Servers Who Won't Write Down Orders

[DonRocks]

2 minutes ago, Kibbee Nayee said:

Let me say up front that I hate any waitstaff that doesn't write down an order. I have NEVER received my exact order from someone who just listens to your order and thinks they can remember it well enough to convey to the back of the house.

I won't go that far, but I'd say I'm batting under .500 for my career - there is *no good reason* for this, because all it does is induce worry, and that's in a best-case scenario.

[Kibbee Nayee]

29 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

I won't go that far, but I'd say I'm batting under .500 for my career - there is *no good reason* for this, because all it does is induce worry, and that's in a best-case scenario.

And then you're kind of stuck in a situation where  you can send it back, in which case they might do something unmentionable to your order, or suck it up and eat what arrived in front of you....

[Deac]

I don’t get it. Am I supposed to be impressed if you correctly deliver our table’s order? No, because that’s a prerequisite of the job. 

[Ferris Bueller]

So I digress (sort of) - I have always been impressed with server(s) who can remember an order without writing it down.  I even order in reverse order i.e. dessert, entree, salad, appetizer to mix them up and see if they can do it (for fun).  Those who do, and it has been often, rarely fail.  Upon occasion we have had a server come back and ask for a clarification, but overall, experience has been pretty good.  We go to this restaurant several times/year (were there 2 weeks ago), and there is a server there who has never written down our order.  It is quite impressive and our kids love it.

If dining in a nicer restaurant, I always think it a little tacky when a server pulls out a pad of paper and writes down an order, but again, I am always impressed by someone taking their job seriously.  I could not be a server and wait on people - just could not do it, not in my wheelhouse; have the utmost respect.

[DonRocks]

9 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

If dining in a nicer restaurant, I always think it a little tacky when a server pulls out a pad of paper and writes down an order, but again, I am always impressed by someone taking their job seriously.  I could not be a server and wait on people - just could not do it, not in my wheelhouse; have the utmost respect.

I can see both sides to this - in the end, however, I don't expect my server to be in possession of memory tricks (mental tools to remember who ordered what); rather, someone who is friendly but not intrusive, and gets the order done correctly and on a timely basis. More important to me is that the server doesn't impose their will and personality on the diners *unless* the diners clearly show they wish the server to be an important part of the meal; more often than not, I appreciate prompt, efficient, but not overbearing, service that will minimize interaction with the server, but will always be at-the-ready when diners need them (that is what tipping is, or should be, all about). Quite often, I'm enjoying dinner with a friend's company, and we wish for the server to be a complement to a wonderful evening, but not a focal part of that evening; merely an adjunct. That doesn't mean we're meanies; only that we have plans to dine with each other, and aren't prepared to spend a significant portion of that time chatting with a stranger (this all circles back around to servers being professionals; not rent-a-friends).