Don't put words in my mouth! (Memphis, Guys: houses, restaurants, low cost)

[REPBOY]

There are a number of servers in Memphis and other cities' restaurants who are in the bad habit of telling you what you think of the food or service you just received by saying things like "Hey Guys, was everything really great?!!" or "Was everything wonderful?!!" or other things to that effect. Everything might have been quite good up until that point when you insinuated that I was so stupid that you could plant the idea in my head that I just ate a spectacular meal whether it was or not. Unfortunately my wife and I (the two members of the team of "Guys" even though we are male and female - we really got over that common form of address a long time ago.) won't be going back to our former favorite chain steakhouse anymore because we just can't take the manager any longer. She flits around micro managing the entire staff at warp speed, and at some point she flashes by the table once and shouts out as she zips by: "Is everything D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S? By the time she makes the s sound at the end of the word, she has already passed the booth and is out of range for an answer. She works constantly at making clones of the servers, so when they return to the table they will echo: "Is everything WONDERFUL?" or "GREAT?". The shame of the matter is that the food actually is good, and the environment is where we wanted to be be at that particular time or we wouldn't be there. Asking bogus questions of the guests at top speed and using assinine buzzwords when you really don't want to hear the answer is not the way to build return business IMO. I suspect this particular management operation probably gets rated highly on the franchise orginization's customer comment ranking because the manager obviously reports that all of her guests agree that the food was DELICIOUS. I never see any comment cards which might be a better reporting tool. It's just my opinion, but a confident but humble service approach by a server who exhibits his/her own personality and speaks w/o benefit of any scripting or cloning would build more loyalty. Maybe that's the difference between even a better level chain eatery and a good independent built around a competent owner or chef. The reason I thought that this was an appropriate topic for city data is that I'm asking the question "Do you feel that service levels in general in the Memphis area have eroded or become more canned and cold over the last decade or two, or do you always have to pay top dollar to get a real, warm and professional dining experience?" Does this apply to other kinds of service as well?

[Snake Plissken]

fwiw those kinds of questions have never bothered me at all, and I just assume it's a formality of service (not really a "Memphis" thing--this happens everywhere). As long as the service is reasonably fast, they don't f*** up, and don't bother me too much, I don't really think much of it. Many service roles have naturally outgoing people whose personality are going to be a part of the way they work.

The only thing that bothers me is when my meal actually isn't good, and I tell them that, and they seem to take it personally.

to our former favorite chain steakhouse

Flemings or Ruth's Chris?

[Geneyus]

I'm gonna say Logan's.

They did the same thing to me the other day at Old Venice. The manager came by really fast and asked me specifically (out of 4 people) "Is everything good?". My mouth was full so I just nodded.

[teCh0010]

I'm going to guess lower end than Ruth's Chris, their service is normally not as canned as this sounds.

I prefer Folk's Folly but RC has been perfectly fine when I have been there.

[Snake Plissken]

I just assumed that's what they meant with "chain steakhouse." I don't really think of places like Logans as steakhouses but w/e.

[Geneyus]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

I just assumed that's what they meant with "chain steakhouse." I don't really think of places like Logans as steakhouses but w/e.

I was thinking it was called "Logan's Steakhouse", but now I see it is called Logan's Roadhouse. Oooops. Either way, they make a pretty good steak for low cost, but the atmosphere is terrible.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Geneyus

I was thinking it was called "Logan's Steakhouse", but now I see it is called Logan's Roadhouse. Oooops. Either way, they make a pretty good steak for low cost, but the atmosphere is terrible.

You expect more from a place that encourages you to throw peanut shells on the floor?
I'm with Snake on this one, not really a steakhouse, more along the lines of a FF low end restaurant.