"jmcquown" > wrote in message
. ..
> Nancy Young wrote:
>> We went to this restaurant that had ribs as a theme ... not a
>> rib joint, actually, but a restaurant. I don't remember what we
>> ordered, that was some time ago, but I guess we ordered an
>> appetizer, dinner, dessert, there was a bread basket, couple of
>> rounds of drinks. I think that pretty well describes it.
>>
>> Sat down, ordered drinks, over came the drinks, ordered the
>> appetizer, that came along with the requisite little dishes for each
>> of us, then came dinner. Along with another drink, no doubt.
>>
>> Now, to describe the setting; we were sitting at a table for two,
>> to say, not as large as my desk. Rectangular and not much wider
>> than a person on the sitting sides. (laugh ... did I mangle that
>> badly enough?)
>>
>> Drinks, appetizer, bread plates, salad ... this was really a stretch,
>> but we got everything to fit. Next came dinner. Well, the waitress
>> didn't
>> take anything away with her. As in empty plates/glasses. Luckily
>> or fortuitously, there was a ledge that the table butted up against,
>> it held a large planter. Enough room so that we started stacking
>> dishes on it.
>>
>> Well, we didn't order THAT much food, but everything came on a
>> separate plate, ribs on one plate, vegetable in a little bowl, etc.,
>> you get the idea.
>>
>> We were laughing our ass off, I swear, we left after paying the bill,
>> you didn't even have a place to put the thing down so you could sign
>> it. None of this seemed to faze the waitress AT ALL.
>>
>> Honest, I was waiting for Peter Funt to come over and say we'd
>> been had.
>>
>> nancy
>
> This is why, if I owned a restaurant, there wouldn't be any duces (tables
> for two) except in the bar area where most likely only an appetizer would
> be
> served along with drinks.
>
> Part of a good servers' job is to pre-bus the table - remove empty bowls,
> plates, glassware. God, where do you have to to go get good help these
> days?!
>
> Jill

I don't know how many times I've been served my food and after the person
walked away, I realized I didn't have fork, knife and spoon. ARRRGHHHH. A
normal response if you ask another person is that they will "have to locate"
your server. Then when the utensils are delivered, you put up with the
server's apology (if there is one). At my last dinner out where the food
was wonderful and the waiter was good natured, there were no napkins, so we
got up and got them off another table instead of 'harrassing' the wait
person for napkins, we didn't want to break the spell.
Dee Dee