Following on heels of the negative turn of Most Annoying thread, what practices or features have you encountered at restaurants (besides food quality) you were favorably impressed with, weren’t charged for, and considered especially hospitable or gracious?
One of mine was a perfect example of something the place could have charged for was no more complicated or haute than a plate of nachos at an unpretentious and definitely nongastro brew pub. An attentive server noticed that Wahine and I had eaten all the topped tortilla chips, leaned over and asked in a Grey Poupon tone: “May I re-cheese the nachos for you?” That one graceful gesture forever endeared that place to us. Another is a local boulangerie that, when they make too many baguettes, puts out a “Free” basket at the end of the day, rather than charge less for day-old or toss.
What are yours, if you’ve had any memorable kindnesses above and beyond the call. Supererogatory things that the restaurant could have charged extra for?
A group of Onions have had a series of Restaurant Week dinners at an Indian restaurant in NYC several times over the past few years.
The RW menu is an individual prix fixe app + entree (+carb) + dessert meal that showcases a specific regional cuisine each time.
The first time, we were a large-ish group, and requested the chef (in advance) if he could combine the # of meals / diners and serve us family-style instead, so people could taste more than a single app and entree. For eg, there were 8 of us, so we asked if we could pick 4 RW combinations and double them up to be served family-style (knowing that it probably meant just a couple of bites of each, but would give everyone a nice sampler of the featured region’s cuisine).
They took our request and came back in spades – we had a massive, family-style feast that seemed to be a lot more food than the RW menu should have produced. But more than the quantity of food was the enthusiasm and warmth with which we were served, all the dishes explained, and that they kept checking in to see if we needed any more of anything.
We have been back several times after that as a group (and individually), as they are always as welcoming, enthusiastic, and generous.
They do charge us corkage, add a service charge for group size, and an upcharge for extra fish for the table because we had one pescaterian – which we didn’t know they were doing until the check came, but we paid all those gladly.
(Just to clarify: hospitable / gracious doesn’t just mean providing freebies or not charging for things that they should be charging for, right?)
A few years ago, I was Cindy’s Backstreet Kitchen in St. Helena, CA. I ordered and started eating a frisee salad and noticed that the kitchen had left off the lardons. The salad was so delicious that I didn’t care and just kept eating it. When I was about half done, our very nice waiter came by and noticed the lack of lardons. (I didn’t mention it.) I told him it was fine, but he insisted, took away my salad, and brought a whole new one. He also took it off the bill. Sweet!
More years ago, we were at one of the hotel bars in Mendocino, CA. I ordered a Drambuie (can’t believe I used to drink that, but I loved it.) The bartender came over with a water glass filled to the top with Drambuie, and said that he was tired and didn’t want to have to come over to our table when I wanted another. We were only charged for one drink, but in reality, it was about four. Nice!
6 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot eating & cooking in Northwest England)
4
My favourite Asian restaurant (Bombay to Mumbai) is hospitality personified. Always a warm welcome and service is faultless things happen as they should, without a feeling of being rushed or waiting so long you get to the finger tapping stage. But one gracious thing they do (and probably only do for their “good” customers) is to bring a freebie sample of, perhaps, a new dish on the menu or one of the less well known dishes on the menu. Last time, it was the Goan fish curry (chef is Goan) and it was an absolute delight. I’ll be ordering it next time.
There is a family owned chain here in NYC/LI (and Florida) called Patrizia’s. In addition to the bread basket, they give a small pizza when you sit down. It’s family style and somewhat casual, but I always feel welcome there.
Wild Flour Bread near Sebastopol is a bakery that i always stop at when i’m in the area (not often enough). years ago, i was visiting their shop for the first time and anxious to try a bunch of their goods. the shop was packed. i got to the counter and ordered a few loaves, some scones, and some cookies. everything looked great.
the total for the order was quite steep in all. i reached for my card to pay, and was politely told that they only accept cash (for philosophic reasons). this was my error, i knew about this policy before i stepped in and it just slipped my mind. they also had no atm, i was told b/c they are opposed to the extra fees. i apologized and was prepared to walk away but the woman at the counter, didn’t miss a beat. she asked me to wait a moment, and walked back to the kitchen. she came back with an envelope already addressed, and asked that i just send the payment when it was convenient to do so. i was very thankful, left with my bag of goodness and of course sent the money quickly thereafter. never forgot that act of kindness and faith in humanity.
I used to go to a Mexican restaurant In Pasadena, CA called Merida (I think) that came by with a small bowl of soup. I can’t remember if it was after they gave you the menu or promptly after you ordered your meal. It was a simple puree, probably carrot or squash based. It was orange. It felt very welcoming, was soothing and was a great way to start a meal.
Speaking of corkage, we once brought a near-trophy bottle. The sommelier acknowledged the bottle being special to us. Before we oohed and ahhed, we invited him to taste with us. Wouldn’t you know, no corkage fee on check.
I’ve had similar experiences with bringing my own wines into places and sharing. Open-minded somms are pretty rare.
I once had a tussle on Chowhound with someone who professed to be a vegan somm who “remembered what meat tastes like”, and so deemed herself fully informed to make her employer’s daily food/wine pairing recommendations.
During the Pandemic a local Thai restaurant, (Lemongrass, Pontiac MI) had free container of Hot And Sour Soup with every order.
2 Likes
BarneyGrubble
(Beethoven and Latina singer fan in Ottawa)
13
I went to a new noodle restaurant recently with a friend, and on the table was a single menu. The waiter was surprised when asked for another menu. Strange!
We can’t even count on one hand the times we’ve brought wine to the restaurant.
The time we had a trophy wine from the list, when the sommelier presented the bottle to the celebrant, he commented: “I had a little trouble with the cork, so I hope you don’t mind that I tasted first in case we needed to bring up another. Happy Birthday !”
We’ve always gotten a food menu for each person at the table. What I don’t like is when they give you only one beverage/bar/beer/wine menu for 3 people. I always ask for one for each person at the table. Sometimes they look surprised. My husband orders draft beer, I order a glass of wine or a cocktail, and our young adult son usually orders just water but sometimes he’s interested in another beverage.
This is a really good point, and one of the few reasons, IMO, why an online wine list is also a good idea.
Where I go to drink beer, nearly all places now have a backboard or wall placards to show the offerings. Occasionally, though, I’ll find some spot that not only has neither of those, but also doesn’t have any tableside tap list. On those occasions, I don’t trust the server–I get up to scope out the handles.
This is probably not the kind of situation intended by the OP, but I have to admit we were very jazzed at the time (also drunk).
My family and I were at a really nice restaurant in Pacific Grove, CA. We were having a wonderful drunken time as we often did, and our waiter was equally enthusiastic (and probably drunk or high too). First my husband asked for a taste of the very expensive port because he was thinking of ordering a glass. The waiter brought out a large glass filled to the top, and said it was on him. (Similar to our Mendocino Drambuie experience - see previous post.)
I then asked our waiter if I could buy one of the large nice ashtrays that was on our table. (Shows how long ago this was.) He said I could or- that I could put it in my purse. I honestly don’t remember if I did, but we were all, including the waiter, in hysterics. I assume he wasn’t planning on working there much longer…
