Alva Dining Guide

How to Tell Your Food server “Just Not That Into You”

The hostess that greeted you at the door was so nice to you and sat you right away, in a booth even. You've wanted to dine at this restaurant since it opened three months ago. Your first thought is this is going to be a great dining experience right? Wrong.

The food server proceeds to come to the table and greets you with a “hello.” real short and with no expression. At first you think nothing of it. You order drinks. That’s fine and it went well, but you start asking the food server questions about the appetizers, and then everything changes. It’s almost like you are an extremely catchy cold and he or she doesn’t want to catch you.

The food server goes through the apps reluctantly with half explained descriptions flying around. Finally, he/she is done with the speech and you just want to pull your hair out. You order one of apps that you think will good for you and who your are dining with. After you order the appetizers he/she right away says “Are you ready to order?” Of course you are not ready to order, you just asked about the appetizers. You say you want a couple minutes and the reaction seems to be a reaction of “Great how long are they going to be here” if you feel that then your intuition is probably right.

The appetizers come back and he puts them on the plate and doesn’t say anything. He/She didn’t say anything when the drinks came back either. Now your ready to order and you tell the food server, the rolling eye effect is still in place. You feel uncomfortable. At this point you’re not sure what to do. How do I ask for another waiter/waitress? What if this food server hears I want another server and tells to the cooks to spit in my food.

Well, that is a dilemma. You have three options. Sit there and bare with the bad table presence, confront them and ask if they are all right, don’t recommend that, but sometimes it works. The last approach is the best.

Here is how to approach that situation. Have whoever is dining with you say there is a draft at the table and you would like to another table, draft free! You go to the hostess that sat you and explain your situation. She might be able to be more discreet than you would be in getting you a new waiter/waitress.

To summarize, what were the factors that led you to believe the food server was burned out or brought earlier non-work events in with him/her? First, the contrast between the hostess and the food server’s greeting. Secondly, the was a lack of conviction in the food server’s  explaining of the appetizers, especially when you have waited three months for the opportunity to try this restaurant. Lastly, nothing was said when some of the food items you ordered were brought to the table. However, this whole situation could have been avoided from the beginning, how?

Remember when the food server greeted you? The greeting is a must and the first impression as far as the food service industry is concerned is one of the most important parts of dining out. So think about that when you have your next dining night. Maybe there will be a draft at the table before the food server even gets to explain the food.