"Then the salad line has to take those extra steps, and THEN your waiter has to remember that you had special orders and verify them."
Yup.
The waitress needs to write "no croutons" on the order and then LOOK AT THE PLATE before delivering it.
Look at the plate
Look at the order
Look at the plate
Look at the order
Look at the plate
Look at the order
DO THEY MATCH????????????
This isn't rocket science. If the waitress doesn't even compare the order with the plate, she shouldn't be in the business. Occasional mistakes are one thing, but I get about an 85% error rate on the "no croutons" instruction.
I'm convinced it is simply managerial incompetence. There should be somebody in the kitchen checking that orders are right and then the server should do the same. When the order comes out wrong, it means neither the kitchen staff or waitstaff bothered to look. Bad management seems to be the standard in the restaurant industry.
I'm trying to remember the last time I sat at a table of 4 or more people and everything came out as ordered.
Don't get me wrong. I never send my food back or complain to the server. I know exactly what can happen in that case. I do my complaining with my feet. Given the number of places I stopped patronizing that went out of business, I'm a pretty good judge of quality.
I tried a new pizza restaurant for lunch today. Undercooked crust with canned sauce pretty much seals their fate. I wonder what kind of restaurant will be in that store next year.
I remembered my last perfect service!
It was at Emeril's in New Orleans. Everyting was absolutely perfect. If you haven't tried Emeril's banana cream pie, you are missing one of the true culinary delights in this country.
You can get it at his restaurant in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as well.