It's the Industry, Stupid: Why Lackluster Restaurant Service is Now the Norm
Much of my subject matter is near and dear to my heart, but a few posts I've read recently have sparked a fire from within. I love restaurants. During college, I worked in the finest restaurants in Philly. After college, I was part of the opening management team of two restaurants. When I came back home to LA, I worked in another restaurant. Since my sophomore year of college, I have dined out two to four times a week, from hole-in-the-wall dives to four and five-star behemoths.
I haven't seen it all, but I've seen a lot of it. Unfortunately, many of the complaints you have as diners, I have too. Rather than rehash the same old gripes, however, I will instead comment on the present state of the restaurant industry, and why this means our dining experience will not change.
Poor Service Comes from Greedy Owners
Staffing. This is a big one. Service, unfortunately, is the trickled-down result of poor management, straight from the top. Owners care most about maximizing profits so they can fund their next venue. They hire management as cheaply as they can afford to, and expect their managers to work an unreasonable workweek, which sometimes results in an hourly rate that is below the poverty line. Next, they offer benefits, but only to those who regularly work more than 32 hours. Guess what's coming next? More hiring and fewer shifts for everyone, so only a few people will actually work 32 hours and legally have to be provided with benefits. And let's let the staffing issue come around full circle by understaffing the restaurant to save on labor cost. By staffing one server fewer per 8-hour shift, a California restaurant would save $64. Assuming two shifts in a day for a small restaurant open 365 days a year, that's a savings of $46,720 for two fewer bodies on the floor per day.
How does this affect service?
Managers are overworked and perpetually tired. As soon as they find a better venue with more pay, they'll jump ship. Benefits packages are unattainable, pay structure strict, and as a result, managers care less about their 'people' than ever. They are not paid to care. They are paid to pack the place with as many people spending as much money as possible. The revolving door trickles down to the line level, where the service team has no consistent base of managers to unify them for the long haul. Servers are overworked and undertrained, given a week's worth of training and then thrown onto the floor with a section of seven to twelve tables. After a few two-shift weeks, servers too will jump ship, perpetually in search of a restaurant where they will make the most tips and work the most shifts.
Take this quote from an article on Restaurant Rescue for hiring waiters:
If your waiter turns out to be not the kind of waiter you want, you can either re-train them or let them go.
Incidentally, this same article discusses how actual waiter 'skills' aren't as important as a good attitude, because the right person can be trained—a philosophy I agree with wholly. But take this 'hiring' philosophy and translate it to your office atmosphere. Yes, law, business, finance and medicine are similarly competitive and cutthroat, but their wages are higher, and many must go to college and graduate school to participate in these disciplines.
Unfortunately, improperly-trained servers bear the brunt of diners' 'expert' analysis on how a meal is to be served. I found a bit on this at How to Get Your Food Spit In that is similar to training I received in Philadelphia:
The restaurant I spent seven years working for had a number of benchmarks for service. The restaurant’s parent corporation engaged the services of a market research firm that asked people to outline acceptable amounts of time to wait for certain aspects of restaurant service. According to this research, that was to become corporate restaurant policy, customers liked being greeted in less than ninety seconds and served their drinks three minutes later. Appetizers should be on the table in seven minutes with entrees following eight minutes later. Twenty minutes after entrée service, the desert menu should be offered. Fifty-five minutes after the customer sat down, the check should be paid and the customer should be on his and her way. Research shows that this timetable should be escalated considerably for lunch.
Why is service so different now?
The old mom-and-pop restaurants we used to go to have been bought out or have gone out of business. Their profits have run dry because they haven't adopted cutthroat policies to minimize loss and maximize profits. The old restaurants that are still in business have undergone or will soon undergo changes in management, who will inevitably implement fail-safe revenue techniques that will create an environment so unsavory that seasoned professionals will leave. Menu and drink prices will rise, table turn times expedited and that 'old' restaurant will become new.
What's the answer?
Simple. Do not patronize restaurants with lackluster service. If you want to make your thoughts known, speak to a manager before you leave. Only patronize restaurants that value your business and create a positive dining experience. Period. Until we hit owners in their wallets, where it counts, the restaurant industry will keep swimming along and diners will continue to be dragged along for the ride.
I didn't know all of those things you allude to, although I admit to not giving them much thought before reading your article. I'm not much of a restaurant diner for two reasons, I don't like the pretentiousness at the better ones, and due to the fact that when I want a fine meal, which is everyday, I prepare it myself.
For the price of one upscale restaurant meal for two, with wine, one can buy a few good cookbooks and set up an extremely well stocked spice shelf. By preparing homemade chicken, fish, and beef stocks and freezing them for future use, one can prepare anything Wolfgang, Mario, or Emeril do at their restaurants, and just as well, and you can dine in your underwear!
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Well said. And especially now, such high-quality food is made available to us in supermarkets. It'll be interesting to see how the face of dining changes over the next few years.
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I couldn't agree more with you. If a restaurant isn't up to your standards, walk away. You are protecting yourself from terrible service, stress, and unsafe food. If the service is bad, think about the things you CAN'T see going on in the back of the house.
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