If there is one thing that will definitely turn me off from returning to a restaurant, it is poor service. Food quality and presentation are very important, don’t get me wrong. But give me good food and bad service, chances are I won’t be back. I think some establishments have forgotten that treating your customers with respect and kindness goes a long way, and in my opinion, has a bigger influence on my choice if I’m going to be a one-time diner or if I’m willing to return again regardless of the quality of food. I’ve dined at many places that may not have had the best food. But the waitresses/waiters treated me like I was a valued customer, and for that alone I’ve returned.

The reason why I wanted to talk about this subject is based on a recent trip Alonda and I took to Cockeysville, MD to enjoy some seafood at Joe’s Crab Shack. All though we started this blog to give our reviews on our dining experiences, we had decided that we would only blog about restaurants that were not franchises, or how would you say “main stream” ie. the Red Lobsters, Applebee’s & of course Joe’s Crab Shacks. Our main focus was to draw attention to the smaller, not as well-known dining places that we love to try as Foodies. But this experience that we had at this particular Joe’s Crab Shack I felt I had to tell everyone about how horrible the service was. Now I’ll give it to Joe’s, I do like their food; I think for a “main stream” restaurant they are pretty good. They’re one of the only places that I actually think you get the same thing as you see in their tv commercials. And to me that’s saying a lot. I know many of us have seen a burger or dish on a tv ad and been like “OMG that looks so good I’ve got to try that place”, only to get there and think “this looks nothing at all like it did on tv”. Makes you feel like you’ve been duped doesn’t it? I know that’s how I feel. But anyway the service that we received while there was probably the worst I’ve ever experienced.

On arrival, we were seated by the host and given our menus and as they always tell you “Your server will be right with you”. Well our server never got that memo. Because we sat there with nothing but our picture menus for 20+ minutes (I use my stop watch on my phone to time how long it takes before the server first comes to our table). And during the time we sat patiently waiting, multiple employees waitresses & waiters walked by our table, but not one stopped where we were seated. And behind us at a empty table, a group of employees were just looking at us as they sat around eating and having a little pow-wow. So now I’m agitated and I have to get up and ask to speak to a manager. That in itself took 10 minutes for the manager to come out and see me.

I let her know what my complaint was as to waiting 20+ minutes with no service and she assured me that she would send a server right away to our table, and went to walk away from me as if that was resolving the issue. I had to let her know that if she wanted us to stay and eat at their restaurant that she would be the one taking care of our table that afternoon and not one of her servers who thought it appropriate to stand around amongst themselves and eat, talk and laugh while there was a busy restaurant happening all around them. The manager agreed and assured me that she would be the one to take care of us.

So I returned to our table to inform Alonda of the conversation I just had with management and that the manager agreed to be our server. Well to make a long story short, our orders were taken when she came to the table we ordered the steamed garlicky mussles as an appetizer and two Arctic Bay steampots, being as though we were sitting long enough to know what we wanted. The appetizer didn’t make it out to the table before the entrees did and the manager had the entrees sent back and she showed up minutes later with our mussles. Which by the way were very good. Then our steam pots came out and they were also very good. As I said before, all the food was good and I have no complaints about that at all.

The manager did make it up to us by deeply discounting our check for the waste of our time and hassle. But although I like going to Joe’s Crab Shack I don’t know if I will be going back to that particular location anytime soon. Because to me, service and respect for my time matters more than what a place is serving on the menu.
If a restaurant wants happy and repeat customers, remember our time is money too and no one wants to drive somewhere to be forgotten or ignored.
Food quality and taste are important but remember above all else and I think most importantly SERVICE MATTERS!!
-Sonny