Chili's Should Hire More Servers

"I just know that my money pays their salaries and if I take it
someplace else and I voice my discontent, others will form an opinion
and their business will suffer accordingly."
If you don't eat there your money doesn't! But everyone else who eats
there does.

"just know that my money pays their salaries and if I take it
someplace else and I voice my discontent, others will form an opinion
and their business will suffer accordingly."

I wish I had that kind of power over other people.

Well, I have questions that you may have left out the answers to.
What time did you arrive? Was it pre dinner shift or post dinner
shift?


1. Chili's offers call ahead seating. When a guest arrives they
approach the host and give them their name. Usually if there is a long
wait they may have to wait a little longer, but usually get seated
right away. Call ahead seating only works for dinner hours, typically
between 5 and 8 pm.

2. It's not so much that they had no servers. If sales only calls for
a certain amount of cooks in the kitchen then the host seats
accordingly, it's called staggered seating! So they dont blow up the
kitchen with orders and have guests complaining about how long their
order has taken and then in turn want everything for free.

3. The host couldve asked you to sit at the bar and order a beverage
while you waited to be sat at a table or booth. Or offered you a Non
Alcholic beverage while you waited.

It's all perception! Think outside the box. Majority of issues from
guests and customers are their lack of understanding a business or
process. Know that they truely wanted you to have the best service
and was not their intention to piss you off!

You went to Chili's not Mortons!!!

I bet Chili's was glad that you busy-bodies left.

You're right, you aren't in the restaurant business, so you don't
know. For all you know, those men (and who cares how burly they are?)
were managers, liquor representatives, inspectors, or whatever. Which
is probably 1) how they knew the employees and 2) why they were sat
outside of a manned section. Stuff like that happens a lot.
Your wait was 15 minutes. Get over it. It sounds like you are very
entitled and nosy, and please do TGIF a favor and don't go there
either. Go to McDonalds or eat at home.

A number of assumptions are made by the OP here:

* There weren't enough servers because they weren't scheduled or paid
enough or were cut early. Could it be possible that there were
call-ins?

* The four men were served because they were friends with the hostess.
Could they have called ahead and made arrangements? Does Chili's
offer that type of service?

* The waitress was clueless because she didn't sink to the level of
the OP's wife and respond to sarcastic remarks.

If the OP wants to be served meals in a venue that ignores other
customers and seats him regardless of the presence of anyone available
to serve him (can we all imagine the letter that would have ensued
when, after being seated, the wait time for a server to appear at the
table became intolerable?), I would suggest staying at home.

I have waited for a table at restaurants where there are empty ones
and haven't interrogated the host or hostess regarding the wait time.
I have also been immediately seated and waited a long time to have a
drink order taken. In neither situation have I directed smart alec
remarks to employees.

A 15 minute wait (only 5 minutes past what you were told) isn't all
that bad. I credit the staff for not getting goaded into an argument
with your wife over her attempt to critique their seating procedures.

Perhaps Thursdays are not typically busy nights at this location, and
the restaurant does not schedule people to just stand around. They
may have been taken by surprise by the number of customers.

The size of the men is irrelevant. They may be frequent, recognized
customers. They may be management who need some isolation.

I think the hostess DID "clue in on" what your wife was talking about.
She just wasn't going to play your wife's game. Feigning
cluelessness is a great way not to get sucked into an argument with a
customer.

Enjoy your family dinners at Friday's. I hope you write them a
compliment letter.