It had been some time since my friend and I had visited Tulsa's Carraba's so we went to celebrate my birthday. While the food was good, the service, or should I say the system, left something to be desired.
One person took our order, another person brought our drinks. The person who took our order explained through the process that she wasn't actually our waitress or server, that she had to ring in our requests for refills, more bread, etc. and that someone else would fulfill our requests. After 5-10 minutes we received our salads and had time to get in 2-3 bites before our entrees arrived. At which time we were in need of refills for our drinks. When our order taker ( I wouldn't call her our waitress) came by I requested a refill to which she replied, "Let me ring that in for you." So I guess she had to go type it in to instruct someone else to bring refills, which arrived some time later. Any requests that we had for service came with the response, "Let me ring that in for you." After the second or third time hearing this response, I came to the conclusion that there would be a time consuming delay with any and every request.
When we finished our meals, we stacked our plates and moved them to the edge of the table as we waited for our dessert. Many employees walked by empty handed leaving our neatly stacked dishes waiting to be removed. Finally, when our dessert finally arrived, I asked her if she could take our plates away for room on the table, which she complied. I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, "Can you take our used and neatly stacked plates away or do you have to go ring it in first!"
While the taste of our food was good, what I will remember from our visit and share with all my friends is the inefficiency of your restaurant's service system. "Let me ring that in for you" is imprinted in my mind as a system of delay and failure. To say it is an inefficient system is almost too polite for how I really felt about this abysmal service system. It probably took the order taker (she really didn't function as a waitress, since all she did was take our requests and RING THEM IN FOR US) longer to ring it in than to serve us. My problem and disappointment is not because of her but because of the "Let me ring that in for you" system your company incorporates. I hope I never hear "let me ring that in for you" ever again!

Warning: You are NOT Safe Here
Let's start with a lovely dinner with fine food and great service. HOWEVER, this is where it goes completely wrong from this point forward. We were sitting at one of the bar booths with the side door behind me, and as I was eating my salad, a disheveled, unkempt man staggered into the bar area. The door was not locked, so all he had to do was wander in. He proceeded to sit at the bar and LOUDLY yells out a Happy Mother's Day wish the bartender. This is December 3rd... the Manager came over and repeatedly asked the man if he was going to eat, harassed him about what he was going to eat and how he was going to pay for it. The vagrant becomes irritated and mumbles constantly.

Pay attention now everyone. The Manager LEAVES and there is no one left but the vagrant and customers. The man proceeds to try and sit down at our booth and eat my food off my plate. We didn't invite him. We didn't even make eye contact. I was scared and thought maybe he was going to get violent since he was already agitated. My husband yells NO, and I yell NO as well from sheer fright. At this point, NO ONE else came to investigate the yelling. Instead, The Manager comes to show his cell phone saying he is going to call the police, but never ACTUALLY CALLS.
The vagrant then left the bar, but it was some time before anyone, except the server, came to check up on us or to make sure the vagrant actually LEFT. We stayed in the restaurant another half hour just because we weren't sure and no one said anything to us.
I wanted to enjoy a nice dinner with my husband, and I ended up in a situation where no one protected me but my husband. The manager never came back. He sent the server to see if "we were OK." well after the vagrant left the restaurant. We put up a brave face and just wanted to leave at this point. However, we were given cheesecake instead and the bill.
OK. I get it. Things are sometimes weird. HOWEVER, these are food service professionals in a somewhat high-end restaurant. I should be concerned about food, not my personal safety. They didn't a) call the police, b) lock or secure the side door, and c) address the situation with everyone in the immediate area in case anyone else was feeling frightened.
Does Carrabbas really care if we were alright or are they more concerned about keeping up appearances then the safety of the patrons. Is this policy for all Carrabbas?