Recently new legislation was passed that requires restaurant companies with 20 or more locations to publish calorie counts of the food they serve. They’re also required to make information on sodium, carbs and fat available at a customer’s request.

It’s about time!

Three Florida legislators have proposed a bill that would require restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus. While I know there are heated arguments on both sides of this issue, I like the idea.

Here’s a sad, but true statistic:

2/3 of all new restaurants fail before their first birthday.

But not Danny Meyer’s establishments. His eateries not only survive, they become culinary icons in the most competitive restaurant market in the world: New York City. His Union Square Hospitality Group owns more than a dozen restaurants, the oldest of which is over 20 years old, and he’s never closed a restaurant!

Makes you wonder, “How does he DO that?”

In a recent post, I wrote about my friend’s experience at Beau Jacks, a suburban Detroit restaurant. Their experience was exceptional; so, I decided to interview the owner, Gary Cochran. I wanted to learn what he does to keep his customers coming back 3 or 4 nights a week. His restaurant is so successful that patrons are willing to endure long waits, because it’s worth it, even in Detroit’s depressed times. Beau Jack’s is also one of Jay Leno’s favorite Detroit restaurants.

I’ve seen this crappy little sign a few times at a very small restaurant I go to occasionally. Every time I see it, I think the same thing: please don’t make me do your job for you. Peek your head in here once in awhile. It also makes me wonder if their employees ever go to the bathroom. If they did, surely they’d know if the bathroom needed attention. Or maybe they’re reading the other sign that says, “Employees must wash hands before returning to work.”

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

See things from your customer’s view

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Every Saturday a bunch of us have breakfast at a local restaurant. We always ask for separate checks. This makes it easier when we pay. And, unless we have our regular server, we always get the same response. They total the checks separately but they’re still printed on the same piece of paper.

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Let your customer lead

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

I can’t seem to sit down in a restaurant anymore without being offered something I have no interest in. Take sweet tea for example. Everywhere I go a server offers me sweet tea. Yet I don’t drink sweet tea. I have never liked sweet tea. I probably never will. If one more person offers me sweet tea, someone’s going to need a paramedic.

So why

Last week Bruce Buschel wrote an amusingly useful piece in the New York Times on what restaurant employees should and should not do. It has been popular. A search on Google now shows 124,000 links for the title of this article.

This thrills me because the Buschel made some fine points. He offers excellent advice for anyone who manages or works in a restaurant. As a frequent restaurant customer, I applaud his list. If I found a restaurant that met every one of these standards I’d probably be speechless. But I’d also be a loyal customer because these tips make sense. They fit what I want in a fine dining experience.

I’m starting to sound like an old man because I find myself saying things only old men say. Things like, “Get off my lawn!”, “Slow down you little punk!” and “If you can’t do something well, why are you doing it at all?”

Case in point: my recent lunch at Buca di Beppo. Buca is a chain of very colorful, slightly irreverent, highly tasty Italian restaurants. For a chain, the food is really pretty good. But this isn’t about the food.

Yesterday while listening to NPR I heard a discussion about tipping trends for service people. A part of the discussion focused on tipping in restaurants and how many people tip less during a recession and some (a precious few) actually tip more.

As a part of the program they had listeners call in to share their thoughts. I was surprised at how many people who called in were servers who had this advice for the dining public:

“If you can’t afford to tip your server well, please do not dine out.”

At first I could not believe what I was hearing. That’s like someone saying,