Waiters and waitresses should have total recall otherwise get a pen and paper

[Oliversmumsarmy]

On holiday at the moment and went for a meal last night. 4 of us in a restaurant giving our starter and main courses and drinks orders. We knew it would not end well, it never does, when the waiter arrived at our table empty handed and appeared to be confident in remembering all our orders. Consequently our mains were brought to our table, waiter had forgotten the starter order so the the mains were returned to the kitchen, the starters were then brought but when our mains arrived they were luke warm so had to be sent back to be heated up.

it seems to be a growing trend as it is only in the last year we have noticed it. Only been to two other places where the serving staff think they are so clever they don't need to write anything down and each time they have forgotten stuff.

AIBU in expecting someone who is taking orders that they write what a customer wants down rather than just chancing they remember.

You should have looked on Trip Advisor before you went, OP.

Tipping is customary in almost all sit-down restaurants in the U.S. and is usually between 15-20%. He wouldn't have tried to slip it through. That would have been standard for the restaurant and he may have lost his job if he didn't add it to your bill. Even staff in drive-throughs and buffets expect a tip.

Sounds like you had a great trip, though

i get the expecting a tip thing we travel to the US a lot. Dh is in NY at least 4 or 5 times per year but the difference being a few years ago it was left up to the customer to leave a 20% tip. The waiters were lovely and would be helpful and the level of service was noticeably better in the US than in Britain. Now they add the charge on as a right and you are lucky if you get what you ordered. Any sort of care has gone.

We did a buffet in a very expensive revolving restaurant. the waitress brought us a jug of tap water and 4 glasses and the bill. Yet apparently that was worth nearly $40.

YANBU, I said the same thing at the weekend when the waitress forgot something off a pretty simple order. Then the other waitress implied (with a look, maybe I'm oversensitive ) that it was our fault for imagining we'd ordered it.

I'm not sure how hard it is to actually remember. Back when I used to wait on I never bothered writing stuff down, and invariably remembered orders correctly for tables of up to twelve, two courses and drinks and who had ordered what. This wasn't a particularly posh place either.

On the other hand, I was the only waiter who did this: everyone else used pads. I used to make it a bit of a party trick out of it. I cannot see why any restaurant manager would actually insist that their staff didn't write anything down. That's just asking for trouble.

There's a chain restaurant doing this now. Pizza Express maybe? Can't remember. Anyway, DH both remarked that they'd never remember our order without writing it down and we were absolutely correct.

Happened in a smaller place too and the waitress did imply we were lying, despite me repeating twice and getting confirmation from her the dish we wanted. I agree, use pen and paper!

I used to be a waitress and in their defense the different ways in which people order the same thing is confusing.

Plain, for example, should be simple, a plain cheese burger is a burger, bun and cheese, yes? It is to around 70% of the population, to others it's no veg but they still want sauce or vice versa and there's those special people who think a plain cheese burger is a hamburger just order a fecking hamburger

And then there's people who get confused and mix up their order and then swear blind that you've got the order wrong.

And don't even get me started on the people who make their own names up for things on the menu. Chicken with sauce could be any number of dishes, if you cannot pronounce it point to it on the menu.

I didn't last very long in that job. I work in a coffee shop now, it's not much better [sigh]

This happened to us and friends on Saturday night. At first we were "ooh, how clever, she's keeping it all in her head" but every single part of the order was wrong and then she mucked up the bill completely as well.

She was a really nice lady but it was like Victoria Wood's "two soups" by the end.

I had this in one place, then the manager tried to insist I didn't know what food I wanted or how I wanted it cooked. I complained to head office she looked very embarrassed when I next went in for a completely free meal.

I mean how hard is it to remember a rare steak

last time we went out there was three of us.

the waitress took us to a table right in the middle, plenty of tables by the windows so I asked to have one of those....she shrugged. (we should have just gone home then!)
any way, same waitress came over immediately to remove the spare cutlery, gave us a few minutes and came back with her ipad to take the drinks order, coke for the driver (ds...he asked for it himself all polite and everything), a bottle of Prosecco for dh and I....that was quite clear, one bottle two glasses.

so far so good.

now....for those of you paying attention....how many drinks do you suppose she brought?? A coke, which she wafts aimlessly about despite having taken the order from ds for the coke. A bottle of Prosecco, and two glasses which she put in front of dh/me and then she proceeds to brandish a large glass of red about before plonking it in the middle of the table next to the menu card and attempting to sprint away from the table in the hope we wouldn't mention it either.

I don't get why it's more important to show off memory skills than to give good service. I work in customer service (finance, not food) and repeat everything back at least once to make sure it's correct and customer is happy.

Yanbu. It stresses me out because ds has allergies and I can't eat gluten. I want to see it on paper so it's crystal clear.

Possible future tactic:
"Are you going to write this down?"
"No, I'll remember it"
"OK then, if it's wrong it's free" smile

Have to say, most places we go to repeat our order back to us to ensure they've got it right (though they still use pen and paper).

YANBU it's so annoying when they do this. I used to be a waitress (a really shit one TBF) and I struggled to even read my own writing let alone remember without writing it down.

But yEs lots of places do this now, Frankie & Bennys is one. And whenever they do, it's NEVER right when it comes out

I once went to a Chinese restaurant abroad where the waitress wrote nothing down on an order of quite a lot of different starters/mains/ drinks. I was worried but was all perfect. Either she was blessed with a phenomenal memory or had trained herself to do it.

I don't think most people have the short term recall to do this well. Especially when people start making changes (ie my sister in law requesting extra mild korma! ). I think most people want the food they ordered without the showmanship.

I used to work in a place that wouldn't allow us to use paper. Everyone forgot orders all the time, but they didnt care.

I think this is just one of those ghastly trends like chips in a bucket and dinner on a wooden board.

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Lol at extra mild korma

YABU
I can remember about 6 peoples starter, mains and sides and who ordered what, if I choose to. I don't often because know it all guests who think they know how to do my job better than me get unsettled if I dont write it down. Ive worked at all level of restaurant from local family run restaurant to Michelin star, some places don't like you to write the order down as they dont like the way it looks. Other places will insist ALL orders are written dow (waste of paper IMO). It should be the waiters perogative, if they can do it correctly 100% of the time that is.

Also it sounds like you went to a shit restaurant if they made you eat lukewarm/reheated food due to their error.

I would think it wise for all restaurants, of whatever Michelin starred or local carry out status, to keep thorough records of supplies bought, meals ordered/sold/wasted, for tax purposes if nothing else. No slight or insult meant towards wait staff.

I used to be a waitress and wrote everything down. You absolutely have to! Because it's not only one tables order you're trying to remember, it's the drinks you need to collect for table 2, the extra cutlery for table 5, the check back on table 14 and the mains that need taking for table 2. I have a pretty decent short term memory but expecting waiting staff to be paper free on a busy Saturday night is just ridiculous.

If the waiting staff don't write the order down, what happens when they get to the kitchen? Do they hastily scribble the order down or just bawl it at the chef? What happens if it's busy and the chef has to remember the orders for 8 tables at once?

I remember going to a restaurant in Germany about 30 years ago, in a party of eight. The waitress took our orders for drinks, starters and mains without writing them down. All orders delivered perfectly. Took orders for pudding. All delivered perfectly. When we asked for the bill, she went round the table and told everyone individually how much their meal was, added perfectly in her head, took the money and gave change out of a leather money belt. I've rarely been so impressed with anything!

I would think it wise for all restaurants . . . to keep thorough records of supplies bought, meals ordered/sold/wasted, for tax purposes if nothing else
They definately do do this. Just via computer/till system, rather than handwritten scraps of paper.

If the waiting staff don't write the order down, what happens when they get to the kitchen? Do they hastily scribble the order down or just bawl it at the chef?
This doesnt really happen, going to the kitchen with a handwritten check is very old fashioned, I imagine no restaurants still do this other than very small family business type places. Everything is done using computer systems now, the only time a handwritten order is used is so the waiter can remember between walking from the table to the POS machine or so they can remember which person needs a certain cutlery ect.

I used to be a waitress and wrote everything down. You absolutely have to!
Clearly not as many people have said previously on the thread. Maybe you absolutely had to. Doesnt mean everyone else does.

Anyone tempted to take their own notebook and pen and pointedly write everything down?

I think they do this memory thing in both f n bs as well as Bella Italia, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. It don't impress me much, I don't see the point! I understand management marketing may feel it gives the customer a feeling of being important or friendly atmosphere etc. It doesn't work, would rather have food order noted down properly