Great Taste Magazine

We’ve all had bad nights in the industry. The kind of night where everything goes wrong and there seems to be no end in sight to the disaster you find yourself in. Your mind races; you can feel the sweat beads begin to form on your forehead. But what happens when your bad night affects others? Even worse, hungry others who have made reservations!
My Worst Night Ever features horror stories straight from hospitality industry professionals who recount for us the worst night of their career – a night that will forever be embedded in their minds. As you will see, many factors can contribute to a borderline meltdown. However, even the worst of nights can transform into great learning experiences and even create a tighter bond among staff and associates.

Joe Manzella, Proprietor, TAPS Fish House & Brewery and The Catch
We had just completed being “ground zero” for the 2002 Angels’ playoffs and magical World Series run. The Catch had successfully executed serving thousands of guests, celebrities, media and players in what was nothing short of a miracle for a restaurant that had been open less than two months. So when we looked at the event calendar and saw that the Rolling Stones were playing at Angel Stadium, why worry? We were going to snooze our way through that three hour rush, because we had just been on a three week tear that had Angel game day business lasting 15 hours straight.
Well, not so fast. I made one of the worst decisions of my operational life when I decided to open our 250 seat capacity Diamond Court event room to handle the excess rush, but would fire the food from the main restaurant and not open the Diamond Court kitchen. Looking back now, I have absolutely no idea what we were thinking trying to jam 500 reservations through that kitchen for a pre-concert rush because what ensued was the worst single day of my restaurant life. I remember standing in the kitchen, between frantic and panic stricken servers, and watching the expo printer hum nonstop for two hours. It literally didn’t stop printing unless we had to reload the printer paper. The tickets on the floor made a pile that was three feet wide and stacked 12 inches high. I recall standing there looking at it knowing we just ruined so many people’s evenings. It was simply the most brutal restaurant night of my life and an event that we all look back on as a staff as a reminder of what NOT to do. Poor planning on my part constituted a total meltdown on everyone else’s part.
We now see things through a different light at the new Catch as we anticipate back to back nights of U2 this summer. Make your reservations now, because we will not be taking 500 of them!

Heather Avery, Managing Partner, Roy’s – Anaheim
It was three weeks to the day from our new Roy’s opening. My stress level was high with many things to tackle as the managing partner of a brand new restaurant. The last thing I needed was to work one final shift at my old restaurant on a Friday night alongside a rookie manager. But I agreed to help. It was wonderful to see familiar faces at tables and work side by side with my old staff again. And then it happened.
7 p.m. and the dining room was full. “Heather, I think something is wrong with the drains in the bar.” As I surveyed the situation I’d say something was wrong. Bartenders were standing in an inch of water. The drains had backed up and showed no sign of clearing themselves. I directed the rookie manager to call our plumber while I retrieved linen to sop up the watery mess. As I walked through the beverage station something caught my eye and I knew it was going to be a long night. The drain in the beverage station was beginning to back up.
That evening drains backed up in the bar, beverage station, men’s and women’s restrooms and dish area. We lined the floor with linen, placed wet floor signs everywhere, and directed guests to the restaurant next door to use the restroom. We had guests yelling at us furious, guests who were confused why the restrooms were out of order despite standing in an inch of water and guests who just returned to their tables not sure what to make of the situation.
If you’ve been in food service or hospitality management, there’s a cliché about managing a shift like a duck swims in water. The adage goes something like this: from above, a duck seems to effortlessly glide along the water, but if you look below the surface, you will see the duck feverishly paddling his little legs to navigate about. I was a duck that night standing in an inch of water in my suit, mop in hand, desperately trying to keep a smile on my face. The good news? At 9:15 p.m., as business was beginning to wind down, the plumbers resolved the problem: one big, blocked-up pipe had caused all the damage.

Russ Bendel, Operating Partner, Fleming’s, Newport Beach
When I think back to the one night that will forever be ingrained in my memory, it was Mothers Day 2006. We all know this is a very busy day in the business. Ironically, only a few weeks earlier, we converted our guest reservation system to a new, advanced and sophisticated program. This was a great change with the exception of what we learned the hard way that evening.
We had started out with a busy brunch shift which was executed to perfection. Interestingly, dinner appeared to be lighter on reservations than we projected. With that in mind, we wrapped up brunch, and prepped accordingly for the evening with a little down time to cleanup.
With a steady flow of early dinner guests, business was grand as usual. The bombshell hit when at 5 p.m. sharp, a hostess inquired about a new tab that had just popped up on the reservation screen. This was the first time we had ever been open for brunch and dinner with our new system in place, and an additional 450 reservations became quite the surprise to me and the staff.
As our unexpected guests began to arrive, we struggled with preparing salads, appetizers, and beverage orders. Seating became an issue with only so many tables to occupy our never ending list of reservations. The tables became harder to bus with only limited linen. Drink orders began to back up with the ticket rail piling higher and higher for specialty martinis and blended cocktails. What was once a basic process to open the door and take a guest to a table now became an obstacle of bodies crowding the lobby.
I will keep the memories of that evening with me forever. The amount of food and staff required were twice what we actually had on hand. Basic items such as lettuce, tomatoes, ice cream, baked potatoes and napkins will never again be taken for granted. How we managed to serve 1,067 guests with the preparation and anticipation of only 600 earlier that day is still a mystery.
At the end of the evening, my colleagues and I looked at each other, exhausted, and thanked one another. I heard servers, bussers and food runners say to each other, “there is nobody else I would have rather had here than you.” Not only did we make it through the evening serving hundreds of guests, but associates bonded to one another on a whole new level.