I'm a little angry

[Saiyaman]

Well I went to this raffle where I hoped to win a Fender electric guitar, while walking towards the place where the raffle would take place I passed a Greek/ Balkan Grill restaurant with a roast pig above hot coals, the smell making my mouth water.

After the raffle ended (I won nothing) I decided to pay that place a visit, so me and several others also enticed by the smell of grilled food entered. A waitress greeted me with the question if I had reserved a place, to which I said no, she then asked the same question to the others. I overheard her telling the others that the people who had reservations would arrive in two hours time so they could take their seats, seeing that as the go-ahead I picked a table and sat down when all of a sudden the manager arrived at my side.

He again asked me if I had reserved that place. I told him no but since I overheard the waitress telling the others that the people who had reservations would arrive in over two hours, it would be okay. His face went into a look of "oh no..." and he rushed to that waitress, probably to tell her that she shouldn't have said that where I could hear it.

He then presented me with a diagram of as yet to arrive guests and told me that that table was taken. So I asked him if there were any other seats I could take. Again he brought forth the diagram and told me with a nervous "Come-on-don't-make-this-too-difficult-just-get-out-of-here" smile that the whole place was booked.

The place was empty and the people who had reserved a table weren't to arrive in two hours. But being the the kind of guy who avoids arguments, I gave in, put my jacket on and made my way to the exit. But not before I saw a couple come in with the manager asking them if they had made reservations at which they told him "No" and he proceeded to tell them that they could sit down anyway and presented them with the very table where he just got me away from.

So as I walked out I said loudly "SO THEY CAN SIT DOWN AND EAT WHILE I CANNOT EH?" The couple looked confused at the manager who stood there with a crap eating "Oh-god-no-Why-me?" grin on his face.

Sheesh what a stuck up place that was. And even though they wound up not cooking for me they certainly had ME cooking.

 

[Handley_Page]

Hard Luck, mate. The manager should have shut up shop. . . .

We get them, occasionally.

 

[Stella_Omega]

You should have worn your white skin that evening, dude!

Or your Armani suit. You forgot both of those, no wonder the manager tossed you </sarcasm>

 

[3113]

If you were refused a place at the lunch counter for any discriminatory reason--as compared to the fact that you were obnoxious or drunk or whatever, then by all means, report it--to the better business bureau, or a lawyer or whomever. And then try again, this time placing someone with a camera phone nearby to capture it all.

While I appreciate not making a scene, just stalking off in anger, I don't think any one should be allowed to get away with this. If you let them get away with it, then they'll just keep doing it, not only to you but to everyone else.

 

[TE999]

Chalk it up to another example of restaurant assholery and forget it. Fucking maitre d's in these trendy restaurants are petty tyrants of the first order. There isn't a restaurant going that I'll wait in more than ten minutes to be seated even with reservations. Restaurants routinely overbook tables figuring 1/3 of the people won't show up; if they all do, they wait anyway.

 

[sr71plt]

I second the "letter to the Better Business Bureau with a copy to the restaurant" suggestion. No reason not to rattle their cage a bit.

 

[DeeZire]

Was it a race issue? If it was, please ignore my comments and accept my apology for being a white guy. We can be such assholes.

I just read "Last Night at the Lobster" which gives the reader an interesting perspective on the life of a restaurant manager. In your case, the manager could have been worried about the reservations arriving early. If this happens, and you and your friend's tables are not yet cleared, that's on him, and it could cost him his job if the reservations are "very important people." Another issue managers have to deal with is problem customers. If it was a "please wait to be seated" type of place, and you took a table without an employee accompanying you, he could have seen that as a breach of etiquette, giving him the impression you would be more trouble than you were worth.

Granted, the manager could have handled the situation better, but there are always two sides to every story. It would be interesting to hear his, especially his reason for seating the other couple but not you.

"Last Night at the Lobster" (Stewart O'Nan) was good. It's a small book with no sex, but it's never boring. I liked it because it leaves you with things to think about long after you've put it back on the shelf.

 

[3113]

In your case, the manager could have been worried about the reservations arriving early. If this happens, and you and your friend's tables are not yet cleared, that's on him, and it could cost him his job if the reservations are "very important people."

Your argument would be viable if the story told didn't point out that other customers WERE given seating in spite of the reservations (due 2 hours from then) and only Salyaman seemed singled out for not getting to eat there at that time and hour.

Now, of course, maybe Salyaman is neglecting to tell us something that might have made the Manger leery about seating him--like he was drunk or wearing a "Death to Greeks!" teeshirt. But if Salyaman did nothing outwardly wrong then he ought to have been treated like all the other unexpected customers who'd come in at that moment, all of whom got seated and served.

That he wasn't implies that he was discriminated against and that is against the law. Hence, he should make that phone call and have the place checked out.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I'd call 1-800-COSMIC JUSTICE and cry.

 

[3113]

Chalk it up to another example of restaurant assholery and forget it. Fucking maitre d's in these trendy restaurants are petty tyrants of the first order.

This restaurants hardly sounds like one of those, TE. I'd understand if Salyaman said he'd gone to some "must-be-seen-at" restaurant with valets and a reservation list a mile long, but this sounds like either mid-level or slightly above Greek, the sort of place people book for weddings or birthdays or such--full dinner for everyone in the party $25 a plate, and the restaurant can price the meal that low because they know everyone will be ordering shots of alcohol and they'll more than make up the cost that way.

The sort of restaurant that offers bargain gyro lunches.

Restaurant assholery, yes, but I seriously doubt it was of the "trendy" snobby kind.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

There are 3 fersures in life: death, taxes, and people will ruin your day if you let them.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Keep in mind also that all of this was happening in the Netherlands, not the USA.

 

[DeeZire]

... But if Salyaman did nothing outwardly wrong then he ought to have been treated like all the other unexpected customers who'd come in at that moment, all of whom got seated and served. ....

But, according to Salyaman, he did do something wrong - he took a table without a waitress seating him. Or maybe he didn't. It's not entirely clear. Or maybe the other people that got seated were all wearing cleavage tops. If I was the manager, I'd bend the rules for that. I'd have to because I'm a pervert.

Before I read the Stewart O'Nan book, I would have been agreeing with everyone here. It's funny how seeing someone else's POV can change your own, or at least make you consider there's more going on than meets the eye.

The Netherlands? That's it. The manager was high.

 

[3113]

Keep in mind also that all of this was happening in the Netherlands, not the USA.

Hm. Then was it illegal?

 

[njlauren]

I have very little respect for the bs restaurants put out, about how hard it is to run them and so forth. Yes, restaurants like any service industry is a pain in the ass, you have to deal with unruly customers, those whose prime joy in life is finding fault with everything (or trying to get a discount or free meal based on something 'being wrong'), there is no doubt, but they also play fast and loose with a lot of things. I am not a demanding customer, not by any means, but have been shafted enough to know the way things work. For example, you walk into a half empty restaurant and they tell you you have to wait at the bar, hoping you will buy (lucrative) drinks, you have a reservation, and mysteriously, the only table they have is by the kitchen when you booked it a week before and asked for a table near the front of the house (and the more prime tables are not filled when you get in, and odds are, the host/hostess is looking for you to 'tip' them to get upgraded). A lot of restaurant owners also cut corners with quality of the food and so forth, while claiming to use premium grade ingredients (years ago, the New Yorker magazine did a profile on some top rated restaurants that zagats and critics went nuts over, and they found out they were buying gourmet frozen meals from a place in Connecticut and heating them up,and charging high end prices).

You can be a loyal patron of a decent restaurant, been going there for years, took a lot of business there, but if some schmuck decides the place is 'in', you get treated like a peasant, loyalty means very little to them then....there was one restaurant in NYC, an Italian restaurant that had been a neighborhood restaurant with great prices, great food and a really, really great attitude towards customers. It changed, the place got written up by the NY Times, and the owners son, a graduate of some scumbag MBA program, decided to make it go 'upscale'.......prices went through the roof, the food was very pretty on the plate but not very tasty, the beautiful people came...for its 5 minutes of fame, then they found out fame was fleeting, and most of its loyal customers never came back.....I saw the owner about 6 months later and he had the gall to ask me why I didn't go their any more, and I just looked at him, and said I guess I am not one of the beautiful people and I don't have an MBA from Cornell, so I can't appreciate undercooked scallops arranged prettily on a plate or being told that even with a reservation it was unlikely I would have a table in an hour or two...I told him I hope the fame and stardom was worth it, that erasing what had taken 20 years to build up was worth the sacrifice..it wasn't, he attempted to bring the restaurant back to what it once was, but none of the regulars would go back, the tourists had been warned that the beautiful people weren't there, and he had to close it. Hopefully he learned something from it, like he should kick his son's ass until it is inside out, but I doubt it, probably blames the customers for 'not understanding food artistry' or 'the economy'.

If it were me, I would go there when the manager in question was not there, and ask if the owner is ever there, and when, and go back and ask for him/her, and tell them what happened. If they give you the brush off, then tell them you plan on telling family, friends and business acquaintances the place is a write off and spread the not so good word of mouth..but prob not even worth it, if they are like that odds are Zorba is going to find out what bad service does in a regular restaurant.