Should those of us who have lunch after 1:30 p.m. automatically expect bad service? What happens during those awkward hours between 1-5 p.m. that causes the customer service — inside establishments that are in spite of appearances open for business — to take a siesta? I posed the former question today as I lunched with my husband, a hardworking restaurant manager whom I seldom see during daylight hours, as we sat in front of empty glasses and dirty dishes waiting to pay our bill all the while watching our waitress chat on the phone behind the bar at Scalini’s in Lakewood.
“No,” he assures me, “you should expect good service — not only does the server left on duty have little else to do but wait on a few late lunchers, but in fact the server left on duty is the closer and should be among the strongest on staff to garner that particular responsibility.”
But as a customer, when I’m eating at 2 p.m. (which I normally do sitting at my desk for this very reason) even at a place that won’t close until 10 p.m., I often feel as if I am an afterthought at best, or that by my mere patronage, I’m impeding on the wait staff’s opportunity to catch up on side work, smoke break or socialization.
As for Scalini’s, the food was good and came out promptly — the Chicken Parmesan Sandwich was moist yet crispy and flavorful.
I had coffee, asked for cream and didn’t get it until long after my java had cooled.
I can forgive the occasional forgetfulness (even when there is more staff than customers around) but that was just one of several little omissions that let me know my business was in no way important to her — i.e. drinks weren’t refilled barring a specific request. Though we had crab claws (delicious by the way) dripping in butter I was never offered an extra napkin. We were sharing but never given appetizer plates — she was polite enough, but these are things a guest should never have to ask for. As my husband says, the server’s job is to anticipate these types of obvious needs.
If I were the manager — a story like this would bother me more than say a rude or totally incompetent waiter. With extreme incompetence, the manager is usually informed and thus gets the opportunity to make the unhappy customer happy. But when a customer is met with mediocrity and indifference, they just leave quietly and don’t return. And they tell their friends (or readers) about their experience.
