Emotionally Unintelligent Restaurateur

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Had the pleasure of meeting some dear friends for Burger Night at a local eatery. I don’t go out often, but was looking forward to the experience, mostly because of the people, but a good burger (bun-less) is also an appeal. I arrived on time, a remarkable event in itself. The place was busy and I was met by a host (think “guard”) who asked if I had a reservation. I don’t but my friends do. I named the friend who invited me. “That name doesn’t sound familiar.” “Okay, I said, may I look around – I’m sure some of them are here.” “No. Follow me.” Cue “Red Napkin Alert” (it’s kind of like a red flag, but designed for restaurants)! Followed the host and found my party… in about 3 seconds. Sat down to pleasant conversation. More people wandered in, until the table was full. We requested separate checks, ultimately 5 checks for 8 people. The server was not thrilled about this request. Red Napkin Alert #2. Ordering was tedious. First we had to order drinks. Then, after that, we were allowed to order food. Re-order of drinks was an inconvenience… to the server. Surly facial expressions, annoyed reactions and avoidance characterized the service for the rest of the evening. We’ll just group all of these as one big alert and call them Red Napkin Alert #3 (RNA). RNA #4? Automatic inclusion of 18% tip which is technically prohibited by the IRS in 2012, but not enforced until 2014. The pièce de rèsistance of alerts – the reaction of the host (who is also the owner) to concerns we raised about having to pay 18% tip for poor service. A member of our group was told to research the law when that individual explained it was the idea of having to tip poor service, not the legality of the tip practice. So, RNA #5 is the owner, who thrives on goodwill of satisfied customers, did not get the real issue – poor service should not be rewarded. To be fair, the auto tips were removed, but the grousing by the server and owner gave us àgita (literally, an upset stomach, but here it describes feeling uncomfortable or bad energy and stress). The point I really want to make is not the obvious one – bad service doesn’t deserve to be rewarded. The key point is more subtle and has to do with emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence, simply put, is the attitude of the boss – positive or negative – trickles down to everyone in the organization. In this case, the owner acted stressed, rigid, and annoyed. Surprise, surprise – the server acted the same way! And, even worse, the lack of emotional intelligence throughout this organization went beyond the employees and affected the customers negatively. Not a great way to build or sustain your “foodie” base. Any suggestions for an emotionally intelligent place to get a good burger on a Thursday night? PS More than 3 RNAs (or one really grievous one!) in one experience, and the only way I go back to that eating establishment is with a personal apology. But, you’d have to have some emotional intelligence to do that!