Monday, July 03, 2006
by Ospite. 
The day before a national holiday. You'd think my 'Powers That Be' (PTB) would have the common sense to staff well for a day like today. Of course I'm heavily connoting that they did the exact opposite.
We did about $2000 more tonight than we did Saturday night, and we did it with one host, no bussers, no one calling the line, and 4 chefs instead of our usual 6. We were also 5 waiters shy of a full floor. Our standard weakling of a Monday night staff got slammed with the onslaught of a full-bore Saturday crowd.
Our costs this summer have been sky-high and the PTB have felt the pressure of running a business and not simply a dining experience. Recently, they have felt the urge to not purchase items that are key to the very business they claim to "run:"
(1) dishes. At full capacity, we run out of side plates and pasta bowls.
(2) silverware. With a full floor, we often end up seating customers without the table being set. The servers are then required to procure place settings and bring them after diners have been sat and are often already eating bread.
(3) standard glasses. at three-quarters capacity, we run out of standard glasses for water, icedtea, and soda. Tonight I actually had to hold off on bevs until the dishwasher spit out more glasses. Needless to say, that was not a pleasant tableside chat
Tonight our Service Manager was the only PTB present. Usually if needed, he'll bus tables if we happen to get a little hectic. He reached new lows tonight when the line was crashing becuase of the lack of chefs, the tickets were falling apart because no one was calling food as it came up, servers were taking far more tables than they should have been because the host was freaking out and feeling mobbed (needless to say he should not have been left alone). Each restaurant failure pulled him towards its black hole. Finally he simply ran in circles like a chicken with its head cut off, being remarkably busy doing nothing at all. Then he hid in his office. To be totally honest, I'm shocked no one either got fired or quit tonight. ...but either way, I made out like a bandit in tips.
We did about $2000 more tonight than we did Saturday night, and we did it with one host, no bussers, no one calling the line, and 4 chefs instead of our usual 6. We were also 5 waiters shy of a full floor. Our standard weakling of a Monday night staff got slammed with the onslaught of a full-bore Saturday crowd.
Our costs this summer have been sky-high and the PTB have felt the pressure of running a business and not simply a dining experience. Recently, they have felt the urge to not purchase items that are key to the very business they claim to "run:"
(1) dishes. At full capacity, we run out of side plates and pasta bowls.
(2) silverware. With a full floor, we often end up seating customers without the table being set. The servers are then required to procure place settings and bring them after diners have been sat and are often already eating bread.
(3) standard glasses. at three-quarters capacity, we run out of standard glasses for water, icedtea, and soda. Tonight I actually had to hold off on bevs until the dishwasher spit out more glasses. Needless to say, that was not a pleasant tableside chat
Tonight our Service Manager was the only PTB present. Usually if needed, he'll bus tables if we happen to get a little hectic. He reached new lows tonight when the line was crashing becuase of the lack of chefs, the tickets were falling apart because no one was calling food as it came up, servers were taking far more tables than they should have been because the host was freaking out and feeling mobbed (needless to say he should not have been left alone). Each restaurant failure pulled him towards its black hole. Finally he simply ran in circles like a chicken with its head cut off, being remarkably busy doing nothing at all. Then he hid in his office. To be totally honest, I'm shocked no one either got fired or quit tonight. ...but either way, I made out like a bandit in tips.
1 Comments:
Wow what a day it was. We were also busier than all get out tonight. Fortunatly I had staffed as if it was a weekend night.
All my employees thought I was nuts for doing so. But by 5:30 they had changed their minds.
I hope you made bank tonight. I know my servers and bartenders did.
Happy fourth of July!
Tiptop
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