Rules on Food Servic Etiquitte (STRONG Language) (Work In Progress)

[Lace Neil Singer]

We used to get the dough already made and frozen; just needed to be defrosted overnight.

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

I thought that you'd need time to make the dough for that many pizzas, that's why you'd call ahead. After all it's normal business + 20 pizzas, whether normal business = 20 pizzas or not.

In my memory there have been 2 (get that 2 whole occasions) where somehow the hostess forgot us or skipped us on the list. Other than that, you wait however long the hostess said that the wait would be, wait a few more minutes and then ask where you are on the list (next, 2nd, 5th?). The Hostess does not control how fast the earlier patrons eat or how fast they leave.

Although there was one occasion........but that's for another thread, I think.

And some fast food places are learning. They have a menu for drive through customers to read before they get up to the mike to place their order.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Ring up the night before, or at the very least, a minimum of 2 hours before you need them, 3 on weekends. A lot of the SCs who did this didn't seem to understand that not only do we need time to make the pizzas, cook them and slice them up, we also have other orders to deal with. If you ring up plenty of time in advance, then we can make your order in between making other people's smaller orders. Dunno about other places, but our pizza place was pretty small, with usually just two people there during the day plus one driver and four in the evening plus the same amount of drivers. The pizza oven took about 10 minutes on a conveyor belt thing to bake a pizza, then it had to be sliced and boxed. You couldn't just shove them all in the oven after making, cuz the person on the other end wouldn't be able to keep up and would end up with a backlog; ie, the pizza getting stuck and burning.

[ForestDragon]

I used to work at a pizza place and the pet hate of everyone there pertaining to large orders were idiots who'd ring up and say, "Can you make me 20 pizzas for midday?" at 11:30 when we opened. -.- No idiot; we can't pull 20 pizzas out of thin air in half an hour.

So if somebody needed a metric crapload of pizzas like that, what would be the correct procedure? I'm thinking call up the night before, like you're ordering Peking Duck (I still wonder what in the world they do to Peking Duck that you have to order it the previous day. Marinate it probably).

[tropicsgoddess]

Don't forget these...

PLEASE call ahead if your reservation will be changed (i.e. late, more or less people in group) or canceled! It screws us up if other customers want to sit down or make a reservation! Don't get pissed if you come in late without calling to hold your table, because your lack of foresight is not my fault!


Don't constantly badger the Host(ess) about when it's your turn to get a table or to bump you up the waiting list. There's plenty of other people behind you and in front of you that want to get a table, but are not acting like whiny children about it! You WILL be seated when it's your turn and we will CALL your name when it's your turn, just be patient!

[BookstoreEscapee]

Actually, I don't. That was just the archetypical example. If I do eat fast food, it's usually Wendy's. And even that's getting rare.

McDonald's is an Arch-type? Haha.

<sorry >


I don't do drive-thrus. For the simple reason that, for the occasional fast food craving (usually McDonald's) I figure, if I'm gonna eat all that grease and salt, I'm at least gonna get my butt out of the car. But then when I do get fast food, it's usually for lunch or dinner, not late at night, so the lobby being closed is never an issue for me.

[Jester]

:raising eyebrow: Jester...I use the drive-thru because the lobby closes at 10 pm. That's the same time I get out of work.

Not all of us are lazy for going through the drive-thru.

No, not everyone is lazy for going through the drive-thru. But that is why they were invented, so people COULD be lazy. And that is not a bad thing. I have often exercised my laziness at a drive-thru.

And the reason they close the lobby as early as 10? Is because they have the drive-thru that can remain open while they do all the other closing stuff inside.

[Becks]

Drive throughs ARE for people being lazy.

:raising eyebrow: Jester...I use the drive-thru because the lobby closes at 10 pm. That's the same time I get out of work.

Not all of us are lazy for going through the drive-thru.

Oh, and it can be quicker, too. DT-in and out in five minutes, tops. Inside-at least 10 people in front of you (as a large group, all together), but each one has to order and pay separately, making many revisions to each order.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I find it depends on the person giving the greeting; I have been called "sweetheart", "pet", "duck" and "sweetie" by either old ladies, Yorkshire and thereabouts people and polite people who obviously are not meaning anything bad by it and I don't honestly mind. However, if some drooling pervert calls me "sweetheart" while leering at my bust, I hate it. -.-

[Seshat]

Okay people - so far, the tipping thing is staying mostly calm. But I encourage you all to read the tipping thread on Fratching. If you have anything that isn't calm and civil to say about tipping, say it there, not here. I'm also curious - if there's some point to make that's not already there, I'd personally like to see it there.

Also, please remember that there are cultures where tipping is the expected way to pay servers, and cultures where the server gets a decent wage (and the price of service is included in the price of the food) and tipping is a reward for exceptional service. A more detailed explanation of each culture type can be found in the Fratching tipping thread (link above).
It will help keep the thread civil if you note in your post which culture type you're speaking from.

As for the 'sweetie' and 'hon' thing: if you're a Southern person in the South (*), go ahead and do it. If you're a Southern person anywhere else, it's probably a good idea to be ready to explain to the server. Some will understand immediately from 'Oh, sorry, I'm from the South . . .' and probably say 'that's fine, honey' or some such. Some will need a more complete explanation - and some of those will still feel awkward when you say it.


(*) I know it's a cultural thing, and the designation is 'south relative to the north of the country' but it feels so wrong calling a place that's so far north of me 'The South'. I'm just barely north of the Southern Ocean, you see.

[Tria]

In general...

If a female employee is taking your order DON'T call her Sweety, Honey, or any other pet name, this is sexual harassment. She is only talking to you because she has no other choice, you creepy, horny, old bastard.

Okay, I'm a 26 year old female.... And I have dropped a "Hun" on occassion, blame my country upbringing.

Got a guy I know originally from Texas, anyone younger than him in "Dahlin" or "hun" and anyone older than him is "ma'am". I apologize for this.

[blas]

Come on guys, let's take a step back and a deep breath. It's just some venting.....I'm sure the OP is probably not a sucky employee. I used to spew venom and miscellaneous threats and promises when I worked at the gas station, and I may have went back to work and actually did it once or twice. We say some stuff we don't mean when we vent.

I have made blanket statements when venting. I have said some awful stuff when I was angry. Maybe we should calm down a bit before we vent on here.....or maybe we should just agree to disagree that tipping is always going to be a hot topic and we'll always be a hung jury on this site when threads like this come up.

[drunkenwildmage]

If you are going to order the store and blow $30, GET YOUR LAZY ASS INSIDE. It takes a while to make and pack big orders and it slows down the flow of the line.

Been nailed on that one myself... ended up waiting 20 mins in a drive thru because the person in front of me decided to order enough food to feed the Ohio National Guard.

When it comes to tipping...

In ANY sit down restaurant, tipping is NOT optional. We make less than $4/hr and depend on tips to, you know, LIVE. The standard tip is 15% or more for better service.

Dude.. I hate to say it, but tipping is optional....In theory it's suppose to be a reward for "good service", but ended up getting prostituted by both Company's and Employees into thinking it needs to be mandatory. As far as places that automatically ad a tip to my bill.. that's all they are getting.. even if I do normally tip more.

If you say, "Keep the change," we will keep EVERYTHING, because $0.34 is NEVER a tip. If you are too cheap to tip, WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU EATING OUT?!? Cooking at home is significantly cheaper.

That did always piss me off when I delivered pizza..but I learned to expect it from some area's we delivered to.

If you are a notorious no tipper, you WILL get bad service. You see, we depend on tips, so if we know we won't get one, we have NO motivation to help you. Instead, we will skip you to care for generous customers so we can pay our rent.

This, I always thought was a self fulfilling prophecy. In our case, when we left with mutable deliveries, the non-tippers went to the bottom of the stack.

Most people think about it like this

"I don't tip because me Pizza is late"

then they need to think about it like this.

"My Pizza is late, because I don't tip"

If you leave only a few coins, it is an INSULT, so you can just go to Hell and fuck youself.

Dude..You live in a Collage town.. give over it.. A dollar is a dollar, if it comes in paper form, or coin form.. it all spends the same... Chances are you have alot of college students that only have coins to tip... If I really wanted to insult the wait staff, I would let a penny (Face down)

READ. If you read, you don't have to ask stupid questions like, "What is on your Cheap Bastard menu?" It is right in front of you. You have the luxury of literacy unlike about 10% of the population, EXERCISE THE ABILITY!!

You are a college town..it's not the "cheap bastard menu" as it's the more "Poor college Student" Menu or in the case of Bowling Green "the Pool College Student, and Cheap Redneck Menu"

[poofy_puff]

Poofy-Puff - in the inital post it was mentioned that at a sit down establishment the server should not have to read the menu to the patron.

Every State and Country have different standards for getting a drivers license. Not all have a reading test. Even then some have a standard test that is used over and over and can be memorized by someone with literacy issues. - I used to do some volunteer work with an adult literacy group. It would suprise a lot of people how some of these adults have adjusted their lives to appear like everyone else.

I am sorry, I thought it was talking about the Drive-Thru menu.

In Massachusetts, they make you look into a box and read off rows of letters. There is no literacy test, other than assuming you are the one who had to fill out any paperwork, and therefore you must know how to read, but I have never heard of anyone being denied a DL for that reason. But it does make sense to most people that in order to drive (safely) the first thing you need is to be able to see where you are going. If you can't see something very close up, how are you supposed to read signs or avoid hitting things? Although I know there is a difference btwn near and farsightedness, that was supposed to be a rhetorical question.

[Jester]

IF you have to rely on the generosity of the public to make a living then you're in the wrong line of work.

I have to rely on the generosity of the public to make a living.
I also make a good living. Because I am a professional and am damn good at what I do and I am tipped accordingly far more often than not.
I am not in the wrong line of work.

Places that automatically add a tip to one's bill aren't doing anyone any favors.

I have no problem with places adding a gratuity to large parties. There is no reason why a server or servers should bust their ass for a group of 20 for two hours just to end up with one shiny new dollar each. Generally speaking, places that do this will have it posted right on the menu, i.e., "We will add a XX% gratuity to all parties of X or more."

IF you don't get a tip are you supposed to act all whiny cause you didn't get one?

Those people who act professional in this line of work don't act whiny when we don't get a tip. We go about our jobs and move on. We may curse the cheap bastard under our breath, but the professionals in this industry never let the public see them bitch.


All that aside, I had some issues with the OP. Specifically....

Know what you want. Don't just sit there for 3 fucking minutes saying, "Ummm... Duhhh..." If you don't know what you want, go the fuck inside, there is a line forming behind you and we have better things to do than deal with your indecisiveness.

READ. If you read, you don't have to ask stupid questions like, "What is on your Cheap Bastard menu?" It is right in front of you. You have the luxury of literacy unlike about 10% of the population, EXERCISE THE ABILITY!!

Okay, make up your mind. If we don't know what we want, of course we are going to read the lovely colorful outdoor menu that your establishment has provided. I'm sorry I don't have your entire menu memorized and my choices planned out before I got to your place, but frankly, fast food selection is not a high priority in my life (the few times I eat it) and I may need a moment or two to decide what I am going to get.

Don't ask to buy a gift certificate; come inside, you lazy ass bum.

Drive throughs ARE for people being lazy. They are for the customer's convenience. And I fail to see why someone who wants to get a gift certificate at the drive through should not be afforded this service. The only lazy bum I see in this instance is the person who is supposed to be doing their job who can't be bothered to do it. You are in customer service, so serve the damn customers. Don't bitch about normal customers....this place is supposed to be about truly sucky customers, and I do not see it as being sucky when customers expect staff to do their job. Sorry for the bluntness, but this is the way I see it. And yes, I AM in the customers service/food service industry, thank you very much.

In ANY sit down restaurant, tipping is NOT optional. We make less than $4/hr and depend on tips to, you know, LIVE. The standard tip is 15% or more for better service.

Sorry, tipping IS optional. It is the customer's option whether to tip, and how much. If you can't deal with this concept, you should not be in a tipping occupation. I know there are going to be people who don't tip me jack. I don't like it, and I don't like them, but I deal with it and move on. I am good enough at what I do that I make a good living from the vast majority of my customers where a few cheap bastards are not going to ruin my shift, my day, or my life.

If you say, "Keep the change," we will keep EVERYTHING, because $0.34 is NEVER a tip.

Well that really depends on what the order is, don't you think? If someone orders a soda from me at the bar, and pays $1.75, and throws a quarter or two down for it, frankly, that's fine with me. It's just a freakin' soda. Would I prefer more? Sure. Do I expect more from that small an order? No. And I don't get bent out of shape over it, either. In this case, to be honest, your example of $0.34 is actually a 20% tip on my example of a $1.75 soda. (That price IS the price for sodas at my bar, so not just pulling numbers out of my butt here.) So yes, there are times when $0.34 IS a tip. And frankly, on orders this small, I am not going to stress about the tip percentage anyways.

Is $0.34 a good tip on a dinner order? Of course not. You might want to check my above comments about tipping not being optional.

If you are a notorious no tipper, you WILL get bad service. You see, we depend on tips, so if we know we won't get one, we have NO motivation to help you.

Speak for yourself. I pride myself on giving good service to everyone. Because I am professional. I do not give bad service. I may throw someone out of my bar for being an asshole, and they may feel that that is bad service, but that is a whole different scenario.

Please, do not make such blanket statements about the "proper" etiquette at food service establishments. Many of us who work in the industry would not agree with many of those blanket statements, and some of them are downright offensive to us, and make us look to others as greedy, whiney, lazy entitlement whores--precisely the type of people that constitute Sucky Customers.

I know you were just ranting and did not mean to come off like this, but the sad truth is, at least in my eyes, you did.

If working in the industry is this stressful to you though, you might want to consider finding another line of work.