List of restaurant don’ts too delectable
November 10th, 2009 at 08:42am Georgette Braun
These two lists of 100 Things Restaurant Staff Should Never Do (the first 50 HERE; the next, HERE) in the New York Times is incredible, stupendous, so on-target you’ll be shouting “YES!” and clamouring for your favorite eateries to train their staff this way on what not to do.
A few of my favorites:
17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait.
40. Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad.
52. Know your menu inside and out. If you serve Balsam Farm candy-striped beets, know something about Balsam Farm and candy-striped beets.
57. Bring the pepper mill with the appetizer. Do not make people wait or beg for a condiment.
58. Do not bring judgment with the ketchup. Or mustard. Or hot sauce. Or whatever condiment is requested.
77. Do not disappear.
97. If a guest goes gaga over a particular dish, get the recipe for him or her.
I’m going to put a copy of this list in my purse when I’m reviewing local eateries for our My Last Bite dining-out feature that runs in GO on Fridays. Maybe I’ll just randomly pick a number or two and see how the eatery measures up.
Other ideas? What are your favorites on the list? Other pet peeves?
Entry Filed under: food
3 Comments Add your own
1. Ron Gottschalk | November 12th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Georgette,
I think it would be a great idea to take the entire list with you when you review restaurants. The Register Star’s restaurant reviews almost never find any fault in the food or service. You need a more critical eye when reviewing restaurants. After living in Chicago for 60 years and experiencing all kinds of food, service and ambiance, I am amazed at how bad the service is at many of the restaurants in the Rock River Valley. The food quality and ethnicity is very poor. It appears that the busiest restaurants in town are the McDonalds. Ugh!
2. Therese | November 16th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Hi, I know I am doing this wrong. I’m not sure how to ask a question on this blog. Obviously I don’t really blog.
Being new to this area, don’t laugh, I was wondering if there are turkeys for sale that have not been frozen for Thanksgiving.
Thanks
3. Georgette Braun | November 18th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Ron: Thanks for the advice.
Therese: Geri Nikolai will be writing in her column in GO this coming Saturday about how to find turkey sellers. Hopefully, that will give you some ideas. If not, get back to me.
Leave a Comment
Some HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>
Trackback this post | Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed