# 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 2, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091 "2009-11-02T19:51:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 12
### Author:  [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/221 "2009-11-12T14:33:04Z")
> [@bouv](#):
>
> Never worked on a restaurant, have you? It’s notoriously difficult to get sent home because you’re sick, and it’s even harder to actually call out sick. We don’t get sick days, so 99% of the time it’s up to you to find someone who’s nice enough to take your shift. Unless you can do that, or provide evidence that you’re REALLY sick (a simple cold, cough, or massive hangover won’t do, we’re talking at least flu-level) you’ll get docked a good shift, or fired.
In that case, the fault is that of the management. If they are so inflexible as to not reasonably provide for the possibility that staff may be sick on occasion and essentially force them to come into work if sick, they deserve to lose customers put off permanently by the sight of waitstaff sneezing with an obvious cold while holding food - which personally I find almost as gross as finding a cockaroach in the salad.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/222 "2009-11-12T18:57:51Z")
> [@bouv](#):
>
> Never worked on a restaurant, have you? It’s notoriously difficult to get sent home because you’re sick, and it’s even harder to actually call out sick. We don’t get sick days, so 99% of the time it’s up to you to find someone who’s nice enough to take your shift. Unless you can do that, or provide evidence that you’re REALLY sick (a simple cold, cough, or massive hangover won’t do, we’re talking at least flu-level) you’ll get docked a good shift, or fired.
No, not really. I worked as a waitress for a couple of weeks, but I wasn’t sick during that span, and I never tried to find someone to cover for me. I don’t think that a short span like that qualifies me as an expert on working in a restaurant.
However, AS A CUSTOMER, if I’m served by someone who looks and acts contagious, I’m not eating there that day, and quite possibly I’ll never eat there again. This is not my problem, it’s management’s problem. I already have my solution. Management has to decide whether to staff the place at reasonable levels, or to lose me as a customer permanently. I’m generally considered a good customer, and I’ve had several servers and managers tell me that they wished that more people were like me. I don’t demand free food, if the place is out of one item I’m usually more than willing to try another, and I tip well. However, I do insist that my food is fit to be eaten. This means that the kitchen must be moderately sanitary, and my server must be non-contagious.
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### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/223 "2009-11-12T22:35:24Z")
On clearing plates:
As an American, it took me a while to catch on, but in Austria (and I think it is widespread in Europe) it is the custom to place your knife and fork parallel on the plate to signal that you are finished eating and would like the plate cleared from the table. Your plate will then soon disappear without the wait staff interrupting your dinner conversation. Similarly, they don’t ever ask if you “are still working on that” because the fact that you are either holding your knife and fork (in R&L hand, respectively) or have rested them orthogonally on the plate clearly indicates this to be the case.
Along with standing to the right to allow passing on escalators this is something I wish Americans would cotton to. I have dined in a couple of upper scale US restaurants where the wait staff seemed familiar with this…possibly owned by Europeans?
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2009, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/224 "2009-11-12T22:57:25Z")
> [@Kevbo](#):
>
> Along with standing to the right to allow passing on escalators this is something I wish Americans would cotton to.
Hell, most Americans can’t master "please, “thank you,” and “excuse me,” and you think they’re going to start using some secret utensil code?
(I say this as an American who would love to see it happen. But it won’t.)
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2009, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/225 "2009-11-12T23:41:45Z")
> [@Kevbo](#):
>
> As an American, it took me a while to catch on, but in Austria (and I think it is widespread in Europe) it is the custom to place your knife and fork parallel on the plate to signal that you are finished eating and would like the plate cleared from the table.
The “signal” I learned was to place the knife diagonally on the plate, then place the fork on top of it at the opposite angle with the tines crossing the blade of the knife.
> [@](#):
>
> Along with standing to the right to allow passing on escalators this is something I wish Americans would cotton to.
Escalators? Hah! I’m continually shaking my head at the number of people who want to _enter_ an elevator and it apparently never crosses their mind that somebody else might be _exiting_.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/226 "2009-11-13T00:50:53Z")
> [@Kevbo](#):
>
> On clearing plates:
>
> As an American, it took me a while to catch on, but in Austria (and I think it is widespread in Europe) it is the custom to place your knife and fork parallel on the plate to signal that you are finished eating and would like the plate cleared from the table.
It is also widespread in America[sup]1[/sup]. Handles pointing to the 4:00 position (or thereabouts).
* * *
1. Martin, Judith, “Miss Manners’ guide to excruciatingly correct behavior,” W.W. Norton, New York, p. 171
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/227 "2009-11-13T00:53:00Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#):
>
> The “signal” I learned was to place the knife diagonally on the plate, then place the fork on top of it at the opposite angle with the tines crossing the blade of the knife.
This is the signal for “I’m not done yet.” ibid.
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### Author:  [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/228 "2009-11-13T02:03:57Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> This is the signal for “I’m not done yet.” ibid.
Good to know :smack:
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### Author:  [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/229 "2009-11-13T02:32:51Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> It is also widespread in America[sup]1[/sup]. Handles pointing to the 4:00 position (or thereabouts).
>
> * * *
>
> 1. Martin, Judith, “Miss Manners’ guide to excruciatingly correct behavior,” W.W. Norton, New York, p. 171
I grew up with this rule.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/230 "2009-11-13T04:55:32Z")
Speaking of platten etiquette, Is there any time it is ok to serve from the left?
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### Author:  [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/231 "2009-11-13T05:04:15Z")
> [@Kevbo](#):
>
> On clearing plates:
>
> As an American, it took me a while to catch on, but in Austria (and I think it is widespread in Europe) it is the custom to place your knife and fork parallel on the plate to signal that you are finished eating and would like the plate cleared from the table. Your plate will then soon disappear without the wait staff interrupting your dinner conversation. Similarly, they don’t ever ask if you “are still working on that” because the fact that you are either holding your knife and fork (in R&L hand, respectively) or have rested them orthogonally on the plate clearly indicates this to be the case.
>
> Along with standing to the right to allow passing on escalators this is something I wish Americans would cotton to. I have dined in a couple of upper scale US restaurants where the wait staff seemed familiar with this…possibly owned by Europeans?
Seconded for New Zealand. but I don’t think it widespread enough to be actually used. Definitely if I wanted my plate cleared it would be signalled by [placing knife and fork together and pushing plate back from edge of table an inch or two
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### Author:  [@Recliner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Recliner)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/232 "2009-11-13T07:25:34Z")
> [@gigi](#):
>
> \<\< 23. If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc. \>\>
>
> Holy crap, really? I guess I can see this as an above-and-beyond thing, but as a habitual thing to be expected when someone says they liked the wine??
Does anyone even know how to steam off labels? Is there a device?
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### Author:  [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/233 "2009-11-13T08:51:39Z")
> [@Recliner](#):
>
> Does anyone even know how to steam off labels? Is there a device?
Please see my earlier post. I used to take off labels in my restaurant to use in the wine list. The ease or difficulty depended on the label. The worst were at the opposite ends of the sprectum. Some cheaper bottles use industrial grade glue, and nothing short of a nuclear device could remove them. At the other end, labels on, say, fifty year old clarets were so delicate that it was almost impossible not to tear them. In between, they used to come off quite easily.
I’m not aware of any devices. I just used to either steam or soak them.
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### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/234 "2009-11-13T13:29:59Z")
> [@devilsknew](#):
>
> Speaking of platten etiquette, Is there any time it is ok to serve from the left?
Always. Serving from the left is the standard form. Clear from the right.
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### Author:  [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/235 "2009-11-13T13:52:01Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Handles pointing to the 4:00 position (or thereabouts).
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Always. Serving from the left is the standard form. Clear from the right.
And these “rules” (plus some others) are there because most of us are right-handed. It’s easier to take things from a platter if it’s to the left of you. Likewise it’s easier to put a plate in front of or remove from a seated person with your right hand from the right side and if the knife and fork are in a 4:00 position they are easier to handle when you place them on the plate you’re holding in your left hand while placing other plates on your wrist.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/236 "2009-11-14T06:23:31Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Always. Serving from the left is the standard form. Clear from the right.
Sorry, I meant is there ever an appropriate time to do vice versey… serve from the right, remove from the left? Because it is not a hard and fast rule, depending on seating and place setting. Seating and complicated multicourse settings I have found can sometimes turn organic in “big top” tables, pulling together banquettes and large tables, and coming and going mingling customers, can make for times when best judgement is etiquette. The server can play his etiquette card and try to confab the table, or the server can follow the lead and organic synthesis of the table.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/237 "2009-11-14T06:58:44Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#):
>
> As was discussed at length earlier in the thread, the list is by someone who is planning to open a restaurant. He has no prior restaurant experience, and this is how he plans to run his new place.
This makes me laugh. I wonder how many months his restaurant is going to last? I think instead of compiling Leviticus-like lists of dos and don’ts for the waitstaff, he should educate himself about such unglamorous but far more important things like garbage removal, fire-code and health-code regulations, liquor licenses, gas bills, plumbing, ways of reducing the overhead cost, how to keep the books, how to screen potential employees who are going to be criminals, drug addicts, or thieves. If he has no prior restaurant experience, unless he’s from a real-estate background and already has knowledge of how to operate a service-based business, or he is the heir to a large fortune that he can burn through, I think he’s better off running a fantasy restaurant in his head than going straight into the enterprise with the mindset of trying to implement his fantasies.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2009, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/238 "2009-11-14T07:38:15Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> Always. Serving from the left is the standard form. Clear from the right.
> [@Argent\_Towers](#):
>
> This makes me laugh. I wonder how many months his restaurant is going to last? I think instead of compiling Leviticus-like lists of dos and don’ts for the waitstaff, he should educate himself about such unglamorous but far more important things like garbage removal, fire-code and health-code regulations, liquor licenses, gas bills, plumbing, ways of reducing the overhead cost, how to keep the books, how to screen potential employees who are going to be criminals, drug addicts, or thieves. If he has no prior restaurant experience, unless he’s from a real-estate background and already has knowledge of how to operate a service-based business, or he is the heir to a large fortune that he can burn through, I think he’s better off running a fantasy restaurant in his head than going straight into the enterprise with the mindset of trying to implement his fantasies.
Yes, these are very, very, important, but I think you are being a bit too harsh. These are conceptualizations, even I have tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. A Restaurant conception is probably the “real” architecture of a restaurant as it is being built. You want a structure in place, and to start off on the right foot… that is peobably more important in a fine dining adventure, than anything else… a christening and a special something that sets your dining experience apart. You want the standards to ensure that none of these other “practical conditions” that you place will ever become a worry, because of proper ambience and service, as provided by a team.. Set the tone first and foremost and everything comes after… like I said standards are good, but you must be worldclass… there is no halfway.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2009, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/239 "2009-11-14T08:44:42Z")
If he does this right, just judging by the vibe, hinging on who is the Chef behind this Restaurant, his Restaurant could be like the Le bernardin of the French Laundry class of Michelin Star restaurants.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2009, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/100-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do/516091/240 "2009-11-14T10:47:51Z")
The restaurant business will _chew you up and spit you out._ I have seen, personally, the downfall of too many restaurants - great restaurants, at that - to have anything but the most cynical outlook towards them. With no restaurant experience, this guy is only going to be a success if he is very, very rich, and/or has an _extremely_ canny sense for the service industry and background in real estate or any other kind of intensive property management. Even the very, very rich part won’t guarantee success. Depending on his own ego and determination, he could lose a hell of a lot of money. He could go broke, if he really failed hard.
Yes the atmosphere, the presentation, the service, the whole “experience” - of course this is what separates the good restaurants from the _great_ restaurants. But that refinement can only come after years of the nuts-and-bolts of the business.
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