My biggest pet peeve is when the kitchen messes up..over cooked, under cooked etc and the costumer doesn't tip because of that. I laugh at when the costumer eats all their food and complains about it...or complains about the day after.
I always asked my tables how the food was 10 minutes after it got dropped. It ususlly prevents customers from complaining about food since you've checked on them.
I got trained with stop watches:
Tables had to be greated in under 3 minutes from being seated.
Drinks on table in 5 minutes.
Food 15to 25 minutes from order.
Food check in 10 minutes.
Food check in 15 minutes.
Etc...if we were off by even a minute our managers were on our ***.
Edit: ill never go back to waiting tables so stressful.
People shouldn't be so critical of a waiter until they understand exactly how the kitchen and restaurant function