Marks The Spot. How Do You Define Truly Great Restaurant Service?

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1 ! How Do You Define Truly Great Restaurant Service? When was the last time you went to a restaurant and had service that was so skilled that it made your dinner twice as good? Every restaurant patron has his or her own unique preferences. Some want detailed food and wine suggestions from the server, others couldn't care less what their waiter or waitress thinks. Some people want dinner quickly, so they can get on to the next thing they have planned that night. Others want to linger. So it's no wonder that the job of waiting tables can be difficult when customers often want arbitrary or contradictory things. But during our recent stay in Hawaii, we went out for a special dinner (it was for Laura's birthday) where our server really nailed things perfectly. I'd like to highlight a couple of seemingly minor things she did that, to me, defines truly great restaurant service. Everybody knows the drill when the waiter runs through the evening's specials. And it's all too often that I've had the most expensive appetizer and entree pushed down my throat by an eager waiter looking for a bigger check. But when our waitress went over her specials, she added that she'd be happy to suggest a couple of specific things if we'd be interested. She gave us the option to take her suggestions or not. And when we did ask for her suggestions, she highlighted a cheese platter appetizer (of locally grown Maui goat cheeses) that was so good that we spent more than a half an hour slowly enjoying it. And that's when our waitress came through again. She saw us enjoying our food so much (if I recall correctly, I was so excited that I broke out my adolescent manners and said "this is kick ass!" to her with my mouth full), that she came back a minute later and told us something that I'll probably never hear in my life in a New York City restaurant: "I thought you might want to take your time with the cheese platter, so I took the liberty of holding up your dinner order with the chef for a bit. Will that be all right with you?" Once again, perfect. She gave us the option. It's a great idea if you're in lingering mode, but if you have somewhere to be, you can say, "No thanks! Please bring our entrees out right away." It's infectious to be served by a waiter or waitress who takes obvious pleasure in his or her job, who is excited to share great food, and who offers flexible customer service like this. This is how dining out should be. It's the kind of service that makes me recommend restaurants and makes me gladly tip more than 20%. (casualkitchen.blogspot.com)

2 OWNERS CORNER I d like to say a very sincere thank you to those Team Members who have the professional discipline to work the J Mark s standards, day in and day out. We all have events in our lives that could potentially distract us from being 100% focused on the guest when we re in J Mark s. We have families, we have school, we have needy cars, we have cats and dogs, we have homes, apartments, condos that need taken care of. We have worries about parents, or anxiety about siblings or excitement about trips. Yes we have all of these, and then we have our time at J Mark s, where we need to put aside the distractions and focus on the guests. Those guests that buy the food and beverage we prepare, those guests that provide for our homes, our families, our pets by paying us hard earned money from their well worn purses and wallets. They come into J Mark s to experience the Brand of J Mark s. The warmth, the hospitality, the great service and the high quality food are all a part of our brand, and we all need to be 100% focused on them. Let me be quite frank. The guest is quick to tell us when we do well and also when we don t do so well. It s heart warming to post the Raving Fans and it s also important to celebrate when we do our jobs well. But, we don t always get raving fans and when we don t, it is usually because we re not focused on the guest, but rather on ourselves. We re focused on getting out, we re focused on carrying too many tables, we re focused on our closing sidework, we re focused on tomorrow rather than right now, today, this instant, this guest who is sitting here right now. Let s remember that old adage that we have all heard save the drama for your mama and let s focus inside our four walls of J Mark s restaurants on taking care of our guests while they dine with us. You ll be rewarded richly for it. Steve & Ariel

3 RAVING FANS #1 I had no idea that J Mark's had just two restaurants; I thought they were a big chain. I've been a patron of J Mark's every since the location in Pompano Beach opened, and it's one of my favorite restaurants. I know that EVERYTHING on the menu is fabulous, and I always say that to everybody I take there. I will continue to visit J Mark's and hope that the restaurant thrives into a chain. That'd be great! :) #2 I had my first meal at your Pompano location last night, and I just wanted to share my very positive impressions. The food was terrific and your wait staff was extremely efficient, and far beyond what I have become accustomed to here in Broward county. I was especially impressed with a waitress, Doreen, who was not only anticipating my every need, but her descriptions of the food and the specials during the week sounded like she was the marketing manager for the restaurant. It was an exceptional experience. I look forward to my next dining experience there. #3 On Sunday August 12th I ate at JMarks Ft Lauderdale location. Being in the industry I understand that your not the happiest sever when you have late night guests. Exidious waited on my boyfriend and I. He was accommodating, cheerful, and went above and beyond at making sure our meal was enjoyable. He was personable which was such a treat when I usually encounter robot servers. He was extremely helpful at helping me choose my meal... And I'm a picky eater. I could practically taste the dishes as he described them. Just wanted to say thank you. I dine out in Ft Lauderdale often and live right off Oakland and when I don't have good service I do not go back. Unfortunately Ft Lauderdale is known for its lack in server quality. However I am pleased to say because of Exidious I will be returning. Great job

4 Winter Insert MARKETING We are in the developing stages for our Winter Insert menu. We are utilizing Peter Lopez s menu background along with input from many people in the J Mark s family to build an insert that we hope will continue to drive guests and sales at J Mark s. We re planning on the insert being in play November through January, and will not be a discount menu but rather featuring winter items that add variety to our current menu. We will ALSO be focusing on gift card sales with this insert as well. Gift Cards are a great gift and drive business back into J Mark s doors! As we make our decisions on the items we ll clue you. If you hear or see requests from our guests about what they d like to see on our menu please pass those along to info@jmarksrestaurant.com or your manager. R&D (Research & Development) NEVER stops! FRAUD ALERT! Gift Card Sales Head's up that a common (and expensive scam) is for someone to illegally create a credit card, take it to an establishment, buy BIG $ gift cards, then either use those gift cards and/or sells them (i.e. Craig's list for a deal, etc.). FYI especially when the only items on the check are gift cards a big "alert" is when they leave a tip! The best way to combat this fraudulent activity is to have our Bartenders alert us any time someone comes in to buy more than 1 gift card of a value of $200 or more on one check with one credit card. Take a careful look at the credit card, ensure that it is signed and that you match the signature on the check with the signature on the card, and then ask for an ID (driver's license). If it is a fraud, the person will get agitated and leave they wouldn't want a hassle or have you remembering who they are. Please talk to your manager if you feel any transaction is just not quite right! They are here to help you out. The concept behind "keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold" is to keep foods out of the temperatures (40 to 140 degrees F) that support the growth of bacteria. It is safe to eat foods that were once hot and are now cold (for example fried chicken that is refrigerated and eaten cold). The key is to minimize the amount of time that foods are in the "in between" temperatures 40 to 140 degrees. That's why we say to keep foods hot or cold to decrease the chances of food borne illness. Potentially hazardous foods like meats, fish, etc can support the growth of bacteria. Bacteria grow best at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees. If you minimize the time that these potentially hazardous foods spend between 40 and 140 degrees you minimize your chances of contracting a food borne illness. So enjoy your hot foods cold if you like just make sure they stay cold (below 40 degrees). Carol C. Schlitt Extension Educator, Nutrition and Wellness University of Illinois Extension

5 PROCESS MEMOS Weekly Memos We will be utilizing the J Mark s Marks the Spot to communicate not only marketing and employee items, but Process Memos as well to the management teams. You ll be seeing these as a separate attachment and will be responsible to print and sign off on these process memos to ensure we re communicating 100% to our management teams. Process Memos MUST be signed by ALL salary and hourly managers and FAXED into Jeanne by the end of the fiscal week when the process memo went out. This week s Process Memos: Inter Company TRANSFER Form BLUE J MARK S From Fabian in Pompano: No. It is not a new cook. It is Pedro in blue. J Mark s standards. PRE SHIFT CRITICALS Defining the Items Hints on how to define or describe anything is always helpful. Beginning this week we will be defining each of the 19 Pre Shift Criticals from our Pre Shift Criticals list that Steve sent out to everyone on August 4 th (that is built into our training tools). Pre Shift Criticals need to also be PRE SHIFTED so that everyone is on the same page. Role Play talk about it and make sure everyone understands how we measure success with each of the items. Attached to today s Mark s The Spot you ll see our highlighted #1 PACE. The week we ll cover SMILE. Paid Out Process Aloha Riddle me this and you may win a prize: What drink on our menu has both Ananas Comosus and Coriandrum Sativum? Inquiring minds say send your answer to info@jmarksrestaurant.com

6 Pre Shift Criticals 1. Pace a. DEFINITION pace1 /peɪs/ Show Spelled [peys] A rate of movement, especially in stepping, walking, etc.: to walk at a brisk pace of five miles an hour. A rate of activity, progress, growth, performance, etc.; tempo. Prior to opening the doors at J Mark s we have a LOT of work to get done. Everyone is working their checklists and making sure that their assigned tasks are done 100%. An efficient brisk pace makes sure we re open by our designated time. If we don t come in energized we fail to meet our targets and then the rest of the shift is catch up and we all know that catching up is not fun. Do your part, come in hydrated, well rested, de stressed and energized and the team will be better for it! 2. Smile 3. Whisper 4. Lingo 5. Talking in the Dining Room 6. Never in groups of more than 2 7. Handing off plates and/or glasses 8. Team Run drinks 9. 3 Foot Rule 10. Walk on the Right 11. Team Greets 12. Repeat & Review 13. Re cooks & Expo Communication/Procedures 14. Full hands in / Full hands out 15. Hobart: Drop and Go 16. Team drinks and bread 17. SWAT with large parties 18. Check Back / Check Down 19. Marking your tables