There are many really good restaurants in Syracuse. No, really! Actually, they must be good, because some of them frequently have lines of people waiting to get in. That’s essentially a good thing, because they’re doing a good business.

Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to be experiencing more and more long wait times. But there are big differences in the way this is handled. I won’t mention names here, but this even includes some of my favorite eateries!

Restaurant A: when the line gets long, the maitre d’ is apologetic, at least ostensibly sincerely. As time goes on, the people in the queue are frequently informed of how things are moving along. If things get really out of hand, the maitre d’ warns newcomers apologetically about the long wait times, and to those who have waited the longest, he/she offers comped drinks, desserts, a big apology, or something to help compensate for the long, boring wait.

Restaurant B: when the line gets long in this place, a newcomer is greeted with “the wait is X minutes, do you still want to get on the list?” If they acquiesce to that, that’s the last they hear about what’s going on. The maitre d’ doesn’t apologize, and doesn’t actually shrug, but might as well be doing so. As people are finally seated, their fingernails having grown somewhat longer, nothing is offered to compensate the victims of the long wait. Any apology, if offered at all, is perfunctory. The staff just brazens it out and acts like everything’s fine.

I’m honestly puzzled by Restaurant B’s approach, which is quite common. I can certainly guess why it happens… all it takes is one maitre d’ who is incapable of apologizing for any reason, or is simply in denial that anything’s wrong. Or maybe margins are so tight that management lays down the law that no comps are offered for any reason. Also, when stress is high, a staff may be in a peculiar zone of tunnel-vision, and their perception is impaired.

But there are few things as annoying as a very long wait. People don’t tend to forget about that sort of thing, and are very happy to tell anyone who will listen. A quick look at the comments on this site shows that. And I’d bet that restaurants are sunk by this, and may not even know why. Gee, business was so great at first, and now everyone’s just standing around!

And make no mistake, any restaurant can have long wait times. But it goes down a whole lot easier when those in line are treated with respect and kept informed. Is it really worth saving that 1 dollar for a drink that could have cheered up that patron who ended up telling a bunch of his friends that your restaurant sucked? And then those 5 people tell their friends, and…. well, you don’t even have to do the math to see that the $1 savings may have cancelled a lot of potential business.