IME there are some places where they just don't include a soda beverage list on the menu, but they do have them. Not sure if that's really the norm though.
If he was hard of hearing, he really should have made that clear sooner...instead of forcing you to repeat yourself over and over O.o; much easier for everyone involved if you KNEW to just point at the menu. Maybe he's embarrassed about it or still figuring out how to handle it, if he's new? Might also explain lack of familiarity with the menu. That's EXPLAIN, not EXCUSE...it's still bad_service, better training of employees seems to be in order.
"Ohhhkay. Well, what kind of beer is that? Dark, amber, pale...?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know beers."
That part made me LOL. Nobody's asking for your personal knowledge, buddy. If you don't know, GO FIND OUT so the customer can know what they want to order.
Exactly; I don't know beers either, but I've bartended and could give a rundown of the basic variations on the beers available, or, at the very least, said "Hey [guy who knows beer better than I do], could you tell this nice person more about our beers?" or "I'll find out, can I have a minute?" But "I don't know beers," ends the conversation.
At many nicer restaurants, it's pretty normative not to have a non-alcoholic drinks menu because it's expected that everyone will be drinking wine, beer, liquor, or water (sparkling, still, tap). On the other hand, a request to the wait staff along the lines of "what do you have for soft drinks?" should get you a fairly complete run-down of what they do have, and most have sodas and juice at least. I would not call that bad service, even mild bad service.
However, the rest was indeed poor service. "I don't know beers" is no excuse. Go ask the damn bartender, then!
For real. Nothing will kill a waiter's tip faster than saying he doesn't know the menu. Now, if you've just started that day, that's one thing, but the smart waiter says "Hmm, I'm not really familiar with that beer, let me ask the bartender/a more knowledgeable waiter; would you like me to put in the other drinks before I ask? I'll be right back."
At the very least a waiter or waitress should be able to say what kind of beer it is (lager, pale ale, dark beer,etc) and what the beer might be similar to (Guiness, Coors, etc.)
If the waitstaff doesn't know this basic information it also reflects poorly on the restaurant for not requiring this, or having it laid out on their menu.
This is especially true when the restaurant only has 3 different kinds of beer.
I very rarely drink, don't really like the taste of alcohol and if I'm gonna add a few hundred calories to my meal, I'd like it to have some sort of frosting and come after my meal. However, I waited tables for years and carried a cheat sheet of all the different types of alcohol, what they tasted like, etc. specifically so I could sell the hell out of booze.
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If he was hard of hearing, he really should have made that clear sooner...instead of forcing you to repeat yourself over and over O.o; much easier for everyone involved if you KNEW to just point at the menu. Maybe he's embarrassed about it or still figuring out how to handle it, if he's new? Might also explain lack of familiarity with the menu. That's EXPLAIN, not EXCUSE...it's still bad_service, better training of employees seems to be in order.
"Ohhhkay. Well, what kind of beer is that? Dark, amber, pale...?"
"I'm sorry, I don't know beers."
That part made me LOL. Nobody's asking for your personal knowledge, buddy. If you don't know, GO FIND OUT so the customer can know what they want to order.
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However, the rest was indeed poor service. "I don't know beers" is no excuse. Go ask the damn bartender, then!
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If the waitstaff doesn't know this basic information it also reflects poorly on the restaurant for not requiring this, or having it laid out on their menu.
This is especially true when the restaurant only has 3 different kinds of beer.
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Lazy waiter was lazy.
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