Comments on: I Know Everything

By: Restaurant Gal

Restaurant Gal — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 02:24:57 +0000

Natalie–as always, THANK YOU!

Hostess Jo–I’m not going anywhere, at least in this blog. No worries.

Waiter4you–huh?

By: Restaurant Gal

Restaurant Gal — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 02:22:10 +0000

Melissa–So many questions! Empty booths, questioning customers–say you are holding them for reservations. If they don’t show, they’ll be available. Or, others are ahead of you on the wait list, but as soon as something is available, we’ll page you. Waiters taking customers to tables without adhering to your wait list or deferring to you??? Hello, is there a manager in the house? As for a call-ahead wait list–horrible thing to offer. Suggest management do away with it. If you are in house, waiting, you are on the wait list. Other wise, you’re not. Period.

Hang in there!

By: Waiter4you

Waiter4you — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:46:28 +0000

Directions? The bad part of town? In a major city? Uh, yeah…you FLY Gal….Go FLY!

By: Hostess Jo

Hostess Jo — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 00:08:01 +0000

but who will be our guide in THIS life though? whahhhhhhhh!!!!!!
but since its good for you, I’ll try to adapt

By: Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:46:20 +0000

Oh, you are SO going to fly.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:57:47 +0000

I wish I was more familiar with my area. Whenever people ask me directions, most of the time I have to hand the phone to someone else. I’ve spent the past few months as a hostess at my local steakhouse. I’ve gathered some questions that I’d appreciate your advice on, if you don’t mind:

At my restaurant, when patrons come to check in, they are able to view a few small side booths, which are empty most of the time. They are the least popular so they are treated as last resort seats. However, because patrons can see them, some of them get angry why they (if it’s two) can’t be seated there right away if nobody else is sitting there. Sometimes it’s because on the current waiting list, there are no deuces. Sometimes it’s because we just sat that section. What’s the most professional thing to do here with an angry customer? I think it’s unfair to seat them right away when other people have been waiting longer. I’m only a few months experienced though. What would you say to them? Is the best thing to do really is to just seat them there?

Another question is about our Call Ahead Program. I’m going to assume that you know what it is. There will be that occasional patron that calls ahead, comes in and we cut down the waiting time for them, and they still get impatient. “Why do we still have to wait if we call ahead?” People question the philosophy and us host(esse)s have trouble explaining the concept, too. What would you tell a patron who called ahead, came in, was told to wait half the waiting time, gets impatient, and starts complaining why they have to wait for so long if they called ahead?

If you could input your thoughts on these pondering questions, that’d be appreciated. I’ve read your blog for awhile and it’s very interested. From one hostess to another.