Really outstanding service would be where the waiter always shows up when you wish they would to refill (or replace) your drink or other bottomless item (chips and salsa are commonly unlimited in tex-mex places), remove dishes you no longer need, and generally is available to be flagged for whatever else you need without hovering.
Bad service can be where you’re ignored for almost the whole meal, or where they hover constantly and require reassurance every minute or so that you don’t need anything else, or act angry or as though they have some place else they’d rather be, or they mess up your order, or spill something or assist you in spilling something...
Bad service is enough to ruin a meal; really great service is almost invisible—things just happen when you would want them to, just before you’d think of it. :)
It takes a special kind of person to have the attention to detail, social skills, and intelligence to provide outstanding service as a waiter, and few people with those skills stay in that kind of job long, so outstanding service is very rare. Possibly this is less true at more expensive restaurants.
Really outstanding service would be where the waiter always shows up when you wish they would to refill (or replace) your drink or other bottomless item (chips and salsa are commonly unlimited in tex-mex places), remove dishes you no longer need, and generally is available to be flagged for whatever else you need without hovering.
Bad service can be where you’re ignored for almost the whole meal, or where they hover constantly and require reassurance every minute or so that you don’t need anything else, or act angry or as though they have some place else they’d rather be, or they mess up your order, or spill something or assist you in spilling something...
Bad service is enough to ruin a meal; really great service is almost invisible—things just happen when you would want them to, just before you’d think of it. :)
It takes a special kind of person to have the attention to detail, social skills, and intelligence to provide outstanding service as a waiter, and few people with those skills stay in that kind of job long, so outstanding service is very rare. Possibly this is less true at more expensive restaurants.