oldperson1947: @NickBarnett why does it make the fans feel good when a celeb makes a mistake? Should we support the ones we admire or crucify them??
about 8 minutes ago
cleveland_grl: @VendettaBella good luck with art basel. i hope we make monies this weekend. i desperately need bar cento or luxe. either makes me happy.
about 10 minutes ago
DecemberBabeE: I guess that was payback for all the years of bad customer service I provided....or maybe it was because I'm black..but I can accept it : )
about 13 minutes ago
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Waiter, there's a fly in my soup... |
 | By Amy L. Schubert  Food Writer E-mail author | Author bio More articles by Amy L. Schubert |
| Published May 2, 2009 at 11:50 a.m. |
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Mistakes happen in restaurants. No one is perfect, and if you're turning enough business, occasionally something won't turn out right.
I think "make goods" are potentially the most important part of being a good restaurant; how your staff and management react after something unsatisfactory happens, and how they make their customers feel good enough to return for another visit.
But in recent years, the art of making good seems to have fallen by the wayside at many places, and I find that disappointing.
Scott and I were out for brunch the other morning, and my meal was awful. Usually, I won't say anything because, for the most part, I'm actually a pretty low-key diner, and because I worked the industry for so long, I understand and I forgive and forget quite easily. But this time, my food was so disappointing that I wouldn't have eaten it at all if I hadn't been so hungry.
The dish had appeared layered with a white sausage gravy that wasn't in the menu description, and my over-easy eggs came cooked solid (which I hate -- I like a runny yolk). When the server came over after a few bites and asked how things were, I said, "You, know, my eggs are overcooked, and this gravy over the top is really bitter."
"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry." And then she walked away.
I was stunned.
But then I started thinking about it more and realized it's unfortunately a sign of where more and more Milwaukee restaurants are heading. The art of lagniappe, or going above and beyond, has really gotten lost in our new generation of restaurants. That's not to say that all of them aren't making good, but it's becoming rarer and rarer.
Another one that stands out in my mind was during a review dining visit when I dug my fork into a plate of pasta and came up with a piece of a plastic cooking glove. Back in the day, and still at many well-run restaurants, this would have merited taking the entrée off our bill completely and bringing me a new dish. At this particular establishment, the owner apologized and bought us two glasses of HOUSE wine. I'm glad he thought we were worth the dollar or two that house wine cost him.
I hear the food and service at said restaurant is quite popular among our friends these days, but I won't go back there. And it's not because of the plastic. Quite frankly, it could've happened anywhere that a line cook wasn't paying as good of attention as he or she should have been.
What turned me off so much was the "make good." I didn't feel an ounce of goodwill towards that restaurant when we left. I just felt like they didn't care enough about me to want to make me feel good about their restaurant.
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6 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review. |
Recent Talkbacks ...
Posted by restaurant_GM on May 9, 2009 at 2:51 p.m. (report)
As a manager, I can sympathize with all of you. It is a constant struggle to stay on top of the wait staff. They will often lie to customers to avoid telling their manager that they have a problem with their tables. Case in point: while dining at a local upscale chain restaurant with my daughter, we encountered a number of problems with the service and the food. Problem one, a server who decided that the patio where we were sitting was a good place to talk on his cell phone loudly about how much his job sucked and how he couldn't wait to leave. Problem two, we were brought food that we didn't order not once, but three times (there were 4 tables total on the patio including us, which means that the food runners had no idea which tables were which). Problem three and the one that got me involved in a dialogue with the server and then the manager, there was literally a fly in my daughter's entree. The server told me that the manager was too busy to talk to me directly and would we like a free dessert? I said OK, but that I was a little put off that the manager didn't have time to talk to me. When I left, I asked to talk to the manager while passing the hostess stand. The manager was actually at the hostess stand and was shocked when I told her everything that had happened because SHE HAD NEVER BEEN TOLD BY THE SERVER! Her jaw dropped. Always ask to speak to the manager directly, and wait if you have to. Your feedback is crucial to maintaining good service, and without the ability to follow each and every server to every one of their tables we managers have limited control over your experience. I don't know if Amy actually spoke to the manager at this terrible brunch experience, but the truth is that the server may very well have conned the bartender into giving her a round of drinks instead of involving a manager and admitting there was a problem.
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Posted by dave on May 4, 2009 at 7:26 a.m. (report)
I agree that service has tanked. It seems that every other time I go out to eat, the food is flat out wrong or the service sucks. And don't even start with fast food places...
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Posted by Stacie on May 3, 2009 at 8:44 p.m. (report)
The very first time we went to Transfer (they had been open only for a few weeks at that point), we ordered the Four Seasons pizza and ended up with the four cheese, which I noticed and pointed out immediately. No biggie--all they were obligated to do was send the right pizza and apologize. Which they did. And they comped the drinks we were currently drinking, AND another round. We're there a lot these days, in part because they make Milwaukee's best pizza, but also because they started things off on the right foot.
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Posted by DowntownRed on May 3, 2009 at 6:33 p.m. (report)
I usually let the little things slide but when it's really bad, I always bring it to the attention of management. And I have had experiences with both good and bad "making good". A particular pancake place on Downer pretty much guaranteed me never coming back when both the waiter and the manager couldn't have cared less that my meal was bad. On the other end, a downtown Italian place dealt with a bad meal very well and I continue to dine there.
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Posted by alwaysONwheels on May 3, 2009 at 9:17 a.m. (report)
Damn right. Glad to hear that I'm not the only one who thinks something has gone awry in the restaurant industry. It's too bad that good customer service is now seemingly on the backburner of many local eateries. I've made it point to make it known that I've had a less than pleasing experience to either the waitstaff or owners. Hopefully, the more vocal diners get about poor food, service and such, the more attentive the staff will be towards their customer's needs. I'm just tired of seeing everything go to sh*t because times are changing, and not all of it is for the better.
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