Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I can only recall one time when a server actually sat down at our table. I couldn't believe it. And he just didn't sit down to take our order, he came back and sat down again. DH and I were trying to have a serious discussion and this guy just flops his behind down at our table. Excuse me. GO AWAY!
I do now have a new peeve though. Please have servers that speak English. We went to a large Tex-Mex restaurant for dinner this weekend. We've been there before and the service has been good. This weekend however, we had a server that could barely speak English. This was not a Mexican restaurant that caters to Mexican immigrants, I expect that when I eat at that kind of establishment. This was one that caters to upscale suburbanites, most of whom, do not speak Spanish. Very Americanized food. Not authentic in any way. The menu was entirely in English. Our server was friendly enough, and the service was decent, but we had a horrible time just trying to place our order. DH had a couple of questions, and the guy couldn't understand what he was asking, and we couldn't understand what he was trying to say to us. We finally got the point across to guy, and we were shocked that the food actually came out correct. Really, ordering shouldn't have to be that hard.
I can only recall one time when a server actually sat down at our table. I couldn't believe it. And he just didn't sit down to take our order, he came back and sat down again. DH and I were trying to have a serious discussion and this guy just flops his behind down at our table. Excuse me. GO AWAY!
I do now have a new peeve though. Please have servers that speak English. We went to a large Tex-Mex restaurant for dinner this weekend. We've been there before and the service has been good. This weekend however, we had a server that could barely speak English. This was not a Mexican restaurant that caters to Mexican immigrants, I expect that when I eat at that kind of establishment. This was one that caters to upscale suburbanites, most of whom, do not speak Spanish. Very Americanized food. Not authentic in any way. The menu was entirely in English. Our server was friendly enough, and the service was decent, but we had a horrible time just trying to place our order. DH had a couple of questions, and the guy couldn't understand what he was asking, and we couldn't understand what he was trying to say to us. We finally got the point across to guy, and we were shocked that the food actually came out correct. Really, ordering shouldn't have to be that hard.
I know exactly what you mean. I would not want my waiter to sit at my table either and I would prefer he/she did not kneel either. I have a neck and am perfectly able to look at my server. In fact I can't ever remember an occasion in 43 years where kneeling would have been appropriate. I find it odd and with some servers a little servile too which I do not like.
As for the language issue don't even get me started. Every time I go abroad I will always endeavour to learn basic phrases so I can make an effort to be understood in shops and restaurants. I think that speaking the native language of the country you work in seems a pretty basic favour to ask in return when I am eating out at home !
I shall never understand how anyone would even consider getting a job which requires contact with other human beings and not learn to speak the language. I have had this problem so many times in the US and Canada where it seems one can be a waiter and not speak English ( nor French in Canada as well). Why would anyone hire someone who does not have an almost fluent grasp of English???? It is beyond me.
I have had to speak Spanish to so many servers in the US, French in Florida ( in some Haitians restaurants), when quite frankly I should not have to. It is extraordinary to me. In Vancouver BC , if you do not speak Chinese in some parts of Town you could really find yourself completely lost trying to order anything.
I cannot ever imagine moving to China and not learning Chinese and I would certainly never apply for a job in a restaurant if I was not almost fluent. There is an interaction between server and customer and language barriers are just not desirable quite frankly.
How can anyone move to a country and not want to integrate. It is beyond me. I would not expect people in Portugal to only speak French even in a French restaurant. That would be the worst arrogance. Why is it OK in the hospitality industry to have people serving you who could not speak the official language of the country they live in if their lives depended on it ?
We have a lot of immigrants and foreign students so when you go the restaurant you are usually faced with somebody from Hungary, Brazil, Sweden, Pakistan, India etc... but I think the vast majority of them speak on the whole often better English than many English people. There are the occasional Pakistani restaurants where it can be a bit touch and go but on the whole not too bad. In the US it so frequent that I now expect to be answered in Spanish or Chinese.
AArgggggggggggg ! Service is in essence a form of dialogue, if we are speaking at cross purposes then it becomes a ridiculously difficult odyssey rather than a pleasurable experience.
I have absolutely no problem with immigrants whatsoever. As long as they accept that they are not in their native country anymore. Language skills are a basic requirement of successful integration IMO.
I have been called racist over this and I do not understand it. To the contrary I would argue that I want those people to embrace their new lives so they too can embraced into it. It is just common sense.
I know exactly what you mean. I would not want my waiter to sit at my table either and I would prefer he/she did not kneel either. I have a neck and am perfectly able to look at my server. In fact I can't ever remember an occasion in 43 years where kneeling would have been appropriate. I find it odd and with some servers a little servile too which I do not like.
As for the language issue don't even get me started. Every time I go abroad I will always endeavour to learn basic phrases so I can make an effort to be understood in shops and restaurants. I think that speaking the native language of the country you work in seems a pretty basic favour to ask in return when I am eating out at home !
I shall never understand how anyone would even consider getting a job which requires contact with other human beings and not learn to speak the language. I have had this problem so many times in the US and Canada where it seems one can be a waiter and not speak English ( nor French in Canada as well). Why would anyone hire someone who does not have an almost fluent grasp of English???? It is beyond me.
I have had to speak Spanish to so many servers in the US, French in Florida ( in some Haitians restaurants), when quite frankly I should not have to. It is extraordinary to me. In Vancouver BC , if you do not speak Chinese in some parts of Town you could really find yourself completely lost trying to order anything.
I cannot ever imagine moving to China and not learning Chinese and I would certainly never apply for a job in a restaurant if I was not almost fluent. There is an interaction between server and customer and language barriers are just not desirable quite frankly.
How can anyone move to a country and not want to integrate. It is beyond me. I would not expect people in Portugal to only speak French even in a French restaurant. That would be the worst arrogance. Why is it OK in the hospitality industry to have people serving you who could not speak the official language of the country they live in if their lives depended on it ?
We have a lot of immigrants and foreign students so when you go the restaurant you are usually faced with somebody from Hungary, Brazil, Sweden, Pakistan, India etc... but I think the vast majority of them speak on the whole often better English than many English people. There are the occasional Pakistani restaurants where it can be a bit touch and go but on the whole not too bad. In the US it so frequent that I now expect to be answered in Spanish or Chinese.
AArgggggggggggg ! Service is in essence a form of dialogue, if we are speaking at cross purposes then it becomes a ridiculously difficult odyssey rather than a pleasurable experience.
I have absolutely no problem with immigrants whatsoever. As long as they accept that they are not in their native country anymore. Language skills are a basic requirement of successful integration IMO.
I have been called racist over this and I do not understand it. To the contrary I would argue that I want those people to embrace their new lives so they too can embraced into it. It is just common sense.
I completely agree. I don't think it's one bit racist. We have many immigrants from Mexico as well as Central and South America here. That's okay. Please do not however get a job here that requires you to be able to converse fluently in English, unless you can do just that. I don't expect them to loose their accents or have a perfect grasp on all of the intricacies of our language or our slang terms, but the basic ability to answer simple questions and describe how a dish is prepared. Don't just tell me it "its beef". I got that much from the menu. If you can't do that, then you need to be working in a restaurant in one of the Hispanic neighborhoods which caters to other immigrants.
I've actually wondered if part of it is not that the owners and management of some of these establishments just don't notice it because many of them are immigrants as well. And while they may have a much better grasp of the language, they don't notice when others don't. Often you here a weird mix of the 2 languages, used by many immigrants, and even 2nd & 3rd generation Mexican Americans, especially in border states. We were in a restaurant in Texas a couple of weeks ago, which caters to the Hispanic community. Naturally most of the other diners as well as staff were speaking Spanish. (Our waiter spoke great English) Just sitting and listening to the other tables it was strange because they would be speaking in Spanish and then you would here these English words thrown into the conversations. Sometimes it's like a total blend of the 2 languages. Maybe they are so used to the blend they don't notice it. I don't know
Wow, I often have a problem with employees of companies I deal with who don't speak English, or who have such severe accents that I can't understand them. But with all the eating out I do (it's a lot) I rarely ever encounter a waiter/waitress with the language problem. I guess where I live, the restaurant owners keep the people who can't speak English doing other jobs, and give the front-end jobs to people who can interact with at least basic English.
The exception to this is in Asian restaurants, where I encounter a lot of servers who can't seem to understand much English. But surprisingly, they never get orders wrong, so maybe their English is limited to the menu, and all food & drink items. But if you ask them about anything else (make small talk, ask about a recent incident in the shopping center, ask for a table in a certain area, etc) they don't understand.
My language peeve with restaurants is when I want to do a take-out order, and the person on the phone doesn't speak English. I can predict when they are going to get my order wrong, and I'm usually right. I guess they saved the English speakers for waiting tables, and put the non-English speaker on phone duty
That would be overkill one good waitress can handle 5 tables. Having more servers won't make the food cook faster.
Your right but at least she doesn't have to feel hurry to come to my table or other tables that are waiting. I'm willing to wait, but 10 minutes to just tell her what I want and another 15 minutes to wait for my food is a long time. The max is probably 30 minutes.
It's manipulative. As if customers can't tell they're trying to enhance the tip, not the service.
I don't know about Applebee's but I used to wait tables at the Outback Steakhouse. I can tell you that it's not a ploy to get a better tip at all. During training, it's encouraged for waiters to sit at the tables. It was only ever done in my restaurant if the person was alone or if it was a group of people who were either all men or all women. Never with families, never with couples, and never if you sensed that the customer wouldn't like it.
We never once had a problem or a complaint. The single people always appreciated it. But, it was a different world back then. Today, people are very guarded, cynical and easily offended. You'd have to be a good judge of character to do it and not set people off.
Sitting down to take my order crosses the line with me. It just seems so pushy. There are certain boundaries between servers and customers that shouldn't be broken. This is one of them.
Sitting down to take my order crosses the line with me. It just seems so pushy. There are certain boundaries between servers and customers that shouldn't be broken. This is one of them.
They shouldn't be broken with you, yes. Everyone has their preferences and that's fine. Usually, if someone feels that strongly about such things, it comes across to the server during the greeting and an intuitive server would pick up on that and remain more traditional.
1. Dirty bathrooms. No hot water. No paper towels.
2. The waiter is asked to please bring your iced beverage with the meal so the drink won't become watered-down as the ice melts, but he serves it right away anyhow.
3. Your meal is served with a giant pickle slice on your plate, with the pickle juice soaking into everything else.
4. Chairs with no padding, uneven, and unwiped.
5. Bad acoustics; everyone in the place talking loudly to be heard, and you unable to hear those at your own table.
6. Televisions all around the restaurant (with or without the sound up.) Why?? It's totally unacceptable (unless perhaps you're at a sports-themed eatery).
7. Waiting forEVER for the waitress to bring you the check.
8. Calling desserts "sugar-free" when the correct term is "no sugar added".
I don't know about Applebee's but I used to wait tables at the Outback Steakhouse. I can tell you that it's not a ploy to get a better tip at all. During training, it's encouraged for waiters to sit at the tables. It was only ever done in my restaurant if the person was alone or if it was a group of people who were either all men or all women. Never with families, never with couples, and never if you sensed that the customer wouldn't like it.
We never once had a problem or a complaint. The single people always appreciated it. But, it was a different world back then. Today, people are very guarded, cynical and easily offended. You'd have to be a good judge of character to do it and not set people off.
Out of curiosity, why is it encouraged? What is the reasoning behind it?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is beyond me. 
