Things Your Waiter Won't Tell You

[panamania79 2]

1. Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.

2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.

3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Some waiters can and do spit in people's food.

4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.

5. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)

6. Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.

7. Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entrée 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.

8. Splitting entrées is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?

9. If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.

10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.

11. Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.

12. If you want to hang out, that's fine. But increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.

13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.

From Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by The Waiter (Ecco/HarperCollins)

That he just spit in your food ?

[pedroh 21]

that's why the waffle house rules, u see right there how they make dem scrambled eggs!

scattered, smothered and covered.

ooops - that was the hash browns.

U know it! u see the whole process.. no mistakes there!

Waffle House ftw

[ready4ONE 5,400]

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

that's why the waffle house rules, u see right there how they make dem scrambled eggs!

scattered, smothered and covered.

ooops - that was the hash browns.

U know it! u see the whole process.. no mistakes there!

Waffle House ftw

Sorta like In n Out Burger?

[bayoisa 0]

"5. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)"

I agree with this one. I sometimes see people who lose their temper because they were too impatient. They yell at the waiters even if the food has arrived.

[Jenn! 918]

And, what kind of a restaurant cuts into a guests steak to check if it's done properly? Answer = a p!ss poor one, that's what. If I ordered a steak that had slices in it I'd complain and go to a different restaurant next time. A good chef can poke the steak with tongs and know instinctively how well done the steak is.

Srsly.

Apparently there are people who can read lists like these and not learn a single thing.

[Mags 112]

10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.

The cooks get nothing extra in tips no matter how well they cook your food but we're supposed to pay a tip to the person who carries the dishes? You can tell I worked in a kitchen.

The chef and cooks get a WAGE, servers get $3 an hour, plus tips, if they're lucky.

If the chef prepares bad food his wages don't get cut, but the server is often the one punished when a poor tip is left.

And, what kind of a restaurant cuts into a guests steak to check if it's done properly? Answer = a p!ss poor one, that's what. If I ordered a steak that had slices in it I'd complain and go to a different restaurant next time. A good chef can poke the steak with tongs and know instinctively how well done the steak is.

A server's job, on a busy night, is incredibly hard. When I served I'd often have 7 or 8 tables on the go, ranging from 2 to 10 tops. You have to be on the ball and you're constantly thinking ahead as to what table you need to go to next and at what stage of their meal they are.

It's not an easy job, you work hard for every penny.

I never realized how hard servers worked until I started working in fine dining. I would NEVER want to be a server. They have to deal with b*tchy customers and still be nice to them. Every restaurant I've worked in the servers had to do tip share with the runners, expediter, etc. I've found if the server is pissed off they come back to the kitchen and piss the chefs off and it's just a big chain of people being pissed off. All of whom are making your food.

Amby, you know as well as I, that servers in fine dining (as well as slop houses), earn big bucks during an 8 hour shift.

Often times, these folks draw $100-400 in tips per night, depending on the particular business line.

It takes a unique individual to serve others, and they are rightly compensated for it. Cheers to servers!!!

On a really good night, here in BFE Indiana, I would make around $150 for four hours work. On graduation weekend for the local University I made $400 one night.

We were lucky, we didn't have to tip out bus-boys or expediters, mainly cause we didn't have them. We did ALL the work and so kept all of the money. But we worked HARD for that money and deserved every penny. It was the hardest job I've ever done.

[Immigrant2009 0]

1. Avoid eating out on holidays and Saturday nights. The sheer volume of customers guarantees that most kitchens will be pushed beyond their ability to produce a high-quality dish.

2. There are almost never any sick days in the restaurant business. A busboy with a kid to support isn't going to stay home and miss out on $100 because he's got strep throat. And these are the people handling your food.

3. When customers' dissatisfaction devolves into personal attacks, adulterating food or drink is a convenient way for servers to exact covert vengeance. Some waiters can and do spit in people's food.

4. Never say "I'm friends with the owner." Restaurant owners don't have friends. This marks you as a clueless poseur the moment you walk in the door.

5. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Yes, people need to be reminded of this.)

6. Don't snap your fingers to get our attention. Remember, we have shears that cut through bone in the kitchen.

7. Don't order meals that aren't on the menu. You're forcing the chef to cook something he doesn't make on a regular basis. If he makes the same entrée 10,000 times a month, the odds are good that the dish will be a home run every time.

8. Splitting entrées is okay, but don't ask for water, lemon, and sugar so you can make your own lemonade. What's next, grapes so you can press your own wine?

9. If you find a waiter you like, always ask to be seated in his or her section. Tell all your friends so they'll start asking for that server as well. You've just made that waiter look indispensable to the owner. The server will be grateful and take good care of you.

10. If you can't afford to leave a tip, you can't afford to eat in the restaurant. Servers could be giving 20 to 40 percent to the busboys, bartenders, maître d', or hostess.

11. Always examine the check. Sometimes large parties are unaware that a gratuity has been added to the bill, so they tip on top of it. Waiters "facilitate" this error. It's dishonest, it's wrong-and I did it all the time.

12. If you want to hang out, that's fine. But increase the tip to make up for money the server would have made if he or she had had another seating at that table.

13. Never, ever come in 15 minutes before closing time. The cooks are tired and will cook your dinner right away. So while you're chitchatting over salads, your entrées will be languishing under the heat lamp while the dishwasher is spraying industrial-strength, carcinogenic cleaning solvents in their immediate vicinity.

From Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter by The Waiter (Ecco/HarperCollins)

Thanks for sharing this.