100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

[DuneAHH]

BR, paper towels are incredibly wasteful. While I don't know the restaurant you are referencing most use towels to wipe away the sanitizer they use, whether premixed or made from bleach and water. Many restaurants will also "store" the towel in a bucket of sanitizer. If they aren't following these steps then yes the towel is going to be nasty.

Quite true.
Beyond that I will only say...
SHAMWOW!

 

[scooterbug44]

I'm with BR - those towels may be stored in sanitizer or whatever, but they LOOK like something we wouldn't use to wipe the dog's paws and I don't want them near my food!

 

[Matt J]

I'm with BR - those towels may be stored in sanitizer or whatever, but they LOOK like something we wouldn't use to wipe the dog's paws and I don't want them near my food!

What you see outside of a restaurants kitchen is only 10% of what goes on in it.

Happy Dining!

 

[beachmouse]

I can't think of any Mexican restaurant I've been to around here that has individual bowls of salsa. How hard is it for everyone in the group not to double dip?

 

[Beach Runner]

I can't think of any Mexican restaurant I've been to around here that has individual bowls of salsa. How hard is it for everyone in the group not to double dip?

I misspoke. I've been really sick (stomach virus) and not thinking straight. What I meant to say is that the last time we went to El Mercadito, there was one red and one green salsa bowl on the counter for everyone, not just our group of 4.

I'll keep using paper towels. After hubby had a staph infection from June until February, I've become a worse germaphobe than ever.

I hear ya about what goes on back in the kitchen. I always wonder if a waiter drops, say, a filet mignon, does s/he pick it off the floor and bring it to the table? Maybe it depends on how polite or rude the diner is.

 

[Matt J]

I hear ya about what goes on back in the kitchen. I always wonder if a waiter drops, say, a filet mignon, does s/he pick it off the floor and bring it to the table? Maybe it depends on how polite or rude the diner is.

Not sure about the steak, but it was pretty standard for KFC to just put the chicken back in the fryer for another 10 seconds if it hit the floor.

 

[DD]

Not sure about the steak, but it was pretty standard for KFC to just put the chicken back in the fryer for another 10 seconds if it hit the floor.

 

[Tupelo Honey]

Granted, fine dining is a different animal, but your basic family/tourist restaurant isn't fine dining. You're not paying for fine dining, and no server should have to act like an indentured servant to earn a living wage.

Plenty of upscale beach dining does exist in Walton County, although my list was not created with them in mind.

Nonetheless, when I am paying $14 for a fish sandwich that I know took only $7 to make because I am also paying for the gulf view along with off-season overhead, it is perfectly reasonable to expect the courtesies as described in the list, and most of the time I get them.

And I do agree with others: the courtesy factor should run both ways: not just from server to customer, but from customer to server.

 

[scooterbug44]

Good service has nothing to do with the price point/fancy schmanzy level and everything to do with the quality of the restaurant and server.

 

[Susan Horn]

Yeah, I have had better (friendly, polite, considerate, accommodating)service, and even better food, from street vendors (NOLA and San Fran in case anyone's wondering) sometimes than I have at some fancy schmancy restaurants (local but I won't name names, also some in large metro areas)!