embarrassedLast night I took my friend there for the first time. We decided to have dinner at their restaurant. Being that it was a Friday night (the most popular night at this place), we weren't expecting stellar service. The service was excruciatingly slow, our food was slightly cool, our waters weren't refilled as quickly as we had liked, but we were quite forgiving as the restaurant was a complete and total gong show.
That's not the bad service part.
We had each ordered a sandwich -- I ordered a Monte Criso and he ordered a clubhouse with mozzarella sticks to start. The portions are absolutely huge and I was quite full after consuming half of my sandwich and a few fries. My friend was able to eat his entire sandwich and fries, as well as two-third of the mozza sticks. No big deal, right?
Our server came by after it was evident we were done with our meal, and of course he asked, "How was everything?" I replied good-naturedly, "Great. I'm stuffed to the gills! I'll need a to-go box, please." He said, "Yeah. Our portions are absolutely gigantic and I have yet to see someone actually polish off an entire meal by themselves. That's insane."
I was stunned. See, my friend is a COS or "customer of size," and very self-conscious about his weight. I could tell he was embarrassed by our server's comments ("Hello? Big person who cleaned his plate, sitting right here!"), so I politely asked for the bill. Agitated, we went to the front to pay.
Strike one.
Second bit of bad service (and I can see some potential flamage from some people in this comm): The gentleman who took our payment was wearing an earring with a rather large pink stone disc dangling from it. It was quite pretty. He was also sporting a beautiful little dreamcatcher on a rope around his neck. As he was punching in our bill I commented, "That's a really nice earring and dreamcatcher. The artwork is impressive." He scowled slightly and continued to ring up our order with nary a word. Normally I would dismiss this as him not hearing me or just avoiding small talk, and that's fine. It wasn't until my friend said "thank you" that I noticed he was pretty much being a jerk because he looked my friend in the eye and simply turned around and walked away from the register.
Strike two.
I know some people who work as a cashier hate it when customers make small talk, but for the love of Wendell, would it kill you to be polite? A simple "thanks" would have been just fine. I realize it was busy, but it's not like I was looking to launch into a long, drawn-out interrogation. And a "you're welcome" would have been equally gracious after being told "thank you."
My friend is in the middle of penning a letter to the casino as I type this. It certainly wasn't the first impression I was hoping he'd get, especially since I had spoken so highly of the place in the past.