Sometimes I just wonder if I'm better off just not talking to guests at all. Handle this like a hotel and just shut the heck up. A new review where apparently everything I said is wrong, heck. Nothing I said was right and I need to somehow be able to seat 15 people for breakfast in a 2 hour long procession.
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Ok, take a deep breath. Don't freak out. It's a 3 star, so not so bad.
Is there a way you can remove emotion and evaluate if the review has any merits? Is there anything you can change or improve on? Are there too many rules in their faces?
We're not always going to 'click' with every guest, but maybe you need to dial it down a little or use humor when guests are crossing a boundary.
Your reviews are filled with guests who love who you are and their interactions with you and you don't need to change who you are, but maybe take a second or two before you react. I know that over the years I've definitely had to change how I approach a guest when a negative happens.
It's a 3 star... when I just got another 3 star a few weeks ago and I'm moving way down in the ranks.
It's a case of not being able to win. If I had managed to pack everyone at the table, they would have complained about that. Everything in that review is perception and not reality. And an A/C when it's above freezing outside? And the milk, really, I had to rush to her while I have food on the stove?
We get these people, too. 'How are you going to feed everyone, there aren't enough seats!' and they show up at 7:30 to eat so they're sure they get a table.
I have no idea how to tone down or turn off in the morning. I am moving among the tables chatting with everyone. If I start to chat and you bury your nose in your phone, I move on. One more chance when I deliver the breakfast. After that, entertain yourselves.
As for guests wanting, wanting, wanting when I'm doing delivery, I try to add it to the list for the next trip out of the kitchen. Otherwise, it's 'help yourself' to what's out and wait a minute until I can get to it.
I know I have a tendency to to put my hand up like a cop when guests start into the kitchen. If I'm really busy plating I'm short with the guest. I know they don't like that but I swear I WILL be back out the 10 feet it takes to get to the dining room and they CAN see that we're busy and not standing around chatting to each other.
Totally understand moving down the list. We've dropped 2 slots since August and given we only get 1-2 reviews/month that's not changing unless the other places crash and burn.
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What gets me is that a hotel that sleeps 1000 guests doesn't have a dining room for 1000 people.... it doesn't make sense at all. That's the point of having two seatings. And if you want to dawdle, then why not take the later, where there is no pressure to move?
What I still don't understand about guests in the kitchen. Would they walk into the kitchen at a restaurant or ask the waiter and wait? Would they walk into the back of a pharmacy and just serve themselves? Do they just go into the back of stores? Seriously? What the feck are they thinking? It is NOT their home.