Dining Etiquette

While it's easy to shred a restaurant for giving bad service or having bad food, Gourmet's Francis Lam has some good advice on how to a be a good customer: "A customer that has a good meal tells, on average, three people about it. A bad one, though? news of a bad one gets passed around like a cold. It’s tough to run a restaurant, what with all the moving parts. Anyone can have a bad day or even a bad minute, so try to remember that underneath all good and bad restaurants there are people working really hard just trying to make a living. It’s rare that a place is actually cynical, that they’re actually just trying to rip you off. That said, it also sucks to be on the receiving end of someone else’s bad day, and you don’t need to suffer silently. If something is a real problem, say something politely about it. Most places will try to make things better if they can. Give them a chance to do so before you savage them on your blog. Please. Thank you."