Some of the restaurants in this area are so rude. How come they act like they don't want your business?

Question

I recently moved from Florida to the Chicago area. But here some of the business owners aren't very nice. Some of them don't make much of an effort at all for the customer and some of them have smart mouths. It's like they don't care if they have your business or not. Man, they must be doing pretty well financially to be acting like that. Even if I was a business owner and my restaurant was doing well, I would still be nice to people because if you don't treat a customer well, word of mouth could end up hurting your business. all it takes is for a few disgruntled customers to not recommend your place. Or even worse, if a few disgruntled customers badmouth your place. Economic times are too tight to be reckless with your business. You know?

Answer 1

yes that sucks. don't go to the rude ones. you don't pay to feel like c**p. omg tho one time i went to this place with my ex and it was all empty and we got to sit next to the fire and it was sooo romantic but our waiter was way over friendly.

He would interrupt our conversation to go on and on and on about the food and chatter and small talk. Towards the end of the meal he actually sat down at the table with us.

oh.my.god.

So just be thankful they aren't over friendly cos thats just as bad.

Answer 2

I was trying to Google an article in a restaurant magazine from 1982 titled: "The Customer Is Always King"

Businesses don't realize that word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool. I've noticed some dance clubs and restaurants want only the best  "clientelle" but don't  stop and think the "regular Joes" out there who have money to spend too.

Answer 3

Maybe they don't want your business.

Think about this for a minute.  How were you dressed when you were treated badly?  Clean clothes?  No holes in your jeans?  No holes in your tennis shoes?  Business casual dress?  Fancy dress?  How about your body?  Clean, showered, not sweaty or dirty and smelling bad?

Were you alone, with one other person, or with several people?

What's the age range of the people you were with?  Were they male or female?

Here's why I ask all these questions.  Some restaurants truly do not want certain customers.  Young men in their late teens and early 20s, coming in a group (4 or more), tend to be troublesome customers.  No, it isn't fair to judge all young men like that, but far too many young men of that age have caused trouble for restaurants and the group as a whole probably deserves the reputation even if individuals in the group don't.

If you go out to dinner wearing jeans, there are restaurants in my home town that might let you in the door for dinner at 5 pm or 5:30, or after 9 pm, but you won't get a table during their heavy business hours.  They want to be considered one of the nicer establishments, a place for special celebrations or for businesses to bring customers and clients, and they really aren't interested in the casually dressed folks who won't spend as much money....or the casually dressed people who might not have the better manners and social connections as the city's "upper crust."

And here's another one.  My husband and I had gone to a fondue restaurant several times and loved it.  We'd taken our daughter once or twice, usually right around their 5:30 pm opening time.  She was young then - about 4 years old - but she ate a regular dinner.  Not a child's dinner (which they didn't offer), not sharing with Mom & Dad - a real full dinner.  One Friday evening the 3 of us showed up - dressed in nice clothes, because this was a nice place - but it was during their busier hours.  And they refused to seat us.  Not "I'm sorry, we're booked for tonight and if you don't have a reservation we can't seat you" - which we would have accepted.  What the hostess said was, "I'm sorry, we won't be seating you" - and we could see her chart showing the available, NOT reserved tables.  I found out later (when one of their assistant managers finished her accounting degree and came to work at the real estate company where I worked in accounting) that they didn't want families with young children.  Their reasoning was that children ate slow so the parents were there longer than the hour and 20 minutes that the restaurant considered a "reasonable" turn-over time for the table.  The children also didn't normally eat a dinner of their own.  So now a table for 4 is tied up for 2 hours, reducing the restaurant's available tables for the evening, AND they only have 2 entrees being paid for at a table for 4.  Fair?  Not by a long shot.  We didn't go back there for about 6 years.

You are absolutely right that restaurants lose business when they're rude to a customer.  It's inexcusable to be rude to a person or a group simply because "we don't want their kind here."  When we encounter that kind of treatment, either my husband or I call the manager the next day and tell him what happened.  Then we wait to see how he responds.  If he's rude to us or if he just doesn't care what we think, then we start telling everyone we know what our experience was.

Just remember NOT to give them a reason to be rude, and don't be rude back to them.  Take the high road.  Let them deserve what they get, and get what they deserve.

Answer 4

Order more than a coffee and then sit there for 6 hours. If you spend some cash and tip the staff they will want you back. If they are rude anyway, move down the road and find a place that does want your biz. I vote with my wallet.

Answer 5

Chicago is so huge that they are probably not reliant too much on repeat customers.  If you ever pay attention, it is the establishments that are in smaller areas, or on the ouskirts that are the friendlist.  They are out of the way and sometimes very inconvientant to get to, so they have to be nice.

Answer 6

That's Chicago for ya. The filthiest city in the states

Answer 7

If this is a question, my answer is that you should say to the proprietor "excuse me. Would you rather I not come here and bother your staff again?"

My situation might be different from yours, where I live we have too many "famous" chefs. But they rely on local word-of-mouth, and they yelp if they think we'll trash them.

If the help is rude, send for the manager. If the manager is rude, be sure he knows you won't be back.