I subscribe to a feed of all the Urbanspoon comments left for restaurants across the MSP Metro. Most of it’s not all that interesting, a lot of the usual stuff: “Oh this is the greatest pizza on earth,” etc. But there has been a bit of a war over the level of service provided at Kyoto Sushi in Eagan.
Now, this is nothing atypical. One person saying it’s fine and another annoyed at some minor issue that really should have been excused by a simple, “I’m sorry,” from the waiter. But this is different for everyone. Some expect a completely free meal while others, myself included, just shrug it off and keep shoveling the food in my mouth.
Here are two relevant portions of the reviews which I mention:
Those who are crying about the service… it’s an all you can eat sushi place with phenomenal prices! SHUT YOUR MOUTH. Why do you expect great service at an all you can eat place? I didn’t even experience bad service all the times I’ve been there.
Waiter spilled water on four of us. It was so much water that half of my jacket’s pocket was filled with water and ice. None of the managers showed up and apologize or offer any convenience. When we were ready to pay and ask about compensation managers showed up and give us a $20.00 gift card for next visit.
My wife and I had dinner a few weeks ago at Rudy’s Redeye Grill in Lakeville for Valentines Day (thanks for the gift of babysitting and dinner Mom and Dad!) and our waiter completely spaced out bringing us our appetizer. When I alerted the gentleman serving our meal to us he immediately went to find the waiter who appeared at our table moments later nearly groveling at our feet. It really wasn’t that big of a deal and I certainly didn’t expect anything from it (it was an honest mistake on a busy night) but he immediately offered a free dessert. But even if he hadn’t gone the extra mile, I would have been more than pleased with the apologies (they didn’t even need to be repeated!)
So, when you receive service that doesn’t meet your expectations what do you expect? Do you freak out like the one Urbanspoon user above or do you just roll with it? Do you demand money off your bill or comped desserts? Whatever you have to say about restaurants not meeting your service level expectations go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear what you have to say.
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March 9th, 2010 at 11:09 am
I’m not one to rag on service at a restaurant, unless its really sub par.. I fully realize, while I have the technical and mechanical abilities to accomplish pretty much anything, Trying to keep track of 8 tables of meals, drinks and bills, would be a complete fail.
If I’m heading out to a chain eatery, or a run of the mill 2 or 3 start place, I’m not going to expect the world. If I’m going to be dropping $25 a plate, plus drinks, app and possibly desert, I will expect that my wait staff be courteous, professional, and not smacking bubble gum or txting at the hostess booth..
Everyone has bad days at their job, and we might catch someone on that night. Accidents happen, mistakes are made. If I find that the server is just plain clueless and/or inattentive, I might catch the ear of the manager. If the service is adequate, I’ll tip accordingly. If the service is rock star, I’ll be tipping a bit more, and returning, with friends.
I can’t say that I’ve ever had a meal that I’ve needed to send back because it was prepared wrong, or just inedible.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
If the food was horrible, yes, I would ask for compensation if they could not correct the problem. If the waiter made a mistake, or spilled water on me, I would probably accept an apology and move on. I used to wait tables in college, and I know at times it’s hard keeping things afloat. In that same breath, you work for your tips. If I get outstanding service, I reward the server. Servers are not robots, they are people, and people make mistakes and are somtimes clumsy.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:30 pm
Bill, I bet the servers @ Rudy’s Red Eye recognized you and were scared sh*tless at the thought of your impending review! ha. :)
I am pretty patient with most servers, etc who are doing their job and things go a little awry. It’s clear they are trying and are probably overloaded with tables, etc. and it’s not that they don’t care. Unless they really don’t care and then I still wouldn’t make a blanket judgment on the establishment. I guess it’s not my style. I will however, write a good review on Yelp or Urban Spoon for a truly outstanding experience. I am all for spreading the word on good places to try.
March 9th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Just had a bad experience at a restaurant (out of state) last Wednesday. Family was eating out to celebrate March birthdays.
Waitress was good, she got a good tip, but the chef needs to learn how to spell rare. My Dad and I both order steaks, his rare, mine medium rare. His came very well done, mine came done. Waitress was apologetic, but she did get the order right. The kitchen didn’t. The manager took money off the bill, but I think an apology would have gone farther, especially with my Dad.
Another experience was a year ago, just before a WCHA Final Five game at the American Burger Bar in downtown St. Paul. Note: The place was only open a couple of weeks and was still working bugs out…
The kitchen lost our order. Basically, the order, on heat sensitive paper, fell on the grill and became unreadable. Apparently the kitchen staff decided they could just ignore the order. Our waiter finally managed to figure out what was going on (and yes, he did get a good tip, it wasn’t his fault) and resubmitted the order. The manager (or owner, never did find out for certain) did come over and apologize, and did comp out meal completely, but in the end, my Dad never got his order. The other 5 of us split some of our meals with him so we could go to the game. Found out on the way out, that once again the kitchen staff had messed up on that. My Dad will never go there again. If he’d gotten his food, he probably would, but that didn’t happen. And in the end, we missed the face-off and the first couple of minutes of the game we were going to…
March 9th, 2010 at 2:09 pm
I let managers know if I experience poor service. Not because I’m looking for free or discounted stuff, generally I won’t accept it. But I do it because I feel they really need to know what experience customers have in their place. If they are a quality manager, the problem I report won’t happen again. If they are a bad manager, it will, and I’ll know not to go back ever again.
I guess I don’t have any problem with people ranting and raving on the internet. If anything, I wish people happy with service would rant and rave more often as well, so that there is some balance. I don’t agree with the person claiming poor service should be expected for the price you pay. Service is a function of management setting proper expectations for those working. It’s not expensive to smile and greet people warmly. It’s not expensive to pay attention to your work.
March 9th, 2010 at 2:17 pm
While I think its good to bring mistakes to the attention of someone working there, I don’t think its worth getting completely pissed off over. Most of us have more important thing to worry about in our lives then how our steak is cooked.
I went to a small diner in Winona where the waitress was OVERLY apologetic. It started with the food taking a little longer than normal, no big deal. But EVERY time she came back to the table it was “Im sorry . . .”. ENOUGH ALREADY, we get that you are sorry!!! It became uncomfortable. But I guess overly apologetic is better than no apology at all!
March 9th, 2010 at 3:21 pm
While I won’t demand a certain dollar amount off my bill or to be comp’d dessert, I appreciate it when some compensation is offered.
Generally though, bad service, that was not apologized for, will grant a “do not return” note in my head. And I’ll also likely mention it to any of my friends who are considering going there (especially if it will be a first time visit).
If by chance the bad service happened at a restaurant that I frequent, and frequently get good service at, I’ll make sure on subsequent visits that I don’t get the “bad service” server.
March 9th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
I don’t expect compensation, but my tip will reflect poor service and a comment for the manager will likely follow. I often tip and comment with exceptional service too though, and compensation for a mistake goes a LONG way in my likelihood to return.
March 9th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
I’ve been to Kyoto a couple of times and while the service isn’t stellar, it’s adequate and I tip 15%. I would rather go to Kami for AYCE sushi though.
As far as me requesting compensation, it depends on the error.
If it was bad service, I just leave a small/zero tip.
If my food was bad, I request new food.
If there was hair in my food, I request a free meal.
I’m pretty passive so I hardly ever ask for what I want. I just notify the waiter/manager of my problem in a polite manner and they usually apologize and come up with a solution that satisfies my needs.
I’ve learned that if you’re polite, you usually get what you want and still look professional. If you complain and cause a scene, you will most likely get what you want, but will be frowned upon and not welcomed back at that establishment.
March 9th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
If the waiter screws up, and either knows it or if I say something, and they immediately apologize and do what they can to fix the issue, they keep a standard tip. Everyone has bad days and makes mistakes, and juggling so many tables and orders would be a nightmare for me. If they blow it off or are rude, the tip drops, quickly!
If the food is the problem, I don’t penalize the wait staff, but i do ask for the manager and make a point to both the wait staff and manager that the wait staff is not at fault, but the kitchen made an error that should be addressed. An apology is generally all I’m looking for – not a freebee, and frankly, its been a long time since I called out the kitchen!
August 17th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
If the services is horrendous, I’d usually leave a lesser tip. If it’s an honest mistake, I don’t expect anything but an apology, that’s fine. If, for instance, we are waiting forever and then my meat arrives literally raw, gets sent back, comes back when everyone is finished eating, tough, grisly and inedible–then I expect the price of the entree to be deducted from the bill. I was appalled that when this happened recently, the owner didn’t offer to deduct the price of the inedible entree from the bill. I wasn’t expecting a free meal, but I didn’t want to pay for an entree that was inedible.
December 8th, 2010 at 9:27 am
We have recently experienced the opposite issue at The Thai Curry House on 13 and Cliff.
We have been eating there probably once a week for the past 3 or 4 months. We usually eat there on a Monday or Tuesday not for any reason but for habit. Because we are pretty frequent diners there, they recognize us and don’t even bring us menus anymore since they know we know it by heart.
The past 3 or 4 times we have been comped our second “round” of drinks and then they bring us dessert. Usually we end up with two entrees, two drinks each, (Ms. Lefty gets wine, I get Singha beer) and dessert and the bill comes to about 30 dollars.
I think I end up feeling guilty about the freebies, I tip sometimes 50% of the bill because I think they deserve to make money on me. My problem is that while I want the second beer, I don’t really know how to refuse the empty calories their dessert offers to me, and we don’t want to insult them by not eating some of it.
And, for the record, the service is really not that great for casual customers. They need to keep a better eye on the front door as sometimes people get there and they don’t quite notice right away. But the food is the best Thai food anywhere, and we have tried a lot of places.