Restaurants and many other eateries, have changed.

[Marshal Dan Troop 70448]

Lately, many places we use to go for occasional night out, have changed and we won't be going back. No waitresses or waiters, menus are electronic devises on tables and you pay on same, (it maybe just us, but because of previous problems, we only use cash at restaurants). One place, while out of town, didn't even have anyone come around to fill up our coffee cups. Found out later, you had to go to electronic devise and ask for 2nd cup.

We did find a couple of Ma and Pa type restaurants that still do it the old fashion way and have our business.

We don't do Fast Food after seeing people handling food items without gloves, wiping their hands with same rags they use to clean the counter then picking up food items to wrap with those same hands. Its been over 6 years since our last Fast food stop.  

While on the road, so far at least, Cracker Barrel is still doing a good old fashion job.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I have noticed the samrething, and I won't be going back, either.

 

Sure cuts down on decision-making when I decide where I want to go.

[Eyesa Horg]

We stopped at McSlowfood the other day as no where else was open. Kiosk didn't work, no table tent things, trash hadn't been emptied as trays were stacked on tables and the floor around all six trash locations! No ice in the soda machine and soda was warm. Food had obviously been cooked hours earlier and was barely warm. No receipt available as no one could put paper in the Kiosk or figure out how to do it at the unmanned register.

Then they got the gall to have big signs telling me how they pay $16 an hour. All the help appears to have eaten all the hot food and just came from Walmart. Totally disgusting experience!

[Chicken Rustler, SASS #26680]

For some people this is more convenient and for some it's less convenient. Since I go to a restaurant for food it's not really a factor, except for the tip amount.

[Blackwater 53393]

Had a very nice experience yesterday when me ‘n’ Schoolmarm went out to lunch!

 

We were seated immediately and before we were settled in our chairs, a nice young lady was there to take our drink order. While we perused the menu, she returned with beverages and bread and took our appetizer order.

 

When she returned with the appetizer, she brought refills of beverages and took our entree order.

 

The entrees were brought in short order and she made sure that they were correct. Then she brought Schoilmarm a second glass of wine and made sure my glasses were filled again!

 

Without being intrusive, she returned twice to see that we were still all good and on a third trip, brought “to go” boxes and the check.

 

The food was great, the service better, and we left her a nice gratuity.

 

All in all, a fine meal.  McARTHUR!!

[Pat Riot]

We have not been eating at restaurants that utilize kiosks or table terminals. They do not need my money because they save money by firing staff. Screw ‘em!

We do get take out food at Burger King and China Wok (great Chinese American food, by the way) and we occasionally eat at local eateries with traditional staffing. 
 

I would sooner eat a bag of chips and a Mountain Dew from a convenience store than use a kiosk. 

[Smokin Gator SASS #29736]

I have seen the kiosks at fast food joints but never run across them in a restaurant or diner.

[Pat Riot]

2 hours ago, Smokin Gator SASS #29736 said:

I have seen the kiosks at fast food joints but never run across them in a restaurant or diner.

They have these table top tablets or mini computer pods. 
These all came out during Covid. Duh…stop disease by having every one handle a computer.  Idiots!

[Rip Snorter]

Oddity - A new Mediterranean Restaurant my Wife wanted to try.  Format weird - you pick your own table and get given a menu, you then go up order and pay at the register.  You get a table sign to carry back and your food is delivered.  Food was good, but a flavor profile I haven't encountered before.  Gyros in pita that had been fried, plenty of gyros, veg and cheese, but not typical Greek flavor.  Crispy, spicy and very tasty fries, again odd but good seasoning.  The sauce that came with the Gyros, very unusual and good, but somehow a mismatch.  Usually I can duplicate something I have tasted - not a clue this time. Staff very friendly, trendy in dress and manner, but not a complex job.  Not at all unpleasant, but there won't be a second visit.

[Blackwater 53393]

8 minutes ago, Pat Riot said:

They have these table top tablets or mini computer pods. 
These all came out during Covid. Duh…stop disease by having every one handle a computer.  Idiots!

They even have ‘em with games and stuff on ‘em to keep you occupied while you wait on their lousy service!!

 

The only one that we go to that I’ll even acknowledge is Red Robin and since I usually pay cash and they know it, they don’t even leave the damned thing on my table!!

 

Yesterday’s meal was at Twin Peaks, basically a hillbilly Hooters. They wear midriff flannel shirts and Daisy Duke jean shorts.  Schoolmarm suggested it because the food’s great and the service is great and they have a really good lobster roll!!

 

Not a sign of a kiosk or computer in the place!!  There WAS a nice looking axe on our table though!! 

[bgavin]

34 of us scheduled a dinner party at a local eatery a few days back.
We were the only business in the place.

Our waiter was a bitchy queen who was whining in full drama mode about our request for separate checks.

He was so rude, I stood up and called him on it.

I reminded him that he would have to do separate checks for 17 separate couples.

I then sought out the manager, told him what a complete a**hole this guy was, and that we were NEVER coming back again.

 

[Matthew Duncan]

4 hours ago, Chicken Rustler, SASS #26680 said:

For some people this is more convenient and for some it's less convenient. Since I go to a restaurant for food it's not really a factor, except for the tip amount.

Yep.  China Flu scare had businesses investing in “no contact” equipment in order to stay open and the socialist’s dictating ridiculous minimum wage increases.  Plus the indoctrination of “ entitlement” instead of “earning” put the kabash on available trainable employees.

Edited November 5 by Matthew Duncan

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

I'm a cheap SOB, so we don't eat out at "nice" places. But there are a couple places that we frequent. One is a chain, Jerry Bob's. Breakfast and lunch place. Decent food and good service. 

Probably our favorite is Cappys. Family owned and operated. Cappy is the cook, his wife the Head Waitress. A couple daughters and the wife's sister work there too, as well as her best friend. Good old American food, as well as Mexican. That's where my Grumpy Lunch Bunch meets.  

When my friend Derek first suggested that we meet for lunch, he had a few other places in mind, but I talked him into Cappys. He never wanted to try any place else since. He takes other people there too. 

The only place I've ever seen a kiosk is McDummys. I don't go there anymore, and I'll NEVER go someplace that has one. Same idea as the self checkout anywhere. I won't use them. 

[Warden Callaway]

One of the few outings for Mary and I is a road trip with lunch at independent cafe or dinner.  We lost as many as we've gained.  We've found three new places this year.  One small place is always busy. Mostly farmers and construction workers for customers.  They seem to have five waitresses and they are about at a dead run.  Another is a bit more high tone.  Big dining room and nice decorations.  Waitresses are great. Prices are higher than we want to spend but we take enough home for another meal. The third place is very odd. It was a converted small church,  I'm told. It's in a small one horse town out in grain country.  Mostly farmers and retired folks.  Prices are a few years behind.  The food and service is excellent.  We had a catfish sandwich there last week. I commented to Mary that it staid hot to the last bite.  I concluded they must fry it up to order rather than fry up a bunch and put it in warming pans. The odd thing,  they are only open from 11:00am to 1:30pm - Monday through Friday.  They have fried chicken special every other Wednesday.  They said they cook up 60 chickens and it's all gone in 20 minutes.  I don't have a clue why the short times open. 

[Matthew Duncan]

3 hours ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

…Same idea as the self checkout anywhere. I won't use them. 

I’m curious.  How do you refill your vehicle(s)?

[Warden Callaway]

Talking with guys that rent our pasture.  They said they walked into local Toco Bell and all the ordering was automated tutch screen. They turned and walked out. 

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Matthew Duncan said:

I’m curious.  How do you refill your vehicle(s)?

Completely different. If you can find a full serve station, it costs more. In effect you're getting a discount for doing it yourself. When they first started self service gas stations, self serve was cheaper than full serve. If Walmart offered a discount for self checkout, I'd be all over it.

[Rip Snorter]

3 minutes ago, Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 said:

Completely different. If you can find a full serve station, it costs more. In effect you're getting a discount for doing it yourself. When they first started self service gas stations, self serve was cheaper than full serve. If Walmart offered a discount for self checkout, I'd be all over it.

I haven't seen but one full service station in decades, except for one owned by neighbors.  Mostly I DIY and we chat.

[Subdeacon Joe]

6 hours ago, Pat Riot said:

They have these table top tablets or mini computer pods. 
These all came out during Covid. Duh…stop disease by having every one handle a computer.  Idiots!

 

I saw them in a few chain restaurants long before the Fauci Flu.

 

6 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

Food was good, but a flavor profile I haven't encountered before.  Gyros in pita that had been fried, plenty of gyros, veg and cheese, but not typical Greek flavor.

 

Sounds like some sort of fusion cuisine.  Greek/Moroccan?

[Warden Callaway]

An independent small station opened up in an old facility.  Just a glass box with oils and limited supply of auto related stuff. Attendance would pump your gas and take your payment on the spot. They were committed to having the lowest price in town. Very popular with the older folks. Guess they sold their lot. There is a KFC there now. 

[Rip Snorter]

Suspect you are right - I have sampled and even tried to cook all sorts of ethnic cuisine.  This was just good but very different.  I made a popular Japanese street food, Okonomiyaki, and it was good but like nothing I have eaten before in a long foodie life.  If you want to try it, you can look online, there is even a kit, though it assumes you will have common Japanese ingredients in the pantry.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

21 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

I haven't seen but one full service station in decades, except for one owned by neighbors.  Mostly I DIY and we chat.

NJ still has people pump your fuel. It apparently is a law/regulation. They will not let you pump your own. Until the China Flu NJ prices were better than some others, like NY, which doesn’t have service attendants. Recently I’m told NJ State upped the $/gal tax. Still have friends and family there.

 

CJ

[Rip Snorter]

1 minute ago, Cactus Jack Calder said:

NJ still has people pump your fuel. It apparently is a law/regulation. They will not let you pump your own. Until the China Flu NJ prices were better than some others, like NY, which doesn’t have service attendants. Recently I’m told NJ State upped the $/gal tax. Still have friends and family there.

 

CJ

Interesting - I lived and worked there 40 odd years back, and most places you pumped your own gas - even in the Carter era, though you were limited to certain days.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 minute ago, Rip Snorter said:

Interesting - I lived and worked there 40 odd years back, and most places you pumped your own gas - even in the Carter era, though you were limited to certain days.

They might have changed the rules when too many people set their cars on fire or something. (More likely they spilled gas and it became an "environmental" concern.

Back in the '80s when I was stationed in the Boston area, it was illegal to pump your own too.

[Cactus Jack Calder]

1 minute ago, Rip Snorter said:

Interesting - I lived and worked there 40 odd years back, and most places you pumped your own gas - even in the Carter era, though you were limited to certain days.

Yeah, I don’t know when that changed or who had the clout to mandate that service attendants be given job protection by State Government. I left NJ in 1975 to move across the border to NY. My job mandated that I live in the service area to be able to handle standby. 
 

CJ

[Subdeacon Joe]

27 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Suspect you are right - I have sampled and even tried to cook all sorts of ethnic cuisine.  This was just good but very different.  I made a popular Japanese street food, Okonomiyaki, and it was good but like nothing I have eaten before in a long foodie life.  If you want to try it, you can look online, there is even a kit, though it assumes you will have common Japanese ingredients in the pantry.

 

We try not to have many unusual-to-Americans ingredients that get used almost exclusively in one cuisine, but usually can find something close. 

 

I love trying fusion receipts,  "No!  No way on God's green Earth that can work!"  (skeptically adding weird ingredient) "Dang! That's GOOD! Strange, but GOOD."

[Boggus Deal #64218]

22 hours ago, Blackwater 53393 said:

Had a very nice experience yesterday when me ‘n’ Schoolmarm went out to lunch!

 

We were seated immediately and before we were settled in our chairs, a nice young lady was there to take our drink order. While we perused the menu, she returned with beverages and bread and took our appetizer order.

 

When she returned with the appetizer, she brought refills of beverages and took our entree order.

 

The entrees were brought in short order and she made sure that they were correct. Then she brought Schoilmarm a second glass of wine and made sure my glasses were filled again!

 

Without being intrusive, she returned twice to see that we were still all good and on a third trip, brought “to go” boxes and the check.

 

The food was great, the service better, and we left her a nice gratuity.

 

All in all, a fine meal.  McARTHUR!!

Had the very same kind of experience. Travel for work. Once I find a good place, I go back. Been in one place once a month for 2-3 months. Very young lady about 18, always happy and smiling and polite. Sees the hostess seat me and brings my tea and sweetener I prefer and after her usual, cheerful greeting, tells me that they have the sandwich I had asked for a month ago that they were out of then. Not only was I impressed, she was well tipped. I wanted to poach her to work for my company but am not a poacher.