What Happened to Customer Service?

The Hospitality Industry Has a Service Problem

After 40 years in the foodservice and hospitality industry, I find myself asking a question I never thought I would have to ask:

What happened to customer service?

There was a time when our industry’s philosophy was simple: the customer comes first.

That did not mean customers were always right. It meant they were valued. They were the reason we opened the doors every morning, prepared the food, polished the glasses, set the tables, and trained our employees. Without customers, there is no restaurant, no payroll, no gratuity, and ultimately, no business.

Somewhere along the way, that philosophy began to change.

We Went From Hospitality to Transactions

Years ago, professional waiters and bartenders understood that hospitality was a craft.

A good waiter didn’t simply take an order. They controlled the experience. They knew the menu, understood ingredients, anticipated needs, read the table, paced the meal, communicated with the kitchen, and recognized when a guest needed something before the guest had to ask.

A professional bartender didn’t just make drinks. The bar was their stage. It was clean, organized, stocked, and ready for service. They knew their products, remembered their regulars, kept their composure, and understood that every guest at that bar helped support the business.

Gratuity was generally the result of exceptional service—not the starting expectation.

Today, in too many establishments, that relationship seems reversed.

Customers can feel as though a 20% to 25% gratuity is expected regardless of the food quality, attentiveness of the service, or overall dining experience.

A gratuity should represent appreciation for service. When the expectation of a tip becomes more important than earning it, we have fundamentally changed the meaning of hospitality.

The Details Are Disappearing

Hospitality has always been about details.

A guest shouldn’t have to ask repeatedly for silverware.

They shouldn’t receive their food and then discover they don’t have a napkin.

A bartender shouldn’t hand someone a bottle or can of beer and automatically expect the guest to pour it into a glass themselves in a full-service establishment.

Guests shouldn’t sit at dirty tables or at a bar covered with glasses and debris while employees stand nearby talking.

Employees shouldn’t eat behind the bar in front of customers, drink alcohol while working, or spend time on their phones while guests wait for service.

These may sound like small things.

They aren’t.

These small details collectively create the customer’s perception of your restaurant.

The plate matters. The cocktail matters. But so do the clean table, polished glass, proper silverware, greeting, eye contact, attentiveness, appearance, and genuine “thank you” when the customer leaves.

That is hospitality.

What Happened to Professional Appearance?

We have also watched restaurant standards become increasingly casual.

There was a time when uniforms meant something. Employees arrived properly groomed. Uniforms were clean. Shoes were appropriate. Bartenders looked like bartenders. Servers looked like professionals representing the establishment.

Today, depending on the restaurant, you may find shorts, random T-shirts, inconsistent clothing and accessories, and little apparent attention to grooming or presentation.

There is nothing inherently wrong with a casual uniform. Some of the best restaurant concepts in America are intentionally casual.

Casual, however, should never mean careless.

Your employees are part of your brand.

The dining room is your showroom.

Everyone who interacts with a guest represents your business.

Where Are the Managers?

This may be the biggest issue of all.

Where is management?

Years ago, restaurant managers worked the dining room. They touched tables. They greeted regular customers. They watched ticket times. They checked the bar. They observed servers. They communicated with the kitchen. They spotted problems before they became complaints.

If a customer had a concern, the manager didn’t hide in the office.

They handled it.

Today, I increasingly see restaurants being managed from behind a computer, from an office, or through reports after the service has already happened.

You cannot manage hospitality through the rear-view mirror.

Managers need to be on the floor.

They need to see what customers see.

If employees are standing around talking while guests need service, management should see it.

If the bar is dirty, management should see it.

If food is sitting in the window, management should see it.

If employees are on their phones, management should see it.

And if a server or bartender is overwhelmed, management should recognize it and help.

Management isn’t simply about correcting people. It is about providing employees with the training, tools, staffing, communication, and leadership necessary to succeed.

Are Employees Really the Problem?

It is easy to blame “this generation.”

I don’t believe that tells the whole story.

Young employees cannot be expected to automatically understand professional hospitality if nobody teaches them.

Where is the training?

Where are the pre-shift meetings?

Where are the service standards?

Where are the menu examinations?

Where are the wine, beer, spirit, and food education programs?

Where are the mystery shoppers?

Where are the managers coaching employees during service?

Where is the accountability?

You can’t give someone an apron and a POS password and expect them to understand hospitality.

Service must be taught. Hospitality must be demonstrated. Standards must be communicated. And management must consistently reinforce them.

If leadership accepts poor service Monday through Thursday, it cannot suddenly demand excellence Friday night.

Did the Labor Shortage Change the Balance?

The restaurant industry has faced enormous staffing challenges, particularly since the pandemic. Labor costs rose, experienced workers left the industry, restaurants struggled to recruit, and managers feared losing the employees they still had.

That created another problem.

In some operations, management became so concerned about keeping employees that accountability disappeared.

The mentality became:

“At least someone showed up.”

That is not a sustainable operating strategy.

Restaurants need to respect employees, compensate them fairly, provide safe workplaces, offer opportunities for advancement, and treat people professionally.

But respect must work both ways.

Employees also have a responsibility to customers, coworkers, and the business that pays them.

Being short-staffed cannot become a permanent excuse for abandoning standards.

Have We Become an HR Business Instead of a Hospitality Business?

Human Resources is essential. Employees deserve protection, fairness, clear policies, and professional workplaces.

But restaurants cannot become so consumed with internal policies, compliance, scheduling, and fear of employee turnover that they forget why the operation exists.

We are still in the hospitality business.

Our responsibility is both to our employees and our customers.

Protect your employees.

Train your employees.

Pay them appropriately.

Listen to them.

Develop them.

But also hold them accountable for delivering the experience your customers are paying for.

Those two responsibilities are not mutually exclusive.

Technology Has Changed the Dining Room

Another uncomfortable question we need to consider.

Has technology changed the way we interact with people?

We live in a world dominated by smartphones, social media, texting, apps, online ordering, kiosks, QR-code menus, and digital communication.

For younger employees who grew up communicating through screens, face-to-face hospitality may not come naturally.

I frequently sit in restaurants—busy and slow—and watch employees talk among themselves or look at mobile devices while customers try to get their attention.

This isn’t necessarily a generational character flaw.

It is a management and training challenge.

Restaurants must teach employees that when they walk onto the floor, the customer becomes their priority.

You can socialize after the shift.

You can check your phone during your break.

But when customers are sitting in your section, you are on stage.

And Now Comes AI

This brings us to an interesting contradiction.

Artificial intelligence and restaurant technology were originally promoted largely as efficiency tools.

Better forecasting.

Better scheduling.

Inventory management.

Ordering systems.

Menu engineering.

Food-cost analysis.

Reservations.

Customer relationship management.

Those are excellent uses of technology.

But increasingly, restaurants are looking at AI, kiosks, automation, robotic systems, and self-service technology for another reason:

Replacing labor.

Why?

Labor cost is certainly part of it.

But reliability and consistency are becoming part of the conversation, too.

If a restaurant cannot consistently recruit, train, retain, and manage employees who provide professional service, owners will naturally begin asking whether technology can perform some of those functions more reliably.

That should concern everyone in our industry.

The irony is that hospitality is one of the businesses that should be the hardest to replace with technology because the human interaction is part of what customers are purchasing.

People don’t always go to restaurants simply because they are hungry.

They go to celebrate birthdays.

Anniversaries.

Weddings.

Business deals.

First dates.

Family gatherings.

They go because they want an experience.

Technology can improve that experience.

It should never be an excuse to eliminate hospitality.

The Industry Needs a Reset

After four decades in this business, I don’t believe customer service disappeared because of one generation, one economic event, or one management philosophy.

It is a combination of factors: labor shortages, rising costs, reduced training, inconsistent management, changing social behavior, technology, employee turnover, and declining accountability.

But there is something important restaurant operators need to remember:

Customers have choices.

Eventually, customers stop complaining.

They simply stop coming back.

And that is far more dangerous.

You cannot measure hospitality only by today’s sales. You must measure whether today’s customer wants to return tomorrow.

There are still outstanding restaurants throughout this country with incredible bartenders, professional servers, talented chefs, engaged managers, and owners who understand hospitality. They prove exceptional service isn’t outdated.

Unfortunately, they increasingly feel like the exception, not the standard.

The solution isn’t complicated.

Hire carefully. Train relentlessly. Set standards. Conduct pre-shift meetings. Put managers on the floor. Hold people accountable. Recognize outstanding employees. Listen to customers. Maintain your facility. Respect your staff. And never forget to appreciate the people walking through your doors.

Because the customer is not interrupting our business.

The customer is the reason we have a business.

After 40 years in this industry, I still believe hospitality can be one of the greatest professions in the world.

But we must start treating it like a profession again.