Adam Reiner

But I think restaurant workers really do appreciate

That enthusiasm and generally you should always remember that your enthusiasm and your energy is generally mirrored by the people who are serving you.

So if your server comes over to you and you're looking at your phone and you're not paying attention, that may be a missed opportunity.

If your server comes over to you and you ask them for the Wi-Fi password instead of saying hello, that might be a missed opportunity.

It may feel like that, but I don't think that's really what I'm asking for people to do.

I'll give you an example.

There are certain things that I think people do that they don't necessarily even realize that they're doing it in terms of how they engage with staff.

One of the things that I say is never ask your server's name without introducing yourself first.

another another thing that i really recommend is that when you're asking for recommendations on the menu is to offer parameters that are about your particular dietary preferences the things that you like and be and asking less about what the server likes so a question like what's your favorite dish on the menu may lead to the server telling you that the they love this new eggplant dish but if you don't like eggplant then it really doesn't make very much sense for you to be asking them their favorites

Instead, you might say something like, you know, I'm in the mood for something lighter, maybe seafood.

I don't really like too much butter or, you know, maybe something that's like a little lighter.

Would you recommend, what seafood dish would you, seafood entree would you recommend?

The best restaurants will make an effort to constantly be bringing out food, whether it's specials every night or dishes from the menu.

And I've worked in places that do that, and I've worked in places that don't do that.

But whether they do it or don't,

It's important to remember that turnover in any restaurant staff always exists, except for the places that have been around for decades.

But in general, there's always going to be some fairly newer staff that maybe they haven't been around long enough to be able to taste all of the different dishes.

So, you know, hopefully, ideally, the people taking care of you have tasted all of the dishes.

But even if the restaurant is making an effort to really educate their staff and give them a chance to taste everything, you know, there are times where you will find staff that maybe they're a little green and maybe they're kind of fudging the descriptions a little bit based on like their handbook and not based on firsthand experience.

But I love when restaurants do things like offer stipends for their own employees to dine in restaurants, which is something that you see more and more as a perk.