Fine dining restaurants typically have high standards for service. If you have ever done a fine dining restaurant mystery shop, you know how detailed the questions can be.
The four-star Le Bernardin restaurant in New York City has exacting standards for service. In fact, they have a list of 129 “sins” that staff are to avoid when serving customers.
Many of the these will be familiar to mystery shoppers, as they are the kinds of things we are asked to evaluate in our reports:
- Not acknowledging guests with eye contact and a smile within 30 seconds. First impressions count!
- Not thanking the guests as they leave. Last impression!
- Forks with bent tines.
- Chipped glassware.
- Burned-out lightbulbs.
- Lack of eye contact.
- Not refilling water or coffee.
- Soiled or ill-fitting uniforms.Continue Reading
The new year is almost upon us, and that is the time many of us make resolutions. This year, in addition to the usual resolutions about losing weight or getting organized, there will be an emphasis on resolutions to spend less and save more money. That is where mystery shopping can help.
As mystery shoppers, we are in the business of evaluating the service provided by waiters and other service providers.
, a new book by someone called “The Waiter,” (but since publication, identified as Steve Dublanica) tells the other side of the story: what happens behind the scenes at a restaurant and what waiters really think of the customers.