I can't believe this. I went to Swiss Chalet ( a well known canadian chain of restaurants- specializing in roasted chicken- good reputation) at lunch. They brought us our drinks and as I lifted the glass i could feel grit. I checked it was all over the glass. Sent it back and they brought back more dirty glasses. I sent those back and said they needed to check their dishwasher. You could actually see that it was pieces of food particles. They handwashed the glasses but never really apologized. Food comes and I pull the plate towards me and I feel grit again. The plates were dirty. We were starving so I ate the top part of the chicken and salad but I could not eat anything that touched the plate. I was repulsed. I spoke to the manager (very politely) and she said I will take care of the bill. The bill came with a 20% discount. If she had said i will take 20% off- fine- but she said she would take care of the bill. So I complained and they took care of it. Whatever happened to pride in a restaurant and actually apologizing for either poor service, food or dirty dishes. We all work hard for our money, why should we be settling for being treated in such a way. Honestly.....

$$$$$
I just don't think a lot of them care about anything else anymore. Get you in, get your money, get you out. It's rather sad.

I remember watching a busser at a fairly upscale family style restaurant wipe the seat of a high chair after a baby had obviously soaked through it's diaper then turn around and wipe the table top with the same rag - didn't even rinse it, just mopped up the diaper juice and slopped it onto the table

Thank goodness I was just there picking up banquet information but it kind of made me wonder about the kitchen.............Didn't book the party there.

I think it depends what kind of restaurant you're going to.

I work at an upper-mid level restaurant (Entree $30 - $50 at dinner), and we definitely care about the experience people have. Some people are really just out to be mad about everything (I'm NOT saying that's who you are, in any way!! This restaurant sounds NASTY!), and you learn that they will just never be happy, but I genuinely would like everyone who sits at my tables to leave feeling like they've had a good experience.

Usually from a table of two, I'm expecting to make between $20 - 30 in tip (varying with how much their meal is, of course), so I want to provide service that's worth that money. That means I check things before they get to the table -- if there's a speck on a wine glass, I'm polishing it before I bring it out. If it's more than a speck, it's back in the dishwasher and I'll grab a new one.

That said, the people working at corporate (chain) restaurants frequently rely on quantity rather than quality, so they're not worried about taking as much care with each table. And really, everyone's working hard for their money...both you and the waitstaff/manager...I would just recommend maybe not patronizing that particular location anymore.

artsnsmarts: I am *very* impressed with how you handle things where you work. (Too bad I don't live in Boston, I'd love to visit that restaurant!)

Someone I know (who used to work as a waiter) told me that when a glass has lipstick marks (apparently lipstick doesn't come off the glass easily), instead of cleaning it properly, some people just make sure the woman at the table gets that glass...since women are usually wearing lipstick. Disgusting.

I'm sure you've all heard/seen that behind the scenes footage of hotel glasses? I will *never* drink from one of those again!

I'm a server in a restaurant, not a high class place - I serve pizza and beer. :P But still... when something like this happens I am so embarrassed and always feel personally accountable even though I'm not the person who washed the dishes.

I think it's a matter of personal integrity and work ethic and it starts at the top. If that manager wasn't willing to make it right the first time you can hardly expect his/her dishwashers to do their best either.

Ugh that is pretty gross!!

Honestly, I've found a lot more satisfaction from smaller, local restaurants, but then again I don't eat out a lot. It might be that some of the local restaurants are family-run businesses that really care for the restaurant, vs. some chain restaurants where though they should care, it really just be all about the money.
I read somewhere that if you want to check the cleanliness of a restaurant, check the bathrooms. If the bathrooms are a mess, chances are they the back isn't that clean either.

Holy MAMA that's disgusting!!

But he's right...getting lipstick off glasses is ridiculously hard. Every once in a while (usually when we're CRAZY busy) a "clean" glass will go out that still has lipstick on it after a trip through the dishwasher. I wish people would understand that these things just sometimes happen and that it doesn't mean we're a filthy restaurant or anything. Cool your jets and I'll get you a new one and have the bartender handwash that one. I swear if I had a dollar for the number of times per day I just want to say "CALM DOWN I'M FIXING IT!" to tables I would be a millionaire.

That is absolutely DISGUSTING!!! How could the waiter/waitress not be so embarrasses that they would hand wash the dishes themselves!? Did no one else at other tables notice the dishes?

Back in high school I used to work at a Northwest restaurant chain as well as a chain that I think is more nationwide.

The nationwide one...I wouldn't eat at except for when I was working there and knew the cook and could get it myself. I saw a waitress pick a piece of toast off the top of the garbage, dust it off, and put it back on a plate. I was only a hostess and was on my way into the back on an urgent errand and couldn't stop to go run and grab a manager and then because we were so busy I totally forgot. Still feel guilty about that though. As just a hostess though I prided myself on being the best one in the restaurant. I actually had customers come and ask to sit in my section and the manager would give me the large section that was supposed to be watched by 2 hostesses.

The NW chain...I'd eat there anytime. The one I worked at always got perfect health checking scores and the manager always said he wanted the cooks to keep the kitchen cleaner than the one they had at home. We worked very hard to make sure that things were right.

Oh, and I just saw a thing on the morning news yesterday. This guy goes out and visits places like restaurants and fun attractions. He's on TV, the cook uses his hand to wipe sweat off his forehead, and then proceeds to hold hot dogs in his hand as he's putting them on the burner, grabs buns, holds those with that hand. I was thinking...if he is willing to do that on TV, what does he do when the cameras aren't rolling?!