How many times is the cook responsible for bad service?

Question

We went for lunch yesterday to Macarroni Grill, we have been there many times, some with good service, some with bad service, but yesterday, the service was a little slow, it was crowded and after our appetizer we are always full, so it is ok to wait a little longer for the food, well the waitress came and apologize saying that the chicken was taking a long time. I've seen the cooks work there, and they are always cooking a lot of food really fast. So, I wonder why would she blame it on the cook? After she came apologize we still waited like 15 more minutes for our food, so I think she forgot to put the order until she came apologize. She came check on us when we were almost done eating, then she came back like 15 minutes later and asked if we wanted dessert, we said no and waited a looong time for her to bring the check, until I gave up and got up and was going to go to the hostess to ask for my check, there she was walking around with our check.

Answer 1

9 times out of 10 it's the servers fault.

Cook's are generally pretty efficient... as they make the same things all day/night long.

However sometimes the managers dont put enough servers on, so they can get overwhelmed.

But some servers just arent any good... I use to work 10-15 table sections and never had a problem. Yet I see some with relatively small sections (3-7) and look totally lost in the weeds.

As far as tips go, keep in mind servers dont make a salary for the most part, so your tips are absolutely vital.

There are 2 main components with which you should judge:

1) Efficiency- self explanatory really. Did you get your food on time, did you have to wait a long time for drink refills? Etc...

2) Personality- were they friendly? Apologetic if necessary? Or were they b******s?

If they do 1 of the 2, I always give 20%. I.E. if they're mean, but quick... they did their job. Or if they're slow as heck, but really nice, I'll give em a break.

If they're mean AND slow... they're lucky to get 10 or 15. Sometimes less, depending.

If they're Nice and efficient... they get more... depending on my finances.

Answer 2

this is true....servers will do this sadly. restaurant to get soooo packed sometimes that the food is just waiting to be cooked. All the waitress can really do is apologize...but it just seems that this is a bad case of a bad server.

Answer 3

I think we can all tell that you have never worked in a restaurant!

You should stay at home and cook if you are going to be so rude and complain so much! Oh and that comment about going to school... Well most servers are students and servers!!! Because serving is the only thing that can work with their schedule and get them the amount of money they need to pay for college, groceries, bills, and gas. It is not a choice they wanted to make but they are going to do whatever it takes to get through college.

Oh and to answer your question....YES on a busy day like EASTER (when you should be at home giving thanks with your family) the cooks will make lots and lots of mistakes!!

Answer 4

Most of the time, it is a server issue.....they do not get order in promptly, or they misorder or they dont send order.....However, sometimes it can be a kitchen issue...like understaffed kitchen, new cooks, things happen. I would definately contact the manager and operating partner. Sounds like server was not very good and more interested in socializing. Ask the manager if there was error.  You should have asked for manager immediately and had issue resolved. Dont wait any longer, call today.  Explain just like you did here, very to the point yet enough detail.  The manager will ask server name, time seated, what ordered, cost. They can lool info up, when she open table, put order in, printed check, cashed it out etc.....Good luck....

Answer 5

Do you need cheese to go with your whine.

The servers can't make the kitchen faster.

Don't you think the servers know that they will take a hit on the tip when customers have to wait.

Answer 6

She probably wanted to put the blame on other people. I am a server and I don't usually tell customers anything because there is never a problem at Enzo's!

Answer 7

I worked at Macaroni Grill for a good 3 years but finally quit this past year. I am POSITIVE it was the cooks fault especially if it was Easter Sunday....or any Sunday for that fact. Yes the cooks are fast but...they also make a ton of mistakes and forget to make stuff when they have more than one large order come in ( a large order is 10 entree's or more from one table) Every Sunday I worked at least 5 of my 12 tables food would come out wrong or really really late.

Another thing is that the Hostess can not do anything about the check...she would have to go find the server and that is all they can do.

And yes they may have made a mistake on your check it happens when it is really busy like you ring up someone elses drinks or salads on the wrong table. You can't take it off or fix it once it is in the computer the manager has to come over and swipe their card and go through many many steps to fix it. Plus on a Sunday there are only two mangers: one is helping with the kitchen and line and the other is helping the servers.

And SHAME on YOU for going out on Easter SUNDAY!!!!!  I wish you knew what it is like to have to work on holidays, not get paid extra for it and not get to spend any time with your family. think about that next time you go out to eat on a holiday!

EDIT:

For your information I am going to college and have been working my way through it since I graduated from high school! Waiting tables is how I pay for my college education, my apartment, and my bills!!! I have no help from anyone and b/c I my parents own their land for our farm I don't recieve grants....I get loans every year from FASFA!!  I haven't got to go home and see my family b/c I have to work!  and can't afford to drive the 3 hours.   I'd like to see you take 16 hours of college and work 40 hours a week at $2.13 an hour....Think of that next time you complain!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 8

sounds like she forgot to put in the order and covered her booty by blaming the cooks.  I am a waiter, and I've done that before.  She was probably new.

Stay away from Macaroni Grill anyway, they're horrible.  They have fatty foods as well as stinky service!

4: Worst pasta - Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs with Meat Sauce.

2,430 calories, 128 g fat, 207 g carbs, 5,290 mg sodium. This meal

satisfied your calorie requirements for an entire day.

(Hope you didn't eat the Spag + Meatballs :))

*Honk Honk*

Answer 9

I'll tell you exactly what happened.  Lunch servers are not accustomed to getting appetizer orders traditionally.  It's in-and-out with usually no more than an hour for lunch, so people don't even have the time if they wanted one.  I bet she forgot to "send" the lunch order.  In a restaurant like that, orders are "built" on a computer.  When an appetizer is 1/2 way finished, you should "send" the rest of the order back to the kitchen by going back to the computer, highlighting a table, and sending the order to be printed in the kitchen for the cooks to see.  This step was forgotten by your server in the chaos of the busy lunch.  To make matters worse, it was chicken, which takes a lot longer to cook than a BLT or a medium burger.

Everything else you described about how slow it took to get the check was having to do with the fact that she was still really busy (in the weeds) with her other tables, and even tracking down a manager to help with your bill was more than she could handle, hence the 15 extra minutes.   It's disappointing that you received bad service, but it happens every once in a while, and lying about it is to be expected, but still it's not condoned.

Answer 10

I would say normally it's about 50 50 chance that it was the cooks but yesterday was Easter the 2nd busiest day of the year normally. I would guess in this case it was either the kitchen was under staffed or the whole restaurant was.