‘We Have Met the Enemy … And He Is Us’

4 Min Read By Izzy Kharasch

“There’s no such thing as a bad boy.” If you love old movies, you’ll recognize that quote from Boy’s Town, the 1938 classic about Father Flanagan’s work with underprivileged boys. Well, if Father Flanagan worked in the hospitality industry today, he might be saying, “there’s no such thing as a bad server” (or bartender or busser, etc.).

I agree with that statement, which raises the question:  if there’s no such thing as a bad server, why is restaurant service so terrible? The answer: we are our own worst enemies. Every service failure we see today is absolutely preventable. The problem isn’t servers so much as managers and owners.

This year, I’ve spent more than 100 nights in 18 different cities. I eat in dozens of restaurants across the country every month. And yes, service is the worst it’s ever been. The issues are universal. Let’s touch on a few—and then how to fix them.

S-L-O-W GreetingsPre-COVID, the industry standard was that a server should…