Indian waiters in the US
My data spectrum is probably skewed as my opinion is based on around 12-15 restaurants in greater Boston area and 10-12 in rest of USA. But many of my friends agree with me. Waiters in Indian restaurants are below par. I am not claiming that waiters in all other restaurants are good, but for Indian restaurants, they are all below par for the same reason.
Most of the Indian joints are a family business. The waiters there are either the owner himself/herself or their extended family. There is no way they have done a professional course in waiting. This reflects in their behavior. In India, nobody cares about the waiter except how quickly they bring the order. But here, most of the places, there is more to than just bringing food that is involved. The Indian restaurants here are lost between the two and fail on both respects.
Another thing that comes out often is what somebody told me as reverse racism. The waiters, especially when they are the owners have a general tendency to look down upon the Indian customers. Their behavior towards Indian customers is totally different from the rest. I cannot describe what they do differently but it can probably be explained by a theory: Back in India, waiters are not held in that high esteem. But here, the waiters in Indian restaurants are generally the owners and they think that by waiting they are degrading their position before fellow Indians. So to “claim” their superiority, they always appear to have a high nose.
Another difference between other restaurants and Indian ones are that in other restaurants, there is at least 50 if not more percent of women waiters. By nature they are more friendly and appealing. This is totally absent in any Indian restaurant where it will be usually a grumpy faced granpa who will take your orders.
However, I need to mention two exceptions. We all know that Indian food is really good. In some places, they hire local people for waiting and they do an excellent job. They try hard to get the names right and are generally qualified waiter/waitresses. The combo of good food and good waiting makes a deadly combo. In many cases there are ABCD girls too who chip in who in addition to good waiting skills also have a good accent with food names. Places to mention are Dosa in SFO and Kabab Factory in Boston.
The other one is a tiny restaurant Dosa temple near my place. These people are the India kinds. They do not try to copy, so they come forward as genuine and that’s what makes them special. They also do not have that attitude that seems apparent on the other desi waiters.
No wonder, Indian buffets are so popular. It’s difficult to screw up.
4 comments:
I believe bias towards Indian customers is not only seen in Indian restaurants but in all other restaurants (especially pubs). I could feel that "why are you here in my country?" kinda attitude in many so-called trained non-Indian attendants.
The other reason why Indian attendants behave nicely with non-Indian customers is that "non-Indian customers are traditionally good tippers"
You brought out a good point. Though restaurants like cheesecake factory or the Italian ones or the big chain ones seem to be very friendly, it is different in the pubs. From the few I have been to, it was a mixed reaction with mostly goods. However, the reaction of the other guests at the pub are surely different. In an inebriated condition, you can expect the true grudge to come out.
For the Indian restaurants, another reason why I think they do it is because they know that Indians will come back again and again if the food is good. Indians generally do not go to Indian restaurants for special occasions but for usual daily food.
I would slightly disagree when you say 'the owners' of the restuarant have attitude problems. I find them more polite and receptive. I have always noticed issues with Desis who work there- they could be the owner's relative or someone just in from back home..
While I do agree that waiters at Indian restaurants may not meet the mark wrt professional waiting, I have not really noticed the things you have mentioned in restaurants in Austin. However, that may just be due to the fact that Austin,TX is a much smaller city than Boston, NY or SFO. We barely have 7-8 Indian restaurants.
Most restaurants here have an order at counter system. A Mexican guy then brings your food to you. He isn't technically a waiter. One of the restaurants (Chola) is run by a bunch of Indian guys and while they are not too professional at waiting, they have made lots of friends with Indians and Americans who work at Dell.
There are a couple of restaurants with American waiters here who are smart and sophisticated but there isn't much of a personal feel about it. Off course, if you are on a date or something, thats the place you would want to go.... but otherwise, the other restaurants here are just fine.
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