take super loads of time to cook up a few burgers and fries when the restaurant is slow to begin with. It tells your patrons you are not in cohesion with their time frame.
I’m not upset, just disappointed, we wanted to order a drink or two at the bar, as it was happy hour, but the establishment didn’t approve of the idea of someone having a drink at the bar, and then going back to their table on the other side of the restaurant. Was this a stupid rule in my opinion, yes, because it was bringing more revenue to the restaurant, not to mention the fact that we were about to pay for our drinks anyway.
That ‘rule’ caused us to really lose our temper a bit, with us deciding to just eat and leave as soon as possible. I hate dining out with a large party because the gratuity can high and the waiter or waitress can give horrendous service and still receive a big tip, which is what happened in our case. We debated about leaving more, but once we discussed how lazy the service was and the fact that our waitress barely knew the items on the menu we changed our mind in a jiffy.
I don’t believe in honoring bad behavior or a bad work ethic. Why? It sends signal to a person that they can keep doing this and they will get away with it. It didn’t help that the individual brought me fountain drink after fountain drink without even asking me if I wanted more. I get the idea of earning a tip, but overdoing something can be killer to.
With those 90 minutes we spent at the establishment, I made a decision, NEVER, EVER, EVER in my life will I go to this restaurant again. In fact, I will be sure to inform all of my friends and family to stay away from this establishment. The service they provided was just horrid and I would never want anyone to have the same experience that I had. I guess this is the difference from dining at one of those quickie restaurants versus one that provides top-notch service and ambiance. It is indeed true; you do get what you pay for!
