Editorial

Wonders never cease. The latest is that restaurateurs plan to carry out an "education" campaign in a bid to change the mentality that labels them as crooks. They must have probably carried out a survey of the people's opinion of Maltese restaurants before deciding to do what by all accounts appears to be a strange move. Strange because people generally would have expected them to pull up their socks first before deciding to defend their cause.

But it appears that "good service" means different things to different people. This does not just apply to restaurants but to firms as well. Never mind the smile that, sadly, is fast going off the faces of most people in the service industry. Very often, there is even a lack of basic courtesy.

Restaurateurs are fretting over a drop in business and want the government to do something to improve the situation before winter, when business inevitably gets even slower. Would it not be better if they start doing something about the situation themselves first before they expect the government (for which read the taxpayer) to bail them out? There are, of course, a number of good restaurants here and there but service in many others falls below general expectations.

What is particularly irksome is that the string of complaints people make so often about restaurants does not appear to ruffle the restaurateurs' feathers, giving the distinct impression that their sole purpose is to get rich quick. The problem for them is that, as has happened in other business lines, far too many might have joined the bandwagon when the going was good and are now finding out that all this competition for custom is not to their liking. At least they are recognising the fact that there are simply far too many restaurants today.

Food is often mediocre, presentation even more so, and service at table, poor, with staff evidently untutored even in the very basics of service. A standard complaint is the long time patrons have to wait before they are served, often resulting from the fact that most restaurants are simply ill-equipped in terms of both kitchen facilities and manpower to deal with the number of clients they take.

Eating in an open-air place often means having to wait ages before someone comes along to clear the table of whatever is left behind by clients that had just got up. And cleanliness often leaves much to be desired too.

What is most galling is that restaurateurs believe that people are unable to know the difference between "the costing economics of a meal at home and the same meal ordered at a restaurant". Really! Their spokesman said: "Yet we are what we serve, and we know that it is only by giving best value that we can expect repeat custom". Well said, but the point is precisely that many just do not give value for money.

And what about the price of wine, soft drinks and bottled mineral water? Are they not generally astronomical? Whose responsibility is it to ensure the customer is not fleeced??

Restaurateurs have the cheek to preach:

"Customers need to realise that everything comes at a price and costs are rising - notably power and food". What do they really mean by such a statement? Is anybody demanding undercutting at the expense of standards? Are not standards low enough as they are?

Restaurateurs need to take a long, hard look at what they are offering first before thinking of launching their "education" campaign.