May 2015 Restaurant Questions

[Joe]

1. What do waitresses do when they are not actually waiting on tables, taking orders, delivering food and drink to tables, etc.? I do not mean after work; I mean during work. It seems that my waitresses scurry away as fast as possible into the kitchen or some other part of the restaurant where I cannot see them. I am told that a lot of them are tasked to wrap silverware in napkins for place settings. But if I were a fly on the wall and could follow them around and observe them surreptitiously, what would I see them doing?

2. This involves a little story preceding the actual question. I went to a restaurant and saw "soup of the day" on the menu. I asked what it was, and was told vegetarian vegetable soup, so I ordered a bowl. When they brought it and I started eating it, I found it so heavily spiced and "hot" that I couldn't eat it. My tongue was on fire. When the waitress came to check on me, she asked: "Didn't you like the soup?" I explained the problem, and said I felt like getting some ice cream to quench the fire. I thought this was a stupid thing to say, because neither ice cream nor any other dessert was on the menu.

So, the waitress says: "We have several ice cream deserts." I order one.

Now, I discovered this more or less by happenstance or accident. Is the customer supposed to question the waitress? "Now, tell me about all the foods you have that are not listed on the menu"? Why would a restaurant serve foods that are not listed on the menu? In other words, why not list these foods on the menu?

3. Amy suggested that one of the things I do if I have a problem is talk with the manager. One of the restaurants I go to seems to go to great lengths to keep secret from the customers who the manager might be. I got on their website and submitted an inquiry as to who the manager of the Brentwood restaurant might be. I never got a reply. (See my thread on "Form-Box Frustration.")

Should I just avoid restaurants where the identity of the manager is kept a secret?

 

[Calliegirl]

I haven't been a waitress, but my mother was one most of her life and I have friends who were, so I can answer some of your questions.

1. They have to do the silverware as you were told, condense condiments, sort out their checks, depending on the restaurant they also have to make non-cooked foods (ice cream sundaes, milk shakes, slice cakes and pies, etc.), and put together to-go orders. If they're short on bussers, than they have to help with that as well. I'm sure there is more than that, that's all I can think of at the moment.

2. Somethings aren't normally served, but they will make it if you ask. Also, menus are expensive to print up and if it's new, it won't be on the menu until they have them reprinted. There are a lot of drink you can have them make at Starbucks which aren't on the menu, the same for In-n-Out burger. I used to get 'veggie burgers' there when I ate cheese, and they are basically grilled cheese sandwiches and not on the menu.

3. You should be able to call or go in and ask to speak to the manager. The website might not be coded correctly, so they might not be getting any messages.

 

[Amy SF]

2. Somethings aren't normally served, but they will make it if you ask. Also, menus are expensive to print up and if it's new, it won't be on the menu until they have them reprinted. There are a lot of drink you can have them make at Starbucks which aren't on the menu, the same for In-n-Out burger. I used to get 'veggie burgers' there when I ate cheese, and they are basically grilled cheese sandwiches and not on the menu.

This is true. I've been in certain situations where I've gotten items I asked for that weren't on the menu. For example, I remember being in one Japanese restaurant right around the time that edamame had become popular, and I didn't see it on their menu. But when I asked for it, they brought some out to me.

However, the fact that Joe didn't see ice cream or any other dessert on the menu and they had them anyway is kind of weird. The only explanation I can think of is that they started out not serving desserts, and decided to add them at a later date, and hadn't printed new menus yet. I've seen that in reverse: When a vegan cafe opened up here in Santa Monica several years ago, their menu listed a variety of coffee drinks, but they didn't have any coffee-making machines when I stopped in the first time, about a month or two after they opened. The woman behind the counter said they were planning to have them eventually. (They did.)

 

[ledboots]

They might have a separate dessert menu because there are specials that change a lot.

And when I was a waitress in my teens, I mostly hung out with the kitchen staff and smoked cigarettes out back. :O

 

[Joe]

They might have a separate dessert menu because there are specials that change a lot.

Well, I'll give you partial credit on that one. They don't have a separate dessert menu; but they do have a separate beer and wine menu.
And in the bottom corner of that menu they list Brownie A La Mode and Chocolate Toffee Blondie.