Friday, March 23, 2007

Service with a shove out the door

I met my brother last night in Binghamton, NY (our old stomping grounds) at Cracker Barrel. Being that this was the first time we had seen each other in 3 years, we planned to enjoy our visit, with a nice dinner included.
We were courteously seated, and given menus. Immediately, the waitress asked, "Would you like something to drink, or do you know what you want?" After responding that we'd need a few minutes to look over the menu, the waitress left us alone. ...For all of 90 seconds. "Have you decided yet?"
This was our first indication that this particular eatery had adopted the "revolving door" theory to service. (In other words, get the people in, serve them promptly, get them out, get the next people in, etc...)
Because we are just that kind of people, bro and I decided to draw things out for as long as we possibly could. After all, the place was not very busy, and we had a lot of catching up to do!
After receiving our orders, the waitress approached us about every 5 minutes. "...Everything OK here? Can I get you anything else? How are you doing?" Despite our assurances that the food was good, and so on, she seemed rather unsettled that two middle-aged, semi-long-haired men would just sit around a dinner table and just talk. After about a half-hour, the odd-looking manager came out (he kind of reminded me of a shopkeeper in the Andy Griffith Show) and inquired, "Is everything OK here? Is it to your satisfaction?" He looked like he would faint if we had the slightest negative thing to say... I felt like saying something totally off the wall, like, "Well, you know, these seats really aren't that comfortable. I think I have a wedgie."
A scant 2 minutes later, our waitress returned. Again. "How is everything? Are you alright?"
(A confession, bro. I only ordered that apple pie just to annoy the bejeezus out of her. Mmmm... SCRUMPTIOUS! Pie always tastes better with someone seething nearby!)

My critique: cleanliness, 4.5 stars. Food, 3.5 stars. Customer Service Index: looks like somebody owes me a constellation of stars!

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