Book Review: Waiter Rant
I just finished reading “Waiter Rant” by The Waiter on my Kindle. First of all, it’s a well-written, breezy, inside look at restaurants by a waiter of an upper end New York restaurant who started by blogging about his experiences. It’s funny, but it has an insight into people that can be a little shattering. For instance, waiters get two tops, two people dining together. squared away first.
…couples at a table are probably married and sick of talking to each other, making them hypersensitive to any kind of waiting.
Most restaurants have a POS computer system where they enter the orders. They may also keep notes about their customers, such as good tipper, pain in the ass, takes too long eating, etc. The waiter describes a case where a customer comes in with no notice on one of the biggest nights of the year and demands a table. The waiter checks the POS and notes that this guy is arrogant and poor tipper, He tells him he only has room at 5:30 and 10:30. Moral: be careful how you treat your waiter at your favorite restaurant.
The waiter writes about how he helped a young couple have a standout dinner even though they really couldn’t afford the high dinner prices. The waiter can be called upon to help a guy out with his prospective clients. The dinner can go well if the POS says he’s a good guy or badly if it doesn’t. Funny how a man can be made to look foolish in front of a client, if his card doesn’t go through.
There’s some great information about illegals and how we are very dependent upon them in the restaurant industry.
The waiter writes about the drunks he encounters and how he deals with them. He writes about “critters” that live around food. And he writes about the urban legend of waiters spitting in food; about drugs and working when others are asleep.
The waiter gives a lot of suggestions about the way to have a great dining experience, what to tip, how to treat the wait staff, and how the staff is paid.
Now while I was surfing the web today, I came across Mer Mag written by Merrilee whose brother-in-law is Trent Gudmunsen. The interior paints by Gudmunsen look exactly like the restaurant I pictured as I read “Waiter Rant.”
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