imatreat's Blog

I do a lot of eating out.  Now I can cook, I just don't want to go through the preparation, cook time, and the clean up.  Yes, I'm kind of lazy that way.  Now I like to eat at the Mom & Pop type places, but I also do a lot of the National/Local Chains as well.  A friend of mine and I decided to eat at one of these chains tonight.  Now a lot of times, we will eat at a certain restaurant and know exactly what we want before we eat there.  We'd actually decided to eat at this particular place the night before and my friend was waiting with great anticipation to eat what he was going to order.  When we got to the restaurant earlier this evening, his excitement quickly turned to deep disappointment as the item he was going to order was no longer on the menu.  And, they could not fix it anymore.  The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago at another chain.  And, even another chain, I will not go to anymore, because their menu changes so much.  I can understand introducing new items to a menu.  However, when you take items off the menu, especially when they have been featured for a great deal of time, it is very upsetting when you can't get them anymore.  Especially, if they were fairly unique and you can't get them anywhere else.  My friend's disappointment also turned to anger when he got his meal and his baked potato was way undercooked and his burger was not to his liking. 

But, it's not only that.  I worked in the restaurant business for five years.  My Boss back then instilled a few values in me, fix every meal like you were eating it.  Keep the restaurant as clean as you would your own kitchen.  And, treat the customer like you would want to be treated.  It seems like Restaurants, whether they are nice or whether it is fast food, have forgotten about those values.  You're paying more at these restaurants and you're not getting the most for your money.  It seems like something is always lacking.  I will preface this by saying that since I have worked in a restaurant, I am always kind, courteous, sympathetic, understanding, and I tend to be a generous tipper, when it applies.  I realize not everyone is, but that is your job, for better or worse. 

The four things that make a restaurant great are cleanliness, quality product, fast-friendly-efficient service, and consistency.  If you can acheive these four goals, your restaurant should be an overwhelming success.  I go to a few specific restaurants quite a few times a month.  My friends and family ask quite a bit, why I go to the same places over and over.  My answer is because of those four reasons.  If I'm going to pay $10-$25 a meal (and sometimes more), I want to get the most for what I'm paying for.  While my meal was fine earlier tonight, I felt bad for my friend, who was looking forward to going there, only to be disappointed and aggravated.  Changing a menu is part of consistency.  If you are going to change it, you need to be prepared to be able to accomodate the customers who still want the items that you featured before as well.  It's not too much to ask. 

I remember reading a sign somewhere... "It takes years to win over a customer, and seconds to lose one."  Competition is brisk in the restaurant business.  It is time for companies to realize that customers have a choice and they need to start teaching their employees good customer service.  I would name these restaurants, but I don't wish to give them the advertising.  I will say the restaurant we went to tonight, features a bar in which you fix your own hamburgers.  You can probably figure it out from there.  Anyway, if you have some of the same experiences, feel free to comment.