The restaurant business is ever-changing, and with that comes the competitive nature that draws review from every corner of the restaurant industry. Every restaurant owner and executive chef dreads an awful complaint that could contribute to a bad review of their pride and joy, but when it happens, what do you do? Austin’s top chefs and restaurant owners share the inside scoop on what they do when a guest complains about the service of their staff or worse… the food.
“Find out what the guest is complaining about and solve it. Go above and beyond to create a memorable experience. Every negative feedback is an opportunity to make them a lifetime customer. Find out what they like and don’t like and solve it. Give them what they like.” – Jae Kim, founder and server at Chi’Lantro BBQ
“Guest complaints are such a huge part of hospitality. If you handle a bad experience well, you can actually create return customers. Whether it is a food or service complaint, we train our staff to promptly address the issue with the 3 A’s: Acknowledge, Apologize, Act. Ultimately, all people want is someone to listen to them. While the customer isn’t always right, they should always feel heard and respected. Respect and sincerity are two core components of hospitality and what makes service feel so good when it’s done right.” – Andrew Curren, Executive Chef / Partner, ELM Restaurant Group (24 Diner, Easy Tiger Bake Shop & Beer Garden, Italic and Irene’s)
“For a service complaint, we try to get to the source of the issue and ask them what were the service issues. We usually will apologize and if it is a legitimate complaint, ask them how we can make it up to them. We may send them a dessert at the end of the night to make up for it. For a food complaint, we’ll swap the menu item without asking any questions. If the guest does not want to swap the dish out, we’ll provide a refund for the dish.” – Eric Silverstein, owner and chef of The Peached Tortilla.
“We try on every level to provide our guests with an experience that doesn’t warrant a complaint about food or service. Should we have an off experience or a complaint, we pride ourselves with immediately reporting it to management who genuinely listen to our guests’ concern and immediately try to rectify the situation.” – Kris Swift, owner of Jacoby’s Restaurant & Mercantile & Grizzelda’s
“When a guests complains about the food at the restaurant I will puff out my chest and yell really loudly, ‘they don’t know what they are talking about!!!’ ☺” – Andrew Wiseheart, co-owner and executive chef of Contigo & Chicon.