Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the waiter asks if you've ever eaten there before, and if you answer in the negative starts a spiel about "so we do things a little differently here." Get out.

This. Always say yes you've been there before.

I will now! I do not mind a short description, but we went to lunch a few weeks ago and the waiter was giving us such a hard sell on appetizers - that I really wanted to leave. He made it sound like we were in the only Mexican restaurant that ever had guacamole.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I see workers on their phones or dealing with credit cards and they don't wash their hands afterwards. The way they grab dirty dishes and then bring me my food.

Gloves that they use to prepare food AND take credit cards and touch the dirty POS machine.

Yes! Gloves that keep their hands clean but nothing they touch (because they are touching everything with them!).

When they auto calculate the tip options for you on the receipt but it’s done post tax, any other charges etc. I’m fine with 20% but it’s on the food not on everything else added on already.

+1. It should be done pre-tax before other charges.

Anonymous wrote:I hate when I order a dessert and the waiter brings it to the center of the table with utensils for all. I'm not talking about enormous slabs of cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory. It's awkward because I don't want to share it!

+1. It's not an appetizer!

Anonymous wrote:When I see workers on their phones or dealing with credit cards and they don't wash their hands afterwards. The way they grab dirty dishes and then bring me my food.

Gloves that they use to prepare food AND take credit cards and touch the dirty POS machine.

Yes! Gloves that keep their hands clean but nothing they touch (because they are touching everything with them!).

When they auto calculate the tip options for you on the receipt but it’s done post tax, any other charges etc. I’m fine with 20% but it’s on the food not on everything else added on already.

Anonymous wrote:My biggest one is when food isn't timed correctly. E.g., entrees come out right after apps (or at the same time as apps); or guests get their entrees at different times.

This is why I rarely order appetizers. Most appetizers take the same amount of time to prepare as entrees. So either the server has to put in the apps, wait a few minutes and then out in the entree orders or it all comes out at once. If you are ordering a well-done steak, get an appetizer. But if not, ordering an appetizer only makes the rest of the food come out slower.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Automatic gratuity for a party of 6+.

We have 4 kids so we are always going to be a party of 6.

So you bring 4 messy kids to a restaurant and planned on not tipping?

Fwiw, my kids are teens, but even when they were little they were fine.

I've seen adults leave bigger messes and over the top demanding.

Servers have more to gain from taking 3 deuces with adults being served wine than your 6 with 4 teens. Without automatic gratuity, you risk indifferent service or worse.

You want people handling your food to be enthusiastic about serving you. We’ll leave it at that.

Servers who do a good job, generally will get a better tip. I base it off service, and if the service is bad I'll do 15%. If you are forced a tip, there is no incentive to work hard except for being a good server.

QR code menus, which has been mentioned, bugs me. Also, servers who serve drinks by holding the lip of the glass with their fingers instead of the base. Even if you're a server at a greasy spoon diner or a pizza joint, you should know how to properly set a drink on the table. Putting your fingers on the rim of the glass is gross! I guess that's what straws are for, but I think I'm a little advanced in age for straws.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I see workers on their phones or dealing with credit cards and they don't wash their hands afterwards. The way they grab dirty dishes and then bring me my food.

Gloves that they use to prepare food AND take credit cards and touch the dirty POS machine.

You should probably never eat out if this freaks you out. You don’t want to know what’s going on in the back of house.

This! If you're a germaphobe, you probably shouldn't eat out and stay in hotels.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Automatic gratuity for a party of 6+.

We have 4 kids so we are always going to be a party of 6.

Serves deserve a good (guaranteed) tip for dealing with 4 kids.

Some kids are well behaved and parents clean up

I will not go to somewhere that charges a pandemic or other fee.

Anonymous wrote:When I see workers on their phones or dealing with credit cards and they don't wash their hands afterwards. The way they grab dirty dishes and then bring me my food.

Gloves that they use to prepare food AND take credit cards and touch the dirty POS machine.

You should probably never eat out if this freaks you out. You don’t want to know what’s going on in the back of house.

When I see workers on their phones or dealing with credit cards and they don't wash their hands afterwards. The way they grab dirty dishes and then bring me my food.

Gloves that they use to prepare food AND take credit cards and touch the dirty POS machine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the waiter asks if you've ever eaten there before, and if you answer in the negative starts a spiel about "so we do things a little differently here." Get out.

This. Always say yes you've been there before.

This is probably the only thing that actually annoys me. There have only been a few restaurants I've ever been to where I needed them to explain anything. Otherwise I can figure out how a basic restaurant works. I can figure out how sharing small plates work. I can figure out how fondue, hot pot, Korean BBQ, etc work.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Automatic gratuity for a party of 6+.

We have 4 kids so we are always going to be a party of 6.

So you bring 4 messy kids to a restaurant and planned on not tipping?

Fwiw, my kids are teens, but even when they were little they were fine.

I've seen adults leave bigger messes and over the top demanding.

Servers have more to gain from taking 3 deuces with adults being served wine than your 6 with 4 teens. Without automatic gratuity, you risk indifferent service or worse.

You want people handling your food to be enthusiastic about serving you. We’ll leave it at that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Automatic gratuity for a party of 6+.

We have 4 kids so we are always going to be a party of 6.

Serves deserve a good (guaranteed) tip for dealing with 4 kids.

+1

The people dining in the restaurant should get a gratuity as well.