Check, Please! What Diners Really Want

[CMF Newsman]

Restaurant-goers are a picky crowd, requiring more than just tasty fare to satisfy them. A new study finds that dirty menus and waiting for the check could be just as critical to a diner's overall experience.

The research, published in a recent issue of the journal Hospitality Management, revealed five factors that influence the dining experience of consumers, based on several interviews with experienced restaurant customers in two cities in Norway. Tops on the list: taste, followed by decor, service, the company and the atmosphere.

Norwegians get annoyed waiting for the check, the study found.

But an informal poll of stereotypically go-go New Yorkers finds they want to linger before the server slaps down the check.

story

[whimdriven]

I prefer my check to be served with my entree. Then, I have flexibility to linger or leave when I want to, not when the server finally remembers to bring my bill.

[stray]

I wouldn't consider myself overly picky, BUT...aside from great food, I expect my appetizer to arrive quickly, my salad to arrive before the meal with a sufficient time to eat the damn thing, my glass to be full enough to where the ice doesn't 'clink,' and my check to arrive as close to 'immediately after the one that's obviously paying finished their food' as possible. I will give allowances for confusion on the part of who is paying.

[Homebrew Dave]

stray said:

I will give allowances for confusion on the part of who is paying.

One way or another, the man always pays.

Dave

[stray]

Words of golden kryptonite right there.

[whimdriven]

I expect my appetizer to arrive quickly, my salad to arrive before the meal with a sufficient time to eat the damn thing

In the past week I have been victimized on both these accounts. Once, the appetizer and the entree arrived together. The other incident involved getting seated, getting drinks, and then the server promptly forgetting about us, moving to the bar, ordering, and then watching as our salads arrived with entrees that we didn't have time to eat.

Everything went into a to-go box and my friend and I went, steaming, back to work.

[Longshot! [ Saint ]]

Stopped at the Gunbarrel Chop House as a goof. Prime rib has never failed me there, and their grilled shrimp skewers? I would slap my MOMMA for just a half dozen of those little sea-based mouthgasms...but I digress.

Waiter? Late. Salads? Arrived correctly--rare--but after 20 minutes. The entree? about 7 minutes after my salad. Maybe 5, come to think of it.

Did any of these things fire me up? Nope. I wasn't pleased, but I was not Irrational about it.


...But I'll be GAHD-Damned if they didn't push it that final rung and take a dogs lifetime to get me my freakin' CHECK.


Next to having someone try to kick me square in the balls...NOTHING gets me more upset ina restaurant than being held HOSTAGE waiting on a GAHD-Damned CHECK. After 20 minutes, I walk if I've ASKED for assistance and still not gotten it..

Bruce Banner here, folks. I get 'ANGRY'.


...And you do NOT want to see me 'angry' in a restaurant.


____


...What were we talking about again?

[stray]

The 'Doctor' can be a very crude man.

[Longshot! [ Saint ]]