Momma's Day
It’s hard eating out right now. Few restaurants are executing well, at least in all categories. From my recent experience, some get the food out on time but the servers aren’t adequate in numbers or adequately trained, others have sufficient servers but the kitchen is understaff leading to long wait times, some fail in all categories and some have just closed the doors because they are tired of not being able to deliver a consistent sustainable service.
I know for me, I’ve been to a few restaurants where waiting for the food takes an hour or more - not the whole process of sitting, ordering etc… I mean just waiting for the food after the order is in, half the time with empty glasses. We all have compassion for the industry, but at the same time, you are out to enjoy yourself and an unnecessarily Long experience with iffy service along the way isn’t the pinnacle of enjoyment.
Just last week in Milford PA, I literally went to two restaurants, one after the other, and didn’t get a dinner in 90 minutes each. It’s hard to say I didn’t do my part with patience.
Then yesterday in Scranton at a delicious dinner at the Sambuca Grill, the service started out strong, then just disappeared, walked right by - and that’s just a training issue, a middle management issue, but to feel the breeze of your server go by 30 times in a small restaurant and that person failing to stop from bread to dinner completion, that’s an issue.
I’m not complaining, ok, yes, I’m complaining. Because I think the pandemic tolerance is wearing thin for the service industry, and even if it is unfair and not avoidable, it’s still a decision to eat out, and for me, I’m going to start patronizing restaurants I hear first hand have adequate staff that is trained to a minimum degree.
It’s an easy trap to fall into, as a business person who has made it through the pandemic and has a ‘to each according to his talents’ disposition, but I look around to a wide range of vendors and peers and colleagues who are running businesses and they have found a way. But then at the same time, I am very picky who I work with, and maybe that due diligence eye will need to be applied to where I eat as well until this all gets sorted out.
Maybe the stock market correction will drive some people back to work.