Thirteen things your waiter won't tell you.......

I found this article, taken from Readers Digest to be pretty interesting. It was written by a man, Walter Rant, and taken from his book Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by the Waiter.

See what you think and if you do or don't do any of the things mentioned............

1. Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.

2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A waiter/busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100. because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.

3. When customers dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convienant way for servers to exact covert vengenance. Waiters can and do spit in people's food.

4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner". Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.

5. Treat others as you want to be treatd. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)

6. Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.

7. Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entree 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.

8. Splitting entrees is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?

9. If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they will start asking for that server as well. You've just make that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.

10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maitre' d', or hostess.

11. Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.

12. If you want to hang out, that's fine, but increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.

13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while your chit-chatting over salads, your entrees will be languishing under the heat lamp, while the dishwasher is spraying industrial strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.