A Celebrated Restaurateur Shares His 5 Service No-No's

Danny Meyer is a restaurateur's restaurateur. As the founder of both high-end eateries like Grammercy Tavern and the affordable Shake Shack chain of burger joints, he's one of the country's most successful and acclaimed food purveyors. So he knows a thing or two about service.

Meyer has also been on the leading edge of the burgeoning movement to

end the entrenched practice of tipping restaurant workers

, instead raising the wages of his restaurants' waitstaff and back-of-house workers and increasing the prices of menu items accordingly.

It was in the context of a recent

New York Times

article on his no-tipping initiatives that Meyer, in an aside, mentioned his "Five Least-Favorite Service-isms":

1. How is everything?
2. Are you still working on that?
3. No problem.
4. Are we enjoying…?
5. I have a little gift from Chef.
   
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   Far be it for me to quibble with someone with Meyer's credentials, but quibble I will.
   
   
   
   How is everything?
   
   
   
   Of Meyer's five no-no's, this is the one I find most perplexing. Certainly, a constant barrage of such queries can be irksome. But the occasional check-in reassures me that I haven't been forgotten. It's a matter of timing and attitude.
   
   
   
   Are you still working on that?
   
   
   
   This is a toughie. On the one hand, depending on the context, it can feel pushy, a pseudo-polite way of hurrying me through the meal so my table can be turned over to the next wave of diners. On the other hand, it can be a welcome reality check: Am I finished or just taking a moment before resuming eating?
   
   
   
   No problem.
   
   
   
   Whether in a business transaction or elsewhere, "no problem" is a problem. Telling me that doing your job isn't a problem tells me that doing your job is a problem. It's a phrase best banished from any and all discourse.
   
   
   
   Are we enjoying…?
   
   
   
   Patronizing, to be sure.
   
   
   
   I have a little gift from Chef.
   
   
   
   It's not clear whether Meyer is objecting to the gift or to its presentation. I'd file this one under not looking a gift horse in the mouth. A little something extra, even if ineptly presented, is better than nothing.
   
   
   
   Reader Reality Check
   
   
   
   What's your service pet peeve?