I like to eat out a lot! And here in Portugal, we sometimes get waiters who are a little to joky and I'm not really the kind of guy to go for that stuff... I do like it when the staff is friendly though... I don't even mind they trying to push some extra stuff in there, as long as it's made with the right kind of friendly attitude. What do you consider to be a good restaurant experience as far as waiters go?
As long as they're friendly and putting in the effort to keep the drinks filled, then I'm content. I don't mind some joking or playfulness as long as I'm getting my drinks and food in a timely manner without any hassles. I can even deal with a more quiet water or waitress that's incredibly fast. I'll take either super friendly service or fast service, or a mixture of the two. I'm not too picky when it comes to waiters and waitresses, unless they're absolutely terrible.
I think a good service in a restaurant is when the waiters are cordial and respectful, attentive and nice, but they are careful enough not to interrupt conversations and come to the table at the right time. I also don't really like it when the Waiters joke too much and put themselves in the middle of the conversation. I think that's tasteless.
I don't mind the friendly nature from waiters. It doesn't bother me because I'm a friendly person. I like waiters who do their job and get my order right. I can do without the extra promotion the restaurant may be offering but I'm not annoy by it because I know this is apart of their job. I honestly haven't had a bad experience with a waiter that left me utterly dissatisfied.
I'd rather have a quiet person wait on me but if the joking is done in good taste, I'm game. I live in L.A. where many aspiring actors/comedians will work in restaurants to pay the bills. My experience has been that if they build up a decent rapport, they can try out some of their routines and possibly invite customers to a show. So far, I don't recall anyone but Chris Rock once worked at Red Lobster so a person never knows who will serve them in the future.
I went out to eat like a month ago, which is rare for me since I like buffets where you can choose exactly what you want but the waitress was really nice. I would gt nervous when a waiter or waitress has an attitude because I'd be worried what they'd do to your food. I went to one place a few years back where I specifically said I didn't want cheese in a burrito and they put less of it but when I bit into it you could tell there was cheese in it. It really pissed me off. Its like did you not tell the waiter that I didn't want cheese? And they waitress just seemed to be a bit obnoxious. That's why I don't like eating out that much unless its a buffet and you have more control of your food.
I hate waiting to have my order taken, so for me, good wait service is knowing when your customers are finished viewing the menu and are ready to order. Sometimes people don't know to close the menu when they've made the selections (and frankly, I hate this custom because I'm just going to open the menu again when pointing out the order later), but most people will look around, drink their water, or talk with their table-mates when they are ready. A good waiter or waitress should know to come once their clients start displaying these behaviours. Otherwise, good wait service would be to fill water when it is nearly empty, or when it is half-empty (or half-full) if the food is spicy and it looks like the customer is having trouble rationing their water.
