So, tonight we were deciding between Wildfire and Macaroni Grill. We eventually decided that Macaroni Grill in Hoffman Estates would be our dinner for tonight, so I had Melissa call ahead.
Thinking that calling ahead would get us seated sooner, we were sorry to find out that assumption was incorrect. After arriving at the restaurant, we were told that we would be seated next. That sounded OK to us, but we ended up waiting for at least another five minutes. This is when my level of frustration raised one notch. Several parties had come in and had their names put on the list. They also received pager coasters, which we did not get.
And now my frustration gets kicked up another notch. One of the parties of three that came in about five minutes after we did was buzzed on their pager coaster, as we stand just feet from from the podium at which the hostess stood that told us we would be seated next. Chris was fed up with this, and asked a manager that was at the podium at the time why we were not seated yet, and why our name had disappeared from the list, even as we stood there. We were then quickly seated at one of the many empty tables (which only leads me to believe that this particular hostess was just an idiot).
Once we were finally seated, Meg, our waitress, was wonderful. She was a little slow getting to us the first time, but after that, the service was great. So, if that idiot hostess is there (not that I know her name or could describer her here), I’d turn around and walk right out. I’m personally hoping she gets fired for being an idiot.
2 Responses to “Macaroni Grill”
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I am a hostess at a similar chain restaurant and can explain to you that this “idiot hostess” could have been just doing her job and not trying to just piss you off (highly unlikely). First of all, our restaurant has a policy against taking call-aheads in order to be fair and be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Second of all, your smoking preference could also be the reason why other guests were seated sooner than you, which you may have failed to take into account. Also, there are usually 3 or 4 members of host staff and one manager at the door on a given busy night, and sometimes things can accidently be lost in translation. Please remember that keeping a list of guests and seating open tables is not an “idiot” job, it is stressful. When guests such as yourself lose patience and act rudely, it can ruin an employees night and cause them to be less attentive to other customers because they are worried about your displeased attitude. Also it is important to remember that although you saw empty tables, it is important to seat the servers in a rotation so that they can adequatly care for their guests and not be overloaded, as well as it is important to pace the seating of the guests so the kitchen can better prepare the food you are spending your money on. Believe it or not, all of this is done in YOUR (the guest’s) interest. Next time you enter the restaurant, please remember the humanity of all of the employees and that they are people with feelings who could have had bad days, and for the most part are trying wholeheartedly to comply with your wants and needs as a guest.
Sarah, while I understand that everyone has their place in the world, and I probably could never be a good host at any eaterie without some practice, I still stand by initial call that this particular hostess had rocks in her head. That is not to say that there aren’t any good hosts out there, and it is definitely not a comment on your abilities as a hostess. That being said, let me address your comments in the order you made them.
While your restaurant may have a policy against taking call-aheads, the hosts and signs at the Macaroni Grill we frequent encourage calling ahead, although they will not add your name more than one hour in advance. No, they do not take reservations, but getting your name on the list via a phone call has never been a problem.
As for our smoking preference, while we did ask for a non-smoking table, we were seated at a table right next to the table where the party seated before us was placed. Both tables were non-smoking, so we still should have been seated before them.
To address the “confusion” of the host staff, there were three or four members of the staff, plus a manager in the general vicinity. However, it was only the idiot hostess that took names, assigned parties to tables, and removed names from the list. When the manager wasn’t on the phone dealing with someone, she was mostly just supervising, helping very little with the actual table assignments. And the remainder of the host staff just brought people to their tables when told by the idiot hostess. If anything was “lost in translation,” it happened between the idiot hostess’s brain cells.
I’ve been to many restaurants in my short twenty-four years. I understand that it is a tough job, but if you’re not cut out to do it, go work at McDonald’s or bus the tables instead of screwing up my dining experience from the beginning. I don’t deny that there are many considerations taken when seating parties, but I can’t see how this idiot hostess didn’t disregard the priority of seating parties of the same number and smoking preference on a first-come, first-served basis.
We didn’t lose out patience with the host staff until well after twenty minutes of waiting for our “five minute wait” without being seated. We routinely accept hour long waits for tables at restaurants in the Chicago area, but when we’re told we’ll be seated in five minutes, you damn well better seat us in five or ten minutes. If we were told it would be about a half hour for a table, that would have been fine.
I am generally understanding to anyone who works in the food business, from the hostesses to the waiters to the table bussers. What I don’t tolerate is the uncalled for stupidity and lack of courtesy by other people. When it’s called for, I’m fine with it, although I may not be at the time of the stupidity.
Also, good luck with the communications degree.