10 Ways Miami Restaurateurs Can Improve Service

1. Hire better hosts and hostesses, meaning those who can do more than smile and offer rote salutations. When gauging hospitality skills, Danny Meyer of New York's Union Square Cafe and Gramercy Tavern looks for five traits in his employees: "1)extremely nice; 2)intelligent; 3)infused with an extraordinary work ethic; 4)empathetic; 5)emotionally self-aware". Most Miami front-of-house staffs have gotten number one down pat; time to work on two through five.

2. Tell your waiters that when taking orders it is not imperative that they congratulate each diner for their brilliant selections; it comes across as insincere. And it's even worse to congratulate just one person sincerely, as it makes it seem as though everyone else at the table ordered crap.

3. Have waiters refrain from repeatedly asking how things are, if everything is okay, and so forth -- and especially from interrupting conversation to do so. A simple "Let me know if I can get you anything" uttered at the beginning of the meal will suffice.

4. It is likewise unnecessary to query whether we'd like more water; if the glass is empty, just fill it. On the other hand, please do not have workers replenish water glasses each time a sip is taken.

5. Waiters should not remove one diner's plate while others are still eating, and at no time should they scrape leftovers from one plate onto another and stack them while at the table.

6. Assign someone to inspect flatware more closely for smudges and stains, and to check wine glasses for soapy odors.

7. If at all possible, keep service stations away from tables -- it's nerve-wracking to be seated next to one.

8. When things go wrong, make them right. Was the wait for a table unduly long? Was a dinner order fluffed by the waiter or kitchen? Was a diners' entree returned for being improperly cooked, and did that result in the person having to dine after everyone else was near finished? Make a generous gesture to the offended group so they leave the premises delighted rather than disgruntled.

9. Do not abandon diners after dessert is served. Have waiters remove empty dessert plates in timely fashion and to ask their guests if they would like the check. If the response is affirmative, it should be brought promptly and the waiter should stay relatively close by to pick up the payment when ready.

10. Hire better dining room managers, meaning those who can do more than make token stops at each table to ask if everything is all right and then quickly move on (such managers remind me of a politician in a coffee shop during primary season). Performing the job with aplomb entails keeping a keen, roving eye on the room, being aware of the progress of each table, and orchestrating solutions to problems as they arise -- such as getting a check to a table of impatient diners whose waiter is bogged down.