Wow! Enough stuff here for at least three discussions.
Regarding service quality though, for the most part it appears to be independent of the price of the food. One of the best restaurants week in and week out, insofar as service quality goes, is Amerikanos. We've eaten there dozens of times and have NEVER had bad service. Our favorite waitperson is Hayley, a pint-sized sparkplug of a gal who moves like a 33 1/3 record played at 78 (I'm confident most of the readers here know what that means). Nobody would ever confuse Amerikanos as "fine dining" (one step up, more or less, from Culver's insofar as price goes), but their service puts that of several other much higher priced restaurants to shame.
A bit higher up on the price scale is Lopez Legacy. There again, we've never had bad service. Waitstaff impeccably dressed, knowledgeable, and honest. Like what was mentioned in another post in this thread, the waitstaff will inform you if they're out of something before you even order. They'll also suggest alternatives. Even when the place is packed, we've never had to wait an excessive amount of time for service, or for our meal once ordered.
Okay. Two restaurants at opposite ends of the price spectrum (and a whole lot of restaurants in between that don't measure up, service-wise). Meal cost at the one is multiples of the other, but the SERVICE is pretty much the same. Why? I have the advantage of accessing my wife's wisdom on this, who was a waitress to put herself through college. She also trained new waitstaff on just how to do it. The first thing she mentioned is that good waitstaff NEVER go anywhere empty-handed. If they see a table needing to be bussed and the person responsible for that is overloaded with dirty tables, they'll pitch in and help. Or, if they see a coffee cup needing to be refilled and they're passing a table where a coffee cup needs to be refilled, even if it is not a table in their section, they'll ask the customer if they'd like more coffee (or water, or whatever) they'll offer a refill. They work as part of a team and as a result the whole place runs more smoothly. This does seem to be the case most of the time at Amerikanos.
1st. criterion: Training.
My wife knows people associated with Lopez Legacy. According to her, the waitstaff over there, probably contrary to most other restaurants in TV, receive benefits such as health insurance, vacation pay, etc. (this is word-of-mouth, not verified). But it stands to reason. If your employer invests in you, you're more apt to hang around and reap the benefits than if you're recruited after a cursory interview, given a few hours of basic training and tossed out onto the floor to earn your minimum wage.
2nd criterion: Motivation.
These are just my observations but they seem to hold up. Just how many restaurants in TV make it a point to thoroughly train and motivate their waitstaff is anyone's guess, but in our experience the number that don't is far greater than the number that do.
Oh--one more thing. If we like a restaurant, we'll make sure we're remembered. Be friendly, ask the waitstaffs' names, engage them in conversation, and leave a tip large enough to be remembered. Sort of like buying insurance. It helps. Sure, there are those who will balk at this, claiming that service should be independent of stuff like that, but this is the real world and people are people. If you make a positive investment in something, odds are that you will get a good return.
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