Chapter 10: The Steakhouse

Dexter parked his car in the crowded parking lot of the chain steakhouse. Cleared by his doctor to increase his level of activity, and to expand his diet, Dexter had chosen a steak dinner as the ideal way to celebrate. It was true that steak, specifically, hadn’t been added to his diet, but Dexter figured that was just a minor technicality.

A crowd of people, mostly smokers, were waiting for tables in front of the restaurant. Although he wasn’t a smoker, he thought it was wrong that they weren’t allowed smoking areas where they could smoke their foul cigarettes, while letting non-smokers be free of having to smell it. Instead, the laws seemed to cast smokers into a semi-criminal status. He could empathize with the smokers. He viewed it as more laws intended to manipulate people into behaving in a manner that someone else had decided was in their best interests.

In a way, he couldn’t figure out the insane policies of the government. It provided subsidies for the tobacco companies, but it didn’t want them to advertise so that the subsidies would be unnecessary. It generated revenue from the taxes levied on tobacco products, yet argued against the sales of the products. It criminalized the use of the product while allowing it to be sold.

Inside the restaurant, there was a crowd of people waiting to get seated. Dexter made his way through the crowd to add his name to the list and was told that it would be an hour wait. The hostess gave him a dirty look when he stated that he was alone. He was given a plastic pager to let him know when a table became available.

There weren’t any seats available in the waiting area, although there were a few in the bar. He considered the bar, but held back. He didn’t really want to drink on an empty stomach. He joined the crowd around the hostess station. There were only seats for about ten customers, and there were at least forty people waiting for a table.

He leaned against a wall examining the décor of the restaurant. There was a strong Texas and cowboy theme. Pictures of famous Hollywood cowboys hung on the wall. There was a saddle mounted over the entrance into the dining area. Spurs, cowboy hats, old tools, kerosene lanterns, and branding irons filled in the spaces on the wall. Considering that this was a national chain, he wondered where they managed to find so much western memorabilia.

He watched others when informed they had a table. The hostess would take the pager from them and then head off into the dining area expecting the customers to follow her. Sometimes the hostess even told the customers to follow her. Once on her way, she never looked back to see if they were behind her. The customers followed along like baby ducklings trailing their mother.

The customers who had arrived before him were slowly seated. The space taken up in the waiting area was filled by new customers. Some groups talked among themselves while others just stood around waiting to be seated. Most groups with young kids didn’t even try to wait for a table, but turned around and left. An hour was a long time to wait for a table.

He thought about the other steakhouses in the area. The fancy ones didn’t serve steaks on the bone. It was always a New York Strip, Fillet Mignon, or a Rib Eye. The high priced steakhouses had asparagus, baked potatoes or fancy mashed potatoes for sides. They served garden salads with fancy dressings.

The problem was that he liked a good sized Porterhouse steak, cooked medium rare. He liked a baked sweet potato with butter, sugar, and cinnamon as a side, and a lettuce salad with Thousand Island dressing. This particular chain delivered exactly that, and at a price that people could afford. If he was to get the meal he wanted, he had to come to this chain ... or one just like it.

The problem with chains was that despite the lousy service, they provided a product that was exactly what the customer wanted, at a price the customer could afford. People who wanted something specific would accept lousy service if the price was right. On the other hand, if the price was high, they wanted the right item and excellent service.

A rule of thumb for project management in engineering is that one can have it fast, cheaply, or with high quality, but not all three. Dexter had come to the conclusion that when it came to purchasing, one could have the item, the price, or the service, but not all three.

Chains emphasized the item and the price at the expense of service. Unfortunately, it seemed to Dexter that low price dominated the other two factors. People would accept an inferior item and poor service just because the price was right.

It seemed to Dexter that successful chains couldn’t maintain their success for long. In a way, it was their very success and consequent growth that often led to their downfall. As the chain expanded, the operating costs increased, which then forced them to increase prices. They tended to die when they raised prices without improving the service.

Looking around the steakhouse, Dexter could see the beginnings of its downfall. The building was fifteen years old. In five years or less, it would need a major overhaul. That would cost money. Every year that passed would require increased maintenance expenditures. Soon, prices would have to increase. If the building was not significantly improved, people would interpret the poor surroundings as a lessening of the items they were purchasing: food and atmosphere.

The pager finally went off, and he headed over to the hostess. She gave him a weak wave to follow her, and then headed into the dining area. Dexter followed along like an obedient puppy. She never looked back to see if he was following her. When they reached the table, she put a menu down and then headed back to her station.

Her only statement was a quick, “Your waitperson will be with you soon,” as she left.

Dexter sighed and took a seat. He realized that she had spoken five sentences to him from the time he had stepped to her station to be put on the waiting list to getting himself seated. She had asked him the size of his party, asked his name, told him it would be an hour wait, told him that the pager would let him know that his table was available, and lastly that his waiter or waitress would come to the table. He imagined that she was probably a pretty nice and friendly person, but it would be hard to prove based on her performance that evening.

The waitress arrived before Dexter had a chance to even open the menu. Looking down at her order pad, she asked, “What would you like to drink?”

“A Texas Long Neck,” Dexter answered ordering a well known brand of beer.

He noticed that she never introduced herself.

“I’ll bring it right out while you look at the menu,” she said while turning away. She then walked off.

Dexter raised his hand to get her attention. He knew exactly what he wanted, and was ready to order. She never looked back at him. She went over to a kiosk and typed his drink order into it. She then headed off to another table.

After five minutes, she returned with his beer. While putting it on the table, she said, “What would you like?”

“The porterhouse steak, a baked sweet potato with butter and sugar and cinnamon, and a regular salad with thousand island dressing,” Dexter answered.

The waitress scribbled his order down on a pad of paper, then asked, “Any appetizers?”

“No, thank you,” Dexter said.

She grabbed the menu out of his hand and left. She went over to a kiosk and typed his order into the machine. Dexter watched her work. The waitress had ten tables in the dining area. Those ten tables kept her continuously moving. In a way, she reminded Dexter of a comet orbiting around the sun in an ever changing elliptical orbit. She would sweep over to a table, and then make her way back to the kiosk.

Based on his observations, she made six visits to each table for each seating of customers. The first was to get the drink order, the second was to deliver the drink and get the food order, the third was to deliver the food, the fourth was to drop off the check, the fifth to pick up the payment, and the sixth was to return the credit card or change. She spent less than a minute at the table for each visit. In fact, it seemed to him that she spent more time at the kiosk than she did at any single table.

The waitress was not the only one working in her area. There were three people delivering food to various tables in the dining room, and another two busboys, who were clearing plates from tables as quickly as people finished eating. This was ‘production line service.’ He realized that the tips were being split among all of the people working in the area.

Dexter turned his attention to the customers. It was obvious that the pace of service was being dictated by the staff rather than the customers. Some customers seemed to be oblivious to the service, barely giving any attention to the waitstaff. Others looked a little irritated as if the pace of service mismatched their pace of eating. Some were fast eaters and kept looking for their waitperson. Others were slow eaters and reacted like they were being rushed through their meals.

Dexter’s salad was delivered by a guy carrying several meals on a large tray. He set up a stand while holding the large tray in one hand. He deftly maneuvered the tray onto the stand. He glanced down at a small slip of paper and looked at Dexter.