Recently in Service Category

Last week the New York Times' blog "You're the Boss" posted the second part of 100 Things Restaurant Staff Should Never Do by Bruce Buschel.

The second part of the list also includes some very key service issues, so I think this list has been a great idea.  The comments are funny too, some people think this guy (who wrote the list) is a real jerk others totally commiserate with items from the list...

Here are some of the ones I liked from part 2.

#52. Know your menu inside and out.

#62. Do not fill the water glass every two minutes, or after each sip.

#64. Specials, spoken and printed, should always have prices.

#74. Let the guests know the restaurant is out of something before the guests read the menu and order the missing dish.

#77. Do not disappear.

There's a great feature on the NY Times You're the Boss Small Business Blog today, "One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)". Part one includes #s 1 - 50.

It includes some of my pet peeves:

#1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.

#5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.

#12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.

#25. Make sure the glasses are clean. Inspect them before placing them on the table.

#27. For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour.

#29. Do not pop a champagne cork. Remove it quietly, gracefully. The less noise the better.

#34. Do not have a personal conversation with another server within earshot of customers.

It's a great list, take a look, it's really amazing how many restaurants/servers screw up pretty basic things.