It's 8PM on a busy Wednesday night, just after you sat a five and a deuce. You tell the kitchen there's a five and a two still to order. You go back out into the dining room and two women are standing at the door. You think, what the hay, you just sat two tables, what is one more at two after eight? You seat them, saying Thomas will be right over. You go back to the kitchen and tell the crew that there is a five and two twos still to order; Kevin says "Hey, I thought there was only one two", to which you reply "Well now there are two". You return to the DR and darn if there isn't a single man waiting at the door. Without hesitating you show him to a table, explaining that the kitchen was about to close, if he could order quickly it would be great. This time you don't bother telling the kitchen, you just get back to work.
Everyone is very busy still, not only in dealing with their new tables, but finishing up with those mid-dining. You tell Thomas to get drinks and special the two ladies on Table Six - that extra deuce you sat a few minutes after 8. After they are served their glasses of wine, Thomas goes to take the order from his five-top on Table 21 and you head over to Table Six. The two women have a few questions about the menu, which you answer and then take their order. One cup of soup, two salads, ("Is the Blue Cheese dressing creamy? Yes. Okay, I'll take that."), a lamb and a fluke. You put the order in, ask Rediet to bring them bread, and bring out the soup. Soup is cleared, salads come out. At this juncture, all the orders are in and food is coming out of the kitchen in a timely fashion. You head over to the bar, where two regulars are finishing their meal, and chit chat with them while the crew handles the DR. Thomas serves Table Six their entrees, asks them if there is anything else they need.
You leave your bar guests and give some direction - Rediet can clock out, Terrell carries out a rack of glasses - but never go back to Table Six. You are behind the bar, facing the DR when they leave. You say good night to the first, who either ignores or doesn't hear you. The second guest does hear you though, glances over, and offers you a sour look and a dismissive wave of her hand.
Uh oh.
You find Thomas and ask him "was Table Six unhappy?" Yes, they were. They told Thomas that the service "in this place" was "horrible" and left him $5 on a $75 bill.
What happened? Where did you lose them? You stand with Ashley and Thomas and rehash the situation. Thomas is taking it hard. It's a personal thing for him; he prides himself of giving good service and getting good tips. It's not his fault though, since you took the order and served the first two courses yourself; how could a major misstep have happened after that? The entrees came out fine, they didn't want dessert or coffee, just the check, they just wanted to leave this "horrible" restaurant.
As you puzzle over this black spot on the end of the evening, the party of five from Table 21 begins to depart. They are a group of regulars who get together at your place quite often. The first one to get to the foyer, where you are waiting to bid them good-night, actually solves the question you had been worrying over. She says "Barbara, I don't like to say this, and I've never felt this way before, but we felt rushed tonight." We. Felt. Rushed. Aha! It all made sense. When those last parties had come in, the staff and you were still buzzing from the previous rush. It was the end of service and the need to get those last orders into the kitchen is pretty compelling. Once the orders are in, things should settle down and no one should feel "rushed". Orders are fired when the diner is ready for the food to come out; there is plenty of time to spend at table, making sure all is well. Somehow, however, things did not happen that way and guest dissatisfaction was the result. The regulars - who will be back again, surely - told you how they felt. The new customers voted with their feet, and most likely not only will not be back, but will probably write all about their terrible evening at Brooks Tavern on Trip Advisor...
Have you learned from this experience?
Yes, don't seat anyone after closing time.
Joke.
Be careful and be more aware. Your late tables shouldn't be made to feel hurried simply because you are still running around from the earlier rush. And as the host, you must go to each and every table to check on their status. Those two dissatisfied guests told Thomas they were not pleased, and while he offered to go get "Miss Barb", they declined. Since you generally visit each table, you would have been the recipient of their complaints, if you had been doing your job, and you could have tried to make amends on the spot. Thomas learned that if he had told you about their comment, you definitely would have gone over and offered whatever apologies you could. But neither event took place and two women left angry.
Next time. Next time you will do better.
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