Hey everyone, I hope you’ve all had a great night/morning/lunch or whatever time it is where you’re at right now!

RagingPartner and I went out to eat earlier tonight, and the service just wasn’t all that great. It wasn’t quite horrible, it just wasn’t up to the par that we try to set for ourselves in the industry. This experience tonight (I normally get great service when I go out to eat) has given me the inspiration for this post. These tips are in no certain order, and by no means are they formal rules that every server should follow. Remember, we all have our own style that we merge with our restaurant’s rules. These are purely personal tips that I use in my every day job, and a few that should just be known.

#1. Always come to work in clean, pressed clothes and pants that aren’t falling off your ass. Nobody wants to be served by someone whose clothes are visibly dirty, or someone who’s sagging like a thug. Dress professionally, with creases. If your restaurant allows flair, add a bit of your own personality to your uniform. If your restaurant has any kind of recognition pins (good service, station validations, teamwork, certified trainer etc.) then you should wear them with pride. You earned them, and by wearing them your guests can see that you know your shit, and will want you to serve them.

2. Always introduce yourself to your guests in a way that will make them feel comfortable. If you’ve never served before, it might take you a while to figure out how to talk to certain guests. After a while, you become skilled at “reading people”. When you greet your guests, make sure you give them your name at some point, either in the beginning, or at the end. If you feel comfortable, use the “Corner Bar” theory. Shake your guests hands and find out their names, especially with the brats. If they don’t want to shake your hand, adjust your style for that particular table. Always make them feel welcome and never just go to a table and say “I’m taking care of you” or “What do you want to drink?” Greetings like that are rude, and start off the guests meal in a negative way.

3. Learn the names of your regulars, and what they drink. When you start getting guests that come in and ask for you by name, or in the case of a cocktailing area of a restaurant, where they look for you to find out where your section is, strive to learn and remember their name and what they like to drink. Nothing makes people feel more welcome at a restaurant that they frequent as having their favorite drink either come to the table, or their server asking them, “Hey, John, hey Jane, ya’ll having your usual today?” They love it when they come in, and the server they came to see comes up to them and greets them by name. Guests like personal attention, and remembering their name will endear you to them.

4. No matter how good you think you are, you’re going to forget something if you don’t WRITE DOWN THE FUCKING ORDER. Nothing gets to me more than a server who thinks they can remember a tables order with all their modifiers, especially if there are more than just 2 people. I don’t care how smart you think you are, write down the order, and for fucks sake, read the order back to the guest. Better to make sure it’s written down correctly than get to the computer and put it in wrong or have to go back to ask them how they wanted their steak cooked or what kind of dressing they want on their salad. It’s also the professional thing to do.

5. Do not ignore your guests. When you’re serving a table, make sure you don’t abandon them. Be available if they need refills, be available if they have a problem. If you’re not there because you’re spending your time in the back on the phone, or talking to your friends, that’s money that won’t be going into your pocket. A very wise manager once told me, “Your tables aren’t in the break room, and unless you’re selling drugs or sex, you won’t be making money back there.” Stay visible, because you never know when a guest is going to need you. Guests hate having to look around for their server. Going to the bathroom if you have to is fine, as is running to the kitchen to run food, but don’t stay gone.

6. Talk to your guests. If you ask people how they’re doing, be prepared if they want to tell you. Don’t just ask them because you think you have to, ask them because you genuinely want to know. You need this information so you know how to adjust your service. If they’re in a bad mood, you have to figure out how to cheer them up. If they’re in a good mood, you need to keep them there. If they seem like they’ll talk to you, then talk to them. If they don’t want to make talkie talkie with you, then don’t worry about it. You’re there to serve them, which means keeping them happy with whatever it takes (to a reasonable extent). If they’re regulars, ask them how their family is, or how their ailing mother is. If they’re coming in happy, their kids wearing their sports uniforms coming in with a trophy, then ask them if they just left a game. If you can deal with kids without wanting to throttle them, then get in good with them. Kids can make or break the meal with some parents.

#7. Don’t throttle the kids. No matter how much you might want to, knocking the kids to the ground will result in termination, flogging by parents, and an almost certain lawsuit. Make nice with them, keep yourself out of trouble.

#8.  My final tip:  Honesty is (almost) always the best policy.  Guests can tell if you’re lying.  I don’t know how, but they can.  It doesn’t matter if you can lie before a grand jury and win your case, you can’t lie to a guest who is waiting for their food.  If the kitchen is running long, make sure you inform your guests of this when they first sit down.  If you’ve fucked something up while ringing it in, then make sure you tell them that you fucked it up.  Don’t blame the kitchen for something that’s your fault.  Only screw the kitchen if they screw you first.  If they fucked it up, tell the guest.  Lying only gets you in deeper shit when the manager goes by and debunks that lie.  If you go smoke, let your guest know that you’re stepping out for a moment (if everyone’s caught up is the ONLY time you should go smoke, and then only for 3 minutes AT MOST).  If you let them know that you’ll be stepping out for 3-5 minutes, they’re going to be a lot more sympathetic if they run out of a drink than if you just vanish with no explanation.  If you have to hand off your card to another server and let them handle your tables so you can go on a legally mandated however unwanted it is break, don’t just vanish, introduce your relief to the guests.  Don’t say you’ve been in the office, tell them you have no choice.  Lying to your guests is a bad thing to do overall.

As an addon to the honesty issue:  The guest asking you how you are is not your cue to tell them your life story.  Keep it simple, and if they want to pry, then let them pry and give out what you feel comfortable with.  Don’t just blurt out everything, more often than not it’s going to hurt your money and add to a letter to the owner/corporate office.

Remember, these are just a few tips from my personal arsenal.  You might not be able to get them all down, and nobody’s asking you to.  They’re just tips to make you some cash.  I’ll post more of these to come, there’s still a few tricks up my sleeve.

Ribeye

No tag for this post yet.

Related Posts:

The Round Table, Volume 1 (12/10/07)

Sharece Thomas, the YouTube non-tipping trash, strikes again

Why can’t there be a happy balance.

Auto Gratuity for Entitlement Junkies