If I owned a breakfast diner...

My favorite interaction with a waitress happened at a waterfront cafe in Florida. They had frog legs on the menu, which is rare. I said, "You have frog legs?" She politely said, "Yes, sir." I said, "Well wear baggy pants and no one will notice!"
 
My favorite interaction with a waitress happened at a waterfront cafe in Florida. They had frog legs on the menu, which is rare. I said, "You have frog legs?" She politely said, "Yes, sir." I said, "Well wear baggy pants and no one will notice!"

FROG LEGS, did someone mention FROG LEGS??? You're my hero, I love you..... Not as much as I love FROG LEGS though..... It's way too damned hard to find them outside of south GA and a few places in FL. I like to go frog gigging but it's difficult to find anyone to go with me, seems their afraid of the dark...... God only knows what's out there after dark..... (nothing that wasn't there during daylight!!) But according to the guys I invite to go it's sudden death to be on a lake after dark. Maybe I should start inviting their WIFE'S to go..... they seem to have bigger balls.....
 
My favorite interaction with a waitress happened at a waterfront cafe in Florida. They had frog legs on the menu, which is rare. I said, "You have frog legs?" She politely said, "Yes, sir." I said, "Well wear baggy pants and no one will notice!"


Captain Tom seafood in Staley serves froglegs. I’m totally stealing this ! :D
 
It may be annoying to the tea drinkers, but its really a case of "take your chances with the odds" and also trusting people to be able to say "No, thank you, my drink is fine." Its really not that big a deal, I know, but its one of my pet peeves to be sitting at a restaurant and my drink run dry. It is one of the simplest things that a waiter can do to improve customer experience. Also, if someone has something to drink, then they don't notice that their food has taken a bit extra time if things get really busy in the kitchen, but thirsty patrons make impatient ones.

And I was cute once, or at least my mom told me I was...
Yeah, it's one of the ways I measure service. If the glass goes empty and for how long. The server doesn't control the kitchen, so how long the food takes is not in them, it's on the kitchen.
 
FROG LEGS, did someone mention FROG LEGS??? You're my hero, I love you..... Not as much as I love FROG LEGS though..... It's way too damned hard to find them outside of south GA and a few places in FL. I like to go frog gigging but it's difficult to find anyone to go with me, seems their afraid of the dark...... God only knows what's out there after dark..... (nothing that wasn't there during daylight!!) But according to the guys I invite to go it's sudden death to be on a lake after dark. Maybe I should start inviting their WIFE'S to go..... they seem to have bigger balls.....

Frog legs are one of my all time favorite foods. As a graduate student in Gainesville, Florida, I gigged about 2,000 frogs a year. Most were pig frogs, but some were bull frogs. A fellow student and I had a research project going in which we gigged or grabbed frogs every Thursday night for 13 months in a small lake outside Gainesville. We usually got between 75 and 100 frogs a night. We saved the bodies for our research and kept the legs to eat. That was good eating. I also went gigging with several deputy sheriffs about once a week during the summer. They had access to some prime spots. It would almost be worth a trip down there in September to gig some frogs at night and shoot some gallinules during the day. I ate well as a poor graduate student.
 
My wife and I went to a diner in rural NY State. Coffee sucked, looked like weak tea, not coffee. The omelets sucked. Would never go there again.
If I had a breakfast diner I'd have Reapers and Ghost peppers as an option for adding heat to breakfast.
I’d be thrilled if they had garlic and cayenne.
Just SOME flavor for the eggs.
 
Y’all don’t get me wrong....

I’m a fairly decent human being that can be down right social. Service industry folks work way harder than I do and get paid squat.

I just can’t be expected to acknowledge my privilege before 10am.
With this thread I picture you bringing your own plastic utensils in a baggie. AKA Jack Nicholson ‘As Food As It Gets’.
It’s on Netflix.
 
FROG LEGS, did someone mention FROG LEGS??? You're my hero, I love you..... Not as much as I love FROG LEGS though..... It's way too damned hard to find them outside of south GA and a few places in FL. I like to go frog gigging but it's difficult to find anyone to go with me, seems their afraid of the dark...... God only knows what's out there after dark..... (nothing that wasn't there during daylight!!) But according to the guys I invite to go it's sudden death to be on a lake after dark. Maybe I should start inviting their WIFE'S to go..... they seem to have bigger balls.....

We sell them at work, if you're anywhere near Reidsville come get some
 
Decent coffee in a restaurant these days is an oxymoron. Real regular freshly brewed coffee gets overlooked even in fancy places that get all het up about where the cow slept but don't give a rats ass about coffee unless you buy a Specialty Coffee. In that case, its the same shit with a bit of Hersheys syrup and a squirt of Reddi- Whip for $8.

If I go out for breakfast I first make coffee at home, drink 2 or 3 cups, then switch to O.J. at the diner. Less stressful.
 
Decent coffee in a restaurant these days is an oxymoron. Real regular freshly brewed coffee gets overlooked even in fancy places that get all het up about where the cow slept but don't give a rats ass about coffee unless you buy a Specialty Coffee. In that case, its the same shit with a bit of Hersheys syrup and a squirt of Reddi- Whip for $8.

If I go out for breakfast I first make coffee at home, drink 2 or 3 cups, then switch to O.J. at the diner. Less stressful.
Pretty much. Most of the places I like to eat, their coffee is barely fit to water weeds with. I'll either make my own beforehand (safer), or if we are running late, or the wife is really hungry, I'll just wait until we get back.
 
It may be annoying to the tea drinkers, but its really a case of "take your chances with the odds" and also trusting people to be able to say "No, thank you, my drink is fine." Its really not that big a deal, I know, but its one of my pet peeves to be sitting at a restaurant and my drink run dry. It is one of the simplest things that a waiter can do to improve customer experience. Also, if someone has something to drink, then they don't notice that their food has taken a bit extra time if things get really busy in the kitchen, but thirsty patrons make impatient ones.

And I was cute once, or at least my mom told me I was...
I mostly drink water these days. If I run out, and a bit of time goes by, I'll suck on the straw a bit. If the servers and/or management are ANY kind of on the ball, that WILL get their attention, because they are not the only ones who can hear it. It tells the whole restaurant that someone let a customer run dry :) I've had folks come running, and I've also been ignored (as in, they didn't seem to get what I was "saying"). Ignoring seems to be the norm now...and I mean "not knowing to refill the glass, out of ignorance" as opposed to "I'm ignoring that rude noise you are making." :D
 
I mostly drink water these days. If I run out, and a bit of time goes by, I'll suck on the straw a bit. If the servers and/or management are ANY kind of on the ball, that WILL get their attention, because they are not the only ones who can hear it. It tells the whole restaurant that someone let a customer run dry :) I've had folks come running, and I've also been ignored (as in, they didn't seem to get what I was "saying"). Ignoring seems to be the norm now...and I mean "not knowing to refill the glass, out of ignorance" as opposed to "I'm ignoring that rude noise you are making." :D

Yup, and that would not have flown at my brothers place (where I mainly worked). Slight back story...my older brothers were in the restaurant business, and for a time my middle brother and his wife ran a café in downtown Winston. I would work there between full time jobs elsewhere, and even then sometimes at nights and on weekends to make extra cash or to help out. And having a brother/sister in law as the boss was NOT always a great thing. That man would come down on me hard if I screwed up...kinda the "I cant have my own brother looking like a loser here" mentality. He and his wife worked the line, but being an open air café even he sometimes would look out, see something that needed fixing and stick his Pumas into a waiters back side.

The biggest problem we had would be on Friday nights during the summer when Winston would have Jazz or music festival stuff going on in the streets. The place would be packed, but it would also be flooded by people who just wanted to use thebathroom. And as a small café with only two single seater bathrooms, that couldn't fly. That and people from the festival that would want to bring in outside alcohol, which is a BIG nono.
 
Yup, and that would not have flown at my brothers place (where I mainly worked). Slight back story...my older brothers were in the restaurant business, and for a time my middle brother and his wife ran a café in downtown Winston. I would work there between full time jobs elsewhere, and even then sometimes at nights and on weekends to make extra cash or to help out. And having a brother/sister in law as the boss was NOT always a great thing. That man would come down on me hard if I screwed up...kinda the "I cant have my own brother looking like a loser here" mentality. He and his wife worked the line, but being an open air café even he sometimes would look out, see something that needed fixing and stick his Pumas into a waiters back side.

The biggest problem we had would be on Friday nights during the summer when Winston would have Jazz or music festival stuff going on in the streets. The place would be packed, but it would also be flooded by people who just wanted to use thebathroom. And as a small café with only two single seater bathrooms, that couldn't fly. That and people from the festival that would want to bring in outside alcohol, which is a BIG nono.
Oh, I can't imagine. I'm grateful to God I never had to work a job like that (well, so far in my life; you never know what tomorrow might bring!). Dairy farming might be physically hard, but it's mentally and emotionally easier than some other things.
 
I "sling hash" (steaks actually) a night or two a week. There are two types of people who decline refills. Those that will never need one, and those that will need one in the next two minutes, but don't want one now. Never fails haha!
 
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cold tea & water, please keep it topped off.
My coffee? No. I wait until it's cool enough flesh doesn't peel, start to enjoy, crap, it's boiling again.
Ask before taking my plate as well, if the utensils are stacked together, that means "I'm done".
 
It surprises me how many people get bad service and later complain. Try asking the waiter/waitress their name and use it when you need them and politely tell them when you don't need them, there is nothing good that ever comes from being rude. If people talk to one another things seem to go better, that applies for anywhere.
 
I can honestly say, I've got good service most places I've gone to. The only place I can say I've experienced the overly helpful waitress is at Andys/Hwy 55 diners. The waitresses there mean well, but they'll worry you to death asking if you're ok. I've had to politely tell a few of them that I'm fine, I'll wave if I need you.

As far as breakfast places go, I've really like Tee Time down in Shallote. Good breakfast buffet, the coffee doesn't run dry, and they don't try and chat you up while you eat.
 
We were eating breakfast one time in the IHOP in Cary. They had someone going around soliciting for a charity (don't remember which one). Came up and asked us that as my wife was spooning a forkful of breakfast in her mouth. You don't bother her while she's eating; you can lose a limb that way. She let the person off easy...she just told her to go away :)

That was pretty appalling, for a business like that to have someone (I think it was an IHOP employee, but I'm not certain) come around soliciting the customers at their tables eating.
 
what? And be anti-social? The community needs my $7.50.
Let's talk about this too. Eggs .04 each, grits .02 per serving, toast .03 apiece, Some meat .25, some coffee .15. Extras, like sugar, cream, cheeze another .10. About 75 Cents all in. 1,000% on supplies. OOOOOPH!! In Murder Beach, pancake and breakfast houses make owners Very Wealthy. Way better ratio than other eateries.
 
Its not always clueless servers- sometimes the management puts in place a "satisfaction system" that makes the staff robotic-ally carry out certain things they just learned in whatever stupid magazine that clueless restaurant management reads in order to "understand their business better and increase profits".

There's nothing more pathetic than to look into the eyes of an employee who knows- that you know- that all the puffery is bullshit, yet they will be fired if they dont execute the latest set of artificial customer satisfaction instructions.

I'll give them slack if they are forced to do shit like that, and will usually joke with them about it.
 
I'll give them slack if they are forced to do shit like that, and will usually joke with them about it.


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Let's talk about this too. Eggs .04 each, grits .02 per serving, toast .03 apiece, Some meat .25, some coffee .15. Extras, like sugar, cream, cheeze another .10. About 75 Cents all in. 1,000% on supplies. OOOOOPH!! In Murder Beach, pancake and breakfast houses make owners Very Wealthy. Way better ratio than other eateries.


I dunno....a very good friend of mine owns the local deli. Very popular place, good quality meats and creative menu for a deli. Even so it's a deli, not Ruth's Chris. His food costs have dramatically increased in the last couple years. Margins are generally very slim in food service.
 
I dunno....a very good friend of mine owns the local deli. Very popular place, good quality meats and creative menu for a deli. Even so it's a deli, not Ruth's Chris. His food costs have dramatically increased in the last couple years. Margins are generally very slim in food service.
Not in the Pancake...breakfast business.
 
And if you look on the back of your receipt you will find a personalized, anonymous satisfaction survey that will only take 45 minutes and to show our appreciation, you may be eligible for one of two $5 dollar gift certificates awarded once a decade for our customers.
 
then switch to O.J. at the diner.
I was raised on a farm. We don't use little glasses for nuthin'.
When they bring me that shot glass of OJ, (and you ain't getting no free refill either Mel) and then proceed to charge me $1.85...o_O
It's not the $1.85 so much as the thought that I am getting royally cobbed right here. I can't get the thought out of my head that I'm making the payment on someones Mercedes.
 
If you wear headphones they quit talking to you after the first time and you get to listen to your own music while you eat and read.
That there is an excellent idea.
...and you don’t even have to have the other end plugged in. I used to travel a lot, mainly having to fly. I’d stick earbuds in as soon as I got through security. Sometimes the other end was in an iPod, sometimes it wasn’t.
 


Kudos to Jim Varney as Auntie Nelda. This is from "Hey Vern, It's Ernest," a Saturday morning children's show that I loved. I guess that shows my maturity level, even in 1988! [I was 34 then.]
 
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I don't have to worry about my glasses running out because I rarely drink while I'm eating, especially if it's water. I noticed a long time ago that if I order water, I don't drink much at all. If I order a sweet tea or soda, it gets gone quickly. I can't explain it. So, no empty glass, no worries.

Now, pestering me, yeah, no.
 
Let's talk about this too. Eggs .04 each, grits .02 per serving, toast .03 apiece, Some meat .25, some coffee .15. Extras, like sugar, cream, cheeze another .10. About 75 Cents all in. 1,000% on supplies. OOOOOPH!! In Murder Beach, pancake and breakfast houses make owners Very Wealthy. Way better ratio than other eateries.

Ha! You sound like my Dad. The world has moved on. You can’t buy 22lr for .02 a round either. Oh, and gas doesn’t get pumped for us for .10/gallon either. Guess people should have paid more attention 50 years ago. ;)
 
...I would make up a 2-sided message board for each table.

Side A would say:



That would indicate to the overly chatty and chipper waitstaff that I want to be left the $#@)@#%$) alone to drink my coffee, eat my omelette, wake up and read my book. If it's before noon, unless you're my wife or kid, I really don't give a rat's ass about the weather, how you're doing, the last movie you saw or the state of your finances.

  • Don't interrupt me 10 times asking if everything is OK. They're eggs, it'll be ok.
  • Don't ask me if I like my book. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be reading it.
  • You don't need to tell me that it's the check you just dropped off and that I can pay when I'm ready. I don't need a 5-paragraph ops order to pay the bill.


Side B would say:


I have no earthly idea what 'Side B' of this placard would say because who the heck would want it any other way!?


Signed...
Not a morning person. Leave me alone.












And, get off my lawn.


My first thought was you’d be bankrupt and outnof business like most restaurant owners.
 
Not in the Pancake...breakfast business.

I used to be the GM of a McDonald’s. Breakfast is so much more profitable it’s ridiculous. They didn’t go to All Day Breakfast due to popular demand, the did it to increase profit margins. We’d make twice as much profit off of breakfast sales as we would lunch.
 
I used to be the GM of a McDonald’s. Breakfast is so much more profitable it’s ridiculous. They didn’t go to All Day Breakfast due to popular demand, the did it to increase profit margins. We’d make twice as much profit off of breakfast sales as we would lunch.
Yep! McDicks probably pays .03 cents or less for and egg portion, .10 or less for sausage, and less than a nickel for cheeze, total .22 cents. That's a pretty good Gross Profit on a Sausage, egg, and cheeze biscuit. Over 1,000%.
 
Yep! McDicks probably pays .03 cents or less for and egg portion, .10 or less for sausage, and less than a nickel for cheeze, total .22 cents. That's a pretty good Gross Profit on a Sausage, egg, and cheeze biscuit. Over 1,000%.
You're not factoring in the $15/hour "worker" that has to pile it all together. Turns the equation into a net loss of a billion dollars.
 
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