Having just been to New Orleans, high end restaurants are just too high end for us. They might have a better wine selection or fancy drinks and the meats Might be of higher quality but the price is just too outrageous. Wait staff was professional and our guy worked us like a fine violin which was enjoyable but to go away $200 lighter more for atmosphere than anything is too rich for us. New Orleans is probably not the average place to rate wait staff but many places in the quarter have gay men who look very transient and sometimes very rough. Get into the warehouse district and you get more mainstream waiters, but you are in the heart of the convention and casino crowd.
I do agree with candy that management determines the quality of service. Management determines cleanliness, quality of food, atmosphere, and quality of experience. But restaurants are as individual as people and high end does not always mean great food. The south land is big on buffets and they run the gamut from horrible to great. The last Morrison’s is located in mobile Alabama and is a staple. Employees are southern friendly but not directly involved in table serving you. Chicfil
a is great because it is so consistent and every staff I have experienced is well trained. Texas Roadhouse sucks. Like teds, their staff is higher quality. Tallahassee is a college town so help is not as hard to find as other places but turnover has to be massive.
Having two small restaurants, good help is hard to find. We have gone so far as to get work release from the jail to college kids. You develop a culture and in a small town people know the deal. I would suggest that the majority of employees smoke pot, before and during work. Especially the kitchen help. I don’t see where the employee dilemma is much different now than it was a few years ago. We talked to a manager of Maddios, a midrange pizza franchise in tally and he had an employee database of 2000 people. That is so far beyond our abilities, but we asked him about a grill cook and he mentioned a couple names. A lot of people have issues, a lot of Latin are scared to respond to phone calls. One of our best employees is a Chinese girl who is graduating FSU two years early, has two jobs, and expects to work for an accounting firm in New York. Gems like her are few and far between, and of course she is very temporary. Good help is always and always has been hard to find.