Customer service! The word cannot be stressed enough. Whether it is a key word used in an interview to market oneself or learned serving in the food industry, excellent customer service is something Americans have come to demand and highly value. I am one of them.

My mother came down for a short stay last weekend, and we went out to a local restaurant to enjoy dinner together. We were quickly seated at 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday, but we soon found out the few parties that came in behind us had a 40-minute wait. The dining room seating was full, but the bar had plenty of open space to take in hungry patrons.

Our waitress came and quickly took our drink orders without any problems. When it came time to order, though, our waitress was unable to answer some basic questions we had about the menu. She told us she was pretty new on the job, which informed us that our dining experience might be substandard. Still, I did not pass judgment and would let her prove her skills.

Our appetizer and first course came in a timely manner and without any problems. It wasn’t until later in the evening that I find out she never brought out a bread basket for us to share. The people next to us had the same server, and they had to go up and ask for their own.

Once our entrée came, we did not see our waitress again for about 35 minutes. She did not come back mid-meal to see if we needed anything, and she never refilled my water glass. The establishment did not seem crowded and bar seating was still open, but there was still a long wait to be seated.

The server finally came back to clear the table, but she did not ask if we wanted dessert or after-dinner drinks. After waiting a few moments, I decided to go up and ask for a menu to look at our dessert options. I saw our server spending a brief time talking with a customer I assume she knew.

When she finally came back, we ordered coffee and dessert. The coffee came quickly, but the cream I had requested did not come until the dessert did; it seemed like an eternity! In the 20-plus minutes spent waiting for dessert, we had finished most of our coffee, and I simply drank mine without cream.

Our whole meal seemed like a joke. It took another 15 minutes to receive a check, and we found out she did not bill us for the dessert. My mother pointed this out to the waitress, but she said it was on the house.

After paying and closer observation of the bill, we discovered the establishment lost $23 out of the four-course meal with cocktails.

The waitress may have been having a bad day, preoccupied with other things or any number of things, but her service was awful and her company lost money and business because of her. I know firsthand the demanding roles servers fill and that the industry has a trend of high level of turnover rates, but I also understand the demanding necessity of excellent customer service to keep patrons coming back. Good managers demand this out of their staff; this restaurant did not.

My biggest pet peeve with any food establishment is carelessness and inadequate, at best, service. I do not care if the food is mediocre, but if there is impressionable customer service from a cheerful employee, it will keep me coming back. This restaurant did not deliver the minimal service I expected, and they have lost one more customer because of it.

Colleen Kitka can be reached at 581-7942 or crkitka@eiu.edu.