Archive for April, 2006

Resource: U.S. Business Dining Etiquette

April 30, 2006 at 7:48 pm · Filed under article, etiquette, resource

While restaurant etiquette can vary with your location, the same can be said with the situation. The business lunch/dinner with a client or employer can be especially delicate because of business-related matters (e.g. job, deal). For this reason, many sites (especially college career centers) and articles are available to provide some guidance.

Articles:
"Doing Lunch Right" by Ann Brown (Black Enterprise, Apr.12,2006)

"How to succeed at a business lunch" by Marc Ramirez (Seattle Times, Mar.14,2006)

"CEOs say how you treat a waiter can predict a lot about character" by Del Jones (USA Today, Apr.17,2006)

"Know your essential business dining etiquette" by Denise Burton (Los Angeles Business Journal, Nov. 1, 2004)

"Avoid Business Lunch Blunders" by Edward Klink (Horsemouth, May 13,2002)

Sites:
Diner Digest's "American Table Manners"
Virginia Tech's "Dining Etiquette Q&A"
Ball State University's "Basic Table Manners"

If you have other links or resources to add to this, please let us know here or at our forums.

note: future postings will cover general and business dining etiquette in other regions (e.g. East Asia)

Happy Eating.

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Resource: International Tipping Etiquette

April 29, 2006 at 10:57 pm · Filed under etiquette, international, tipping

Empowered dining includes knowing the tipping etiquette for restaurants in other parts of the world. Below are articles and web sites to provide some guidance:

- BBC's International Tipping Etiquette
- Magellan's Worldwide Tipping Guide
- A few tips on handling gratuities worldwide (SFGate.com)
- Quinwell's International Rules of Tipping
- The Original Tipping Page
- Tipper! (Denton Software Group) – Free Palm program with tipping tools and guidelines.

Happy Eating.

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Resource: Specialty Restaurant Review Sites

April 28, 2006 at 5:30 pm · Filed under resource, restaurant reviews

Many web sites specialize on reviewing restaurants for a specific cuisine (e.g. burrito), feature (e.g. pet-friendly), or region (e.g. JatBar). These sites can sometimes be more helpful than general review sites because of their focus and experience. You might find tips and advice on these sites not found elsewhere. 

Here are some examples:

Burritos:
Burrito Eater
Burritophile

Sushi:
The Sushi World Guide

Vegatarian:
Vegetarian-Restaurants.net

Kosher:
KosherDine

Halal:
Zabihah

Pet-Friendly:
Dog-Friendly Outdoor Restaurant Guide

Local Eateries Along Highways:
Road Food

Local Restaurants:
JatBar (SF/Bay Area)

You have a specialty restaurant review site that you would like to recommend? Let us know here or in our forums.

p.s.: check out the restaurant review search engines made with Rollyo.com on the right side under "Tools". You can use Rollyo.com to make your own restaurant review search engine for your city using local papers, weeklies, blogs, and web sites.

Happy Eating.

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Article: “Inside the House: Preferred Seating”

April 27, 2006 at 4:32 pm · Filed under article, etiquette, seating

Want to be an empowered diner and get the "good tables", here's some advice from a hostess in DC:

excerpt:
"And as you tuck into your pasta, you think, "Who are all these people who always get good tables? What do they have that I don't? They must be real Washington insiders, with tons of money and clout. No one cares about little old me."

Well, folks, there is a bit of truth in your thinking. But not a whole lot.

The truth is that these people do have something you don’t: information and experience. Most restaurants are in the business of pleasing people. Nothing pleases us better than giving you what you want — assuming we know what you want in time to make that happen. And people who get good tables know that."

source: "Inside the House: Preferred Seating" by Nadya S. Nikiforova (DCist.com, Apr.25, 2006)

Also, be sure to check out the article "Dude, you ordered a burger" for insights from Boston's waitstaff on "acting like a normal human being in restaurants".

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Article: “Before you go: Tips for prom dinner”

April 26, 2006 at 7:27 pm · Filed under article, customer service, etiquette, reservations, tipping

Here are some tips for being an empowered diner for your prom dinner:

excerpt:
"- Make your reservation as far in advance as possible. May and June are popular months, not only for prom groups, but also for high school and college graduations. Popular time slots — 7 to 8 p.m. — go fast. Call early and if you have your heart set on a specific place, be prepared to take an early dinner reservation time.

- Show up on time — or even slightly early — and that means the entire group. Guests who straggle in 20 to 30 minutes late ruin the pace of the dinner for their companions and delay the next group's reservation.
 
- Reconfirm your reservation with the…"

click for more: "Before you go: Tips for prom dinner" by Candy Sagon (Washington Post, Apr.26,2006)

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Resource: Advice on getting good restaurant service

April 25, 2006 at 10:40 pm · Filed under article, customer service, etiquette, reservations, resource, tipping

In addition to having a mutual respect, empowered diners are informed on how to help the waitstaff make it an enjoyable experience for everyone. Below are some related articles:

- How to Get the Best Food and Service in Your Favorite Restaurant

- Restaurant etiquette and manners: waiters and getting a great table

- Restaurant Etiquette: Getting Our Manners Back in Shape

- words of the wise for restaurant go-ers…Tip accordingly

- Surviving Restaurants

- Dude, You Ordered a Burger

- How to Make Service More Efficient

- Art of Sucking Down

for the more adventurous reading:
- How to score with a waitress (via Restaurant Girl Speaks blog)
- How to order wine without looking like an a**hole (via Waiterrant.net)

Happy Eating.

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Resource: Free Tipping Resources for Customers and Waitstaff

April 24, 2006 at 10:33 pm · Filed under resource, tipping

Another aspect of empowered dining is to be informed about the different aspects of tipping. Everyone has their view about tipping, however for those interested in learning more, we offer these links:

Customers:
Free wallet-size printable 15-20% tipping chart
International Tipping Customs
Tip20! Article Archive (example article: "Top Ten Things I Wish People Knew About Waiters")
Dr.Michael Lynn's Tipping Research Links

Waitstaff:
Free guide on increasing tips from Dr. Michael Lynn, Cornell University 2004 (CNN commentary on guide)
Tip!20 Front of House Resources
Waiter and Waitress Tips and Advice (forum discussion)
Tips to increase tips? (forum discussion)

If you have other links or resources to add to this, please let us know here or at our forums. Happy Eating.

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Resource: Restaurant Review Sites

April 24, 2006 at 9:47 pm · Filed under resource, restaurant reviews

Here are some popular restaurant review sites that allow people to post about their dining experiences. Some sites cover cities all over the country, and some cover only local areas:

nationwide:
Citysearch.com 
Yelp.com
Dine.com  
We8there.com
Tribe.net (choose "restaurant" under "local favorites", ex. SFBay)
Chefmoz.org
Zagat.com (subscription-based)
and more…

local  (examples of restaurant review sites only covering the SF Bay Area):
Sfsurvey.com  
Jatbar.com

Which sites do you use on a regular basis to read and/or post about restaurants? Feel free to include discussion forums or blogs too. Let us know here or in our forums.

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Perspectives: Serving a mile in their shoes.

April 23, 2006 at 9:01 pm · Filed under article, perspectives, waitstaff

Here are two articles of restaurant critics taking a look from the other side of the tray:

"My Week as a Waiter" by Frank Bruni (New York Times, Jan.25, 2006)

"A server's-eye view" by April Lisante (Philadelphia Daily News, Apr.13,2006)

Part of empowered dining is to not only be knowledgeable about restaurants, foods, but also the people helping provide the pleasurable dining experience. These articles help provide some education and perspective about being part of a restaurant waitstaff.

We believe that a mutual respect between the diners and waitstaff helps make the dining experience enjoyable for everyone.

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Resource: Amazon.com Restaurant Services

April 22, 2006 at 12:48 am · Filed under customer feedback, menus, resource, restaurant reviews

excerpt:
"Now, in addition to purchasing products at Amazon.com, you can also find helpful information about local restaurants, including the ability to view their menus online. The selection is enormous! Here's how it works:

You can either browse or search to find helpful restaurant information at Amazon.com. To browse, simply click the Restaurants link on either the left side of the Amazon.com home page or from the store directory page, which you reach by clicking See More Stores in the upper right corner of any page. From the Restaurant page, you can easily browse by city, neighborhood, or cuisine type."

link: Amazon.com Restaurant Services 

Part of WaiterBell's mission for "empowered dining" is to post information and resources useful to restaurant go-ers. If you have similar information feel free to let me know or use the Team WaiterBell forums.

I am not sure how this Amazon service will develop, but if the response has the same success as their product reviews, it should be very interesting.

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