There’s Something Wrong with the El Chico EmployeesPosted by Rachel on November 15th, 2006
So today we went to El Chico at the mall because they were having this deal on enchilada dinners. The food wasn’t all that bad, but not extraordinary, but we were really turned off by the service. First of all, our greeter/seater (whatever they’re called) acted really depressed and unfriendly. I felt compelled to ask her what was wrong, but knew that’d probably come off the wrong way. Our waitress was friendly, but totally clueless. She was nice to Kyrie, but a little too attentive. At one point she put out her arms like she was offering to pick Kyrie up. Lady, I don’t let strangers pick up my kid, okay? I just was a little annoyed at that. But the thing that completely drove me nuts was that she passed a hot plate RIGHT past Kyrie, easily within her reach, all the while warning ME that it was hot. This girl needs to get some common sense! She also brought our meals way too soon (we’d barely gotten halfway through the appetizer) and kept giving refills before we’d had a chance to drink our first glasses. She gave us like 5 cups of salsa and every time she left would say, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Back for what? LET US EAT IN PEACE, lady! At one point, she came back & just stood there, by our table…not asking if everything was all right, not asking if we needed anything else…just standing there, talking to Kyrie. I broke the awkwardness by asking for a to-go container and off she went. Rick and I gave each other that “good grief” expression. We asked for our check. The total was, I think, around $22.00, and Rick gave her two twenties. She asked if we’d be needing change. Uh, no, we’re giving you an eighteen dollar tip! What do you think? lol…anyway, Rick still tipped her (he always tips, pretty much regardless) even after she endangered our daughter’s life and filled our table full of millions of cups of salsa and glasses of sweet tea. I’m not sure if we’ll be going back there…
November 15th, 2006 at 8:11 pm
Wow, so much fun. lol
November 15th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
There’s something wrong with most service industry employees. Your waitress technically did great in terms of attentiveness, because restaurant owners think that overkill check-ups = ‘great service,’ which is often not the case. I like being a dishwasher because I’m not obligated to do anything for customers unless it involves mopping something up, and all they do in that case is apologize and thank me a whole bunch. I basically can’t lose! People ask, “Can I get some more Coke?” I say, “Probably.”
November 15th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
we’ve had rotten service at that particular location more than once. i just don’t go there anymore. there is this one waitress at ihop that spends more time at our table talking to our kids than doing any waitressing. it’s fine before the meal comes but it is pretty awkward when we are trying to eat.
November 16th, 2006 at 7:43 am
el bado
November 16th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
You forgot the guy with the dessert tray that acted high.
November 16th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
they ALL acted high!
November 16th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Ugh! One of my biggest pet peeves is the “Will you need change?” line
I think it’s because when I was a waiter (ahem…I mean server), our manager would fire on the spot anyone heard asking “that line” of any customer. It’s quite rude and presumptuous. Any time I get asked that, the tip automatically converts to one single dollar. I just can’t totally stiff anyone unless they’re really obviously deliberate about their bad service. With the worst “server” we ever had – Olive Garden in Monroe last December – I tipped a small amount, and then wrote a note to the girl on the back of the receipt giving her feedback and encouragement to do better.
November 17th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
Ok Rachel, usually I find you to be quite sensible but I am going to disagree with your opinions here. I can tell you’ve never waited tables, or probably worked in a restaurant ever. I find that most people who do become a lot more patient with their servers, once they realize how demanding it is.
I don’t know where the baby was sitting, but depending on how much room the booth or table had, she might not have had much choice in where to even put the plates. When she was telling you that it was hot, she may have been hinting for you to hold Kyrie’s hands so she wouldn’t reach for the plate. I’ve had co-workers who gently held the baby’s hands themselves so they wouldn’t touch the plate only to get griped at by the parents for touching their kid. So, it really depends on the table or booth size and room to maneuver, and it can really be a lose/lose situation.
About the refills, well, servers (especially at chain restaurants) are generally encouraged to refill and refill often because they get so many people who guzzle down the sodas. More people like refills that not. Same with the chips.
And the line about needing change, well, usually we only asked this if they paid with a 20 and the tab was something like 17 bucks. When you get in the habit of that, sometimes that line just slips out. I would have preferred not to say that line at all, but at places where the waiter is his own cashier, counting out the change takes a lot of time, when you have other tables to contend with, so after awhile it becomes easier to just ask and if they don’t want change, that saves you time. I am sure she didn’t mean to infer that she was getting an 18 dollar tip.
We were also encouraged VEHEMENTLY to “interact” with our customers, and chat, which I didn’t like so much (not because I don’t like people, but because it took time away from when I could be checking on people’s food or something). A lot of customers get upset when their server isn’t “friendly” enough, so this is why they do that. You really can’t please everyone!!
November 17th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
Is it okay that I got a really good laugh out of your comment?
I think I know when someone is being stupid by putting a hot plate right in my daughter’s reach, and if there’s “no other way” to get the plate to me, I’d rather not get the plate at all.
ROFL
November 17th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
sorry if that came off rude…I didn’t mean it to! I was genuinely amused.
November 17th, 2006 at 10:51 pm
My dad owned his own restaurant when I was growing up. He too would have fired a waiter for asking that…but that may just be how it is at nice restaurants. I count change every day. It’s not THAT hard. Besides, it was 3:00 in the afternoon. There were more waitresses than tables in that place.
The waitress had to go out of her way to pass the plate in front of Kyrie. it made no sense. The waitress would have had a much easier time putting the plate directly in front of Rachel. The problem is that she had a hot plate and nothing to grab it with, so she was trying to put the plate down as fast as possible.
Don’t get me wrong. I like friendly waiters and waitresses. But a waitress needs to use discretion when it comes to talking with their customers. She was constantly interrupting our conversations, asking if we needed anything, and then just awkwardly standing there, even after Rachel and I went back to talking to each other. I was giving her short answers, and she wasn’t taking the hint.
As for the refills, again, I like refills. But I was halfway through my meal and had only taken a few sips when she brought me a second. (Rachel had maybe one sip less than me and she didn’t get another.)
November 18th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
One of the last times I was there, I gave the girl a VERY SMALL tip. The food wasn’t great and the service was even worse. I told the server on the back of the receipt. It took forever for me to get asked what I wanted to drink. I overheard another customer complaining about the time it was taking for them to get their stuff too. Then there was a server that was wearing sunglasses. What’s up with that place?
November 18th, 2006 at 4:59 pm
haha, probably trying to hide their dilated pupils behind the sunglasses.
November 19th, 2006 at 9:29 pm
Usually, if it’s bad service, I tip about 15%. If it’s good, 20% or more. Normally, about 18%. I’ve only given a bad tip once, and that was when I only saw my waitress once in an empty restraurant. She took my order, the bus boy brought my food out, and I never saw either one again.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:45 am
People teach you how to tip at restaurants, but nobody remembers that at the hairdresser you need to tip too. I usually just give them what I feel like, but is there actually a rule for that?
btw, the comments on this post made me laugh for the first time today.
November 20th, 2006 at 12:58 am
Hmm…I don’t know if there is a rule for that. I got a haircut on Friday and tipped about 35%...which I always do. But my barber has a B.Div. and a Th.M. I wonder if he has any haircutting credentials…
We went to Appleby’s yesterday, and we had great service, so I tipped about 22%. Today we had mediocre service (I couldn’t even tell who the waitress was), so I tipped like 15%.
We’ve eaten out way too much.