So i’ve just started waiting tables again at a casual but very busy resturaunt on Walt Disney property. My question is for anyone that has waited tables before, or anyone that has a suggestion based on previous dining experiences.
Besides being attentive and polite, what “tricks” or techniques are there to maximize tips and customer satisfaction?
Help me make some money!
TALK. Seriously…talk up a storm with the patron. Don’t be annoying, don’t over compensate for any short comings. And above all be considerate. Aside from that be nice…even of the kitchen screws up, be informative…do not ever blame yourself, always the kitchen…
Never keep a customer in the dark. If something is going to be late, inform them, don’t hide in the waitress/waiter station.
What restaurant are you in on Disney property? My wife and I will be in Orlando in two weeks…
We tip well 
There was a study somewhere that said that waiters who squat down make more in tips than waiters who stand. Something about eye-contact probably. Aha, [cite[/url (warning: PDF).
[url=“http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/food/9047471.htm?1c”]Here’s](http://www-class.unl.edu/psycrs/350lab/litrev_articles.PDF) an article from the Miami Herald.
Anticpate the customer’s wants. At WDW you are likely to have customers who come from all around the world. Get drinks quickly and make sure that any condiments are available.
Being attentive but not intrusive is the main thing. Friendliness of course, but try if you can to remember that the reason they are there was not to chat with you. Efficiency goes a long way – while you are on your way from place A to place B, notice if anything else along the way can use your attention. Often you can do things in one trip rather than three. Glance at each table you pass to see if there is anything they might be wanting.
If there are children, which in WDW there surely will be, make a fuss over them unless they are being complete brats, and even then if you can stand it. People are always nicer to people who are nice to their kids.
When delivering food to one of the tables in your section, look around to see if you can take anything back; empty plates, glasses, etc. Try to anticipate your guest’s needs/wants before they do. Automatically bring the coffeepot around and refill coffee cups so that patrons don’t have to wave at you frantically. If you have any coffee left, go around to other waiter’s sections and pour coffee for their customers. Doing nice things like that will help you when you need it.
Slip a few dollars to the person in charge of seating at the beginning of your shift.
Experienced restaurant staff can’t always spot a good tipper but can spot a lousy one most of the time.
When the hostess has two tables to choose from you want to help them decide who gets the party less likely to tip…
To supplement MLS’s advice regarding young children, try to bring them a packet of saltines or oyster crackers or whathaveyou ASAP. It keeps them from whining “I’m huuuuuuungry” and it distracts them from mischief-making.
Remember your regulars. My boss and I go out for beers every Tuesday to plan and strategize (and to drink beer.) We go back to one bar over and over because the two tenders there remember us. Before we are sitting we have our beer. They call us by name and seem genuinely happy to see us. As a result we go back each week and we tip there better than we do any where else.
Since there’s not one factual answer to this, I’ll move this to IMHO for you.
Off to IMHO.
DrMatrix - GQ Moderator
I can’t imagine this is going to be an important factor at a tourist destination like the Disney porperties.
Anticipate your customer’s needs. Did they order hamburger and fries? Then bring the ketchup to the table after you take their order. They have kids, provide them with extra napkins and straws. As was suggested, look around and see what can be taken back to the kitchen and never walk around empty handed.
Thanks for the tip
The resturaunt is the Rainforest Cafe. Very fun, very good food. Hope to see ya there.
This is really good stuff. A rather interesting read as well. Thanks.
Dunno about Disney, but when I worked for Universal Studios the guys in the back offices ate on campus every day and usually at the same place. This is less true at the venders, but in the “real” restaraunts there are always regulars.
offer an iced tea spoon AND a straw (or at least have straws in your apron, if they’re wrapped) for iced tea. Offer a straw for every cold drink. When setting down food, DON’T put the condiments (salt, pepper, whatever) out of the reach of the diner! This drives me nuts. I’ll be sitting at the table, working on my salsa or salad, with the salt shaker at hand. I have it at hand because I like to salt my food! 9 times out of 10, the waiter will move that shaker to the other end of the table when he sets my main dish in front of me. I have arthritis, and I’m short. I have to get up and retrieve that shaker, which hurts. And it pisses me right off. I have taken to grabbing the shaker and telling the waiter not to move it.
Don’t make the diners flag you down. Some WILL run you ragged (my husband is especially bad about this, and then he hates to tip on top of it) but sometimes you might have forgotten some part of the meal. If you don’t check the table for 20 or 30 minutes, the diners might have gone ahead and done without the cheese or steak sauce…and might well have decided not to tip you more than two cents. Keep the drink glasses full. This goes for water, too. Another reason to check back frequently is that the customer might decide that she wants dessert, after all. Many times, I have been wavering as to whether I want dessert, and the waiter simply slaps down my ticket without asking if I want anything else. Hey, fine, I’ll just eat some ice cream out of my freezer, then, instead of spending another five bucks at the restaurant…and adding another buck to the tip.
And on top of those two bits of advice, I’d say make sure you never, ever bring the youngest children’s food last. If the cooks try to give you an order and the chicken nuggets are not with it, stand your ground until you get that child’s food. If that’s impossible for some reason, at least bring the kid something to tide him over. I’m a very tolerant and forgiving diner, but sitting there for five or ten minutes with my small, hungry child watching my food cool while she whimpered was always enough for me to become a raging lunatic.
The only other advice I have is to smile. Always smile, no matter what.
Lots of my advice has already been posted, good stuff about anticipating their needs and fussing over the kidlets. Extra napkins, straws, refills without waiting and having to ask, likely condiments, yepperoonies. Pre-teens often like the option of kid menu’s or regular ones, when in doubt take both to the table.
I gotta wonder about that study though, I’ve noticed the trend towards crouching to take my order, or even (!) sitting next to me. Weirds me out somewhat, so maybe the stoop’s okay but not the grabbing a seat, or maybe it’s just me.
I wish you wouldn’t. 
I want to EAT when I’m in a restaurant, and spice it with talk with my chosen companions, not have a conversation with an utter stranger. It might be different in a touristy place, though.