SF Bay Area restaurants are still struggling. Returning customers don't see that.
At Vanessa’s Bistro in Berkeley, owner Vi Nguyen recently encountered a customer who stood in her kitchen doorway to yell at her after a server made a simple mistake.
“Not talk, yell,” Nguyen emphasized, sounding increasingly exasperated as she told the story. “This was the beginning of the reopening, and we had a line of takeout orders. Her husband stood at the doorway and was like, ‘She's hungry! She needs her food right now!’”
This wasn’t an isolated incident for Nguyen. Since California’s June 15 reopening of the economy, customers have gotten … a little difficult. Well, a lot difficult.
Nguyen said it’s gotten so bad, she’s even had to 86 some regulars (restaurant slang for banning or throwing out a customer).
“One gentleman yelled at my server, ‘I don't understand why you guys don’t have more tables out here’ … because they didn't want to wait for the table. They were just super rude,” said Nguyen. “Where exactly do you want me to put all of these extra tables? In the road, where the cars drive?”
