Weekends & Restaurants
Velachery is exploding.. the real estate costs are 3x 4x than it was earlier. Ok.. not just velachery.. almost all south and west zones of chennai are expanding in a rapid rate.
Why? coz chennai is growing, .. new …new.. all new .. new companies…new people.. new cars.. And you can see the same old restaurants. None of them think about opening any new branches in the developing areas. One classic example is velachery. Still there is no sign of any good restaurants.
When population explodes at this rate, it is hard to get a seat in any restaurants in the weekends. Almost all restaurants get busy right from 7.45pm till 10.30pm. If you enter around 9pm, sorry, thats ur bad day. You may bump upon other people waiting at the gate to enter the restaurant. Or even if you enter a little earlier, say, around 8.30, then soon you will be annoyed noticing people standing next to your table, to occupy your seat. This actually happend to us in besant nagar ponnusamy. And, this happens in most of the crowded outlets i guess.
So here are some tips. This may work or may not work, even they may not sound good.. but they are worth considering.
1. In the weekends, shift your outside dinner time to 8pm instead of 9pm or 9.30 pm. This will help you to get seats and avoid irritating waiting. Applies to Lunch also. Either go around 12.30 or after 2.30pm.
2. If you are more than 4 in number, call the restaurant 3 hours prior to the dinner time and reserve the seats.
3. If it is summer, expect a lot of crowd in the weekends. Coz many families and kids from outside cities visit chennai during summer. So be prepared, most of the 8 seater or multi seater tables will be occupied.
4. When ordering food, place the order in a single round. Take a few more mins, but order in a single shot. Combine soups, starters and main courses into one round. This will help the servers to deliver in time. Deserts can be ordered when you are about to finish.
5. During lunch, i suggest you include one or two briyani’s in your menu (veg or non veg). Briyanis are always readily available. So when you are waiting for other food, briyanis will help you to beat the hunger initially.
6. When you are in a weekend dinner with your sweet heart, avoid trying an unknown dish, coz that could hamper the mood if the taste is not good.
7. In the rush time, avoid being lazy. Think of other people waiting to eat. So cut short those “appuram machi.. sollu..”, “yenga, nethu thanga vettaila naalavathu kelvi asattuthanama illa?..” pls, look at those poor people waiting out. Speed up your weekend dinner a little bit and let others eat.
8. When you visit a restaurant, and if you like it, note the phone number in your mobile. This will help you to reserve tables.
9. Not necessary to tip according to some standards like 5% of bill amount or 10% of bill amount. Not necessary. Tip generously only if you are fully satisfied with the service. All servers make a good collection on weekends. (doesnt apply to star hotel restaurants)
Thats for now.. post your tips too.. 