Was everything all right?

According to l is for law school, When a manager comes to your table to ask how everything is, it actually does make you feel better about the restaurant.

Oh, I don't know. My friend Betty and I once had breakfast in a Friendly's restaurant. When we paid the bill, the cashier asked, "Was everything all right?" Betty replied: "They cut the toast in half. It should be cut into triangles." An uncomfortable silence ensued, during which one patron pushed his face two inches from hers.

On the same trip (I don't know what's in the water around there), we went to a steak place. This time the manager came around and asked if everything was all right. I asked him for a butter knife. The knives we had were steak knives, and naturally enough, I had cut my steak with it. I wanted a butter knife to butter my bread. A clean knife, not covered with steak juice. He apologized and said they did not have butter knives, they were a chain and management didn't provide them.

So: yes, it makes you feel better when they ask if everything is all right, but only when everything is all right.