tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post8666234856891481654..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: Bad tables in restaurantsBy Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-83347549307806456722014-09-26T20:41:04.147-07:002014-09-26T20:41:04.147-07:00I am Asian and I recently went to lunch at a popul...I am Asian and I recently went to lunch at a popular old fashion restaurant with a white co-worker. I asked for a table for two. The black waitress told us to the table outside the kitchen. There were other tables in the area. My psychologist friend once jokingly suggested that one should announce himself as Dr. whatever and then ask for a table for two or three "doctors!"AndyPandanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29314089179989320502014-04-18T04:02:01.990-07:002014-04-18T04:02:01.990-07:00Hostess with the Mostess:
I fully understand why y...Hostess with the Mostess:<br />I fully understand why your post was 'anonymous'. I would pay to avoid a hostess of your ilk. Also, if I were your employer and could identify you, I would do all that I could to prevent your special kind of venom from working in customer service. You write as if you are miserable and want to share your misery...may you receive the parallel of what you provide!Gary Zimmernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43070744974277059722014-04-16T17:45:52.395-07:002014-04-16T17:45:52.395-07:00As a hostess, I'm not trying to piss you off b...As a hostess, I'm not trying to piss you off by seating you in a "bad area" we often ask guests if they're okay with sitting next to a loud party or during football season, in an area with an awkward TV angle. I'm trying to get you a table, so you can eat food, which I thought was the point of going to a restaurant. I don't spend my time sitting in all the tables in the joint to determine the best one. You have no clue how much it screws over the servers when we have picky people who need a goldilocks table (just right). If you're that picky about where you sit, eat at home. <br /><br />-Hostess with the MostessAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43230917129916965722014-04-06T05:36:50.435-07:002014-04-06T05:36:50.435-07:00Wow! You should seriously consider a different car...Wow! You should seriously consider a different career.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11778471919218020738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84554519295290347852013-12-28T14:33:50.214-08:002013-12-28T14:33:50.214-08:00I'm always placed in back rooms where the cryi...I'm always placed in back rooms where the crying babies are. The funny thing is that I don't have children. I ALWAYS have to ask to sit somewhere pleasant; and then they sort of punish you afterwards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-21162738151701371322013-03-02T21:22:15.825-08:002013-03-02T21:22:15.825-08:00I don't like the guy at the table next to me t...I don't like the guy at the table next to me to be sitting closer to me than my dining companion. In NYC, a lot of restaurants are laid out this way., but I always ask for an alternative if I see one available. If there is nothing else I will tolerate it but I will enjoy the experience a lot less.Robnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-33894583776854927582010-11-29T10:04:01.066-08:002010-11-29T10:04:01.066-08:00True story: went to a Cheeseburger in Paradise joi...True story: went to a Cheeseburger in Paradise joint in the middle of a snowstorm. The place was open, we even asked if they were planning on closing and sending everyone home, but hey assured us they were not. We were then seated in the first table, closest to the door, and we were the only people in the place besides the staff. Other people did come in while we were eating, and of course we were blasted with the cold air and sleet evertime the door opened. Seems like this happens to me every time I go out to eat, so now if they don't show me a good table I pick out the one I want and tell them I'm sitting there. If there aren't any other available, I tell them I'll wait until a better table opens up. Am I a jerk? If need be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-30952286265728211012010-01-19T22:40:53.990-08:002010-01-19T22:40:53.990-08:00I work in a resturaunt while in school and if u fe...I work in a resturaunt while in school and if u feel the need to complain on where your seated getting a grip on your life if that's the most stress u have then our off pretty good...hosts don't have it out for u there trying to do there job and give each waitor equal tables and if u had any commen. Sense whatsoever u would have figured it out...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86863408365656942812009-08-16T05:04:23.502-07:002009-08-16T05:04:23.502-07:00As a former hostess, I'm one of those people w...As a former hostess, I'm one of those people who hated to have to deal with people who felt they were too good for certain tables. <br /><br />By the way, I never once looked at someone and figured "Ah, not worthy of a booth."manorlyappearancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16627243303154016411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31685016909712129032009-04-14T19:43:00.000-07:002009-04-14T19:43:00.000-07:00I hope that sometime in her internship, Cyndi lear...I hope that sometime in her internship, Cyndi learns about paragraphs.<br /><br />Otherwise, she's going to be in that restaurant for a long time.TEnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31453027742791407112009-04-13T00:54:00.000-07:002009-04-13T00:54:00.000-07:00Cyndi,I can't speak for others but for me it's not...Cyndi,<BR/><BR/>I can't speak for others but for me it's not a case of considering myself entitled. It's not like I feel I deserve a window table or the best booth or the "power" table or any of that bullshit. When there are six open tables I don't want to be seated at clearly the worst one. And yes, it depends on the type of restaurant. I'm far less sensitive to table placement at Bob's Big Boy than I am Morton's Steak House. But here's my feeling. When you go to a nice place you're paying for the whole dining experience. <BR/><BR/>I acknowledged that it's hard to run a restaurant and I do think that people who hog a table all night when a place is crowded deserve to have a bottle of ketchup "accidentally" spilled all over them. Still, if I'm choosing your restaurant over all the choices out there and paying $30 an entree is it too unreasonable to ask not to be seated next to the kitchen with servers banging the chair fifty times on their way in and out? That's all I'm saying.<BR/><BR/>But what restaurant in Beverly Hills do you work at? Can you get me a table with a view???By Ken Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-21354054924921182182009-04-13T00:28:00.000-07:002009-04-13T00:28:00.000-07:00You know... I'm currently doing an internship at a...You know... I'm currently doing an internship at a magazine - and as that kind of lends my life to being... well, POOR, I also work at a restaurant on the side. I served tables through college as well, and I have to tell you, Ken, that as much as I'm a huge huge fan of your work and this blog, this post bugged the hell out of me. It actually breaks my heart a little that you're one of THESE people - and by "these" I mean incredibly self-entitled and kind of, dare I say it, classist. The restaurant I work in is in Beverly Hills, and dealing with people constantly this self-entitled makes me actually hate people sometimes. There is a seating rotation. There are only so many "great" tables. It's not that hosts in restaurants WANT to put people near the kitchen, it's that they need to seat the poor server that has to work that section. When you want to bitch about the table, think about the server that isn't making any money becuase every table wants to wear your "red button" and be put at a better spot. THEN you're more likely to get worse service, as well, because you're going to end up forcing a host to double or triple seat a server that may have more "acceptable" tables. I had a customer one time inform me that if I KNEW who she was (the wife of the man who produced the sound of music - who gives a fuck?!) that I would have sat her at a window table, obviously. I wanted to tell her she could shove her window table... Anyway. There are bigger things in life to care about than the table you end up sat at in a restaurant. To every "red button" wearer - think slightly less about how much you oh so deserve the exact spot you want and more about the work that goes into running a restaurant - people serving the table you refuse to sit at (you're not the only one), the host that you obviously think is incompetent that is in actuality doing their job and trying to go by a seating rotation and then maybe consider how much stating these kind of inane issues with the luxury of going out to eat whenever you want sends out a clear message that you've probably not really worked a working-class job a day in your life. That's a bit harsh and over-generalized. I'll step off my soap box now.Cyndinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10304958763549378502009-04-10T18:24:00.000-07:002009-04-10T18:24:00.000-07:00Joe said: Mary S., The very one.I am ridiculously...Joe said: <I>Mary S., The very one.</I><BR/><BR/>I am ridiculously entertained that I actually know, and have been to, the same restaurant as a one-name-only stranger who reads and comments on my favorite blog.<BR/><BR/>It's like six degrees of Ken Levine. Or something.<BR/><BR/>The "or something" could be the percocet for the lingering pain from my carpal tunnel surgery, or I'm just a blog dork. Or both.<BR/><BR/>Joe, next time I leave the Keys and happen to visit Bagel E., I'll remember this and you bet I'll search out the secret room. "Would you like extra pickles with that prestige, ma'am?"<BR/><BR/>The last time I was in that restaurant, I was having breakfast with a good friend from Coral Gables (a fairly successful author). We accidentally knocked the sugar packet container off of our rickety formica table. It shattered all over the floor. Maybe that's why I don't get access into the good room.Mary Stellahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02186261066656584772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-9488597768102315922009-04-10T10:41:00.000-07:002009-04-10T10:41:00.000-07:00Restaurant management might balk claiming everyone...<I>Restaurant management might balk claiming everyone will then surely wear red buttons. But you know what? I bet 70% of the population still opts for the green.</I><BR/><BR/>So, if I wear a green button (and my friends know I would), will you at least say thank you on the way to the good tables?<BR/><BR/>WV: pressude -- a prosciutto-like substance, made by flattening ... well, you really don't want to knowChris Riesbeckhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09361434968521805027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-29538683487472263552009-04-09T22:39:00.000-07:002009-04-09T22:39:00.000-07:00The seater at California Pizza Kitchen was leading...The seater at California Pizza Kitchen was leading us to a crappy seat. I was going to use Ken's "if Harrison Ford came in" yardstick. But then I thought it would make him feel bad. It was Mark Hamill.Waynenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52717300043155927972009-04-09T22:10:00.000-07:002009-04-09T22:10:00.000-07:00I understand what you're saying, Jaquandor, bu...I understand what you're saying, Jaquandor, but my concern is a pleasant dining experience, not helping a server's tip take. As you say, they rotate the crops so it evens out at the end of the week. <BR/><BR/>Went to Denny's once for lunch. The place was full of truckers and I was a longhair. Sat at the counter completely ignored for half an hour. Finally pushed all the salt & pepper shakers, menus, sugar holder, and whatever else was in front of me off the counter and left.Cap'n Bobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11783977137812876489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-86692235325416533752009-04-09T18:35:00.000-07:002009-04-09T18:35:00.000-07:00Not sure if this has been mentioned in the thread ...Not sure if this has been mentioned in the thread (I did read through it all but may have missed it), but all restaurants have bad tables, and all restaurants are aware of their existence. The problem is that bad tables are unavoidable; if you open a restaurant, you WILL have a bad table or two somewhere in your dining room. It's a fact of life. Like gravity.<BR/><BR/>The big factor that isn't mentioned here, I think, is that many, if not most, restaurants divide their dining rooms into "sections", with each server taking a particular section. This is to avoid the servers having to bounce all over the entire dining room and helps to ensure that no customers will be overlooked (if a server knows that this cluster of tables right here is his responsibility, then he presumably won't fail to notice a new group of people sitting in his station).<BR/><BR/>Now, most restaurants I've worked in rotate the stations so that you don't have the same person waiting the same section of the dining room each and every night. Thus, every night, someone else gets the section with the bad table or two. But here's the rub: hosts are trained to avoid filling sections too quickly -- i.e., you try to avoid giving a server two or three new tables in succession, which suddenly causes them to get overworked and make it possible to overlook customers.<BR/><BR/>This also implies that hosts <I>will</I> attempt to seat customers at the bad tables. They do this not to screw those customers, but to try to keep the serving staff evenly worked through, and to make sure that the poor server who has the crappy table(s) that day still gets a chance to earn some money. Believe me, if you're the server whose section includes the table everybody asks to be moved from, you take home less money that day than you would otherwise, through no fault of your own.<BR/><BR/>All I'm saying is that when you get put at a crappy table, there's a very good chance they're not assuming that you're too stupid to know it's a crap table.Kelly Sedingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10704114189919711467noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-23897837201845694292009-04-09T16:56:00.000-07:002009-04-09T16:56:00.000-07:00My two favorite memories on this topic:Our family ...My two favorite memories on this topic:<BR/><BR/>Our family went to Sunday brunch at a very middle brow spot when my daughter was a toddler. Though there was plenty of space and it was early, they seated us alone in the side room around the corner, assuming she wouldn't behave. I bitched and told them we wanted to eat with the white people (we are white). We were reseated.<BR/><BR/>I went to lunch with one of the few Hollywood types I know, at a restaurant in Hollywood where he had made reservations. They seated us in a table in the hall with a splendid view of the waiters coming and going like tennis balls crossing the net. My friend--who at one time was married to a Mafioso's duahger-- launched into an epic harangue worthy of Scot Rudin or Jon Dolgen at their best. We were reseated; the place went out of business.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56951435992512668312009-04-09T16:05:00.000-07:002009-04-09T16:05:00.000-07:00I prefer to be seated by Karla, served by Diane, a...I prefer to be seated by Karla, served by Diane, and thrown out by Woody! Preferably, after Norm has put three of my beers on his tab....Gary Zimmerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00446579080094591997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10006275138423032142009-04-09T16:04:00.000-07:002009-04-09T16:04:00.000-07:00This goes back 15 years or more; don't know that i...This goes back 15 years or more; don't know that it's still true. But:<BR/><BR/>The worst table at the Roxy was on the left side of the stage, right next to a door that leads to the restrooms and dressing rooms. You're at the lip of the stage, and looking at the act from behind, listening to a weird blend of the audience and monitor mixes. The <I>worst</I>.<BR/><BR/>Waitresses would put a "reserved" sign on the table. Inevitably, some big spender would tip them extra for what appears (if you're an idiot) to be preferred seating.<BR/><BR/>Question for tomorrow: Last night on "New Christine," which is set in Los Angeles, she comes into a bit of money. As she's in the kitchen, preparing sandwiches for the gang, her ex-husband marvels that she's using mayonnaise.<BR/><BR/>"Not just mayonnaise," she chirps, proudly, "Hellman's!"<BR/><BR/>Now, since Hellman's is only called that east of the Rockies (it's Best Foods out here), was she having it flown in, or are the writers (a) from New York and (b) clueless as to the contents of their local Ralph's?<BR/><BR/>(Some years back, on the original, set-in-Vegas, CSI, one of the investigators says something to the effect that he's never without his Thomas Guide. Only problem was (and I checked) at the time, at least, there wasn't a Thomas Bros. Guide for anywhere near Las Vegas.)Harold Xhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07803159453346537762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42542264140181641462009-04-09T13:12:00.000-07:002009-04-09T13:12:00.000-07:00Mary S.,The very one.All my life I have been getti...Mary S.,<BR/><BR/>The very one.<BR/><BR/>All my life I have been getting seated in the -- there's no getting away from it -- the Gentile Section.<BR/><BR/>But when I go with Dave, we go past this wormhole, through a warp in the space-time continuum and VOILA! The Non Gentile Section with ridiculously excellent picklery, compliments of the house.<BR/><BR/>And asking for the Magical Section is both futile and a faux pas.Joehttp://blog.vinapedia.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-31776029758800494982009-04-09T12:47:00.000-07:002009-04-09T12:47:00.000-07:00Ken -- The better question would be if Harrison Fo...Ken -- <BR/><BR/>The better question would be if Harrison Ford came into a restaurant with the same sized party, and he proceeded <A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2008/may/21/harrison.ford.chest.wax" REL="nofollow">to get his chest waxed,</A> would he still get a better table than you do?Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-4551568701210206522009-04-09T12:26:00.000-07:002009-04-09T12:26:00.000-07:00I currently work as a host and if you want another...I currently work as a host and if you want another table, ask for it and you'll probably get it, but don't expect us to read your fucking mind. I have a responsibility both to you as the customer and to the servers, who need tables to make money. So if the table never gets sat, the server in the section gets pissed. <BR/><BR/>Also, if you insist on being a camper (staying at a table for an eternity), you'd better tip like it. If it's busy, your server just lost three tables because you couldn't leave. That's fine, but make some effort to recoup him the money. And though I smile and say it's fine, no, your party of 2 does not need the 6-top booth.Julienoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-64622830992957376752009-04-09T12:01:00.000-07:002009-04-09T12:01:00.000-07:00I think the most annoying place to sit at a restau...I think the most annoying place to sit at a restaurant is by the door. There is a Fridays be me that has a table right by the door, literally. If there is a wait and you are sitting there, you get people leaning on your table and standing right next to it, talking, and watching you eat your dinner. It gets really annoying. After sitting there, i will sit anywhere in a restaurant except by the door.Leo Edwardsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-55192509302839237102009-04-09T11:27:00.000-07:002009-04-09T11:27:00.000-07:00Regardless of seating, on this second night of Pas...Regardless of seating, on this second night of Passover, we're asking everyone to seriously consider leaving an extra goblet of wine out for Lindsay Lohan. All converted up, but now with apparently no place to go. Who needs this kind of tsouris! Incidentally, the kind of eateries I tend to frequent, my preferred table is directly below the Heimlich Maneuver schematic.A. Buck Shorthttp://roger-burke.dailykos.com/noreply@blogger.com