The average check at Denny’s is $10-15 per person if I remember correctly, so that is moving up the scale. Of course, if he sticks with it, he can get better and better, but it’s harder to jump from $10-15 to $50-60 than to $20-$30. I started at a place that was $30-40 per person average, but I interview nicely.
I started out that way, but it got too me too much of a headache. ‘Okay, table one probably wants to me to give them their check half way through the desert while table two seems to want their check after they finish with their desert.’ Each table is almost like a different job and I have to anticipate the customer’s needs and wants based on their body language, ethnic back ground, clothing, how they react to me, etc.
I do my job, the best I can and try to make others feel as comfortable as much as possible, but there will always be those who want a different type of server than the type I am. That’s okay, they can ask for one of my coworkers who is that type next time. I’ve learned not to take it personally.
While I don’t have much experience actually waitressing, I have worked at a restaurant for four years and have learned a thing or two from watching the other waiters/waitresses.
Probably the most important tip I can think of: Leave your personal problems at home. Customers don’t want to hear about your problems. Maybe it’s just the restaurant I work at, but we sometimes get complaints about this sort of thing. It’s dumb, but your job is to be happy and cheerful and put the customers first.
Perfect the art of carrying multiple plates. It comes in very handy.
Help out your fellor coworkers and they will in turn help you out. If you have a couple minutes of down time, do something for someone else if they appear to be busy. Don’t hesitate to take out another waiter/waitresses order. Just be sure to tell them.
Check on tables that aren’t yours. If you see people sitting at a table with empty cups, go ask if they want refills. Even if they aren’t “your” customers, they will appreciate it, and so will their server.
Find out who the “regulars” are and treat them with special care. It’s what keeps them coming back. People like it when you remember “their” order, or “their” drink. They usually leave the best tips.
If a table doesn’t tip, or tips badly, don’t get upset. Just take it in stride. I have seen way too many servers get way too upset when a table doesn’t tip. So what if a table only leaves you a dollar? At least its a dollar more than you had.
This sounds cheesy but just remember that a restaurant is a team. It takes huge effort and coordination to get things done right and food ready on time. Be good to the kitchen staff because they’re the backbone of the restaurant. Tip the bussers (if applicable). I have even seen waitresses tip each other, if one helped the other out in a big way. Remember, restaurant work is FUN! It’s an awesome way to meet people.
Important piece of jargon I haven’t seen covered–when you hear someone say “behind you,” it means someone is behind you.
Sounds stupid, put that way, but when your hands are full of hot plates, you don’t want your co-workers backing into your path all of a sudden. So when you hear “behind you,” don’t back up and don’t turn and walk that way. Move forward if possible, and if you can turn your head to look and see where the person needs to go–if they need you to move out of the way, or if you should just stay where you are so you don’t knock them over.
The smile, no matter what, that is a necessary skill. You won’t survive without it.
Ditto the business about never making a trip for a single purpose. And add to that–never stand around doing nothing, even when you’re caught up. Find something to do. Get a towel and start wiping things, do someone else’s sidework if you’re caught up with yours, anything, just don’t stand still and do nothing, even if there’s every reason to.
It’s been forever since I waited tables. Since everything else has been covered… When you are trying to sell dessert or up sell something. Nod your head as you ask the question. It’s really quite silly, but in most cases if you nod your head slightly and ask, “Would you like the death by chocolate for dessert?” More times than not the customer will say yes. I worked at a Tex/Mex place. Average per person was $15-$25. My per person average was higher. Because of a simple nod. I upgraded a lot of Margarita’s from the house drink to the premium. If you arent good at remembering orders, PLEASE, PLEASE write them down. Most importantly wear comfortable shoes. The happier your feet are the better you’ll feel. Good Luck!
I’m a hostess. The reason I get tipped by the server is because I effect how much the server gets in tips. I am the first part of the whole dining experience, and if I am friendly, effeicient and do my job well, they are in a good mood when the server greets them. Also, I decide where the customers sit. I can underseat or overseat a server, which also affects the tips. I scratch their back, they scratch mine.
Not sure what the logic is behind tipping the bussers.
I haven’t had extensive restaurant experience; I was never a waitress, but I was a dishwasher, a carryout order-taker, and (last but not least) a busser for several months right before I graduated from college. I cleared tables quickly so they could be reseated, which also helps tips. I was also willing to help out the waitresses when they got slammed, with whatever I could do (bringing water, condiments, silverware, etc.), and they were grateful and tipped me accordingly. The lazy bastard who “trained” me was lazy and not well liked, and he was also tipped accordingly.
About terminology: The comment about saying “behind you” or “behind” made me remember that you should also know that restaurant workers generally say “corner” when going around a corner. That way they don’t collide with co-workers coming in the other direction. Especially important if you are both carrying plates.
Also, some restaurants use an “expediter” during busy times who gets food ready to go out after the cooks have finished cooking it – at Denny’s this might be adding a sprig of garnish to each plate, adding a steak knife to a steak, etc. You probably will be expected to “expedite” your plates yourself, and if you’re standing on the line, perhaps waiting for your food that is about to come up, and someone else’s food is up, you might want to “expedite” their food while you wait. People do it for each other.
If you haven’t mastered the tray yet, practice by putting a bunch of phonebooks on it. Build up those muscles.
Can’t stress the smile enough.
A good tip for more family-type restaurants is to go down on a knee while you’re taking orders. It almost always puts the customers at ease. And that means bigger tips.
Always have an excuse. If something goes wrong and you don’t know why, make something up! Your customers WANT to be told why things are wrong. That’s why they’re asking. A good friend of mine used to wait at a Mexican place, and one of his stock answers was “Hey, guys. I’ll go find out what’s wrong with your food, but I’ll be honest with you. The cook, Juan, he has a gun in his apron. The guy scares me!”
On that note, you have to have an eye for who you can joke with and you who can’t. Jokes and such are great ways to get more tips… until you run into the guy who just wants his eggs and a big glass of shut the hell up. Be perceptive.
Find out what you can get away with giving away for free, and do it. “On the house” is music to your table’s ears, especially if they think you’re ‘risking’ something to give it to them.
Never, never, NEVER let them see you angry, frustrated, or even mildly irritated. Ever.
Being a good waiter is all about deception. You’re selling an image. And the better you are at it, the better you’ll do and the more money you’ll make.
There’s been a lot of great advice in this thread (particularly about keeping up on your sideboard work, never making a trip without coming back with something, and the whole “behind/corner” commuincation issue); I don’t have much to add, really, other than to note that at a place like Denny’s (for better or for worse) you’re pretty much on your own. These places seem to have the seating divvied up into specific sectons and Org help the person who defies the established order, even if to help. Make certain you understand the serving line politics before you start “helping out”.
I worked at one of thse neighborhood bar and grill places (one that combined the imagery of insects and fruit in it’s name) and it was as cutthroat a place as I’d ever seen, even thought the tips and wages were mediocre, at best. At more pricey estblishments, servitons could still be nasty to each other but there was more of an impetus to help a fella out, and better communication with the kitchen.
If I were you, I’d consider the Denny’s job a stepping stone to something better. Even if waitoning isn’t going to be a career for you, you’ll get significantly better pay (if not conditions) at a more expensive place (i.e. one that serves alcohol…that pumps your per-table take significantly) and it’s a skill you can always fall back on.
Oh, and don’t worry about your lack of experience. You’ll live and learn…or you won’t live long. Find an old hand–some fifty year old lifer–and befriend her, or at least ask her advice. Waitressing is a surprisingly skillful, and unsurprisingly undervalued skill.
Mandated my ass, I haven’t seen any laws passed by Congress or the States, nor have I seen any posted rules at any restaurant that says I HAVE to leave a tip.
You also conveniently missed the distinction that its my money, and I decide how to spend it, not the waiter/waitress.
Funny, I don’t think I’ve ever dined with you nor do I think you’ve ever waited on me.
Checking your location tag, Baltimore MD, thought you’d like to know that I’ve never been there.
So explain to me how you know what I’m going to do?
Oh right, you can’t.
FTR, I leave tips, in the 15%-20% range, but you wouldn’t know that, would you?
Nope, you’re too busy jumping to conclusions.
That’s why i used the word “culturally.” You really do have trouble getting more than every second or third word, don’t you?
Nope. Never missed that distinction at all.
You do indeed get to decide how you spend your money. And if, in the United States, you decide to eat in a restaurant, you have implicitly decided that you are going to pay for the food and tip the wait staff. Unless that wait staff does something so unconscionable or incompetent as to ruin your meal, it is also unconscionable to stiff them on the tip.
By the sounds of it, i’m a happier person for that fact.
And Baltimore waiters also breathe a heavy sigh of relief.
Well, all i have to go on is your own testimony, which was, if i remember:
So i do, indeed, know exactly what you are going to do in this particular circumstance, because you told me yourself. Unless you were lying.
How did i jump to conclusions?
You told me specifically that you don’t tip waiters who ask if you need any change. And i’m telling you that i think this sort of behavior is cheap and suggestive of a mean and petty person. I don’t care if you tip 50% the rest of the time; anyone who completely withholds a tip just because the waiter asks “Do you need any change?” is a bad customer—period.
A waitperson asking this actually ruins my dining experience - that doesn’t make you a bad server?! We’re trying to help the OP out here by telling them what people like/dislike, not what makes a “bad customer.” That’s up to them to decide after they’ve done the job themselves for a while. Don’t ask “do you need change?” and you’ll find you have a lot less “bad customers.”
I mean, it’s not like the whole tipping thing is some big secret or a special custom known only to the privileged few. All the waiter’s question represents is a simple acknowledgement that the tipping system is standard in American restaurants, and that it might save time for everyone concerned if the waiter didn’t have to go through the whole rigmarole of taking the money to the cashier, getting change, and bringing it back to the table, only to have you leave it there anyway.
It just strikes me as silly that some diners apparently need to play a little game where there will be no prior acknowledgement that the diner will leave a tip. While tipping may not be legally mandated in America, lawmakers have, in fact, recognised its ubiquity and its expectedness as a cultural and economic institution by allowing employees who receive tips to be paid considerably less than the minimum wage by their employer.
Presumably, if you are paying your restaurant bill in cash, you have a clear idea when you put the money in the little plastic book how much of a tip you want to leave, and whether or not you will require change. What, then, is so hard about answering the waiter’s “Do you need any change?” question with either “No, that’s fine” or “Yes, i do.”? I literally cannot comprehend how this can ruin someone’s dining experience.
Also, even if you don’t like it when waiters ask the question, my experience in four years of living in America suggests that it is rather common practice. Even if you don’t like it much, i submit that it’s still fucked up to completely stiff a waiter on the tip for that reason alone.
I’ve never been a waitperson, but I’m a regular customer at several establishments. Here are my thoughts.
I agree with not asking, “Do you need change?” I’m not going to stiff you if you ask it, but it is annoying. Don’t break the illusion that you actually enjoy serving me by basically telling me you’re just in it for the tips.
Don’t answer “thank you” with “not a problem.”
Learn my name and what I like if I’m a regular. I love that.
Don’t flirt with me or chat me up unless you’re really interested in me as a person. I think this is why, as someone said earlier, male waiter sometimes do better than female waiters. Male waiters don’t usually try to sell you their personality.
When you clear the table, do it without asking me to hand you stuff. It’s not a big deal, but it’s a sign of class (this may not really apply at Denny’s).
Don’t take my food away without asking.
Write “thanks” on the check.
Don’t assume that if a customer shorts you on a tip the person is an asshole. Sometimes people make mistakes.
Don’t refuse to help someone just because they’re not in your station.
Just be the best all-around waitperson you can be and don’t obsess about the tips. The tips will come if you care about doing a good job.
I don’t get this. I say “you’re welcome” a million times a day, it seems. What’s the big deal with saying “not a problem” or something similar? (Or is it JUST “not a problem” that bothers you… other phrases are okay?)
No big deal if the stuff to be cleared is within reaching distance. If not, I really don’t want to lean my whole body across the table and in your face to reach the stuff.
If you’d look at your post, your third word was “mandated”, so maybe I’m not the one to accuse of skipping words?
Since I’m in the US, a tip is still considered to be at the sole discrection of the diner, unless noted otherwise. Technically, I don’t have to leave one ever, I’m only responsible for paying my bill and that’s it.
Look, I realize that the subject of tipping when mentioned on the 'net can bring out a lot of emotions in people, but the OP was asking for tips to help him in his job, not a discussion on tipping practices.
No, I wasn’t lying, and I don’t think I phrased my response as looking for an excuse, I was very clear, I don’t like it when waiters/waitresesses ask if I want change back, I think it is a rather tactless way to try and get a bigger tip.
Remind me never to eat where you work, I don’t think I can live up to your standards, oh great one. :rolleyes:
Since we’ve spent a bit of time arguing over the reasons and implications of what I’ve said, I’ll get you some examples of why I don’t like it when I’m asked if I want change.
Bill was in the range of $21-$24 both times, I always round up to the nearest dollar when I figure a tip, so why don’t we call the average $23 even?
15% of $23 is $3.45 FTR.
I put $30 with the check, since I didn’t have anything smaller than a $10.
First time, waitress picks up the check and money and without looking at it, asks if I need any change. Uhh yeah, I needed the change for the tip I was going to leave, but since you decided without looking to give yourself a 30% tip, maybe I’ll reconsider the amount.
Second time, waitress (yes, both times involved women) picks up the check and money, actually counts the money at the table, and then asks me if I need any change. Yes I do, since you’re not getting a 30% tip.
FTR, if I have the change on me, I will leave the tip with the bill to make it easier for all involved. But also realize that changing “Do you need any change?” to “I’ll be right back with your change” sounds a lot better to your customer.
I’ve also noticed that asking “Do you need any change?” seems to be a recent thing, at least around here, 5 years ago, you didn’t hear it.
Well, in the rules of English grammar, adverbs modify verbs, hence the use of the adverb “culturally” (rather than, say, “legally”) to modify the verbs “accepted” and “mandated.” It is possible, you know, for an adverb to modify more than a single verb in the same sentence.
Legally and technically this is true. I am also, however, legally and technically justified in thinking that anyone who doesn’t tip is a jackass.
I never said you couldn’t have an opinion on the subject. You’re perfectly entitled not to like it.
But saying simply that you “don’t like it” is quite different from your earlier statement, which was a clear and unambiguous statement that asking the question leads to “an automatic no tip” from you.
Also, i think you’re completely over-reading the situation and have no idea of what waiters are really up to if you think that the question is designed to elicit a larger tip. In case you haven’t noticed, waiters have to serve more than one table, and they can sometimes get very busy. Every waiter i’ve ever known has been happy to return change when it is required. But, if you indeed don’t need any change, why make the waiter bring it back to your table when he or she could be doing something productive like pouring more coffee or taking another person’s order? Is it just so you can feel a little more powerful in the whole server/served transaction?
I know waiters are there to serve, but some diners seem to take a perverse pleasure in making life difficult for them.
Well, i’m not a waiter, and i really can’t recommend the cuisine at my university’s food outlets, so i really doubt you’ll have occasion to eat where i work.
Well, in the first case you are simply being stupid. You state very clearly that she never even looked at the amount of money, and yet you accuse her of trying to give herself a 30% tip. For all she knew, you might have placed the exact amount of the bill in there; or, you might have placed a $100 bill in there. That why it’s a QUESTION: Do you need any change? And all you have to do is answer “yes” or “no” without getting on your high horse and looking for chicanery or duplicity where it doesn’t exist.
In the second case, the waiter was stupid. She should not have counted the money and then asked the question. That’s just unprofessional and silly.
Sure it does. And back when i was a waiter, the second one is exactly what i used to say.
My whole purpose in criticizing you in this thread was not because you don’t like the question “Do you need any change?”, but because you explicitly stated that the use of this question by a waiter will cause you to leave no tip at all.
Explain it away however you like, but you’ll never convince me that doing that constitutes anything except being an asshole just for the sake of it.
So, you wouldn’t do your job properly if you weren’t being tipped by the servers? I’m sure you’re going to say you’d still do your job properly. Would you overseat a server if he didn’t tip you?
This is what I don’t understand. Being efficient, polite, friendly, etc - they are part of the job. And supporting your coworkers should be part of the job too. A customer shouldn’t have to pay more so that a waiter will be efficient! If I was a manager I would fire anyone who didn’t live up to my standards of efficiency, politeness etc.
I don’t know about you, but when I don’t like something, that usually means I’ll have a negative reaction to it, YMMV.
In this case, asking me if I need any change back means I won’t leave a tip, see, I said it again, just wanted to make that clear.
Me over reading the situation? You’re the one who keeps picking apart what I’ve posted.
You realize you just killed your own argument by admitting that waiters are happy to return change if needed? So why is it such a big deal if I want my change back?
Once again, when have we dined out? Or when have you served me?
I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but I suggest you cut back on it.
I’ve never understood this whole power trip thing that some people read into dealing with customers, they/you act like I come in there with the sole intention of pissing them/you off.
Since you weren’t with me, but you seem to have some really good ESP abilities, what color was the folder/sleeve that the money was in?
Beep, time’s up!
FTR, this happened at a restaurant that doesn’t use folders or sleeves, you put the money with the check, it was out in plain view, the second example happened the same way.
Glad to see we can almost agree on something.
Hmmm, now you’re agreeing with me after all this time?
Yep, it was rather clear and explicit, I don’t see why it’s taken this long for you to realize that?
I don’t understand why you’ve picked apart everything I’ve posted regarding this, but now you change your modus operandi to “you’ll never convince me.”
Find an old hand–some fifty year old lifer–and befriend her, or at least ask her advice. Waitressing is a surprisingly skillful, and unsurprisingly undervalued skill.