Chain Leader

Lane Cardwell

The Dirty Dozen
June 20, 2008

I have reached into the literary depths of AOL to pull out this collection of 12 restaurant tricks that our customers claim that we are purposely perpetrating on them. Once it hits the media, it doesn't matter whether it is true or not, you are guilty as charged. I have had several friends comment on this story on AOL, and ask whether these things really happen. I explained that the media's job is to entertain, as well as to inform, and that they shouldn't believe everything that they read. The usual response? "Of course you would say that." I rest my case.
 
The point is, when times get tough, everyone assumes that companies are going to try to do what they can to make up lost profits. Even honest mistakes start to take on sinister intentions. I also know that human nature can sometimes trump our best efforts to enforce standards through our systems. Many managers are on bonuses tied to the profitability of their restaurants. They may be completely tied to profits, they may be a little tied to profits, but when profits drop, so do most bonuses. Most managers have been at this long enough to know that some months will be bad, and that the good months will make it even. But when the industry has had so many bad months of sales softness and cost pressures, the temptation to make back some bonus dollars through "creative restauranting" is inevitable, and must be watched for through your system.
 
On the other hand, maybe you are teaching your managers how to "earn back" some of the profits that have been hard to come by lately. You know you shouldn't be doing it, but you are getting pressure from above. You run a schlocky operation, and you know it. In that case, maybe you will find a few new tricks to add to the ones that you are already teaching your team. The rest of us can only hope that you go out of business quickly, before you give the good operators a bad name.
 
AOL wasn't so kind as to hide the names of the restaurants or chains. I see no reason to indict on the basis of one person's comment. Remember, the media want our customers to think that these activities are commonplace in our industry.
 
1. The shrinking bread basket. "A couple days ago, I went to a Major Italian Chain with my fiancé. When we were having dinner I asked if they could bring us another basket of bread. The waitress brought the bread basket to the table and when I looked there were only two breadsticks in the bread basket. Before they would serve five at a time."

2. No charge, so they say. "The menu at A Diner specifically says 'No charge for Egg Beaters.' However, whenever it's ordered, the 'computer' automatically includes a surcharge for it. I've told their management several times ... I think that they think they will make more money if people don't realize they get banged for that surcharge by not carefully checking their bill against the menu price."

3. Fake steak, fake chicken. "Restaurants have been using what I call fake chicken and steaks for years. These products are reconstituted meats that have been ground down and mixed with water and other by-products and then pressure assembled to look like real steak. They don't even attempt to make the chicken look like natural parts anymore. Their favorite chicken dishes are 'grilled salads' or include chicken cooked in some method that makes the meat unidentifiable."

4. Veal switcheroo. "When ordering veal parmesan or veal cutlet at a restaurant or diner, I have found on quite a few occasions that it was actually pork. Veal should be grey or light brown when cooked. When you see the fried cutlet is white upon slicing it, you've been swindled."

5. Just-like-new sushi. "You may notice the taste of disinfectant at sushi bars on fish that is older than it should be, and then is palmed off on customers. Rather than chuck older cuts of fish, this is a common practice even in some of your favorite sushi bars. They only do it on certain fish and they do it hoping to get away with it!"

6. Steakhouse cutbacks. "My family and I recently visited A Major Chain Steakhouse, and noticed that they've cut back on their portions. There was no change in my filet because it is sold by the weight; however, I did notice one side was filled with fat (about 1 oz). I never noticed fat on my filet before. I believe that in the past, they would normally trim it off. Also, my daughter had the kiddie ribs, and she only got four. There used to be six. They're stretching one slab into three kids meals instead of two."

7. Fake mimosas at brunch. "My husband and I went to our favorite Italian restaurant for Sunday brunch. They offered unlimited champagne and/or mimosas. My husband noticed the manager behind the back bar was mixing seltzer water with an egg and a little champagne and OJ and then serving them to people as mimosas. I'm not much of a drinker and don't care for the taste of alcohol and usually order mimosas to help ease the flavor. When he told me what (he saw), I was in disbelief, and watched very carefully and saw him do it myself."

8. Cup of soup = bowl. "I've worked in many restaurants and the fact is that every one I've worked in ... a cup of soup contained the same amount as a bowl. The shape of the dish just makes it look like more."

9. Seafood product substitution. "Many restaurants are substituting Asian-type fish for wild-caught grouper and red snapper to increase their margin of profit at the expense of the unsuspecting consumer. A very unhealthy situation."

10. Robust salad is now skimpy. "We loved the Santa Fe Chopped Salad from A Major Mexican Chain. It USED to be a nice big salad, with a whole chopped chicken breast, half an avocado, a nice portion of crumbled bleu cheese, bacon, roasted corn salsa and roasted peppers. The ingredients would cover the romaine lettuce. Dressing was a nice sized portion. NOW, you have to search for everything but the lettuce. Maybe you'll get a tablespoon of chicken, and about as much of everything else, on half-romaine, half-iceberg lettuce."

11. Where's the beef? "Our favorite Mexican restaurant has cut back on the 1 pound beef fajitas. Now it is more likely 3/4 of pound. Before it used to be 1.25 pounds of meat, usually shared between two people. When you order a pound of meat do you get a pound of meat at your restaurant?"

12. Diminished dumplings. "I went to a Small Chinese Chain. I ordered the fried dumplings appetizer, which I've ordered many times in the past. This time I noticed that there were only five dumplings. Last time I was there, a couple months ago, there were six at the same price."

Here's the really bad news. I only used 12 of the 24 examples that were given in the story. Just like urban legends that won't go away, stories like this have a way of becoming the accepted truth if we give our customers half of a reason to believe them. I have seen an entire chain brought to its knees by a bonus program that rewarded "unauthorized" cost cutting. Don't let it happen to you.

Posted by Lane Cardwell on June 20, 2008 | Comments (4)