GEORGE NEWS - I have always been pedantic about customer service in restaurants, and my fussiness has escalated in recent years to the extent that I'm forced to put pen to paper to try and raise awareness of this issue.

Think about the last time you went to a restaurant, any restaurant, not necessarily a fine dining restaurant. 

What kind of service did you experience? Probably average or below average I'm guessing, but you really didn't notice, as it is, unfortunately, the norm that we have become used to. 

But you do expect good service from a fine dining establishment I suppose, because you are paying more for your experience. 

But to me, it doesn't matter whether I'm paying R1 000 a head for my meal or R100, I still expect good service. 

Last year I was taken to the purportedly top two restaurants in South Africa.

The first restaurant was memorable for not being anything special. 

It was an ok experience, service and food-wise, but our waiter, who you could see had received some training, actually spoilt the experience by being so overconfident that he had become cocky and brash. 

At the second restaurant, our waitress got so confused (getting orders mixed up, bringing some meals to the table and others not) that it spoilt the evening for our party of 12. 

Fine dining isn't just about the food, price and surroundings; service plays a huge part, and can make or break the experience.

The fact of the matter is that many of the restaurant owners and managers simply don't care what kind of people they employ as waiters or waitresses. 

Generally, the majority of waiting staff are casual workers, perhaps students who are working to get more pocket money, or people working part time to supplement their income. 

Whatever the reason, very few waitrons are actually trained to do the job properly. 

But why is this? It's almost as if the restaurant owners and managers are oblivious to the fact that offering good service as well as good food really does give guests a wonderful experience. 

Would these same owners and managers employ a chef in their kitchen who has not received training as a chef? 

Would they use the services of a doctor, lawyer, electrician, car mechanic, plumber, etc, knowing that these people have not received proper training and are not qualified? 

I doubt it very much.

So why this nonchalant attitude towards waiting staff by restaurant owners? Don't they realise that a waitron who has received training and who has the right attitude, can actually sell more food and wine to the customer? 

Diners can easily be persuaded to order more than they intended by a waitron who describes a starter, drink or dessert enthusiastically and make it sound gorgeous. 

A trained wine steward can persuade a customer to order wine or drinks that they had no intention of consuming. 

So it's obvious that by having trained staff, the turnover and the profitability of the restaurant can be improved. 

This is not rocket science. 

Only last week I went for lunch with friends on a Saturday, where we shared different pizzas, and were all comfortably full after eating. 

We had absolutely no space in our tummies and no thought of having dessert at all, but our waiter was so persuasive that we all succumbed to his tantalising description of the desserts!

Some (not all, thank goodness) restaurants trade very much on location, location, location.

 Just because they have a great view or a restaurant on the beach, they rely on this to make customers flock to their places, and the food and especially service take a back seat. 

Maintenance of these facilities are also very often overlooked. 

These kind of restaurants should really be avoided at all costs, because the owners think that customers don't and won't notice the bad service. 

Luckily not all owners are like that, and we do have some restaurants along the Garden Route that offer great food, facilities, service AND location!

A restaurant owner will also respect their customers and staff by dressing their staff, both front and back of house, in decent, clean uniforms. 

To expect their diners to be served by someone who is wearing their (dirty) street clothes, is really disrespectful to both staff and customers.

But as I said earlier, bad service is experienced so often that it has become the norm, and is accepted by the majority of patrons.

Article submitted by George Herald correspondent, an expert in the food industry.

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