A few tips from a waiter

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

First off, tipping discussion is off-limits in this thread. We’ve had enough threads about them, we all have our feelings on it, so we’ll keep that out of here. That being said, I’ve decided that there are many things restaurant patrons can do to make both my job, and their service, much better. I’m sure other servers can chime in with their own tips later.

So, to kick things off, my number one pet peeve:
Please, [i[please*, PLEASE do not go to the bathroom immediately after getting seated. You see, I don’t always know how many people get sat at my table. Sometimes I’ll notice that there’s a menu and a set of silverware but no person there, so I’ll out two and two together and wait for you, but sometimes where I’m looking from I can’t tell if there’s another spot set up. So I walk to the table to introduce myself and get a drink order, and someone’s not there. Most people don’t want me to just leave and come back, so I have to intro myself and get drinks for who’s there, and odds are by the time I get back, you’re there and I have to do it all over again. It takes more of my time, which means my other tables suffer. So just keep your ass in the seat for a minute or two before I get there (because 99% of the time I will be there to greet you in less than two minutes.)

Odds are, someone at the table will need a refill. When either they ask, or I notice and I ask, if you think you might need one soon, but maybe not now (say you have half a glass of Coke left, but you’re still just eating your salad or appetizer,) then please say you want a refill too when I ask who else needs one. It’s annoying to have to make three trips to the same table because people didn’t say they wanted a refill when I first asked, but they do when I come back with someone else’s.

And I’ll end now on another big one…
KNOW WHAT YOU WANT BEFORE YOU ORDER!!
If I ask you if you’re all set to order, don’t say yes if you then take another five minutes while I’m standing there with my pen whilst you decide everything about the meal. Merely wanting the salmon is not enough, please know ahead of time what side dish you want, the dressing on your salad, if you want the marinade on the salmon. When I take out my book and pen, I should be able to take a table of four’s entire order in less than a few minutes.

Oh, one last quick one: don’t give me shit for spieling things (ie, when I introduce myself, go over the new/featured items, suggest something.) I have to do it as part of my job, so just be nice and listen to it. I deliberately put pauses in it so you have a good time to stop me (because if I’m getting “Shopped,” they won’t stop me,) but don’t snap at me “I’LL HAVE A COKE RIGHT NOW!” when I start talking.

2

In that case, could you ask your management to please list all the options for each dish on the menu? That way I could prepare my options, rather than having to quiz you about what’s available with the dish.

In the same vein, could you arrange to have a description of the dishes, especially those with foreign names, placed on the menu? That way I won’t have to ask you about those either.

3

I work in a chain restaurant, so don’t worry, they are right there on the menu. I do sympathize with places that just say:
“Grilled Salmon…$20.95”

But our menu says what sides each dish comes with, whether it gets a salad or not, and there’s a list of every side and salad dressing that we have. Yet still people are surprised when I ask what dressing they want, even though not only does the menu say it, but I usually mention in my spiel that all the steaks come with a salad.

4

I’ll do this, if you’ll actually give me a chance to look at the menu. The last 3 times I’ve gone out, I have been approched by waitstaff literally within a minute of sitting down (the hostess has taken drink orders) and asked if I’m ready to order.

Last time, I hadn’t even gotten my hat off, or my menu opened, before this nice lady was wanting me to tell her what I wanted to eat.

5

I will gladly do what you ask (actually I already do these things) if you will do me one favor in return.
For OG’s sake don’t walk up to the table and ask me how the food is exactly 3.1 seconds after I have take a large bite of my meal. I eat fast, but nowhere near that fast.
Do what I ask, and I will sing your praises to the sky, and leave you an extra big tip.

6

Ok…so just ask her to come back in a few minutes. Don’t feel like you have to then suddenly decide.

Like I said, we don’t always know when we get a table sat in our section, so if we see someone there, for all we know they’ve been there ten seconds or maybe a few minutes. We usually have something else to do in the kitchen/alley area, like roll silverware, restock dishes, keep a certain area clean, etc…

7

To me it always seems like the waiter will come up and ask me how the food is exactly at the same moment I’m chewing a big mouthful of it. Then I have to gesture frantically and try to smile without opening my mouth. I’m not used to waiters asking me about my food anyway. Sometimes I miss Korea, where the waiters are surly and have to be pelted with bananas before they bother to give you a second glance.

8

Hazel while I said the same thing, I love the way you phrased it. If I ever get to travel to Korea, will you come with me to throw bananas at the waiters? :slight_smile:

9

Try peanuts instead.

10

Sure. And there’s no tipping there either. (Might explain why they need to be pelted with bananas in the first place.)

11

I seem to recall there being a Sniglet™ for this: hoorder.

Although, it was more specifically for the practice of waiting until your mouth was full to bring you the bill, so they could make their escape before you yelled “Hoordered the lobster thermidor??”

12

I just want one thing from the waitstaff: If I misorder, let me know rather than assume I know what I want. Here is an example, I went to a steakhouse and chili was listed as a side that came with the meal. I asked for a bowl of chili and another side (meal came with two) I got a double order of the potatoes that I ordered for my side and was charged for the “bowl” rather than the “cup” that came with the meal. Had the sever informed me of my gaffe, we both would have been a lot happier.

Also, bouv, how often do you work where there is no manager on duty? I don’t complain often, and sometimes I even want to compliment my server or the bartender, but when I ask to speak to the manager he or she is off and there is no manager on duty.

SSG Schwartz

13

Re: checking back too soon. Well…can’t help you there. I check back after 2-3 minutes. It’s usually enough time for someone to take at least one or two bites, but not so long that they’ll get upset for having to wait for me if something is wrong. The reason others might ask so soon is because they would rather err on the side of caution and make sure that if there is a problem, you don’t have to wait for it to be resolved.

Re: Having food in your mouth. I’m not a mind reader, people. For me to check with you when you don’t have food would require me to either hover around your table, or stare at you from across the restaurant. You take your pick of the three of what’s best. Plus, if there’s even just three people in your party, there’s a very hood chance that at any given time, at least one of you will have food in your mouth. I never understood why people even complain about this…is it that hard to swallow and then tell me? Honestly, I won’t get mad! I can see you’re currently chewing.

Plus, part of those last two things are bias. You never notice when the waiter asks you how things are at the perfect time (ie, enough time passed and you have no food in your mouth,) but you always notice when they do.)

And our place always has a manager on duty. I can’t even imagine places that don’t.

14

Forgot to add, thank you for what you do bouv, if not for people in your profession, I would have to eat** babygirl’**s cooking every night.

SSG Schwartz

15

Tell your waiter immediately if something is wrong/missing.

When I used to wait tables it would drive me nuts that somebody would get the wrong dressing, or a steak at the wrong temperature, or not receive that extra side of whatever…

And they’d wait til they were halfway through the meal, or when they were done, to go, “Yeah, I didn’t really like my steak…I didn’t want ranch dressing I wanted Italian…I never got X or Y or Z…this was regular Coke and I wanted Diet…”

What can I do at that point? Your meal is already half over or finished completely. I’ve been by your table several times since you got your food…if it wasn’t a big enough deal to mention when I could have solved it, why mention it now? Are you angling for a discount or do you just want to make me feel bad?

Speak up! Immediately!

16

Wouldn’t it be even better for you to look at the half-full Coke and say “And a refill for you, too?” to its owner? When information (in the form of visible beverage glasses) is available, it seems that a specific question is likely to be more effective than a general one. Customers, especially those that did not signal for waitstaff attention, may well be engaged in their own conversations and thus not optimally attentive.

17

I don’t know. I’m paying to be there and you’re being paid to be there. Shouldn’t the focus be on MY experience and not yours? Isn’t it your job to help explain the menu and/or help a person decide what’s best for them if they need help?

I pretty much feel like it’s a 50/50 shot of having good service plus good food when I go out to eat. That’s not fair being that I’m paying 100% of the time.

18

I don’t see why people get upset by this, either. If I am in the middle of a bite I’ll simply nod or give them a thumbs up or an “OK” gesture. If there is a big problem (which for me is rare) that needs to be brought to the waitperson’s attention I probably won’t be eating and instead will be waiting for them to come back around.

19

I do my best to be as nice as possible to anyone serving me, but I do have to comment on your suggestions.

Sometimes, ya gotta go when you gotta go. Often, I eat in a Main Street type area, after a few hours of shopping. Hell yeah I’m running to the bathroom. That said, someone at my table will always know my drink order.

Sorry, sometimes I’m not paying too close attention. We won’t even get into how indecisive my wife can be. You can ask her when you get my refill and she will say no. By the time your return with the refill, she’ll have changed her mind. Or not. Indecisive and unpredictable.

My wife can’t make a decision to save her life. She doesn’t want me to order for her, but when given a list of options, she’ll always give me the “what should I do?” look. Much easier when the dish has no options - no decisions then.

Part of the reason I don’t like chain restaurants…well, that and the sub-standard food. I know you would rather not say it as much as I would rather not hear it.

20

It doesn’t anger me, I’m just making what I thought was an amusing observation. And like I said, the waiter coming back to ask you anything at all is still a rather foreign concept to me. And before someone starts ranting at me about Rome and Romans, I’m not complaining and it’s not a big deal. Seems like you can’t say anything around here these days without someone taking it too seriously. Maybe I should use more smilies. :slight_smile:

Anyway, most of the waiters I’ve encountered are friendly and helpful and I don’t think either of us (the waiter or myself) had any cause for complaint.