The other day we decided to go to one of our favorite mom and pop family restaurants for a delicious sandwich. When we walked into the restaurant around 1 PM there were three tables being used. After we placed our order we went find a place to sit and what happened next was the beginning of end of us going to this particular restaurant.
Now keep in mind I noticed there was one employee working the counter taking orders and two back in the kitchen cooking with a total of nine total customers in the entire restaurant including us. With that, every single table was dirty. Dirty with food and baskets and even tips laying on the tables. Previous customers had come in and enjoyed a meal, as we were hoping to do, and their table was not cleaned or reset. I would be lying to say I was a little annoyed by this but I just let it roll off of my shoulder. We found the least dirty table and moved the trays to another dirty table. I went to the counter asking for a wet towel to wipe off the table so we could sit and wait for our order. One would think this would be a sign to the employees that they should clean their dining room. Especially since one employee walked out from behind the counter and wiped off our table. I was wondering if they were that clueless to not notice every other table was dirty and in need of cleaning. They quickly answered my question when the employee went back behind the counter and continued to do what ever they were doing.
Well we sat and sat and sat and waited for our order of two simple sandwiches for over twenty minutes before I went up to the counter and asked if we could get it to go. This restaurant is not known for their speedy service but every minute that went by we became more and more grossed out at how dirty the dining room was. To make matters worse no other customers entered the restaurant during this time so obviously someone should have been able to clean off the tables right? Nope.
We finally decided to get our order to go and as we were handed our food I had to say something. I told the employee their dining room needs to be cleaned because it was disgusting. She said she understood and was sorry. Don’t tell me you understand when you don’t.
You have a major brand touch point that is easily controllable and you could care less what your dining room looks like. Besides if your dining room is dirty what does your kitchen look like? I should have told her that if the health department walked in right now they would shut you down but I did not think of that until later.
I have worked in the restaurant industry and I know how busy it can get but I also know how important cleanliness is as well. It is directly related to the success of your restaurant and it is unfortunate that the staff working at that time were too lazy to realize this. It is a very simple business model; have good food at good prices and provide a good experience.
Instead if and when they lose their jobs they will blame the economy. Yeah…it was the economy that made you forget the only reason you have a job is because of the customers and that your laziness disgusted the customer.
Once we got home and started eating our sandwiches we noticed that the bread I was supposed to have on my sandwich was on my wife’s and I had her bread. Talk about putting a cherry on top of a bad experience to a restaurant I used to want to go back to but I won’t any more.
Now keep in mind I noticed there was one employee working the counter taking orders and two back in the kitchen cooking with a total of nine total customers in the entire restaurant including us. With that, every single table was dirty. Dirty with food and baskets and even tips laying on the tables. Previous customers had come in and enjoyed a meal, as we were hoping to do, and their table was not cleaned or reset. I would be lying to say I was a little annoyed by this but I just let it roll off of my shoulder. We found the least dirty table and moved the trays to another dirty table. I went to the counter asking for a wet towel to wipe off the table so we could sit and wait for our order. One would think this would be a sign to the employees that they should clean their dining room. Especially since one employee walked out from behind the counter and wiped off our table. I was wondering if they were that clueless to not notice every other table was dirty and in need of cleaning. They quickly answered my question when the employee went back behind the counter and continued to do what ever they were doing.
Well we sat and sat and sat and waited for our order of two simple sandwiches for over twenty minutes before I went up to the counter and asked if we could get it to go. This restaurant is not known for their speedy service but every minute that went by we became more and more grossed out at how dirty the dining room was. To make matters worse no other customers entered the restaurant during this time so obviously someone should have been able to clean off the tables right? Nope.
We finally decided to get our order to go and as we were handed our food I had to say something. I told the employee their dining room needs to be cleaned because it was disgusting. She said she understood and was sorry. Don’t tell me you understand when you don’t.
You have a major brand touch point that is easily controllable and you could care less what your dining room looks like. Besides if your dining room is dirty what does your kitchen look like? I should have told her that if the health department walked in right now they would shut you down but I did not think of that until later.
I have worked in the restaurant industry and I know how busy it can get but I also know how important cleanliness is as well. It is directly related to the success of your restaurant and it is unfortunate that the staff working at that time were too lazy to realize this. It is a very simple business model; have good food at good prices and provide a good experience.
Instead if and when they lose their jobs they will blame the economy. Yeah…it was the economy that made you forget the only reason you have a job is because of the customers and that your laziness disgusted the customer.
Once we got home and started eating our sandwiches we noticed that the bread I was supposed to have on my sandwich was on my wife’s and I had her bread. Talk about putting a cherry on top of a bad experience to a restaurant I used to want to go back to but I won’t any more.
1 comment:
Just walking into a dirty restaurant is already a bad experience. I can understand if there was one or two dirty tables if they were busy. But if the person wasn't even doing anything, clean the tables! If they were busy I think the right thing would have been to go up to the incoming customers and apologize that the tables were dirty because you were so busy working on something else. Or even when they walked in, take their order, then at least ask what table they wanted and cleaned it off before they sat down. Having to ask a restaurant for a wet towel to clean your table is just ridiculous and uncalled for. It is their job to have the tables clean, the food good, and provide a friendly, good experience. AND to top it all off, get your order wrong...definately not a restaurant I would go back to.
kourtney m p.6
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