Terry D.

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!