Vinny, I spent much time as a waiter/busboy/dishwasher/prep cook, so perhaps I can shed some light. I did only work at one restaurant the whole time - so others’ MMV:
1. Do waitresses that have been around longer get top choice in tables? Do you have to work your way up to several tables? When you start, do you get one table?
Experienced servers may get their choice of STATION. In a situation where stations are shared, experienced servers can connive to get tables they think will tip better – though this is frowned upon.
Yes, green servers can start on one table – usually two, though.
2. Do hostesses intentionally put guests in the worst seats even when the restaurant is empty hoping that they wont complain, in case it gets crowded and there’s few tables left to move someone? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to an empty restaurant and the hostess put us near a hot window, under the AC, next to a really large guy and there was no room, when there were clearly other tables out there.
Trust me – that’s bad luck & selective memory at work. Hostesses sometimes blow seating assignments realy badly, though.
When a restaurant is empty, you may have a fairly restricted area where they will seta you, though. Why? Because it’s likely early in a shift, and perhaps only one or two STATIONS are open – that is, have assigned servers available to wait on you. Hostesses are rightly loathe to sit a customer in a closed station, because when that station’s waiter comes on, he’s shorted a table – plus your waiter’s attention is separated by both his station and you, the lone little table outside of his station.
Why aren’t you handed off when your station’s waiter comes on? Because of computer-aided order processing, believe it or not. Once a waiter submits an order under his code, it takes a manager a few minutes to manually change that order to another waiter. Managers rarely have time to fiddle with that – and waiting for a manager to even arrive for the task takes too long as it is.
3. When you go back to the kitchen, what do you say about your customers?
About what you’d expect – but less often than you’d expect. It’s not Bitchfest 2001 back there, but some tables do get plenty of verbal attention.
Don’t all fields of endeavor rag on their clients/customers when they are out of earshot?
4. Do you really have to kiss the cooks ass to get your orders out? Do cooks often fuck with the orders of waitresses they hate?
Pretty much re: ass-kissing. If a cook and a waiter have it out, an unprofessional cook may purposely delay an order. Very, very, very rarely is the food adulterated out of spite.
5. Have you or have you seen anyone spit in or fuck with someones food?
Never once in four years had I seen that. Such actions are extremely rare. Of course, Fox-TV’s “reality” shows makes people think it happens several times a night in every restaurant.
It doesn’t. Gross adulterations of food should be less of a concern than being struck by lightning.
6. How long does it take to learn how to be a waitress?
A week to get down the basics. Formal training is normally one week – two at a fancy place.
To learn to be an EFFICIENT waiter usually takes 3-6 months. Some people have the knack and catch on quicker. Some never catch on. It depends on having a nearly-perfect short-term memory, among other traits.
7. Whats the pay like at a . . diner . . .chain restaurant . . fancy Italian restaurant?
I’ll assume you mean tips included.
Varies widely by geographic region. In New Orleans, a diner employee ain’t making all that much – maybe $8-11 hourly.
Chain restaurant servers can make around $10-15 hourly. Sometimes approaching $20/hr on weekends, depending on the restaurant. These figures can fluctuate for a variety of reasons.
Fancy places in a gourmet town like New Orleans are staffed by professional waiters – more so than by starving students. These guys & gals make $25,000-$50,000 (and up) annually. The high-earners in the local food-service scene work many private parties and catered events to bump up their earnings.
**8. How long are the shifts? **
Lunch can be from 3-6 hours, depending on the amount of extra work done before or after shifts. Dinner shifts vary from 4-8 hours. Many waiters pull double-shifts (lunch & dinner), which go about 11-13 hours.