Restaurant Week Fail
Restaurant Week is here again! Every year I go and it always seems like some restaurants aren't really into it. It's like buying supermarket brand coke. It's just not the same. Servers seem to prefer shuffling customers out instead of actually providing basic service. And by basic service, I mean like bringing a dish you ordered already that's part of the restaurant week menu. It used to be that some places cared. Restaurant Week was this thing that brought in customers that a restaurant normally doesn't see. When I was a student in this city, that was super cool. It's like, "Ohhh it's Bobby Flay's restaurant! Oh and there he is at the bar!" Restaurant week used to be cool. What is puzzling is that restaurants still love this shit. It makes sense because they make money but seriously... wtf?
If you do end up going to a place to enjoy a Restaurant Week meal, make sure you take your time. That's Pro Tip #1. Don't let the server rush you. You made the reservation and you deserve not to be rushed. Eat your dessert like you're driving Ms. Daisy. Seriously. Be easy. Tip #2 is to be proactive. Since some restaurants become busier than usual, it becomes more difficult for the server to remember different tables and orders. So if shit takes too long, ask about it. Don't be afraid if Restaurant Week is your out-of-the-ordinary foray into the crazy restaurant world in New York.
Even after all these years I still fall victim to being rushed by the server until the point when the server forgets that I'm there. Seriously, Restaurant Week is sometimes just another way to say Bad Service Week. I'm not sure if it's good for me to try new restaurants or bad for me to get headaches.
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Sigh, another reason why I always rather save up my money for a regular meal and spread the dough to several places during restaurant week. It's gotten so bad that I completely avoid going out to dinner during restaurant week.
hungry
February 3, 2011 12:15 pm
@hungry,
Totally, I feel like the experience is much better to just wait to go to restaurants on a bad weather day where the restaurant is happy to get customers through the door.
Danny
February 3, 2011 10:02 pm
I agree! At the restaurant festival in London, they seem to offer special reduced price menus but when you look at the regular menus, you realise that the savings are only by a few quid. Much better to eat at other times, I reckon.
Su-Lin
February 5, 2011 5:24 pm
@Su-Lin,
Thanks for bringing that up. It looks like it happens everywhere. It sort of makes sense because the servers have a different set of incentives if the customers are generally different during the restaurant festivals. It's a pitty though!
Danny
February 7, 2011 1:45 pm