The NY Times names 100 things a server should never do
November 1st, 2009 by Cliff Bostock in RestaurantsThe New York Times blog “You’re the Boss,” is running a two-part list of “One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do.” It ought to be posted in every restaurant in the city. It anticipates complaints:
Herewith is a modest list of dos and don’ts for servers at the seafood restaurant I am building. Veteran waiters, moonlighting actresses, libertarians and baristas will no doubt protest some or most of what follows. They will claim it homogenizes them or stifles their true nature. And yet, if 100 different actors play Hamlet, hitting all the same marks, reciting all the same lines, cannot each one bring something unique to that role?
Among my favorites from the first 50:
3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.
6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.
36. Never reek from perfume or cigarettes. People want to smell the food and beverage.
40. Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad.
November 1st, 2009 at 2:48 pm
“3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.”
yeah, that’s annoying.
but in my experience, it is seldom the server who controls this. most of the time this mistake happens, it is the restaurant’s policy or a bad caller by the host/hostess.
of course, the table it pisses off still takes it out on the server by leaving a 10% tip…
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm
This guy may never have “clean” food ever again. What a pompous…
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
furthermore, saying “good choice” after a selection is perfectly aceptable.
if these are the best of the first 50, i doubt that any of the next 50 are worthy of discussion.
November 4th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Oof. I agree heavily with about half of these (numbers 1-6 are excellent, for example), and feel like the rest should only apply to the sort of restaurants that I don’t like going to because they’re out of my price range and make me feel like a plebe for not being older or classier or snottier. Looking forward to arguing with the other half of the list, too.