Lane Cardwell

Questions I Get Asked By Customers

You are in the restaurant industry, or you wouldn’t be reading this. Except you, Mom. Therefore, you know what I am talking about.  Mention to someone what you do for a living and often you get asked questions about why things are the way they are in restaurants. We are fortunate. We work in a very approachable industry that people find interesting. Most of our customers know our industry very well; after all, they have grown up in it. Still, for all of their experience, they still wonder about a few things.

Why is service slow in a table service restaurant when business is slow and there are very few customers? Shouldn’t it be just the opposite?

This drives me crazy, too. During the post-lunch to pre-dinner times, and then again post-dinner, service can slow to a crawl in many restaurants. Certainly one factor is that staffs have been thinned down during these times. I usually don’t mention this, since it is obvious. What I usually say is that after the heat of battle it is only human nature for employees to try and catch their breath.

Pardon me for generalizing, but the few customers that come in during these hours don’t always see our staffs at their sharpest. They are preparing for the next onslaught of customers if dinner is just ahead, or waiting to go home, if dinner is over. Also, running side work can keep employees off of the floor more than is intended. 

Why do so many restaurants serve such big portions? I would love to pay half price for a half-sized portion.

So would I, but it isn’t going to happen. I always tell people that when customers truly want smaller portions, restaurants will respond with smaller portions. With a few exceptions, this hasn’t happened yet. Customers still reward the restaurants that serve larger than normal portions for a slightly increased price with their business and with higher value ratings (See: Cheesecake Factory). The fact that food is marked up 3:1 or 4:1 in a restaurant means that it will always be easier to make an impact with more food than a noticeably lower price. There are signs that this might change over the next few years.

Why don’t most full service chains take reservations? I hate waiting and like to know that I am going to get in when I go somewhere.

There are signs that this might be changing over the next few years, too. Time is becoming more precious to people and they hate spending it in our waiting areas for a table. Most restaurants have had the luxury of not needing to take reservations in the past. Their customers were willing to wait. Several have offered call-ahead seating, but this is only good for the period just before the customer arrives. Most want to know hours or days in advance that they can be accommodated. I know chains that have put in reservations only to find that a fraction of their customers take advantage of them. I believe that the chains that will be most successful in the future will be the ones that take into account the total guest experience. This includes respect for their time.

Why don’t restaurants that offer higher priced items like fish, crab or lobster put the price on the menu? They imply that the market price on these varies wildly, but whenever I order it the price is the same.

Sometimes the price does vary, but more often than not, many restaurants don’t want you to see high prices like these printed on the menu. Personally, I have always believed that if you can put a price on it, even a higher price to absorb the ups and downs of cost swings, you will sell more than if it is an unknown. I know, I know, they can always ask, but they don’t. This leads me to the last question.

Why do restaurants go to all of the trouble of having servers recite daily specials at the table, sometimes in great detail, and not bother to tell you the price? I figure they are not telling me the price for a reason…it’s expensive.

Unfortunately, our customers are usually right. The daily specials do tend to run higher than most menu prices. Many customers will order without price information, giving the restaurant the benefit of the doubt, and are sometimes shocked at the result. A few will ask. Always better that they be told. After all, specials are simply an extension of the menu.

I few years ago I was in a Louisiana seafood restaurant in Dallas for lunch. The prices on the lunch page of the menu ranged from $8.95 to $16.95. My server said that there was a lunch special that was off of the menu. A red snapper topped with crabmeat and served with a small lobster tail. Curious, I asked how much it was. $38.95 was the answer. Ouch! I’m glad that I asked. I wonder how many didn’t; and if they ever returned to the restaurant again.

We are lucky to work in an industry that so many people find interesting enough to talk to us about. We should be using these questions and comments like marketing research. Buried within the question is a problem waiting to be solved or an opportunity ready to be exploited. I would love to hear the questions that you are asked.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on November 17, 2008 | Comments (6)