Sunday, 08 January 2012
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Secrets and Tips From a Food Service Worker
After working as a banquet server, waitress, and hostess, I learned a lot about what goes on in the back that the customers don't ever notice or seem to think about it. Heck, I don't even think about it half the time when I eat out. I'm always preoccupied with making sure I don't make a huge mess, because I know what it is like to clean up someone else's mess and it isn't fun. I'm going to share a few tips and secrets that I've learned over the years.
1.) Silverware that is dropped on the floors will almost always be placed back on the table (unless, of course, customers are there to see). I try not to do this. I used to come home with the kamikaze forks in my pockets all the time.
2.) If the restaurant has a "Kids Eat Free" menu, it does not mean that adults can order off of it and eat free. In fact, an adult must purchase x amount before the child can even eat free.
3.) Don't blame the server for everything that goes wrong. Often, you are waiting for your food for so long because the kitchen cannot cook it fast enough--not because your server sucks.4.) If it's a slow day or a small group event, your regular coffee will more thank likely be decaf. We're not going to waste two big pots of coffe when we're not bringing in any customers.
5.) During wedding receptions, it is not our fault the bar is closed at dinner. It is the brides or whoever planned the dinner. No, we are not allowed to get you drinks until it is opened again. Please stop asking, because nearly everyone has already asked us the same thing.
6.) Don't complain about the food, especially if it's free. If you saw the food they feed the employees, you'd think you were dining in a five star restaurant in comparison. So no, we don't have sympathy. Our mouths are probably watering over the food you have that we've never even been allowed to taste.7.) If you sit there for two hours after you've finished your meal and still ask for constant refills, do not leave just a nickel for a tip.
8.) If an employee is walking in front of you with a heavy tray, do not just stand there and stare at it or say "Oh that looks heavy". MOVE, so the employee can get it back to the kitchen. (This gets really bad at weddings when everyone is congregated around the bar.)
9.) Asking for a steak knife is an insult to the chef.
10.) At wedding receptions, we cannot stay and wait until you guys are finished partying. Please do not complain that we are taking all the dishes and glasses. Ask for a plastic if you really need a water or tea to drink. There are more than a hundred of you and the dishwashers don't want to be there all night.
11.) If you complain enough, you are pretty much guaranteed to get a free meal. I am not condoning this, but I've just seen managers hand out free meals like candy because they cannot deal with unhappy customers.12.) Be sure to thank your server if he or she does a good job. It means a lot to them to know their work is appreciated.
13.) Generally, if your fork and knife are crossed over your plate or all of your eating utensils are lying on your plate, it means that you are finished. Please do not go off on us for taking your one bite of food before you were finished if you've done this.
14.) Your drinks are on the right side of your place setting. (A lot of people don't know this and ask for a new drink because they didn't know which one was theirs.)15.) Just because you are out eating, doesn't mean you can go all out and make a huge mess since you don't have to clean it up. Also, don't just let your kids do whatever they want and trash the table either. It is why servers dread kids. Please, be courteous and try not to make a huge mess.
Any other food service workers have any tips or secrets to add? Are you guilty of any of these?
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- From: Seameyes6@xanga
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Comments (44)
I think servers should ask the customer if they're done with their food before taking it away. So what if there's only one bite of food left.
The last one is the biggest for me. I did food service for about six months and when I had to go clean up the tables I was kind of appalled. How does the entire contents of your meal end up on the table and floor? Just because I'm coming around with a wet rag doesn't mean you can't take a napkin and wipe up the table before you leave. I'm glad I don't do that anymore. The only two that got me were the one about the steak knife (should I cut my steak with a butter knife...? I'm confused) and the one about the decaf coffee. Surely the placebo effect will still kick up some energy, but I'm generally against decaf coffee anyways... and if you're going to run out of regular coffee more quickly perhaps the restaurant should plan to double up on it to provide for the demand.
i agree, especially about the kids. i would be utterly embarrassed if my children behaved the way i've seen some people's kids act in public.
i knew it!!
the decaf was actually not a normal! (thanks to HIMYM!)but i really didn't know that the utensil dropped on the floor would be back on the table... i should have known when I saw the server puts his finger in the cold water cup...!
thanks for your tips! now I will look out for these things.
but its really not my fault that I need a steak knife!!
On #9: Asking for a steak knife is insulting? Never heard that before. Plenty of even five star places provide them by default.
On the other hand, my etiquette teacher (my mom made me take an etiquette course), and the teacher (a southern belle if there ever was one) made it clear that asking for steak sauce was an insult to the cook. That makes sense (wanting to hide the taste). I always cringe a little when I go to an Outback sort of place and they offer it.
I'd honestly imagine that such things differ drastically between different establishments, and I consider it unfair to say that all are this way.
@lorelei@xanga - @Charles B. - The steak is supposed to be able to be cut with a butter knife. If it's not, the chef didn't make it like he should have. I believe it only applies with things like fillet mignon, though.
@DrummingMediocrity@xanga - I imagine that is true, but these are things I've seen at all three food service establisments where I have worked.
Oohh ok. Do you still work at one, or have you moved on? It doesn't sound too pleasant, lol.
Number 3 is a good one. The one thing I hate about being a waitress is that all mistakes made along the whole process gets passed on to you. I once had a customer raise her voice at me because she hadn't realized that the salad she had ordered was $20, not $15. She then proceeded to tell me I was "ripping her off", as if I was the one who had set the price on the menu..
I used to work in a quick service restaurant, and I wrote my own list. I can totally relate to how you feel sometimes when customers are so ridiculously demanding and rude. We are/were food servers, not their slaves! If I mess up, I was generally accommodating. But seriously, I would have jumped for customers if they had just asked nicely, there is no need to curse or be rude. I'd always try to prevent problems, and if they couldn't have been prevented, I'd try to come up with a solution that we can both be happy with. Now that I don't work in a restaurant anymore, I still try to be as courteous as I can when I eat out. If I must complain (and I can tolerate a lot...if the food is way too salty, or I have bloody chicken, then I'd complain. Dry, cold, bland, overcooked--no complaints from me), I always ask nicely. And usually the servers and/or managers are willing to replace my meal, or comp it. "Please" and "thank you" go a long way!
I work in food service too and I rarely complain unless it is something dramatic. But what I cannot stand is when people who also work in food service complain about minor things and then pull the "well I work in food service and this would never happen" bullshit. If you work in food service, then your should understand that sometimes shit happens.
Like yesterday we had this guy who ordered wings and came to pick them up. I accidentally gave his wings to another customer and he was already mad because we told him 15 minutes til his meal was ready and it had been 20 minutes. Anothter manager went and explained what happened and we were remaking his food and added another extra order of wings to appease him. He laughed in her face and demanded his money back and left us with 30 extra wings. Luckily we had other orders we could use them for so they weren't wasted. But that isn't always the case. People don't realize how much food is wasted when they act like children over mistakes. We're fucking human. Get over it. Anyway, that guy got his karma. He came into the store wearing his Pittsburgh Steelers sweatshirt with a Steelers embroidered turtleneck under it and I just got the asshole vibe the second he walked in the store. Then the Steelers go owned by the Broncos and all was well in the world :)
I find this list very interesting, and appreciate it.
The steak thing however. one, how would the chef even know if someone asked for a steak knife, sauce, or...horrors, ketchup? People have all kinds of tastes so honestly what's it to a chef that someone wants to smother their meat in mustard, ranch or anything else? If the issues was that the food was poorly or improperly cooked, then it IS on the chef, and no need to be insulted, just fix it.
I do think that many people feel that they should be able to treat anyone in a service position like crap. But being disrespected is NOT what service people are paid to do. Courtesy is always the appropriate attitude in any interaction.
@Charles B. - Yeah, always heard asking for ketchup for steak was an insult. But never heard asking for a steak knife was.
I can totally relate to the last one!!! You forgot to add "ANYWHERE YOU SIT IN THE RESTAURANT, YOU STILL GET THE SAME FOOD SO DON'T BE PICKY WHEN A HOST SITS YOU SOMEWHERE!!"
these aren't secrets & tips. but maybe it wasn't your choice of title. this should be titled "what you should do to make our job better". i saw a couple tips of what's behind a restaurant but mostly your points are just problems you incur at work because customers don't understand what you do or how food comes out of the kitchen. so what if you didn't put your knife & fork side by side to show you're finished. that's table manners. not everyone has such great education that they have learned the etiquette to dine with the queen. all you gotta do is ask them "pardon me. are you finished?" here's some advice "all servers should be trained in serving it right" (it's a course on how to be a good server)
Where I work if we drop silverware we take it to the dish room. If you ask for regular coffee, we give you regular coffee. If you pay for something, regardless of how small it is. And really? Asking for a steak knife is an insult? How? Hmm.
Pretty sure it's more of an insult not to bring me a steak knife with my steak....I have never eaten a steak anywhere that I could cut with a butter knife....even in the nicest steak restaurants.
The coffee one is right on the money, though lol. My first job was at a small diner, and sometimes we would get so busy we would run out of regular coffee faster than we could brew it, so decaf got handed out quite often. Never once did a customer complain.
None of the food service places I've worked at have been like this.
When I worked at a restaurant, the family meals were awesome. That sucks that yours suck. :/
Who doesn't provide a steak knife with the steak? That's messed up. Yeah, okay, "supposed to be able to cut it with a butter knife"... I guess if you don't mind having a ragged, messy-edged bite with all the juice squeezed out from sawing your piece off.
Steak knives have a function, and the chef who doesn't realize that SHARP KNIVES, of all things, make food better, is A) letting their ego get away from them and B) doesn't know as much about food as they think they do.
Never heard of 9 before.
Okay, I've been on both sides of this argument but from my position right now, as a customer-
#1- Don't get pissed off because I asked you when I ordered to bring a side of _____. I asked when I ordered so you wouldn't have to make 15 trips.
#2- Don't get pissed off when I'm your first table sat at opening. It's a restaurant and if I didn't tip you the way I do you wouldn't have had that extra $10 or so, so be nice.
#3- Don't get pissed when I show up with my child and when you bring my food out get mad because I asked for extra napkins. They're children! And half the time I need them more than they do!
#4- Don't always come by to check our meal when we've both just taken a bite.
#5- Say thank you when I pre-bus your table for you. Contrary to popular belief not all of us with children are lazy and hate servers. I pre-bus and clean up any mess my child/ren make.
#6- Don't expect a thank you let alone an extra tip if I haven't seen you more than my placing my order. When it takes 15 people to care for a table on a not-as busy night (come on I live in MT) then I'm not entirely sure who I should thank more for their efforts server, wait-aid,other random server, etc...
Just my input...
That's funny about the decaf...maybe because I worked in a big city, who knows, but we always had more regular then decaf sitting around, and I saw other servers (I never did) lie to customers and say that the regular was decaf so they didn't have to make a fresh pot of decaf. Totally opposite.
On the other hand, I will admit, a few times with chronically b*tchy customers, I would make them decaf lattes or cappuccinos as my one act of aggression against...haha, customer service is rough sometimes.
Back when i used to work at a fast food joint (hated it) I remember this guy emptying out his whole pocket change onto the counter and separating the pennies from the nickels/dimes/quarters and putting the pennies in the tip jar. I was a little taken aback but I counted it after he left and it ended up being almost 50 cents- unbelievable.
I've worked in several restaurants, varying from a truckstop diner to a pretty fancy schmancy (and ridiculous) place. i had a woman take a huge bite out of baked french toast STRAIGHT OUT OF THE OVEN and then she BITCHED at me for burning her mouth. she got her meal comped (come the eff on! my TWO YEAR OLD knows better!) and then they didn't even leave me a tip! AFTER HER HUSBAND ATE THE REST. use common sense. i always clean up the floor after my son and neatly stack the dishes after scraping the leftover food onto one. that helps TREMENDOUSLY, it takes less trips to the bus tub or to the dishwasher and you save time so you can provide service to other guests. usually i leave a 20% or more tip for a server, even if they have an attitude. they probably have an attitude due to how the chef or a previous customer treated them. a nice, polite, appreciative customer can make a server's whole day! even if a table comes in with a messy kid and leave a two dollar tip but cleaned their mess up and were super nice i would totally let it slide.
with the coffee thing, i used to have really annoying old people who ordered decaf, which i brought out in the carafe with the orange lid--and they would ask me twenty times, very rudely, if i remembered if it was decaf. i'm not a fucking idiot, i know it's fucking decaf. then one old man went so far as to tell me he had a heart condition and that if i was "sneaking" him regular it would give him a heart attack. maybe it's just bc they were old, but i straight out told him i wasn't stupid and could tell decaf from regular. no more complaints from that table!
the silverware thing varied from place to place, i ALWAYS put used silverware, dropped silverware, and even silverware that was unused but left on a previously occupied table in the bus tub. that's the law here, but some places like to let it slide. i don't care because do you know what you put in your mouth as a kid?? and you haven't died from it yet, have you?
we would have hour long waits at one place i worked. a lot. especially on sundays. so if you show up without a reservation with TWELVE people, and are told you're going to be waiting an hour, you're not going to get stellar service. it's recommended to make reservations for six or more people, that way we can RESERVE YOUR TABLE, the point of reservations, so you get the service we want to give you. we don't WANT to give you bad service. we get paid $2.33 an hour (in wisconsin) because tips are supposed to make up the remainder of minimum wage. you're supposed to claim every last dime you make (again, it's the law now) and if you make more than a certain amount, you actually get your paycheck voided because you made too much in tips. that happens to my aunt all the time who works at a suuuper nice place and she brings home hundreds a night in tips.
also, it ISN'T always the servers fault if the food order was done wrong or was the wrong dish period. i worked in a restaurant where i swear one of the cooks was dyslexic. he made a "blue burger" (a menu item with bleu cheese and fried onions) and instead made a cheeseburger with cheddar but the burger patty itself was "blue" (so rare it's still raw in the middle). so, seriously maybe the sever is working with idiots in the kitchen. they also might be foreign. i worked for an albanian family at one place, and being muslum they didn't eat pork. so one of them didn't know how to make a BLT, because they don't eat that. there were other problems because his first language was albanian, not english.
yeah. its stupid of you to generalize all restaurants like this.
1 is soooo not true. i've never EVER done this or seen it done. EVER.
4. i always brew a new pot of coffee when my customers order coffee. its so cheap. why not?
11. isn't true where i've worked. thats bs.
13. actually the formal way to show you're done eating is if your fork is upside down on your plate.
i think you're saying how your your job is and that's just not true of ours. so.. thanks for making the rest of us look like shit bags.
and we're here to serve and work for a tips. we have no place telling someone not to ask for a steak knife. sorry. the customer can ask for what they want.