If your not done with your plate dont place your napkin on it then be surprised when i try and take it @WConfessions@itsaserverslife#gross
— samantha baca (@samanthabaca84) November 19, 2013
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The awkward moment when a customer has to open the wine bottle for you after you stood in front of them for 5 mins struggling. #badwaitress
— Michelle Harkins (@MichelleHarkin5) July 27, 2012
Just remembered yesterday at work, I was giving a lady her meal and I ended up hitting her on the head with it #badwaitress — Lauren Bates (@LaurenBatesxx) January 27, 2013
Asked a lady if she wanted coffee today and proceeded to pour it into her glass of water #badwaitress #sorrymaam
— Emily Curtis (@EmCurtLove) July 14, 2013
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I live on the outskirts of Toronto, the most multicultural city in Canada, but I grew up in a village of 1500 white people. You can imagine there was a bit of a culture shock when I first moved there. One night, I had a family of brown people come into the restaurant and sit in my section. I say brown people because at the time, I didn’t know that they were Muslim, and I didn’t know that Muslim’s don’t eat pork.
So the gentleman orders a delicious meat-lovers Panini (one of my favorites) but without the bacon. “No problem” I say aloud as I write down NO BACON on my notepad. I always use big letters because I am a very forgetful person. I didn’t think much of it as I continued on, as usual, topping up drinks and removing the dirty dishes from my other tables.
By the time their dinner was over, I stopped by my Muslim friends and asked how their dinner was, as they seemed to have really enjoyed it. “Do you not like the bacon? I find it adds a great smoky flavor!” I said smiling. The man turned to me; “No, I am Muslim! I do not eat any pork!” He said sharply. “I have never had pork in my entire life and I never will.” He said, in a rather angry tone. Suddenly I began to sweat and swallowed hard as I removed their dishes in silence.
I walked to the back looking a little pale as one of the cooks looked at me. “Are you okay?” he asked, you look like you’re going to be sick. “Does the meat-lovers Panini have sausage in it?” I asked him, dreading the answer I already knew. “Yeah of course it does dude.” He laughed. I blinked very slowly. “And our sausage is made of pork, right?” I asked, even more worriedly. “Oh yeah baby,” he laughed, “100% pork. Why?”
“I think I just sent a man to hell.”
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Old man at work gave me a dimeond ring and told me we were now engaged, soo cute! #Kings #waitress… http://t.co/dvq9gW9ELd
— Mandy (@NotAMan_Duhh) July 17, 2013
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“Yea! I’m totally gonna order food tonite!” always turns into “Man I just wanna get the eff outta here.” #servingtables
— becca hill (@beccathehill) December 13, 2011
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Getting told that you did a really good service and that their coming back to be served by you #bestfeeling #server #waitress
— Your Waitress (@Peoplesprobz) August 5, 2013
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I recently received an email from a new server looking for any help they could get while in the “rush”. We’ve all been there and no matter how many years experience you have under your belt it doesn’t save your from those random times where you are just completely slammed with tables. I thought it would be interesting to share this email with you, along with my response, and look forward to any tips you may have of your own.
Please feel free to leave a comment at the end of the post with any advice you may have for this new server.
Thank you!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Hi! I was hoping you could share your expertise on dealing with the “rush.” I’m new to serving and get overwhelmed a bit more than most. However, I really enjoy serving and want to know how to better take care of my customers during a rush. How do I best serve all my tables when I’m bombarded by tables? Is it better to wait a few minutes to greet a table so I can immediately serve than their drinks, or take their order immediately and have them wait several minutes until I arrive with their order? Any help and tips would be greatly appreciated!!”
– The Frazzled Waitress
Dear Frazzled Waitress,
Thank you so much for writing to us! We greatly appreciate all comments and questions.
Something to keep in mind when you’re in the “rush” is to remember to keep your cool. Most importantly keep your cool around your customers. The more they see you running around like a chicken with its head cut off, the more they’ll feel stressed about their service and wonder whether or not you forgot their order or not. Remember to smile even when concentrating on the million things you have to do at once. If the customers see that you’re busy, but it looks like you’ve got everything under control they’ll be impressed.
Now, I know you want to do a good job, so while looking all fine and dandy on the outside is great, you also want to feel good knowing that you’re doing the best you can with the situation you’re in. Plus, you want to know you’re doing your job well. So…
Tables are being seated at an alarming speed and you’re having a hard time getting to them all. Make sure you greet people in the order that they came in. There’s nothing worse when you’re a customer and another table that came in after you gets to order first. Mistakes do happen and sometimes you don’t see a table, but make that extreme effort to make sure that doesn’t happen. Always be aware of what is happening in your section.
Think about what you need to do first. What would that be? The greeting and drink orders (most likely). That’s something that can also buy you some time when you see other tables being seated as you’re at a table. Ask them “Would you like something to drink to start?” and if they start to look at the menu, unsure of what to have, let them know that you’ll give them a few moments to look through the wine and/or cocktail list. Not only does it help up-sell (they may not have taken a drink to start if you hadn’t mentioned it), but helps buy you time to greet the new tables. So, be sure that while those customers are busy picking a fantastic drink, you’re off greeting the new customers that just sat down.
If they’re ready to order drinks right away…well all the better! Inform them that you’ll be right back with their drinks and head off to your other tables. The place where it gets tricky is when they are ready to order at the same time. Then you are at the table for a lot longer than expected and your other tables are starting to wonder where their waiter is. That will stress you out, but try not to rush through the order. That table deserves your utmost attention so keep eye contact and remember to write everything down and repeat the order to avoid mistakes. Also, this is where knowing your menu 100% comes in handy. The last thing you want to do is waste time taking an order, so when the customers have questions about the menu you should know the answers. Memorize your dressings, toppings, sides, extras, etc. It will help you to take orders quickly and accurately.
Something you can try is if you’re in the rush and walking away from a table with your hands full of plates, is approaching a new table and saying “Hello! I’ll be right with you” (or something around those lines). It lets the new customers know that you are aware that they are there and that you haven’t forgotten about them. Most customers will appreciate the gesture and tell you it’s no problem, but if you say you’ll be right with them, you’d better make it as quick as possible. Don’t hold off on them for 10 minutes or else you’ll start to lose their respect.
Be organized! Minimize your trips and maximize your steps (meaning don’t go back and forth for nothing and do as much as you can while walking through your section) The last thing you want to do is keep going back and forth for things that you’ve forgotten. Use both your hands and carry as many plates as you can when clearing tables. Use trays to pick up empty glasses and don’t forget to ask for refills while you’re at it. Multitasking is key here. You want to be as efficient as possible.
Something I’ve always asked servers-in-training over and over again is “What’s happening in your section?” I’d literally get them in mid “rush” to stop and tell me exactly what was happening. “Table 1 is eating, table 2 needs the dessert menu, I need to do a check back on table 3 and 6, table 5 is ready to pay, and we need to order table 7”. Now, that’s something that every server should stop and do. If you don’t take that second, you may forget to order a table’s appetizers or print another table’s bill. Every now and then just take a deep breath and ask yourself “What’s happening in my section?” and go through all your tables.
Please know, when I give my advice it is solely on what I have learned as a waitress. You may work in a larger or smaller restaurant than I do, so the way the restaurant’s system works may be different than mine. The restaurant I work in is quite big and takes a lot of time to walk from the back to the front so the “going back and forth” system doesn’t work. We need to be efficient. Also, some restaurants have runners, a teamwork environment, and bigger sections so it’s difficult to say what the best procedure for you would be. I’m lucky to work in a teamwork environment where if I get slammed other waiters will notice and come help me, everyone runs everyone’s drinks and food, and anyone guest can stop any waiter if they are ready to order. In other restaurants, though, you have to do everything yourself and I can see how difficult that can be.
All I can really say is keep calm, smile, be patient, be focused, and know your menu inside out.
Tip of the Day : Learn Your Menu
9 Tips for a Waiter/Waitress In Training
Work Ethic: Minimize Your Trips and Maximize Your Steps
This past Sunday, I went in for the lunch shift at the Hot Spot and got a table of 4 people. They seemed nice enough as I approached them for their drink order, but as time passed I realized that these would be difficult customers to satisfy. As nice as they were, they were extremely specific (and altogether picky like crazy) about their order and I worried that they may complain about everything from the timing of the service to the quality of the food.
First of all, they wanted their Brazilian Coffees to be hot. “Put the coffee in the microwave if you have to,” they said. So that’s what I did. As much as I hate to nuke things in the microwave, I did what they asked. The coffee seemed hot enough as I took it out and poured it into a sugar rimmed glass mug. They didn’t want whipped cream, so I filled it to the top and took it to the table.
I set the coffee down in front of the two people who ordered it. One of them took a sip right away and said it wasn’t hot enough, so I brought it back to heat it up for a minute and a half. The coffee was boiling and bubbling, so I told the gentleman to be careful. He touched the mug and seemed happy with how hot it was.
Then, the woman with the other coffee said (in a very disgusted voice, might I add) “Is there even any alcohol in here?”. I was a little stunned and told her that I had put the correct amount, but if she wasn’t pleased with it i could get her some more. “Well, yeah. I mean, there’s no alcohol in here at all.”
I sighed to myself. Of course there was alcohol. I’m not going to cheap out on that, but I also can’t make it half alcohol and half coffee (like some people may make at home). “I’ll get you some more, ma’am. It won’t be a problem at all,” I reassured her.
Before I could leave and get the alcohol for her, another man at the table told me they were ready to order, so I set down the tray I used to bring the drinks and took out my pad of paper and pen. Their order was complicated and they were changing things around on the menu to suit their preferences, but I didn’t mind as much since they were the only table in the restaurant. I also didn’t feel like arguing with them that normally we don’t put ketchup on our burgers.
As soon as I was taking the menus from them and about to walk away from the table, the woman with the coffee said “Excuse me, but is that alcohol coming?”
Cue the crickets.
I didn’t speak for a moment because I was shocked at her question. I could not believe what she was asking. How could the alcohol possibly get to the table without me leaving to go order it, let alone get it from the bar. Did she think I could have sent out a discreet signal to someone to get it right away? Did she think I could somehow communicate with the bar that she wanted more? How could she possibly think that it could get there if I never even left the table? It seemed like such a ridiculous question to me. I guess some people don’t have much common sense in how things work. It is impossible for me to get something if I haven’t even left the table. If I could use The Force, I would. But I can’t.
So I said “I’m sorry, ma’am, but I haven’t even had a chance to leave the table yet, but I’ll get it for you right away.”
“Well, don’t forget it.” She replied.
All I could do was repeat “I’ll get it right away ma’am”.
So I pretty much ran to the bar and prepared it for her and took it to the table.
“How is it?” I asked as she added it to her mug.
“It’s good enough, I guess.” She said.
The rest of the service was pretty much the same way. Complaints about the soup not being hot enough, the fact that I didn’t bring bread to the table (we only bring bread if the customers ask), asking what we give for free for birthdays and saying a chocolate cake wasn’t good enough, etc.
Every waiter has had customers like this. And sometimes it’s a little infuriating. People need to realize that we are only human, we only have two hands, and we are not mind readers. I really tried my best, and it still didn’t seem good enough.
TIPS FOR CUSTOMERS
Think about what you are asking from a server. Is your demand physically impossible? If so…then take a moment to maybe rephrase your request.
TIP FOR SERVERS
Try to keep your cool.
The Waitress Confessions 