by Shannon Wynne

I’d suggest you become downright indignant to the manager the next time a restaurant charges you to valet your car. Some people who don’t know any better will do whatever they’re told. They just take it,–either too stupid to notice or too sheepish or polite not to mention it to the owner.

Here’s why. The city requires a restaurant to have sufficient parking for its tenants. Sometimes there are not enough spaces required by city code to park a successful restaurant, but that’s not my gripe. When the restaurant blocks the “self park” spaces for valet use only, then you have no choice but to valet. Now I am happy to valet my car and tip the parker well, but to charge me for parking my car in addition to the tip is a total rip off.

Parking should be the restaurant’s expense, a cost of doing business–not a customer expense. You wouldn’t drop a few bucks in a bucket by the door to pay for their janitors to clean the place at night would you? Hell no. You’d feel insulted if the dishwasher came out and asked you for a tip. So why are they charging you for their restaurant parking? They have a parking lot, but they won’t let you use it. They are too cheap to pay for their own valet, and want you to pay for it. Avoid these places or tell them you feel violated.

Case in point. Question: What Dallas venue has set the pace for service for the past 25 years? Answer: The Mansion on Turtle Creek– give or take a hand full of gastro joints darting in and out of the culinary landscape. The Mansion has maintained the elegance, the peppy guest acknowledgement and a clear understanding of the big picture on service overall. Do they charge you to park your car while you spend money? Heavens no.

Then why should I go to a rather expensive Sardinian restaurant on Routh St. and be expected pay them a premium to eat their food but also to pay their valet $5.00 to park my car before I eat dinner? Not a lot of money but it puts a bad taste in my mouth. They have a parking lot, so why can’t I use it? This is why I never went back.

Hotels usually do this because they think they can get away with it just because people are used to paying for parking at hotels–but it is still low class. I took my love out to eat on our anniversary the other night at Craft. I dropped over $200 on a pretty good meal and we went to get the car at the valet. You’d think someone in public relations would have thought to comp the parking for the big spenders at Craft, but no, they asked me for $10.00 to get my car out of hock! At least they did it after I ate, but I won’t be going back.

Now West Village is a different matter. You don’t have to valet, they have plenty of parking and you can take a hike to park your own car if you like. Duni has no parking and valet parking is required, but it’s no charge. Stephen Pyles has valet, but there is no charge, just a smile and a “thank you sir”. Thanks for knowing who pays your bills, and thanks to the Mansion for setting the standard in Dallas.

Shannon Wynne is the head honcho at 8.0, The Flying Fish and The Flying Saucer.

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