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Olive Garden Informative - Information for the complainers
My name is Lizzie. I have worked for Olive Garden for several years, and just came across this website. I am currently frustrated with my job due to harassment at work from another co-worker, but upon reading some of these complaints, I felt the need to comment back to some of your people. First of all, working at any place that serves food is probably one of the most difficult and demeaning jobs in this country. No matter what goes wrong, everyone thinks its the server's fault. Whether the food doesn't taste very good, or if it takes a long time, all of these things are completely out of the server's control and it's very frustrating for us to listen to your complaints and then you take it out on us by stiffing us. Here are a few things I would like to say though, before you all go and complain some more.
1. Servers don't cook the food. We are more than happy to get a manager and have the cooks re-make your meal, but please do not get mad at us, as we had nothing to do with it. Don't forget that the cooks are paid hourly, they really don't care if you like your meal or not.
2. YES there is an up charge for salad. We don't hand out free salad, we are not a homeless shelter. It comes complimentary with every MEAL (which does not include an appetizer, even if you're eating an appetizer as your meal). If we don't charge you and we get caught, we get fired. If you don't like it, talk to a manager.
3. YES there is an upcharge for alfredo sauce, and the cooks won't even give you alfredo until you ring it in. It's very expensive, and we're sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it. If we steal it for you, we can get fired.
4. Soup and Salad may be great, and I agree, it tastes wonderful. But it is the most difficult thing you can order, because we now have to run back and forth and back and forth just to get refill after refill after refill. And the worst part is, you don't tip us on all the extra work we're doing, because you don't realize how much work it actually is. Imagine all 3 or 4 of our tables, each person ordering unlimited soup and salad... if each table has an average of 3 people, and I have 4 tables, that's 12 people I'm constantly refilling soup, salad and bread for. By the time I come back to your table, you're ready for something else, and so is everyone else in my section... it's hard. We don't mind doing it, but please don't complain when you don't get your refill right away, we are VERY busy. And tipping $2 for all that work? That's a slap in our face.
5. I"m sorry that you're upset that we are a popular restaurant and that there are lines, and that you may just have to wait. It means we're popular, that's a good thing for Olive Garden.
6. At 4 pm every day, there is a shift change over. Its usually about 20 minutes of complete disaster and choas, but this is probably the worst time to come to OG.
7. Coming in 5 minutes before we close means you are going to get the bottom of the barrel of whatever you order. Its like that at every restaurant- your food will probably suck.
8. Please don't forget that we make our money based on what you give us. That's how we pay our bills... if you're going to be cheap, or you can't afford to eat at a nice place, then go to Burger King and have it 'your way'. But this is a place of business, where we depend on tips to survive every day life.
Thank you and have a nice day.
1. Servers don't cook the food. We are more than happy to get a manager and have the cooks re-make your meal, but please do not get mad at us, as we had nothing to do with it. Don't forget that the cooks are paid hourly, they really don't care if you like your meal or not.
2. YES there is an up charge for salad. We don't hand out free salad, we are not a homeless shelter. It comes complimentary with every MEAL (which does not include an appetizer, even if you're eating an appetizer as your meal). If we don't charge you and we get caught, we get fired. If you don't like it, talk to a manager.
3. YES there is an upcharge for alfredo sauce, and the cooks won't even give you alfredo until you ring it in. It's very expensive, and we're sorry, but there's nothing we can do about it. If we steal it for you, we can get fired.
4. Soup and Salad may be great, and I agree, it tastes wonderful. But it is the most difficult thing you can order, because we now have to run back and forth and back and forth just to get refill after refill after refill. And the worst part is, you don't tip us on all the extra work we're doing, because you don't realize how much work it actually is. Imagine all 3 or 4 of our tables, each person ordering unlimited soup and salad... if each table has an average of 3 people, and I have 4 tables, that's 12 people I'm constantly refilling soup, salad and bread for. By the time I come back to your table, you're ready for something else, and so is everyone else in my section... it's hard. We don't mind doing it, but please don't complain when you don't get your refill right away, we are VERY busy. And tipping $2 for all that work? That's a slap in our face.
5. I"m sorry that you're upset that we are a popular restaurant and that there are lines, and that you may just have to wait. It means we're popular, that's a good thing for Olive Garden.
6. At 4 pm every day, there is a shift change over. Its usually about 20 minutes of complete disaster and choas, but this is probably the worst time to come to OG.
7. Coming in 5 minutes before we close means you are going to get the bottom of the barrel of whatever you order. Its like that at every restaurant- your food will probably suck.
8. Please don't forget that we make our money based on what you give us. That's how we pay our bills... if you're going to be cheap, or you can't afford to eat at a nice place, then go to Burger King and have it 'your way'. But this is a place of business, where we depend on tips to survive every day life.
Thank you and have a nice day.
Comments:
Posted by Face to Face on 2010-02-15:
" because we now have to run back and forth and back and forth just to get refill after refill after refill."
That is part of your job description...right?
That is part of your job description...right?
Posted by littleyaya on 2010-02-15:
You have some good points. But I agree with Steve. It's part of your job description to get more soup and salad
Posted by noandyes on 2010-02-15:
I also agree. These are fine comments that people should remember, but I'm not concerned with your issues regarding the soup and salad.
And while asking us to not "forget that we make our money based on what you give us" is fine and all. You should also remember that we don't just give away our money because you need it. We pay extra for quality service. (I actually cannot remember a time when I've received poor service. Oh, yeah, IHOP.)
And while asking us to not "forget that we make our money based on what you give us" is fine and all. You should also remember that we don't just give away our money because you need it. We pay extra for quality service. (I actually cannot remember a time when I've received poor service. Oh, yeah, IHOP.)
Posted by goduke on 2010-02-15:
I hear what you are saying Lizzie, but keep in mind that for me, the customer guy, you are the face of the company during the meal. I'm not chatting with the cook. I'm not asking the CEO for iced tea. It's you. While I try to be understanding, including how much something is going to cost if I go "off the menu" for a bit, I still have to count on you for my experience to be good. I shouldn't be the one realizing my food is wrong. You should. When you do that well, I tip well. When it's done poorly, well, it goes the other way. If that's not an environment in which you find yourself happy and successful, chances are you need to try and take another route in life.
Posted by Inat on 2010-02-15:
i am a frequent defender of The OG... and i like the soup & salad quite a bit. I tip a minimum of $5.00 regardless of meal price (I was a server/bartender in college) but all the same, you must remember that most people live and die by the 10%-20% - and for soup & Salad, that is about $2.50 max . . . you dont make your money one soup & salad, or one beer, or two apps... you make your money on the big meals and from those of us who tip more than the minimum.
Posted by andbran on 2010-02-15:
i love OG. when the food doesnt turn out well i know its the cook not the server. you make alot of valid points. i dont see why anyone comes in toward the end of the day. they are boumd to get whats leftover.
Posted by Starlord on 2010-02-15:
My first wife worked at a posh sit-down restaurant, and I remember one night in particular. They had a party of 40 from a well-known religious organization who kept the waitstaff running with special requests. When they left, the girls started cleaning the table. Under each plate was a tract. I guess the party thought that was an appropriate tip.
Posted by Ytropious on 2010-02-15:
I see where the OP is coming from. What she's saying is that even though soup and salad lunch doesn't cost much, the extra work involved in the service of bringing it to you should be considered in the tip. Cheap dinner shouldn't always mean low tip. You tip for service regardless of meal price. Anyway I also agree with yelling at servers, or cashiers, or anyone not equip to properly deal with complaints. I would never stiff or complain at my server for a wrong doing in the kitchen because I'm intelligent enough to know my issue has nothing to do with them. It's a shame others aren't quite that bright.
Posted by RestaurantGuy on 2010-02-15:
Ok this might be a little long. I agree with this OP in a few areas. 1 If you ask for something extra it will cost more they have no control over that (but they should inform you of the cost) 2 Most of the time your server does not run your food to your table so they will not know if it came out right or not. (yes the server that brought your food should make sure but do you double check your co workers work for them) 3- I understand that most people tip off the total amount but if the server is doing more work for your table (unlimeted salad) you really should take that into account when you tip) 4 your server is just that your server if there is a problem do not take it out on them (if it is not service oriented Ie I didn't get refills and even then it might be managements fault as they gave that server to many tables)as they cannot do anything for you ask for the manager/owner as they have the power to make things right. In ending all I ask is do you want to be paid for the work you do on commission (after all that is what a server is paid on) the more they do for you the more you should tip them as long as they take care of you and do not punish them for things outside their control (your food took long due to the kitchen...etc) as you would not like it if the roles were reversed
Posted by MissMae on 2010-02-15:
Haha...my ex FIL would tip precisely 10% no matter what type of restaurant he was in or what type of service he received. I don't know how many times I had to sneak back in and leave more of a tip.
Great post, Lizzie...and I don't know how it works at OG, but many restaurants require the waitstaff to share their tips with the cooks and the dishwashers, and I doubt most patrons even consider that when they get their calculators out and determine precisely what percentage they should tip (yes, I've seen that on many occasion). My general rule of thumb is to double the tax and throw in a couple more bucks, more if the service was above average.
Great post, Lizzie...and I don't know how it works at OG, but many restaurants require the waitstaff to share their tips with the cooks and the dishwashers, and I doubt most patrons even consider that when they get their calculators out and determine precisely what percentage they should tip (yes, I've seen that on many occasion). My general rule of thumb is to double the tax and throw in a couple more bucks, more if the service was above average.
Posted by merope on 2010-02-17:
Your job is to "run around." We are not required to support you. And as for those nasty born again crazies, read the book Nickel and Dimed. These loving Christians are known for stiffing waitstaff.
Posted by Connoisseur on 2010-03-01:
Off the bat you are doing your job, so you should not expect "tips" for doing your job. If you depend on "tips" to make ends meet..call your employer cheap for exploiting you. Yes, it is hard work, but the fact that you are not compensated for your sweat equity properly, again look toward your cheap employer, not to the customer whose without patronage you wouldn't have a job, because your cheap employers restaurant would go under. Tipping is a courtesy....not your right to have. Because of attitude like yours, I have long stopped tipping. I pay for my food if you don't get it on the table.....I walk out.
Posted by PepperElf on 2010-03-01:
personally i really like the soup and salad one too
but i also believe in tipping well (and if i can't afford to tip i can't afford to go out anyway)
but i also believe in tipping well (and if i can't afford to tip i can't afford to go out anyway)
Posted by Wally86 on 2010-03-01:
I never go out unless I have money left over for a tip.
Posted by JessieDanni on 2010-03-06:
Any non server that commented on here, missed the whole point when they said "that's part of your job description, right?" She said she didn't mind doing it-she knows that's her job-she just wanted customers to realize that sometimes it takes a minute to refill your soup or salad. She was also saying this to make people realize that soup and salad, while a cheap meal for guests, it is ALOT OF WORK, and deserves more than a 20% tip. I live in South Carolina, where the natives think it perfectly fine to tip 10%.......IT IS NOT! She did an eloquent job explaining server pay, and the work we do. Don't eat out if you can't afford to tip!
Posted by Connoisseur on 2010-03-13:
Nobody should get a tip for doing their job. That is what they get paid for. Tips is a curtesey. Now people expect it and call you cheap if you don't give. "Don't eat out if you cannot afford a tip?" I should deny myself a small pleasure? I think not. I will go out to eat. Order what I can afford. Pay for what I can afford and you will serve if you want my patronage. Or I will take it to the guy down the street. This is not the first place I read you waiters demand tips.......gives me all the more incentive not to give, to ingrates, who call people who give out of the goodness of their heart. Call me cheap all you want. Your tips that you demand is my salad and glass of wine...which is usually half full and cost as much as one bottle of domestic wine. Ingrates get nothing from me.
Posted by ProConsumer on 2010-03-13:
Connoisseur, if you are truly a 'connoisseur' you know that servers are lucky if they even make minimum wage.
"Call me cheap all you want." I am calling you cheap and if I was a server I'd tell you to pound sand and go somewhere else.
"Call me cheap all you want." I am calling you cheap and if I was a server I'd tell you to pound sand and go somewhere else.
Posted by Ytropious on 2010-03-13:
Are you kidding me? Servers are paid LESS because they are expected to make tips. It is technically part of their JOB to get tips my friend. I will call you cheap until the cows come home, since I call my own husband cheap for being a stingy tipper.
Posted by Connoisseur on 2010-03-14:
Here's the deal, I know someone who OWNS a restaurant. She graduated out of Cornell. Parents had a summer home as well as the condo in NYC. Vacation every year, and yes, a three car garage in the upper crust neighbor of Long Island. Yes, her parents owned that cash cow of a restaurant. And, yes, they paid poverty wages to the waiters........how else could they afford the finer things in life? There is no such thing as a poor restaurant owner(unless they just started out). Established restaurants are a gold mine and like bankers, they exploit their workers by paying them peanuts(no pun intended.) Restaurants "institutionalized" tips..and that is how they get away with paying dirt....by having the customer make up for the lack. I guess I am cheap because I do know just how restaurateurs operate. Err..........like cheap b****. I have no intention of being their stupid patsy of supplementing their sorry pay scales. If you waiters were smart....you would band together and demand what you are worth, or think you are worth.
Oh, and those tip jars????Tips for what? for working the cash register?? Get real. Yes, I am cheap for you, but very generous to the "charities" of my choice. AND none of you service people are charity cases in my eyes. Stupid for working for poverty wages and letting yourselves being exploited...but not charity material. Soooooooooooooooooooooory.
Oh, and those tip jars????Tips for what? for working the cash register?? Get real. Yes, I am cheap for you, but very generous to the "charities" of my choice. AND none of you service people are charity cases in my eyes. Stupid for working for poverty wages and letting yourselves being exploited...but not charity material. Soooooooooooooooooooooory.
Posted by Talk360 on 2010-03-14:
Understand most people should give tips to the people that provide us with any services accepted to us. Just like the guy who brings me my food at the table & refills my drink if they do a good job & i am satisfied with my service than i will tip. Now if things were not as i had wished them to be i would request for a manager & explain to them the real issue i have so that it wont be repeated next time i come. Its not the servers fault the food isn't cooked right or they are out of bread sticks. BUT it is there own fault if they do not smile or greet you with courteous behavior & if they leave your drink empty the whole time you were there eating.
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