Common Hostess Peeves

[monolayth]

I understand the problem with the seating thing, and yes there is a rotation on how they seat but each server is assigned a certin section that i grouped together so that we do not have to run all over the resturant. It may not seem like such a big deal but it really is.

and as for you hostesses out there you all usually rock when you know how to do your job that is. you have to deal with the SC's and you have to tell them to wait. that never makes them happy. and the servers get pissed at the tables you get them sometimes.

The new hostess at work needs to get it together. she will go by the strict roation. never minding the number she is giving like on person has 3, 1 tops while has 1 7 top and will give the 7 top another 4 instead of the person with the 1's. i might have just confused everyone there. or she will see that i have 3 tables sitting down and not seat my other table, never minding the fact that thoes three tables have paied and been there chatting for 2 hours.

[Eben56]

I like tables

Usually, my problem is the opposite. I am a big guy and I prefer tables, because booths vary in room greatly and I don't want to be an SC and ask to change when I am already sat. You would be surprised at the eye rolls I get. I usually get the impression from the hostess that it is a big deal to deviate from their seating rotation. Not everywhere but it is still bothersome.

[Amala]

Usually, my problem is the opposite. I am a big guy and I prefer tables, because booths vary in room greatly and I don't want to be an SC and ask to change when I am already sat. You would be surprised at the eye rolls I get. I usually get the impression from the hostess that it is a big deal to deviate from their seating rotation. Not everywhere but it is still bothersome.

We actually usually try to seat larger people at tables. We can't quite keep our eyes from bulging a bit when they insist on squeezing into a booth anyway.

And some nights we do get more requests for tables than booths, but more often than not people want booths.





Hostessing can be really tough. It's critical to the smooth running of the business. We have to make sure the customers are happy, distribute tables as fairly as possible among servers, run a wait when it gets busier, quote times for that wait that are fairly accurate, even for large parties and orchestrate the seating of those large parties. If the quoted time is too short, they get frustrated that they aren't being sat, if the quoted time is too long, they tend to walk right out the door.

Insert Pet Peeve: We quote someone 20 minutes and they decide to go somewhere else. It's going to take them 10 minutes to get anywhere else, probably at least another 10 minutes to be sat, and then another 5 before the server at the other restaurant gets to them.

Continuing on... At our restaurant we also answer the phone, take to-go orders, clean tables(and the floor), and bus tables if absolutely necessary. And clean the glass doors about every 5 minutes... Thats another one... Thank you SO much for touching the glass I JUST cleaned.

[myswtghst]

Some suck mayhaps, but personally I'd rather sit at a table than have a booth and a server who's running around like made because her/his section filled up since everyone decided they need a booth.

Exactly. And, sadly, most customers don't seem to realize that they're being sat where they are for a reason.

If you are going to be picky about where you sit, you should specify your preferences up front. It makes everything easier, even if its insane preferences like we want to sit on the edge of the restaurant and we want a female server, but not so-and-so (yes we've gotten this request).

I've basically hammered this in to my parents - if you want a booth/other special seating, ask up front. It's less hassle for everyone that way.

[Peppergirl]

I'm sorry, I have to call some suck on this one. If I want a booth and they are available, then there is no reason I should not have one. I'm sorry that a server that has tables has no business, but thats part of working there. If there are no booths, I have no problem sitting at a table however.

I don't think anyone here thinks there's anything wrong with asking for one...I think she was referring to people who don't ask upfront, thereby forcing a change of tables and/or possibly stations. That's definitely sucky behavior, IMO.

[Kali]

Sorry but I'm going to have to call suck here as well.

Now, if you came into my aquarium and asked for a goldfish, I started catching one and you said "wait can i have this goldfish here?" *point* and i got pissed and posted about you on a forum, that's sucky.

The reason that's sucky is because I might have a million reasons for picking the goldfish I picked and not the one you picked, but how are you to know them? As far as you're concerned, they are all available for sale, why shouldn't you pick one?

Now, that's how a customer at your restaurant would feel. There is an empty booth, they are there to enjoy their dining experience, why on earth shouldn't they be able to sit at the available booth? How are they to know how the politics and logistics of wait staff works? You can't expect them to know any of that.

And anyway, if there is a discrepancy between popular sections and empty sections for the wait staff, and it happens often, that is a problem with the management of the business that should be addressed, not something that you can pass the blame on to customers for.

I don't mean to offend you or discredit your frustration OP, but just offering a little perspective

[blas]

I hated being a hostess. I did it for too long.

Too many people insisted on being sat at dirty tables/booths. Or I'd seat people, alert the server, and next thing you knew, the people moved to a different table.

Or when I worked at the old person restaurant, they'd want "non smoking" I'd say "It's all non smoking" and they'd say back "Gimme non smoking!" or the same thing.

Too many customers called booths "boofs".

Many times I'd go to seat customers but they'd try to get ahead of me and sit wherever they wanted.

Or a lot of old people (and it's so cute because we know they aren't that fast) when they really wanted to sit somewhere specific, if they walked in the door and saw I wasn't there, they'd scurry and sit where they wanted, then give the server dirty looks for not giving them menus right away.

[marasbaras]

You would be surprised at the eye rolls I get.

Same here ...I've had a couple hostesses ask "don't you want to sit in a booth?"

NO, I don't. That's why I asked for a table.

[Amala]

Sorry but I'm going to have to call suck here as well.

Now, if you came into my aquarium and asked for a goldfish, I started catching one and you said "wait can i have this goldfish here?" *point* and i got pissed and posted about you on a forum, that's sucky.

The reason that's sucky is because I might have a million reasons for picking the goldfish I picked and not the one you picked, but how are you to know them? As far as you're concerned, they are all available for sale, why shouldn't you pick one?

Now, that's how a customer at your restaurant would feel. There is an empty booth, they are there to enjoy their dining experience, why on earth shouldn't they be able to sit at the available booth? How are they to know how the politics and logistics of wait staff works? You can't expect them to know any of that.

If it were that way, there would be no need for a hostess. Everyone could seat themselves wherever the **** they want. And I don't know about you, but I see a fish as a slightly larger commitment than a table than you are going to sit at for 2 hours at most. And unless we NEED a table to seat a large party, we never tell them no. We give them the table anyway. And personally, I wish there was some sort of program where you have to work 1 month in a variety of jobs where you deal with sucky customers. If each person had to deal with sucky customers for a year, theyd be less likely to BE a sucky customer, or might come to understand why things are the way they are. Work the job for a week or two and you'll never ask for a different table once you've left the hostess stand.

And anyway, if there is a discrepancy between popular sections and empty sections for the wait staff, and it happens often, that is a problem with the management of the business that should be addressed, not something that you can pass the blame on to customers for.

Short of rearranging the entire restaurant there is no way to make the sections fair. If you made them fair, they wouldn't be sections. They would be four random tables. You need to be able to SEE your entire section in one glance to tell if they need something.

[tropicsgoddess]

During my hostess days, one major pet-peeve I had was when somebody would make a reservation and don't call to cancel or say if they'll be late. Worse was when they would come in later than 15 minutes and after I had to give their table away and throw a fit. It's not my fault you didn't call ahead like you should've to keep your table. What was worse than that was dealing with the SC's on a busy night that were waiting for a table. The SC's would BUG me to death about when it's their turn or to bump them up on the list to get a table.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I'll take a table, please, if only because I want to be fully aware of the people surrounding me. And I like to colour!

Now, if you came into my aquarium and asked for a goldfish, I started catching one and you said "wait can i have this goldfish here?" *point* and i got pissed and posted about you on a forum, that's sucky.

The reason that's sucky is because I might have a million reasons for picking the goldfish I picked and not the one you picked, but how are you to know them? As far as you're concerned, they are all available for sale, why shouldn't you pick one?

Please please PLEASE do not let me pick the goldfish! Every one I've ever picked have turned out to be a cannibal and would EAT each other! I've even had one commit suicide under my care (I'm still trying to figure out how it got out of the tank and it's been WELL over a decade). I am a cruddy fish-daddy. And don't get me started on plants.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Regarding the whole "booths vs tables" thing, the ideal thing would be to divide the dining room up in such a way so that each server has some booths and some tables. That way you don't have some servers running their tails off because they have all the booths and those fill up first, while the tables are barren and the servers assigned to those have nothing to do.

But wait...If it makes sense, it's not allowed. Know it. Live it. Love it.

[Sliceanddice]

personally (besides the fantasies of the perfect resurant with a sigh up fron stating the order in which you are seated is detrimined by the host and no one else, so please behave like or a decient human being you should have been raise to be or wait) i would just give the kid that looked older than the kid menu age the adult menu and if they complained stated the age limit and the fact the child appear to be more than that.

[TruthHurts]

And the times when we need to clean something off for them... They hover! Not fun. They are most likely blocking traffic while they stand there waiting. Them watching you clean is just nerve racking.

While not the same as waitressing I understand people milling about watching you clean. That was my biggest pet peeve when I used to housekeep. A guest shows up before check in time and wants their room. As I haul ass to clean it they stand in the doorway and stare as if it would magically speed me up.

[Broomjockey]

Now, that's how a customer at your restaurant would feel. There is an empty booth, they are there to enjoy their dining experience, why on earth shouldn't they be able to sit at the available booth? How are they to know how the politics and logistics of wait staff works? You can't expect them to know any of that.

If you read the stories here for a while, you're going to notice that about 50% are because customers just don't have the knowledge of how the place operates that the workers do. And nor should they, after all, it's not their job to know, and no way is there time to explain to every customer how it works. However, ignorance of the way it works isn't a barrier to annoying the workers. As you said, the customer had reasons for picking that, and we can't know those, but by the same token, shouldn't they think that the server had reasons for sitting them there? Don't most reasonable people realize that making your needs clear upfront is easier the whole way around than piecemeal as things go along?

Also, the impact on the worker for catching a goldfish vs. sitting a table are a wee bit different, I'd think. It's not quite a comparable situation. Sitting a table without regard for the system impacts the servers, and the customer service of all the other customers in that section. Picking a different goldfish creates a bit of additional stress on the fish, and you maybe have to throw out the bag the fish is transported in and grab a new one. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to go with "If you care, mention it upfront."