I have recently entered the world of serving at a grown up establishment (the last one was about 20 years ago at a burger joint) and have a few questions. I would appreciate any advice or words of wisdom. In no particular order:
What is the best thing to do when you screw up an order? I forgot to put in an appetizer and told the party that I forgot (when they reminded me). I was very apologetic, and they were very nice about it and just canceled it since their order was about to come out. However, upon giving them the check, I wondered if I should have reiterated my mistake (“I’m sorry again about the appetizer”) or just forget it. To me, re-apologizing makes it seem like I’m hoping they don’t penalize my tip, which seems too kiss-ass.
What is the best way to deal with weirdos? I had a single party guy who just struck me as off…best to be friendly or never smile?
What is the best thing to do when they hate their food? I had a party of two and one of them just hated his prime rib - cooked fine but he thought it was all fat and gristle (it was). He did not want to return it or speak to anyone, he just wanted to go “on record.” I did tell the manager, but she did not go over and speak to him. When I gave them their check, I just said (very nicely), “I’m sorry it wasn’t better for you.”
What is the best way to deal with a dish that gets ordered a lot but people are continually unhappy with? The aforementioned prime rib, for example. Our speciality is fish, which is quite good and we get a lot of compliments. However, about 50% of the people that have ordered prime rib end up not liking it (management knows). Should I take it upon myself to nudge people away from it?
That’s all I can think of at the moment. If anyone has any advice on something I haven’t covered, please chime in.
Apologize, and get a manager to come to the table, even if the guest is not terribly pissed - in fact, ESPECIALLY if the guest is not pissed. Taking responsiblity for your mistake is always appreciated, and there’s at least a chance your manager will comp them a round of drinks or a dessert.
Be polite and smile, but don’t be familiar or over friendly. “Businesslike” is a good mindset.
Your manager should have gone to the table and apologized to the guest and offered him a different dish or some other “restitution.” I think you handled your end of the situation fine, but if your manager knew and did nothing about it, she needs a refresher course in management. You never want a guest to leave the establishment unhappy, especially if you were the only human they were in contact with. Even if they don’t intend it, they will associate you with their bad experience otherwise.
I would certainly mention to management that you’ve received a lot of complaints on one particular dish and that you think someone should address the issue with the kitchen staff. As for the front of the house, I would say rather than steering people away from the prime rib, steer them TO other menu choices first (“we have an excellent fresh catch tonight, cooked this way and served that way that I think you will find very good”) and if they decide, nope, they really want the prime rib, smile politely, take their order and then go threaten the kitchen staff within an inch of their lives to turn out an acceptable dinner. (OK, maybe not that last part.)
It’s funny, with #1, I hadn’t thought of “outing” myself to the manager, but I don’t have a problem doing it. I have only been there a month, but the culture there so far tells me that they would not comp anything. I suppose if the manager chose to go over and apologize as well (I just don’t know if she would or not), that would at least be something.
Intro Note: You have two threads posted, you may want to contact a moderator to have them join the threads.
I was a server for a year a long time ago (8 years). But for my other 9 years of restaurant experience, I have been a slave in the hell pits of the kitchen.
Here is my take from a kitchen’s perspective:
Apologize surely. Blame it on what and who or whatever. Your solution to 1 was good. If they insist on having their app and getting their meals postponed (we get that sometimes) or you want a bigger tip and tell them some reason why it is running late, make sure you: a. go to the person running the window (the expo as called in most cases) or the head kitchen caller outer person (various names, but the person who screams at people for food) and have them hold your ticket for 5 minutes or however long for that app, b. then go to the app person (or the two above people) and have them fly (or ho-ha or however you might have to call it) it out, but realize that if it is a 10 minute app, you might be SOL however you do it. If so, get a manager.
Back in 1994-1997 there was a professor of paleontology who used to come into our fine establishment every 4:00 PM on the dot and sit in the same place, order the same food and pull out like 20 little plastic dinosaurs and play with them. Like seriously child-like play with them, if he REALLY liked you, you got one. Well, various servers tried various methods with him. The most successful tip wise was one server talked to him about dinosaurs and had a discussion about them. Another server who got a dinosaur got us, the kitchen, to build his food in a plate that looked like a dinosaur. But other whackos, such as stalkers and people who like to see their server’s cry, the best bet is to initially be “standoffish professional yet warm.” Then if they return, you might could warm up to them depending on how you read them after that.
Offer free desert with a managers approval. Seems to work everytime for most people. Either that or an app that they may like, so they don’t leave hungry. Also, some people will never like anything ever, might I suggest not worrying about those people ever. Some of them are looking for free meals. (Like another story of a woman we named Miss Kitty.) For argumentative people, that is what managers are for, don’t you take the customers crap.
Absofreakinglutely. We have two completely freaking awful dishes that very few people like. We constantly get complaints about them from people who have never tried them. I always tell servers that come back with such complaints, tell them to get the similiar, but 9,000,000 times better dish. It is worth your tip, your manager’s time, and the love of your kitchen (which is worth its weight in gold for you, trust me).
Various other advice:
Don’t worry about jerk-off customers, some people like to ruin other people’s days.
Try to get in good with the host staff, they can really mess you up in seating or not seating.
Treat you kitchen like gold. I repeat, treat you kitchen like gold and love them. It is worth it. Not only in free food at times, but also in getting the best end of the deal in problem times. (For instance, tonight 3 servers out of 12 got the last few pieces of a popular dessert that we just stopped carrying. The others we just told them, sorry 86. Those three are the bomb people, thus they got the good stuff.)
Don’t panic, it will be over in 3-6 hours.
Have fun, smile and the customers will smile back (with their wallets).
-Yours,
Bytopian"Got more burns on his arm than The Human Torch"Dream
Eek. Mods, I’m sorry about the two threads - on my end it looked like only one went through. Please close/merge/stomp on one?
Bytopiandream, thanks. You actually hit on some things that I have definitely felt so far, like panic. I was so busy the other night that I put orders in and wanted to bury my head in the sand when they actually came out because I was sure I had messed something up (I hadn’t on that night). And, the comment about not worrying about jerk-offs, so true.
I’m actually a pretty big fan of “treat people how you would like to be treated” and try to be extremely respectful of everyone. I always say “thank you” to the kitchen when I’m picking up even when it’s so busy they can’t hear me, and I grab whatever dish I can to make the busser’s life easier.
Should I tip out anything on top of the percentage to the bussers and bar? The other night, for example, my alcohol sales were so low that my tip out was $1 to the bar (we give tip outs to the manager). Since I’m new, the bartendar had (very nicely) given me a few pointers (“we have a key that specifies if you want a glass w/a beer”, etc.) Again, I don’t want to go overboard and seem like a kiss-ass (especially to the other servers) but I don’t at all mind tossing in a few extra dollars.
I typically given the minimum tip out, unless my busser or bartender has gone out of thier way to help me out. When I was being trained, one bartender in particular was always helpful to me. I tried very hard to be gracious, and I always grabbed glasses for her, or took her dirty dishes back. Things like that were much more helpful than a few extra dollars.
To your questions:
When I forget to ring something in, I admit to it, apologize a billion times, and offer to get them the appetizer, late, for free. Or, if there food is still going to be a while, I’ll sweet talk the cooks into making it fast. Luckily, my managers rock and generally have no problem with buying food as long as the customers leave happy.
I work in the bar, and have learned that wierdos with alcohol in them are usually even worse than just wierdos. If someone is bothering me, I will continue to be polite, but I won’t go out of my way to talk to them, and while I continue to smile, I won’t make eye contact. Occasionally, guys at the bar have gotten extremely friendly with (read: groping) the girls who work here. When that happens, I get one of the big males who work here to set them straight.
If the hate the food, I try to talk them into something else. Sometimes they’ll go for it, sometimes they prefer to stay angry. Whatever, I do my best. Just make sure you give them no reason to be angry with you.
Always, always remember, no matter how bad it can be, it’s just a shift, just a day. It’s not the end of the world.
And finally, as I have learned, a big smile goes along way. I recently got my teeth corrected, and I feel much more comfortable smiling. Just that one little change, and I have noticed an increase in my tips. Amazing what some teeth can do!
Thanks for the words of wisdom - you made some good points! I’m especially listening to the “it’s just a shift” thing - it helps to keep in that perspective.
