A long time client of ours was propositioned to become a partial owner of another establishment. He wanted my staff to go in and check how the operation was being run so that he could get a third party judgment view of the restaurant. The spotter’s report (truncated as many parts needed to be removed for privacy reasons) was rather stunning at how horribly this establishment is being run.
Bartender Summary
- Bartender: Xxxxx female with long curly blond hair. She wore a black shirt with blue jeans. She was audibly identified as Xxxxx by servers.
The agent was seated at the bar and greeted by the bartender approx 2 minutes later. The bartender was friendly, but not overtly courteous or positive. She did not smile often, and she did not interact with patrons in a friendly or positive way.
The bartender’s pours were consistently accurate. She poured a steady 4 count (4 count = 1 ½ oz) for cocktails and seemed to use correct recipes.
All of the drinks she served included correct garnishments, and straws. She was not consistent with using cocktail napkins at the bar. She would place drinks directly onto the bar top.
Bar tabs were kept on paper tickets that the bartender would stick onto the metal freezer with a magnet. The bartender would mark tabs on the refrigerator. The agent did not see any supplemental accountability measures in place to ensure that the drinks were being marked on the tab. In other words, the agent feels that there is no way to know if the bartender was, in fact, was ringing in all the drinks served.
The agent also found that the bartender was accepting many server call outs. Servers were generally be at a table near the kitchen area and call out to the bartender to get a drink for them. The bartender would give the drink to them over the bar and take no money from the server in exchange for the drink. The agent also found this very troubling since there is no way to know if the server was charging for the drinks or not.
The bartender would frequently leave from behind the bar for extended periods of time. The bartender would disappear leaving the servers and patrons at the bar to literally fend for themselves. The agent observed servers go behind the bar on numerous occasions getting bottled beer. The agent did not see any server pour their own cocktail, but did help themselves to bottled beer. Needless to say, this is very troubling and opens the door wide open to potential abuses by servers.
Finally, the agent found the bartender eating a meal while on duty behind the bar. She stood in the middle of the bar area next to a table that held a plate with some pasta on it. She stood eating and then would serve drinks while she ate without washing her hands. This is an Arizona Health Code Violation. The agent found it unprofessional for an employee to be eating while on duty, especially while at their post.
Wait Staff Summary
- Server: Xxxxx female with long brown hair and a slender physique. She identified herself as Xxxxx.
The agent was seated and almost immediately approached by the server. Xxxxx carried herself with a positive demeanor and was friendly when talking with patrons. She asked for a drink order and wrote it on a pad. She then went over to the poker tables and took numerous orders from the poker players as well. She then went to the kitchen area and started to sort her orders on her tray. She used separate papers to write the orders on, so by the end of her round she had a stack of papers to go through. She took a few minutes to sort herself out, and then started to input the kitchen orders and (surprisingly) went behind the bar to start getting her own beers. She served the poker players drinks, but did not establish a form of payment. She did not collect cash or credit cards while she served drinks. The agent does not know which system she was using to ensure the right drinks were put on the right tabs, especially for the poker players.
Unlike many of the poker player’s drinks, the agent’s drink order took a very long time. The agent’s drink order was taken at 7:35, but were not delivered until 7:50. The agent believes a 15 minute wait time is far too much for a simple drink order.
Xxxxx seemed knowledgeable about the items on the menu. She did not offer appetizers or make any suggestions to the agent. She made several returns to the agent to ask if the agent was ready to order food, but did not think it important to ask to start with an appetizer or to make a suggestion to help facilitate the decision.
Xxxxx doubled as the server for tables and the poker room. The agent believes that Xxxxx found it difficult to handle the work load. She seemed constantly flustered and rushed. She frequently forgot drink orders, and took a very long time to bring drinks and food to be brought out to the table.
She even forgot silverware from time to time. The agent overheard one patron very upset that he was served a steak without silverware to eat it with. Then when he requested silverware, he wasn’t brought knife to cut the steak with.
The agent believes having more than one server to service the poker area would have been prudent. There was another server on hand, but she seemed to only focus on a section of tables. There was definitely a need for more help in the poker area for more efficient service.
The dining area was always in need of some pick ups. There were a lot of empty bottles, and used glassware all over the poker area that needed to be retrieved. The floors also needed to be spot swept and clean up from time to time. Trash built up on the ground, especially under the tables, during the evaluation period.
The agent’s food order took 20 minutes to be brought out to the table. When it was finally brought out, there was no side items brought along with it. The agent requested side items, and received them several minutes later.
The food presentation needed work as well. The presentation looked boring, and mostly thrown together.
When the agent was ready to cash out the tab, Xxxxx asked the agent for a credit card without giving an itemized tab or a total first. The agent received a credit card transaction receipt but no itemized receipt. Agent finds this very disconcerting and a loop-hole for theft opportunity.
Management Summary
The manager on duty was Xxxxx, the owner of the establishment. He was observed to be imbibing beverages at the bar. He was very visibly intoxicated. At one point, the agent observed him pushing kamakazi shots to the poker players. He was also talking to patrons quite often and being very friendly.
The manger did approach the agent at one point and ask how the experience was going. He was friendly and nice.
He did seem somewhat helpful to staff, however it would have been a big help to bus tables and pick up the trash in the poker area.
Michael Zenner – CEO
hospitality checkpoints Inc.
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
bartheft.com (blog)
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