Tips From A Server

A few things I need to get off my plate. Here's the dish:

2006-06-05T16:54:00.000-05:00

Just a few thoughts from my shift this past Saturday night...

The hosts seat you at a certain table for a reason. Mainly because they need to keep a balance so that a) the servers all have a somewhat equal amount of tables and b) the servers do not get too many tables sat at one time preventing them from providing you, the customer, with good service. The customers at my restaurant seem to love to play musical chairs, er... tables & then complain when it takes a couple extra minutes for me to get to their table. tip: when the host seats you at a table that doesn't meet your needs, please ask them to reseat you. In the case you reseat yourself... be patient!
Servers are people too. Please treat us with the same respect that you expect to be treated with. I am so tired of customers giving me attitude for no reason or talking to me like I am less human then they are. It's rude and inappropriate!
As mentioned above, we are people. This means we are only human. I only have two hands. I can only do so much! If you see that I am running around really busy, please understand that I am doing my best, which is the best I can do.
A final thought... for now at least: If something goes wrong, we can fix it. Please don't act like it is the end of the world. It is only one meal. Look at the big picture people! And if your steak coming out medium rare instead of medium is the biggest problem you've got, well then I think you should be writing your own blog about how to be perfect!

Thanks for reading! tip: Keep coming back to tipsfromaserver to read the latest updates on the dish about dining out.

Is the customer really always right?

2006-05-30T12:25:00.000-05:00

Is the customer really always right? They sure like to think so! I have worked at my restaurant for over three and a half years. I know what is on the menu and what has been on the menu. I also know what has never been served in our restaurant. A customer was insisting that the last time she ate at our restaurant she had an omelet. I politely explained that we do not, and never have served breakfast food. She quickly became rude and told me she knew she'd had it recently. I told my manager (who is the owner) about the misunderstanding and he went to talk to her. She still insisted that she'd had an omelet the last time she'd dined with us. Even after my manager explained that he was the owner AND he'd written the menu, she still believed she was right. tip: If we don't have an item you'd like or believe we had, please either order something off the menu or dine some place else! Complaining to your server about it isn't going to make the item magically appear!

Oh, and another thing:

Before you snap at your server or are rude to anyone, please check to see if what you are saying is even correct. There was a lady at my table last week who had ordered the 1/2 BBQ chicken, which consists of a 1/4 piece of white meat and 1/4 piece of dark meat. When it came out she made all sorts of huffing and puffing noises and yelled at me, "GET THESE RIBS OFF MY PLATE, THEY AREN'T SUPPOSED TO BE ON HERE..." I calmly looked at her plate and explained to her that they weren't ribs, just the back of the 1/4 dark meat chicken.

This happens all the time. Customers will very rudely ask/tell you to get them something when it is right in front of their face. (Condiments, drinks, napkins...) tip: before you snap, make sure that what you need isn't already available to you.

So, are the customers always right? No. Definitely not. But, us servers will continue to put on a smile, bit our tongue and go along with it just to make them happy.

Sitting...

2006-05-27T22:57:00.000-05:00

There are customers that those in the restaurant industry refer to as "sitters". These customers sit at your table for a long, long period of time. Servers are given a section of tables in the restaurant at the beginning of their shift. At lunch I usually have between 7 and 8 tables, dinner is usually 5 or 6. Turning tables is how we make our money. If a lunch shift begins at 11:30 and a group is sat there at that time, it is usually expected that the table will eat and leave, allowing at least one or two more groups to be sat at that same table during the lunch shift. When customers sit at that table the entire lunch, they take up that table, costing the server to lose potential tips. tip: if you are going to be having a legnthy meal and do take up the table for an extended period of time there are a couple ways to help make it OK to do so.

If you are a servers first table and their last, leave them a little extra with the tip. This acknowledges that you did take up the table and are appreciative that you used the space they needed. You'd be surprised how far even an extra couple dollars will go. If you are aware that you are "sitters", make a reservation towards the middle of the lunch or dinner shift. This allows the server to wait on a group at the table before you, making your group the tables second "turn". By waiting that extra hour, you are now taking up the table but are not preventing your server from getting sat with any more tables. tip: if you choose to be so kind to wait a little while and are going to be one of, if not the last table in the restaurant, please settle the bill with your server in a reasonable amount of time from when you received it!

Tip Calculator

2006-05-24T17:16:00.000-05:00

I've decided to take the mystery out of figuring out the tip & have created a way for you calculate it very easily online. I am aware that most people aren't able to access the Internet while at a meal, but by playing around with the tip calculator now, it may help out later.

Please use the link to your right to access the Tip Calculator!

You're Done. We're Done.

2006-05-22T14:33:00.000-05:00

It's 10:00pm on a Saturday night. While my shift is not over until all of the tables in my section are done, once I am cut (meaning, once my section is no longer being sat) I can go home as soon as you pay. I am not saying a table should hurry up and pay so that I can go home. The problem that many servers encounter is that they have a table of "sitters". "Sitters" are those customers who have finished eating an hour ago. They have had coffee and dessert and their bill has been sitting on the table for a long time. What most people don't realize is that your server isn't walking by your table twenty times in twenty minutes for no reason. If you'd pay your bill, you'd be all set to leave whenever you wanted or have the option to stay and sit at the table. By paying your bill when you are done, you are enabling your server to do their close out (paper work for the shift). tip: be curtious and pay within a reasonable amount of time. Just because you are all settled with the bill doesn't mean you have to get up from the table, it just lets your server finish what they need to do so they too can leave when they want.

Tips about Tips

2006-05-15T14:56:00.000-05:00

The Tip
The meal was delicious, the drinks were perfect, and the service was excellent. Your server offers to bring you anything else and you kindly ask for the bill. Every part of your meal went exactly how it should have. What do you tip your server? While I often hear that the average is 15%, I can tell you that most servers aren't jumping with joy when they receive it. tip: your server makes most if not all their money off of tips. Treat them well!

Here is how it works:
We get paid much less then minimum wage. My hourly wage is $3.30. No, that is not a typing error. Your server is earning just over $3 per hour. I'm not sure if all restaurants work the same, but at mine, management declares our tips for tax purposes and that money comes out of our paychecks. Most servers paychecks are either VOID or under $10. My last paycheck was $4.87. Keep this in mind when you tip your server, please. We make our money from tips.

Did you know...
Your server doesn't even keep all of their tips. Servers tip out the bus boys, the food runner, and the bartender. At my restaurant, after a shift I owe the bus boys 2.5% of my total sales, the food runner 1% of my food sales, and the bartender 5% of my bar sales. It adds up.

For example, an average dinner I may ring $600 in sales (including food and bar). For this example, I will pretend $510 was in food sales and $90 in bar sales. At the end of the night, I then owe the bus boys $15, the food runner $6, and the bartender $5. Over $20 of the tips I made during the shift are paid out to others (who deserve it and keep the restaurant running).

A good tip (in my book) is 20% of the bill.

The Verbal Tip

It happens much more then servers would like. Your table can't stop complimenting you on your outstanding service, the excellent meal, and their wonderful overall experience dining at your restaurant. I have been told I was the best server tables have ever had. They get up, you say goodbye and thank them, maybe even make small talk and tell them to ask for you the next time they visit the restaurant. You open up the check presenter and a terrible tip looks you right in the face. Why the compliments and the gratuitous attitude without the monetary compensation? tip: at a minimum, a decent monetary tip should follow the verbal one. If a server does such an excellent job that a customer can't stop raving about it, why not compensate them for it. This may come as a surprise to some of you, but we are not serving you for fun, we need to pay our bills too.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?

2006-05-11T10:46:00.001-05:00

Disclaimer from the author: While this blog is meant to be informative, honest, and funny all at the same time, it is not meant to offend. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns and would like to contact the author of this blog, please feel free!

Ready to ask or tell? Use the "Contact Me" link on your right & I will respond promptly!

I hope you are enjoying Tipsfromaserver thus far, please check back often, as the blog will be updated frequently!

The Order

2006-05-08T15:02:00.000-05:00

The Greet
"Welcome to (insert restaurant name), my name is (insert server name) and I will be taking care of you today. Can I start you off with something to drink?". Sound familiar? tip: When your server approaches your table and starts to talk, please listen. It is not polite to completely ignore your server. I usually explain the daily specials and list the soups when I arrive at the table and then attempt to take a drink order. If you don't know what you'd like to drink, that is understandable, just let me know. Don't just stare at your menu or your friend and pretend I can read your mind or that I do not exist. If you are in the middle of a conversation, please wait to finish it until after I've told you about the specials and the soups. You have an entire meal to talk. If you do decide to talk through it, please don't make me repeat myself over and over when it comes time for me to take your order. Saying Chicken vegetable, Cream of tomato, and Baked French Onion soup six separate times within a minute is not my idea of fun. Oh yes, and please don't interrupt me when I first approach your table and ask how you are doing to shout "DIET COKE" at me. I am your server, but I am also a person. Showing some manners would be nice.

Drinks
When you do decide what you would like to drink, if you haven't already interrupted me to tell me, I feel that taking a drink order should not be as complicated as taking a food order. You'd be surprised how often I get drink orders like this: "I want half diet coke, half regular coke, 3 ice cubes, and a lemon". tip: drinks from the bar tend to take a little while longer then soft drinks. If you order a martini, I am not making it. Please don't get impatient when you have to wait an extra minute for your drink.

Food
This is the fun part. Im not sure about other restaurants, but at mine we try to accommodate special orders. I rarely have someone order something directly off the menu without changing it around somehow. Dinner comes with soup OR salad. I've already told you what soups we have yet the chances I repeat myself at least two times per table are very high. My restaurant has thirteen different salad dressings. For this reason, they are all listed very clearly on the menu. tip: read your menu! That is what is there for.

The Wait
Your food is entered into the computer system after you order. If you order soup, salad, and appetizers, please understand that your server times it out so that they all don't come out at once. I often have one table who orders appetizers and steaks well done complain that the table that sat down next to and after them already has their food before them. I then have to explain that they didn't order appetizers and are having salads for dinner. tip: if you order a steak or hamburger well done, it will take a lot longer then a salad or pasta dish!

Welcome

2006-05-08T14:37:00.000-05:00

Eating out in restaurants is something that we all do. Some people choose to go out to eat to celebrate a special occasion, others to get away from their busy lives and let someone else do the cooking for them. Whatever the reason, dining out at a restaurant should be a very pleasant experience. But what about those that WORK in a restaurant, enabling you to enjoy your experience? Us restaurant servers have a few things to get off our plates when it comes to the entire restaurant experience and the relationship between you, the customer, and us, the server. Welcome to the blog that will explain it all, where an experienced server will explain to you how things REALLY work, and give you a few tips about what you should and should not do the next time you walk into a restaurant for your next meal.

a special thanks to www.cartoonstock.com from tipsfromaserver for the comical cartoons used in this blog