‘They’re empty cause it’s a CLOSED SECTION’: Restaurant manager puts guests who point to open tables on blast
A restaurant hostess's video is going viral on TikTok after blasting customers who don't understand the concept of a "closed section" in a restaurant.
There are a number of reasons why a restaurant would close a section of its restaurant. Usually, certain portions of the dining area are not used simply because the business doesn't have enough servers to cover them.
Presto reported in a 2022 article that 86% of restaurants were forced to close down sections of its restaurant due to labor shortages. While a lot of industries post-COVID were able to bounce back from a dearth of employees willing to work for the wages they were offering, there are still a ton of unfilled jobs in this sector. About 450,000 food service positions were open as of January 2023, according to Toast.
TikTok user Kellie (@ambryrae) highlighted a common, frustrating occurrence with customers who can't comprehend that they cannot sit at a table simply because it's empty.
@ambryrae Here- Take my mgr card, codes and keys! That way, you can run this restaurant like you run your MOUTH. #restaurant #hostess #foodservice #manager #serverlife #NextLevelDish #serverproblems #fyp #serviceindustry ♬ original sound - Tyler
"Asking a guest who's gonna serve them, after they point out tables in a closed section bc they're too good to wait for 10 minutes," Kellie writes in the overlay text.
Kellie sums up her feelings in the caption, writing, "Here- Take my [manager] card, codes and keys! That way, you can run this restaurant like you run your MOUTH."
Her frustration is understandable—the more tables that they're able to serve means they're going to earn more money, too. So, it isn't like she or the restaurant staff/owners are intentionally trying to give them a poor dining experience.
Viewers who saw Kellie's TikTok began sharing their own gripes with specific customer inquiries as well.
"I'm in a bit of a rush, I'll just tell you my order and you can bring it to the table, kind of customers," one user wrote.
Another penned, "Or when they resit themselves in a section and tell no one and then wanna throw a tantrum because they’ve been sitting for 15 mins."
Others shared the ways they respond to customers who begin asking restaurant staff to operate outside of normal policy, with one user writing, "My guests HATE when I ask if they wanna clock in since they know so much."
Some also said in spite of their best efforts, customers continue to do what they want anyway, even after they've been instructed otherwise.
"Walking a guy to his table.. 'I’ll just take this one' sorry sir I don’t have a server for this table. Continues to sit anyways," one user shared.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Kellie via TikTok comment for this story.
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