Service. Done right.
Mrs. Pinata and I went out for breakfast this week at the best breakfast joint in America's Finest City. It's the kind of place that has a 30 minute wait to get a table for breakfast at 11am on a Monday. The little Pinatas were at school, so we figured we'd go out and have a great breakfast at our favorite spot.
I ordered one of the breakfast specials and Mrs. Pinata ordered one of their famous breakfast scrambles. About 15-20 minutes later, my order - which was served up on a plate the size of an aircraft carrier - showed up at the table. We both picked at it a bit and found it delicious. Perhaps 7-10 minutes after that, my lovely wife's order showed up. The waiter apologized profusely for the delay and assured us that he would take care of us in some way. We were a bit puzzled, as the food on my plate alone was enough for us plus three or four other people, so we were just fine, whether or not her order was present. So, we told him that it was no big deal and went on with our breakfast.
About half an hour later - a great half an hour of good food and great conversation with my wife - the bill shows up. Sure enough, the cost for her order, which was just under half the bill, was deducted from the total. I called the waiter over and told him that it was no big deal - the food was great and the delay really hadn't bothered us all that much. He insisted that we should expect great and timely service at the restaurant and that they had let us down (which they really hadn't).
So, we got our meal for just over half the price we'd expected to pay. Naturally, we tipped him as if we'd paid full freight, and we went from happy customers to raving fans in one meal.
Well done.
posted by Kevlar Pinata @ 9:51 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Again, I am reminded of Trader Joes, posting a sign acknowledging that the peanut butter had turned substandard; that they were sorry, and that they had both recalibrated the industrial grinder and hoped for a better crop next year. All this is to say that acknowledgment of a misstep turns me into a fan for life, as it did for you, Pinata. (Hello to Mrs. Pinata, by the way.)
My other thought is less than interesting for a post of it's own, and it belongs as an offshoot here:
Service. Done Weird.
LB and I celebrated the Valentine Week we shared with a night out last night. We went to a French restaraunt of LB's choosing. I wore a tie 'cause she likes that. She looked smashing in red.
Took the waiter 20 minutes to give us the specials. We ordered an apetizer, salads, and a main course. A runner brought bread and butter (possibly the best of both I've ever had), and while we were chowing on the glorious bread and butter, we got our appetizer. Okay, that's fine enough...but literally 3 minutes later, we got our salads. So in a matter of roughly 7 1/2 minutes, we went from nothing to a full table. Well, okay still.
But THEN, they clear off the table, and ask if we want more bread, which of course we did. And we wait 30 minutes. And THEN the food comes, which was lovely. And we ate it. And then, long after the initial offer for secondary bread, the bread comes, but we're done eating, and the new bread is whisked away with the long-done dinner.
AND THEN. Coffee? Dessert? Of course. One decaf, one decaf capp, and some profriteroles, please. The decaf comes, but not the capp. 20 minutes later. The decaf is half done and cold. The profriteroles come, which are fairly spectacular. Then the decaf capp comes, as the profriteroles are almost gone.
Then another 20 minutes to wrap up the check.
The bizarre service did not so much bother us as confuse us. We weren't ignored, but it was odd to have such a hurry-up-and-wait presentation for a very-non-packed restaraunt.
That said, we were there for 2 1/2 hours of very lovely company and conversation, and we weren't really bothered by it. It was just strange: Nothing. Then everything at once. Then nothing. Then one coffee at a time on either ends of a slow dessert. And off-time bread.
Like I said: It didn't deserve its own post.
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