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Before You go to Slam a Restaurant, Consider This

Monday, June 20, 2016 Leave a Comment

Denver's restaurant scene is thriving. And Stapleton itself is on the brink of having a restaurant boom from The Stanley Marketplace to Eastbridge to Northfield. After witnessing some bad behavior from diners lately, our friends at the In Good Taste Denver blog felt something needed to be said. Here's their Ode to a Rude Diner, something any of us who eats out should keep in mind:


Read this post in its entirety at www.InGoodTasteDenver.com:
We eat out a lot. A lot! We’ve experienced fantastic service and horrible service. We’ve left restaurants being amazed at what a good job they do and we’ve left wondering how they stay in business. But we’ve also witnessed many a horrible customer. Here’s our message to you:
  1. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to run a restaurant? I don’t! But I can tell it ain’t easy.There are a
    million moving parts and I know for a fact from talking to many chefs that none of them goes into this business lightly. They don’t think “eh, we’ll see how it goes.” They pour tons of money and literal blood, sweat and tears into it and work their butts off. And if they’ve hired good staff, they, too, are giving it their all. Every meal, every shift, every day that passes is stressed over, analyzed and either celebrated or cursed, a reflection on themselves. It’s hell, yet they do it because they are passionate about it.
  2. If something is not right about the service or your meal, let the restaurant know, right then and there and nicely. Don’t stew about it and then take out your aggression on Yelp or some other website. Give them a chance to make it right for you.
  3. Be nice, for heaven’s sake! How would you respond if a total stranger started yelling at you, swearing at you in front of your family or co-workers? You were taught this way back in kindergarten but here’s a reminder – you’ll get better results from people if you talk to them calmly, kindly and respectfully.
  4. It’s food, people. In an age where people are murdered and discriminated against and our planet is heating up, keep some perspective. Yes, it’s your hard-earned money, your special occasion, your evening out for the first time in a long time. But it’s not life and death. It’s just food.
  5. When you experience great food and/or great service, tell them! Tell your server, tell the hostess, tell the manager and tell your friends. Restaurants exist to make people happy and to stay in business. Support those efforts!
  6. Understand the power you have. In this day and age of everyone being able to review a business (including us), you need to realize that one person’s angry rant can influence so many others and can, literally, shut a place down! Maybe it was an off night. Maybe you were having a bad day. Or, yes, maybe the place is awful, every single day, and should be closed. Use your power wisely – for good and not evil.

 

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