As we near the weekend I wanted to add to our Busy Saturday Night series. This week I want to get inside the mind of the restaurant manager and next week, to close out this particular series, we’ll go into the kitchen and talk chef’s perspective. Let’s start after the pre-shift meeting but before the mid night craziness.
The restaurant manager has gone over specials, reservations, and a strategic plan for the evening with the entire staff and now it’s 5PM. Dinner service has officially begun. He talks to the hostess about how to handle potential reservation conflicts and assures here that he will be around the dining room should she need any help.
Since the night starts off smooth and steady, the manager splits his time between the kitchen, the dining room, the bar, and the main office. He looks over the books for the next few days, checks some inventory, interacts with guests, and makes sure his staff is on their game. If anybody gets caught up at one table, he works to fill in blank spaces including answering the phone, putting together to-go orders, running food, making drinks, clearing and setting tables, and filling water glasses. The manager’s position includes all positions as you probably could have guessed.
Once the night picks up around 6:30, he notices that the hostess is directing walk-ins to the bar and explaining that one of the reserved tables is still occupied but that it shouldn’t be more than a few minutes. Everything seems to be under control so he helps to restock the bar and run some food.
The night continues on in a fast but controlled pace. The manager is walking the dining room, talking with guests, and recommending wine or cocktails to compliment the specials. He even drops off a round of drinks, on the house, to a group celebrating a college graduation. Guests seem genuinely happy and everything is going great until the hostess approaches asking for some damage control.
“That couple in the corner booth that we needed for 8:15 just ordered another round of drinks and the final reservation has been waiting at the door for 35 minutes. They seem upset but there is no space at the bar and they declined my offer to grab drinks for them. Can you see if you can do anything? They aren’t interested in a different table because they’re celebrating their anniversary and the corner booth is where they sat on their first date” (it’s important to give all of the details so the manager can go in fully knowledgeable about what’s going on).
He approaches a visibly upset couple with two cocktails from the specialty menu. He starts off with an apology about the situation and promises to take care of them as soon as the table opens up. He also wishes them a happy anniversary and assures them that they are doing everything they can to make them comfortable. The couple thanks him and accepts the free drinks but is definitely still irritated, not fully understanding why they are still waiting.
Forty-five minutes after the original reservation time, the table opens up and the hostess seats the waiting couple. The manager brings over the restaurant’s best selling appetizer and offers his sincere apologies once again. He keeps his eyes on the table for the rest of the night and talks with them on their way out as well. While he has done everything that he can to diffuse the situation, the couple is still pretty upset that service seemed a bit off tonight. The manager apologizes once more and explains that he hopes they will still come back and give the restaurant another chance. He accepts this one as kind of an off night and makes a mental note to talk to the kitchen staff as well as the front of house staff about service and presence.
The night is over and tomorrow is another chance to help the restaurant, its food, and its staff shine.
Rebecca McKinney
I wanted to create this blog for a few reasons. First and foremost, to share tips, tricks, and knowledge about the food and beverage industry in general but also to help people see a different side of the restaurant world. Every restaurant has a totally unique culture and world within it. I want to help open people’s eyes to more than how fast the service is or how easy or hard it is to secure a reservation.
So, thanks for stopping by! I welcome your ideas, input, and feedback and hope you enjoy!
Eat well & travel often,
Becky McKinney
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