Glad you're back and that you weren't scared off by anything we discussed yesterday! Continue reading some of the "Do's" and "Don't's" for a guest that can ensure a supreme dining experience the next time you're away from home.
5. Control your kids.The inside of a restaurant is not a McDonald's playground. An eighteen month old does not need a basket of chips - even a small one. Your screaming prodigy flicking Cheerios on the floor and smashing crackers everywhere is making the dining experience unpleasant for everyone in the area. (And I've often wondered, is this mess acceptable in your own home)? Should your child make an obscene mess, apologize to your server and be sure to add a couple of extra dollars to their tip since having to clean up the mess is time consuming and costly for them.
While inside the restaurant, our kids do not need to run or use the skates on their shoes. They don't need to crawl over the back of a booth, or across the top of the bar top, etc.... Allowing this type of behavior from your child is a LIABILITY for your kid, the restaurant, and other patrons.
6. Respect your server.This is a big one with a lot of little side notes.
*No snapping your fingers, flailing your arms, raising your hand (it's not a classroom), yelling "Hey!," or my personal favorite, whistling for your server's attention. They are not dogs.
*Pay attention to your server. Say "Hi!" Smile. When they offer a drink, "I'll have the Chicken Fried Steak" is not the proper response. (I swear one day a guest is going to say that to me and I'm going to ask, "Do you want a straw with that?" When asked if you'd like cream or sugar with your coffee, "Yes" isn't the answer.
*Don't tell the staff how to do their job. Restaurant personnel are dealing with multiple issues at one time and therefore are usually about ten steps ahead of the guest in the thinking process. Besides, you don't want your server at your job overseeing your management of things.
7. If you say you are ready to order, be ready to order. On a busy Friday night, your server doesn't have fifteen minutes to review the menu with you. It's perfectly acceptable to ask a couple of questions, but many questions can be answered by simply reading the food descriptions provided in the menu. And, by all means, read the descriptions carefully. If you can't have pork, you might want to avoid the Bacon Cheeseburger.
8. Order from the menu. A Chicken Caesar Salad has romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, Parmesan cheese, croutons, and is tossed in Caesar dressing. You don't want croutons? Fine. Ask the server that they be left off. So what is the problem then? Keep reading. A Chicken Caesar Salad with fried chicken that has been tossed in wing sauce on a bed of iceberg lettuce with bleu cheese crumbles and tossed in Ranch dressing is not a Caesar salad. Adding or deleting an item or two is okay. Creating an entire new salad? Not okay. You are simply inviting trouble when you ask the kitchen to make something that is not on the regular menu.
So there you have it. What do you think so far? Let me hear from you. Until next time....
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