Before delivering news for the past 35-plus years, I delivered food and drinks at Tugboat Inn, Fisherman’s Wharf, a very short stint at Gepetto’s, Lobsterman’s Wharf and Everybody’s over the course of about 12 years. With the recent calls for help at area restaurants, I wish I was 40 years younger because I enjoyed working for tips and meeting people – both customers and co-workers.

One important thing I learned during my time rushing from table to table, down the length of the bar, and going back and forth to the kitchen to pick up food, is that bartenders, cooks, busboys, servers and hosts/hostesses must communicate with one another in order to run a restaurant well – keep the customer satisfied, as the saying goes.

On a recent night out at an area restaurant, I discovered that a lack of communication prompted me to get upset, and I made it a point to tell our server. Everything was fine until it came to dessert – my two dining mates ordered some blueberry pie, one to go, one to eat there. Our server told us twice, “I will check on your desserts,” over the course of at least 10 or so minutes. After the second time … now at least 15 minutes … she hung out chatting with a couple seated next to us. Meanwhile, no one told her that there was no blueberry pie (whether she asked the first two times, I don’t know). So I tapped her on the back to break up her conversation with the nearby couple and pointed out that we hadn’t been served our desserts, that “you’ve told us twice you would check.” She then made her way into the kitchen and returned immediately to say “We have no blueberry pie; would you like something else?” We kindly said no and asked for the bill.

When I checked my Facebook messages the next evening, the manager asked to speak to me about the problem we had and I called him the next day. I thought that was a great move on his part and thanked him for reaching out. I told him that communication – in any business – is key to being successful and he agreed.

He said my concerns would be discussed at the next staff meeting – and that he would have blueberry pie the next time we came in for dinner.

We communicated!