Service Levels

Last night, Lydia and I met up for dinner before going to see 2 Days in Paris (review coming) at an art house cinema. The cafe that we usually like to go to is currently closed for renovations and it's sister restaurant was so packed that people were queuing up on the street. We decided to go somewhere that I hadn't eaten at for years but was very close by.

We had about an hour before the film session was about to start so we walked in, plonked ourselves down and ordered a bowl of spaghetti each. We just chatted about crap for a while until we realised that the people next to us had pretty much finished their food despite arriving and ordering after us. I figured that based on the time I rang Lydia, we'd been sitting in the place for about 20 minutes. We decided to ask if it was coming and explained it was because we had tickets to a show. The waiter was initially apologetic saying that a lot of people arrived at the same time so the kitchen had a backlog. We took it for the time being.

But you know, how long does it take to make a bowl of spaghetti?! This was a place that normally throws that kind of food out!

So we decided to wait another 10 minutes before asking again because that would leave us with 20 minutes to scoff the food down. At this point, the couple next to us were onto their coffee and they actually commented to us that it was strange that we were sitting down before them and had yet to receive our food. THEY actually grabbed a waiter for us (different waiter I think - they all kinda looked like each other) but he was SOOO RUDE. Seriously, I believe he said something like this to us:

Look, I'm sorry but a lot of people arrived here at the same time, that's why your order is late. It is coming. Anyway, you've only been sitting there for about 20 minutes.

ONLY TWENTY MINUTES?!?! My curvy ass it was only 20 minutes. What kind of stupid waiter also reminds you how long you've been waiting?! Anyway, it wasn't as if they were like the best restaurant in the world making an incredibly complex dish - we'd both ordered the spaghetti of the day!!! I watch a lot of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, he may not be the biggest ball of charm but if there's one thing he knows, it's how to run a restaurant and he always rams it that you do not keep your customers waiting ages for their food. Also, the restaurant was NOT huge, it wasn't as though a tiny kitchen was cooking for 100 people.

THEY WERE BOWLS OF SPAGHETTI!!!! WITH SALAMI AND TOMATOES!!! IT SHOULD NOT TAKE LONG!!!

So anyway, we looked at each other, got up, picked up our bags, told them the order was cancelled, and walked out.

F!@# you waiter and thank you for reminding me why I haven't eaten at your restaurant for years. It's going to be many more before I walk back in.