It's interesting that some waiters are taught to memorize the orders to show that they care. As a customer, I always found jotting it down to be the sign that they care about getting my order right.
I know I am late, but I have worked at places where we were not allowed to write it down. I work at a place right now that they make your order as you order it. And yes it is pure chaos. Edit* spelling error.
@@jasonfenton8250 Then you'll probably quit after the first day or get fired. As far as it being discriminatory, I wouldn't go that far. no one is going to say "Well we don't hire people with ADHD."; that would be discriminatory It is a sad reality in life, but it is a reality. And we do have people that have ADHD that do the job with little difficulty, you'll just have to work harder than the others will. I thought it would be something I would have trouble with, but to my own astonishment, I am quite good at it. The trick is to remember to treat everyone like they are morons. Cut out un-important verbiage. For the most part it is morons work that anyone can do, but only a select few do it well.
I worked in a upscale restaurant many years ago, we were told to always write everything down. It didn't matter if you had a razor sharp memory or not, every order was to be written down. The idea was it would make all the staff appear consistent, and a waiter could take several tables orders at once, if it was busy, without returning to the order station.
"Are you ready to order sir?" "Sorry mate, we havent really had a chance to look yet - can we have a bottle of the house red to be going on with?" 'Mate'? 'The House Red'? 'To be going on with'? Where the hell do you think you are?
Oh, so House Wine really is a european thing, good I'll remember that next time the player at my table mentions it. (I just figured it was something expensive places do, as I am poorer then dirt)
As a waiter of seven years, I have always dreamed of having a "Ready To Order" button. It would take out so much needless (and sometimes painful, in the case of touchy customers) guesswork and double-handling.
I worked in a restaurant kitchen, it was packed and the customers were waiting longer than they should have. When a waitress pointed out to the chef that a table has been waiting too long, she said..." I will serve their drinks...it will give them hope"
I once went to a Japanese restaurant where they had a tiny flag at the end of each table. When you wanted attention, you hoisted the tiny flag with the string, and a waiter would come straight away, and when they were done, they'd lower the flag. It was really efficient, and had a great novelty factor.
Yes! A bill button! That is more essential than a service button, in my opinion. Closing the menu and placing it on the table is a discreet sign for waiters that you are ready to order, and it usually works well enough. But for paying your bill, you have to make eye contact with them, and when that doesn't work, hand gestures. And when _that_ doesn't work, hand gestures and voice. A bill button would eliminate the need for this awkward social interaction.
Is it just me that has them approach and ask "is everything ok with your meal?" ONLY when I have the biggest mouthful of food. I'm sure they do it on purpose! Every time!!
The buttons at YoSushi are there to order hot food and drinks, which are not on the belt. Only cold food is on the belt. Source: I was in London for ten days in October and ate at two different YoSushis, one near the Eye and one at St. Pancras station.
And then I am really tempted to repeat my order to make sure they got it right, but I'm afraid I might offend them so I just have to spend the time until the order arrives in suspense.
Waiter here. Sometimes I choose to memorize an order rather than write it down. I do this because I am able to memorize orders accurately; this isn't a great mental feat, it's just something you learn to do after you have worked at the same location for a while. Just like any other job, if you work as a waiter for long enough, you eventually get good at it. I generally only bother to write something down if a customer has an unusual request, which isn't often. Most people order one of only several things off the menu. I'm not trying to impress anybody, it just isn't difficult to accurately memorize an order if it's identical to the last 10 orders I've sent back.
The Tex-Mex chain restaurant Pancho's used to have a little Mexican flag on each table for you to raise if you wanted the waiter's attention. I'm not sure why this never took off in other places.
many restaurants in japan have button. every table have a number and when you press the button your table number comes up on screen and waiters will come to you. customers do not know your table number so you won't draw attention to yourself.
Actually, what he's talking about is quite common in Japan. That is probably why that sushi restaurant he mentioned has buttons. Many restaurants in Japan have them. Some even have touchscreen menus at every table. It's pretty nice. One of my friends recently went to a restaurant with ipads sitting on the table that you can use to order and play with while you wait for your food.
For anyone wondering, the waiting staff at Yo Sushi are for the hot dishes they serve that aren't on the conveyors. And the button doesn't make a noise, it makes your table's light a different colour so as to alert the nearest Jeeves.
I've seen this in a couple of restaurants in Barcelona. They give you a pod that you shake or something when you're ready to order and their device continually vibrates until they come over and see what you want. Liked that quite a lot...
At Yumei (Japanese) in Sydney, they have the buttons on tables, its brilliant! They come straight over when you press it & don't hover about you while picking your meal.
Yeah, in S. Korea we call it a "yeogiyo" button. Yeogiyo literally means "here", and we use it to call for someone's attention. We just press the button; within seconds, a waiter or waitress shows up. It's brilliant.
There was an old restaurant in Savannah, GA called Johnny Harris Steaks and Barbeque that had buttons for summoning wait staff in the main dining room. The restaurant dated back to the 1920s. Sadly, it closed a few years ago.
These buttons are commonplace in Japan, at least in family style restaurants like Jonathan's and Royal Host. They're every bit as great as David imagines in the Soapbox.
Maybe this has come in since David's rant, but I've seen this at a restaurant. Press when you're ready to order, press when you want a drink, press for the bill. Wait staff all had little wifi pads that also let them write down the orders.
When waiters/waitresses don't write down your order, do they then have to go in the back to the chef and write down your order anyway so the chef can keep track of all the orders?
I suppose in the 1960's it was like that. Nowadays they usually have some sort of electrical device that can be used to set the orders in. The machine will print out a receipt that the chefs will follow. In the modern places the waiters carry a hand held device that is basically the same thing.
These are common in chain restaurants in the USA. Often they also allow you pay without inconveniencing someone. We can split the checque however we wish without a guilt trip, or waiting on the waitstaff. I like them, other than the versions which take up a lot of table space or try to distract from the social experience with paid mobile phone type games, pub trivia.
If you ever go to Cambridge check out SmokeHouse, it's got the button system except they illuminate orange tubes of light that lead back to the staff. A visual treat!
YES, YES, YES David! Spot on! You could also use the button for when you're ready to pay, because they often disappear for half an hour after giving you the bill too! And don't get me started on the awkward moment when they turn and half walk away as you're typing your pin number in.
Yup. Went to Japan recently. Both of these are extremely convenient and make the whole experience more comfortable. No more flagging down anyone; they know when they're needed.
When you are ready to order you simply close your menu's and put them down. That's the signal. Clearly visible to all waiters, requires no complicated electronics and has been in use for decades if not centuries already.
I've had the good fortune to eat in restaurants where the waiters appear genuinely happy to see me and everything runs incredibly smoothly. I've also had the misfortune to visit establishments where I'm made to feel as if I've burst into the waiter's lavatory demanding attention. Some people should not be allowed to work with the public.
It's very well explained here that often you wanted attention first but ended up losing it. The buzzer system could be very simple. You press a button and a light turns turns on in the corner of your table (just for you, not waiter). Maybe it even tells you your place in the queue. Then when the button is pressed again you remove yourself from the queue. A waiter can see the list of tables they must go to and in which order. Totally fair and works for more than just ordering.
They have these at most Korean restaurants here in Melbourne and some places are now just using tablets where you select your food from that (including pictures of every dish) order it, can pay right at the table with your phone and then you don't need to deal with a waiter at all if you don't want to.
Yep! I was scanning through the comments to see if someone had already pointed this out. Those call buttons are great, but it took me and my friends ages to figure out what they were for. It dawned on us after a while that we weren't getting served at all because we were too afraid to push that seemingly random button!
I live in Caracas, Venezuela, and a number of restaurants here have just that. They are small rectangular boxes with three buttons on top: one for calling the waiter, one for asking for the bill, and one for the waiter, to signal the system that the table has been taken care of.
The chain Red Robin had this in America. You can call the waiter, order food or drink, and even pay the tab separately on a little tablet they have on each table.
They have that at my favourite restaurant. You order off computer screens so you can be specific about what food/drink, this is especially helpful for a tea top up or a glass of water. It is brilliant, the waiters always know exactly what we want and when we want it.
In the "Bubba-Gump Shrimp" chain of restaurants based on the movie Forest Gump, they've got "run forest" and "stop forest" signs to indicate when you want a waiter to stop at your table. Also, in Japan certain types or restaurants (particularly Izakaya (Japanese-style pub with food) and yakiniku) tend to have buttons are you describe, or even touch screen systems that you use to order after which they bring it; you don't have to tell them what you want at all.
These are very common in Japan. Now many restaurants here have tablets at the tables with menus in multiple languages. The orders go straight to the kitchen. The servers just deliver the food and drinks. It's great.
Only been to Britain as a kid, is the Pan-European custom that the waiters constantly check if you have folded the menu and placed in on the table seriously not a thing there?
It's all done on mobile apps now. Just oder from the online menu, enter your table number and pay with PayPal. The food arrives without any unnecessary dialogue or need for tipping scandal.
Agreed. It saves the cringingly embarrassing charade of waving your arms around or yelling excuse me.... which everyone hears but the waiter... across the room. My family wait in anticipation for me to try so they can laugh. I do wonder about getting up to leave... they'd turn up then. What's worse is having the bill plonked down whether you've asked for it or not.
Such a button does exist, in every restaurant. It's called rising to your feet, approaching the nearest employee you see and saying "Hi, I'm with that table over there and I'm ready for the bill. Could you please let our waiter know? Thanks!" It's never failed me in many years, and no waiter or other restaurant employee has ever reacted anything but professionally and matter-of-factly. "Sure, right away." People have these weird social aversions in restaurants and they're only inconveniencing themselves.
Or maybe the waiter has a shit-ton to do and forgets.. I haven't really worked as a waiter, but I do work as a bartender a small bar/café, and even though I never forget orders or providing service to the guests (since it's so small, you can't miss a customers order), I do understand how easy it can be to forget something, like putting on a new pot of coffee when it's empty, or making sure there's enough paper towels in the bathroom etc. So I can imagine being a waiter at a restaurant where you have a handfull of tables to keep tabs on (no pun intended) and losing the perception of time when a guest says he needs "2 more minutes" to decide.
If a waiter is coming up to you before you're ready it (for me at least) is usually because the restaurant is busy and now may be the only moment that waiter gets or will get and this is why they it can be a while before we will return.
I've seen such a button in Shkodër, Albania - but it appeared to be used by the restaurant as a way of cutting staff, and having them only attend to button initiated services.
These aren't uncommon in decent restaurants in China. It has three buttons. One to order, one for 'assistance' and one to say you're ready to pay. It's a refreshing change to what is traditional in China, ie; the waiter stands hovering over you while you look at the menu.
Here in Sydney at an italian restaurant called Crinitis they have such a system also. All the wait staff have FBI style earpieces so they can hear which table needs service when the buttons pressed.
There's a restaurant here in Malaysia that has such a system. A simple button at the table which emits a soft but noticeable bell, along with an LED display of the table number which pressed the button. Works, very well.
This has existed in Japan for decades. Their order pads are also electronic so your food rarely gets screwed up and is instantly input to the kitchen. It makes so much sense. I don't understand why we don't do the same.
Yes please can we have this, seriously. Although if it made a noise nobody would *ever* press it. Even just have a red or green light above the table? That shines out and not down. That would be good
Applebee's have them here in the USA, and its magnificent. They even have a machine that lets you pay always on the table. The less time I have to search for the specific waiter, and to subsequently call their attention in a way that is not annoying to them or to the other people eating (which is quite hard, mind you), the better
There is a restaurant in San Francisco named Bubba Gump Shrimp (after the movie Forest Gump) in which they have a system for this. There is a little sign on your table, saying "Run Forest Run", and if you flip it, it says "Stop Forest Stop". If the waiters see the later, it means that someone wants a waiter's attention now. A simple visual cue on the table would be non-intrusive, and get you the service you want.
I completely agree with the video above and the message therein. Why is it so hard to install a small, possibly wireless, button relay between the table and some sort of messaging system to the waiters when you feel that you are ready to order? It doesn't seem like it would cost very much to fit the device onto a standard restaurant table, and it would certainly make me, as a customer, feel better knowing that I wouldn't be pestered by waiters when I was still deciding what to order.
Pinpon button in Japan. It makes a "pinpon" noise in the kitchen to alert staff that you are ready to order. We also don't do tips in Japan and the waiter never comes to ask you if "you are doing ok" or if "everything is alright."
The idea is to be inconspicuous. The button you would press could just light up a little image of table 4. "Maybe they'd have pagers that buzzed, or some sort of light or bell would ring backstage". Also David goes on to say that the system would also allow the waiters to know what order each table was ready. As opposed to them just choosing seemingly random tables.
They have the silent "call the waiter/waitress" button in some pubs in Bucharest and Cluj, Romania. You can press it to order, to ask for refills and for that most useful asking for the bill.
What's happening when it takes a bit after the customer needs a minute is the other folks who've been seated as they came in ARE ready, I.e. may have known what they wanted before walking in or just chose quickly, restaurants that are high volume will often fill up in waves and as a waiter I'm often multitasking, and will gauge all of my tables on how ready they are
It's sometimes hard to tell if people are ready 'cause sometimes they have decided but are still staring at the menu and you don't want to annoy them XD
I first encountered this recently at a Japanese restaurant in Cancun. Little switch for a light on the wall next to us. Any time you want your waiter, turn it on. Easy, should be everywhere.
I know David doesn't read the comments, but what he's suggesting does exist outside Yo Shushi (whatever that is). Here in the States, we have a chain of movie theaters called Movie Tavern (and there must be others all over the world). They serve food, drinks, et al before and during the movie so that you can have a decent dinner at a reasonable price while catching a movie. And you attract their attention with a silent device that alerts them to come to you. Check it out if you're ever here.
Yo Sushi's a franchise restaurant - they've quite a few places in the UK. I've only seen them in London. The conveyor belt is 'traditional', the ultimate in casual dining.Funny comment, ordering 'off belt', as there are so many choices of dishes! :) You do use the button to order drinks... Looked up Movie Tavern (which I never heard of) and their website listed locations only in the U.S. As I was trawlling anyway, found out there is now a Yo Sushi in Washington D.C.
So true, so many times I ask for a little bit of fresh onion with my meal and they say ok but dont write it down and when my meal comes theres no onion so i have to remind them again and sit waiting for it to come
When I did table waiting we were told that after drink orders were taken, wait until everyone put down their menu, as that meant they were ready to order. But we had a tiny tea room. I suppose it would be harder in a larger restaurant.
A restaurant near me introduced a button system (silent buttons, more to the point), but the waiting staff opposed them because they felt it was a way of saying that they couldn't do their job properly. They may have had a point if the normal service there wasn't abysmal.
Tablets? I think we have what you're talking about in Wagamama - where the waiter digitally sends the order to the kitchen even whilst they're still at your table? Pretty awesomely efficient
I remember the button thing from somewhere I ate at about a year ago. They had two buttons, an 'I'm ready to order' button and an 'check please' button... I think they went out of business a couple of months ago.
They have these kinds of buttons in most restaurants in Korea! Although the entire restaurant hears the "ding-dong" sound. Still, it's quite a relief. Hardly any waiting at all.
And ordering off-belt is common practice at conveyor belt sushi, but it's normally done by just yelling out what you want, and the people who are standing inside the belt will see to it. No button is required.
At my restaurant we have a system of buttons and numbers on little screens near the roof in the restaurant that all staff can glance at while working. It makes things super easy and quick. Also I work in Aus so everything makes sense here. :-)
No David, if you'd been to Yo Sushi, you'd know that the button is for drinks (other than still and sparkling water) and the food from their expansive menu which they don't serve via the conveyor belt... and trust me, there's a lot of it.
That had buttons like that when I was in korea...I remember ordering something that was slightly too hot and I had to press the button to ask for water and every time I would get a glass identical to those thimbles they have in hotels next to the orange juice.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 87 วันนี้!! คู่เอก "ก้องชัย vs โชคปรีชา"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YN6e7HVnekw/mqdefault.jpg)
It's interesting that some waiters are taught to memorize the orders to show that they care. As a customer, I always found jotting it down to be the sign that they care about getting my order right.
I know I am late, but I have worked at places where we were not allowed to write it down. I work at a place right now that they make your order as you order it. And yes it is pure chaos.
Edit* spelling error.
@@TheMan-jw5ro Seems kind of discriminatory, what if you have ADHD and thus a terrible working memory?
@@jasonfenton8250 Then you'll probably quit after the first day or get fired. As far as it being discriminatory, I wouldn't go that far. no one is going to say "Well we don't hire people with ADHD."; that would be discriminatory It is a sad reality in life, but it is a reality. And we do have people that have ADHD that do the job with little difficulty, you'll just have to work harder than the others will. I thought it would be something I would have trouble with, but to my own astonishment, I am quite good at it. The trick is to remember to treat everyone like they are morons. Cut out un-important verbiage. For the most part it is morons work that anyone can do, but only a select few do it well.
I worked in a upscale restaurant many years ago, we were told to always write everything down. It didn't matter if you had a razor sharp memory or not, every order was to be written down. The idea was it would make all the staff appear consistent, and a waiter could take several tables orders at once, if it was busy, without returning to the order station.
@@Mobax13 also, in the case of a mixup, there is a paper trail.
"Are you ready to order sir?"
"Sorry mate, we havent really had a chance to look yet - can we have a bottle of the house red to be going on with?"
'Mate'? 'The House Red'? 'To be going on with'? Where the hell do you think you are?
Ah, I see you are a man of culture.
Oh, so House Wine really is a european thing, good I'll remember that next time the player at my table mentions it. (I just figured it was something expensive places do, as I am poorer then dirt)
@@ValdVincent Clearly.
poorer *than* dirt
The house red and white wine is an Australian thing as well, I honestly thought every country did it
@@ValdVincent *than dirt
As a waiter of seven years, I have always dreamed of having a "Ready To Order" button. It would take out so much needless (and sometimes painful, in the case of touchy customers) guesswork and double-handling.
Do you mean you'd been a waiter for seven years, or you were a waiter at the age of seven...?
(Just to clarify, this is sarcasm.)
@@alexander_strachan yes
I worked in a restaurant kitchen, it was packed and the customers were waiting longer than they should have. When a waitress pointed out to the chef that a table has been waiting too long, she said..." I will serve their drinks...it will give them hope"
I once went to a Japanese restaurant where they had a tiny flag at the end of each table. When you wanted attention, you hoisted the tiny flag with the string, and a waiter would come straight away, and when they were done, they'd lower the flag. It was really efficient, and had a great novelty factor.
But didn't you work at a Mexican restaurant?
Lol, best comment, you win.
I came down to the comments to mention the Mexican restaurant or see if anyone else had, not disappointed. It was the first comment
chance would be a fine thing
@@tomwalsh1047 a fine thing indeed
Just eaten in a resaurant in Seattle airport that has a button for service AND a button for the bill. Brilliant!
Yes! A bill button! That is more essential than a service button, in my opinion. Closing the menu and placing it on the table is a discreet sign for waiters that you are ready to order, and it usually works well enough. But for paying your bill, you have to make eye contact with them, and when that doesn't work, hand gestures. And when _that_ doesn't work, hand gestures and voice. A bill button would eliminate the need for this awkward social interaction.
@@Gilmaris Good Lord! You have to talk to them to ask for the bill?! There are clearly far too many five-syllable sentences wasted there!
Is it just me that has them approach and ask "is everything ok with your meal?" ONLY when I have the biggest mouthful of food. I'm sure they do it on purpose! Every time!!
Me having not yet gotten around to the burger, but taking a sip of water: Everything's fine. I think.
@@Paul-A01 The water is...
Is..
Clean
No. It’s just you. You’re such a unique special snowflake that nobody has ever had that experience before. Only you. Because you’re special.
@@Sarah-no7lv I knew it! I always knew I was unique and so so much better than you. I just knew it! And I think that makes me even better!
Our bosses make us do it, I guarantee no waiter likes it. It annoys the customer.
The buttons at YoSushi are there to order hot food and drinks, which are not on the belt. Only cold food is on the belt. Source: I was in London for ten days in October and ate at two different YoSushis, one near the Eye and one at St. Pancras station.
great, good to know which YoSushi's you visited
aweome bro. i also ate my food ate sainp pancreas sushi bar
im sure you will all be pleased to know that i ate dinner at home yesterday. i had microwaved stir fry
they have such buttons in japan, where every single thing is set up to run efficiently
Like eel porn?
True Faith Tattoo Studio efficient eel porn
Korea, too. They're ubiquitous. A restaurant without them is profoundly weird, or has only three tables.
Even better are the ones with ticket machines in Japan, pay at the machine, hand them your ticket, get your food. Don't even have to talk to anyone.
@@lusbox4724 james may explained why those are too complicated
I've always hated "memory waiters", they make me feel really uncomfortable. Will they remember what I've ordered?
If I had to tell a waiter multiple times for simple things I wouldn't tip at all. Incompetent moron's not doing the job properly.
And then I am really tempted to repeat my order to make sure they got it right, but I'm afraid I might offend them so I just have to spend the time until the order arrives in suspense.
It's pretty easy for tables of four or less
I never did it as some sort of statement of my work ethic, I just could never be bothered to find a pen
Waiter here. Sometimes I choose to memorize an order rather than write it down. I do this because I am able to memorize orders accurately; this isn't a great mental feat, it's just something you learn to do after you have worked at the same location for a while. Just like any other job, if you work as a waiter for long enough, you eventually get good at it. I generally only bother to write something down if a customer has an unusual request, which isn't often. Most people order one of only several things off the menu. I'm not trying to impress anybody, it just isn't difficult to accurately memorize an order if it's identical to the last 10 orders I've sent back.
"I, of all people, should know how to wait!" Brilliant.
The Tex-Mex chain restaurant Pancho's used to have a little Mexican flag on each table for you to raise if you wanted the waiter's attention. I'm not sure why this never took off in other places.
I would fee silly raising a Mexican flag at a Mongolean BBQ, or in a Nepalese restaurant
That's the most brilliant thing i have ever heard.
Because it's tacky.
"More sopapillas please."
Bubba Gump has something like that too
YoSuhshi? Is that a place where Mark was dumping Jeremy, telling him he was leaving for Johnson?
many restaurants in japan have button. every table have a number and when you press the button your table number comes up on screen and waiters will come to you. customers do not know your table number so you won't draw attention to yourself.
Muya Yokota thats awesome!
Generally if there's an idea you have to make life easier, Japan has done it
Actually, what he's talking about is quite common in Japan. That is probably why that sushi restaurant he mentioned has buttons. Many restaurants in Japan have them. Some even have touchscreen menus at every table. It's pretty nice. One of my friends recently went to a restaurant with ipads sitting on the table that you can use to order and play with while you wait for your food.
For anyone wondering, the waiting staff at Yo Sushi are for the hot dishes they serve that aren't on the conveyors. And the button doesn't make a noise, it makes your table's light a different colour so as to alert the nearest Jeeves.
"backstage" is what behind the scenes/shop floor used to be called in marks and Spencer!
Anything to try and make a shitty job seem glamorous, eh.
Backstage? Is he ordering his food at a strip club?
I've seen this in a couple of restaurants in Barcelona. They give you a pod that you shake or something when you're ready to order and their device continually vibrates until they come over and see what you want. Liked that quite a lot...
I bet you did...
At Yumei (Japanese) in Sydney, they have the buttons on tables, its brilliant! They come straight over when you press it & don't hover about you while picking your meal.
I love how TH-cam starts recommending me one of these every few months and I end up binge-watching all of them.
Yeah, in S. Korea we call it a "yeogiyo" button. Yeogiyo literally means "here", and we use it to call for someone's attention. We just press the button; within seconds, a waiter or waitress shows up.
It's brilliant.
There was an old restaurant in Savannah, GA called Johnny Harris Steaks and Barbeque that had buttons for summoning wait staff in the main dining room. The restaurant dated back to the 1920s. Sadly, it closed a few years ago.
These buttons are commonplace in Japan, at least in family style restaurants like Jonathan's and Royal Host. They're every bit as great as David imagines in the Soapbox.
"I've never worked in a restaurant", Yes you have David. have you not seen Peep show?
Maybe this has come in since David's rant, but I've seen this at a restaurant. Press when you're ready to order, press when you want a drink, press for the bill. Wait staff all had little wifi pads that also let them write down the orders.
When waiters/waitresses don't write down your order, do they then have to go in the back to the chef and write down your order anyway so the chef can keep track of all the orders?
I suppose in the 1960's it was like that. Nowadays they usually have some sort of electrical device that can be used to set the orders in. The machine will print out a receipt that the chefs will follow. In the modern places the waiters carry a hand held device that is basically the same thing.
Then why memorize if they are going to enter it into a device later?
@@653j521 Because the device isn't mobile. It's a touch screen computer at a station.
These are common in chain restaurants in the USA. Often they also allow you pay without inconveniencing someone. We can split the checque however we wish without a guilt trip, or waiting on the waitstaff. I like them, other than the versions which take up a lot of table space or try to distract from the social experience with paid mobile phone type games, pub trivia.
If you ever go to Cambridge check out SmokeHouse, it's got the button system except they illuminate orange tubes of light that lead back to the staff. A visual treat!
south korean restaurants use your idea
sean glynn Was going to mention this haha
YES, YES, YES David! Spot on! You could also use the button for when you're ready to pay, because they often disappear for half an hour after giving you the bill too! And don't get me started on the awkward moment when they turn and half walk away as you're typing your pin number in.
Yup. Went to Japan recently. Both of these are extremely convenient and make the whole experience more comfortable. No more flagging down anyone; they know when they're needed.
When you are ready to order you simply close your menu's and put them down. That's the signal. Clearly visible to all waiters, requires no complicated electronics and has been in use for decades if not centuries already.
I've had the good fortune to eat in restaurants where the waiters appear genuinely happy to see me and everything runs incredibly smoothly. I've also had the misfortune to visit establishments where I'm made to feel as if I've burst into the waiter's lavatory demanding attention. Some people should not be allowed to work with the public.
It's very well explained here that often you wanted attention first but ended up losing it. The buzzer system could be very simple. You press a button and a light turns turns on in the corner of your table (just for you, not waiter). Maybe it even tells you your place in the queue. Then when the button is pressed again you remove yourself from the queue.
A waiter can see the list of tables they must go to and in which order. Totally fair and works for more than just ordering.
They have these at most Korean restaurants here in Melbourne and some places are now just using tablets where you select your food from that (including pictures of every dish) order it, can pay right at the table with your phone and then you don't need to deal with a waiter at all if you don't want to.
A BUTTON! YES! THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING FOR YEARS! MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY! GOOD ONE!
Yep! I was scanning through the comments to see if someone had already pointed this out. Those call buttons are great, but it took me and my friends ages to figure out what they were for. It dawned on us after a while that we weren't getting served at all because we were too afraid to push that seemingly random button!
I live in Caracas, Venezuela, and a number of restaurants here have just that. They are small rectangular boxes with three buttons on top: one for calling the waiter, one for asking for the bill, and one for the waiter, to signal the system that the table has been taken care of.
I work in a restaurant and have found people have a "ready to order" expression that you only ever see when they're done looking at the menu. No joke.
I know that this was years and years ago but I can't help but wonder if it was yes or no on the anchovies.
The chain Red Robin had this in America. You can call the waiter, order food or drink, and even pay the tab separately on a little tablet they have on each table.
They have that at my favourite restaurant. You order off computer screens so you can be specific about what food/drink, this is especially helpful for a tea top up or a glass of water. It is brilliant, the waiters always know exactly what we want and when we want it.
In the "Bubba-Gump Shrimp" chain of restaurants based on the movie Forest Gump, they've got "run forest" and "stop forest" signs to indicate when you want a waiter to stop at your table.
Also, in Japan certain types or restaurants (particularly Izakaya (Japanese-style pub with food) and yakiniku) tend to have buttons are you describe, or even touch screen systems that you use to order after which they bring it; you don't have to tell them what you want at all.
Dilandau3000 although it may be correctly spelt/spelled (UK/US) as "Forrest". Just a thought and not a comment on your character.
These are very common in Japan. Now many restaurants here have tablets at the tables with menus in multiple languages. The orders go straight to the kitchen. The servers just deliver the food and drinks. It's great.
Only been to Britain as a kid, is the Pan-European custom that the waiters constantly check if you have folded the menu and placed in on the table seriously not a thing there?
It's all done on mobile apps now. Just oder from the online menu, enter your table number and pay with PayPal. The food arrives without any unnecessary dialogue or need for tipping scandal.
I want another button for, "please bring me the frigging bill!"
Agreed. It saves the cringingly embarrassing charade of waving your arms around or yelling excuse me.... which everyone hears but the waiter... across the room. My family wait in anticipation for me to try so they can laugh. I do wonder about getting up to leave... they'd turn up then. What's worse is having the bill plonked down whether you've asked for it or not.
Such a button does exist, in every restaurant. It's called rising to your feet, approaching the nearest employee you see and saying "Hi, I'm with that table over there and I'm ready for the bill. Could you please let our waiter know? Thanks!"
It's never failed me in many years, and no waiter or other restaurant employee has ever reacted anything but professionally and matter-of-factly. "Sure, right away."
People have these weird social aversions in restaurants and they're only inconveniencing themselves.
Or maybe the waiter has a shit-ton to do and forgets.. I haven't really worked as a waiter, but I do work as a bartender a small bar/café, and even though I never forget orders or providing service to the guests (since it's so small, you can't miss a customers order), I do understand how easy it can be to forget something, like putting on a new pot of coffee when it's empty, or making sure there's enough paper towels in the bathroom etc.
So I can imagine being a waiter at a restaurant where you have a handfull of tables to keep tabs on (no pun intended) and losing the perception of time when a guest says he needs "2 more minutes" to decide.
I've worked as a waitress, and you're spot on.
Seems like the button would help with that to some extent, though!
If a waiter is coming up to you before you're ready it (for me at least) is usually because the restaurant is busy and now may be the only moment that waiter gets or will get and this is why they it can be a while before we will return.
I love these. David is always so spot on, I always agree with him. Plus he talks about these "issues" in a way that is just hilarious.
I am a twat according to David Mitchell 😂 👍
I've seen such a button in Shkodër, Albania - but it appeared to be used by the restaurant as a way of cutting staff, and having them only attend to button initiated services.
they have those in korea, big time
Is Big Time the name of the restaurant chain?
Hey I want to know this too. Get back here dammit!
@@Toasty667 Sadly, it's not. He meant they have them in almost every eatery in Korea.
These aren't uncommon in decent restaurants in China. It has three buttons. One to order, one for 'assistance' and one to say you're ready to pay. It's a refreshing change to what is traditional in China, ie; the waiter stands hovering over you while you look at the menu.
Table buzzer exactly as you described it is already in every restaurant in Korea. Service rarely takes longer than 5 seconds.
Here in Sydney at an italian restaurant called Crinitis they have such a system also. All the wait staff have FBI style earpieces so they can hear which table needs service when the buttons pressed.
THANK YOUUU. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Especially about the whole writing it down part.
There's a restaurant here in Malaysia that has such a system. A simple button at the table which emits a soft but noticeable bell, along with an LED display of the table number which pressed the button. Works, very well.
This idea is brilliant. I hate it when waiters take ages to come back to me when I don't know what to eat 2 minutes after sitting down.
This has existed in Japan for decades. Their order pads are also electronic so your food rarely gets screwed up and is instantly input to the kitchen. It makes so much sense. I don't understand why we don't do the same.
Yes please can we have this, seriously.
Although if it made a noise nobody would *ever* press it. Even just have a red or green light above the table? That shines out and not down. That would be good
Applebee's have them here in the USA, and its magnificent. They even have a machine that lets you pay always on the table. The less time I have to search for the specific waiter, and to subsequently call their attention in a way that is not annoying to them or to the other people eating (which is quite hard, mind you), the better
There is a restaurant in San Francisco named Bubba Gump Shrimp (after the movie Forest Gump) in which they have a system for this. There is a little sign on your table, saying "Run Forest Run", and if you flip it, it says "Stop Forest Stop". If the waiters see the later, it means that someone wants a waiter's attention now. A simple visual cue on the table would be non-intrusive, and get you the service you want.
Excellent idea! I work at a restaurant for a living, and this would immensely help the wait staff as well.
This system is implemented in some restaurants I have been to... They have a separate button for ordering, getting water and getting the bill.
i laughed until i almost cried at the stalker-waiter bit. god..i had almost forgotten how hilarious david mitchell is.
God, absolutely spot on, yes that is exactly what we need!
I completely agree with the video above and the message therein. Why is it so hard to install a small, possibly wireless, button relay between the table and some sort of messaging system to the waiters when you feel that you are ready to order? It doesn't seem like it would cost very much to fit the device onto a standard restaurant table, and it would certainly make me, as a customer, feel better knowing that I wouldn't be pestered by waiters when I was still deciding what to order.
These are actually starting to become common
Pinpon button in Japan. It makes a "pinpon" noise in the kitchen to alert staff that you are ready to order. We also don't do tips in Japan and the waiter never comes to ask you if "you are doing ok" or if "everything is alright."
The idea is to be inconspicuous. The button you would press could just light up a little image of table 4. "Maybe they'd have pagers that buzzed, or some sort of light or bell would ring backstage". Also David goes on to say that the system would also allow the waiters to know what order each table was ready. As opposed to them just choosing seemingly random tables.
They have the silent "call the waiter/waitress" button in some pubs in Bucharest and Cluj, Romania. You can press it to order, to ask for refills and for that most useful asking for the bill.
What's happening when it takes a bit after the customer needs a minute is the other folks who've been seated as they came in ARE ready, I.e. may have known what they wanted before walking in or just chose quickly, restaurants that are high volume will often fill up in waves and as a waiter I'm often multitasking, and will gauge all of my tables on how ready they are
Haha! Every time i think of one of those restaurants with the conveyer belt, I always think of Robert Webb snapping the chop stick in half
Oddly enough, Simon Woodroffe, a dragon on the first series of Dragons' Den, founded YO! Sushi in the late 90s.
It's sometimes hard to tell if people are ready 'cause sometimes they have decided but are still staring at the menu and you don't want to annoy them XD
I first encountered this recently at a Japanese restaurant in Cancun. Little switch for a light on the wall next to us. Any time you want your waiter, turn it on. Easy, should be everywhere.
I get too much enjoyment out of these video podcast, we agree on so much.
Miga (Bloor and Markham) in Toronto has this. It's wonderful.
I know David doesn't read the comments, but what he's suggesting does exist outside Yo Shushi (whatever that is). Here in the States, we have a chain of movie theaters called Movie Tavern (and there must be others all over the world). They serve food, drinks, et al before and during the movie so that you can have a decent dinner at a reasonable price while catching a movie. And you attract their attention with a silent device that alerts them to come to you. Check it out if you're ever here.
Yo Sushi's a franchise restaurant - they've quite a few places in the UK. I've only seen them in London. The conveyor belt is 'traditional', the ultimate in casual dining.Funny comment, ordering 'off belt', as there are so many choices of dishes! :) You do use the button to order drinks...
Looked up Movie Tavern (which I never heard of) and their website listed locations only in the U.S.
As I was trawlling anyway, found out there is now a Yo Sushi in Washington D.C.
So true, so many times I ask for a little bit of fresh onion with my meal and they say ok but dont write it down and when my meal comes theres no onion so i have to remind them again and sit waiting for it to come
When I did table waiting we were told that after drink orders were taken, wait until everyone put down their menu, as that meant they were ready to order. But we had a tiny tea room. I suppose it would be harder in a larger restaurant.
A restaurant near me introduced a button system (silent buttons, more to the point), but the waiting staff opposed them because they felt it was a way of saying that they couldn't do their job properly. They may have had a point if the normal service there wasn't abysmal.
This is amazing! It's like he is saying my thoughts aloud!
Tablets? I think we have what you're talking about in Wagamama - where the waiter digitally sends the order to the kitchen even whilst they're still at your table? Pretty awesomely efficient
The strange thing is that sbortly after this weatherspoons let you order off your phone and never have to alert a waiter at all
I remember the button thing from somewhere I ate at about a year ago. They had two buttons, an 'I'm ready to order' button and an 'check please' button... I think they went out of business a couple of months ago.
They have these kinds of buttons in most restaurants in Korea! Although the entire restaurant hears the "ding-dong" sound. Still, it's quite a relief. Hardly any waiting at all.
John Finnemore! I hope he gets his own soapbox soon too :D
And ordering off-belt is common practice at conveyor belt sushi, but it's normally done by just yelling out what you want, and the people who are standing inside the belt will see to it. No button is required.
Geeez. I always agree with every single thing David says in his videos. It's like he's a figment of my personality, only more articulate than me.
At my restaurant we have a system of buttons and numbers on little screens near the roof in the restaurant that all staff can glance at while working. It makes things super easy and quick.
Also I work in Aus so everything makes sense here. :-)
No David, if you'd been to Yo Sushi, you'd know that the button is for drinks (other than still and sparkling water) and the food from their expansive menu which they don't serve via the conveyor belt... and trust me, there's a lot of it.
The fact that it guessed 'concomitant' is pretty amazing.
They did this in a restaurant I went to in Belfast
That had buttons like that when I was in korea...I remember ordering something that was slightly too hot and I had to press the button to ask for water and every time I would get a glass identical to those thimbles they have in hotels next to the orange juice.
Made it into the "under 300 club" on a David Mitchell TH-cam video.
Life: complete.
HOLY SHIT!!! My browsers zoomed in, and your icon scared the shit out of me!!!