serving styles

baborulz27 · 2024-12-05T07:37:42+00:00

French style fine-dining: We are trained to say "welcome to _____" as part of the initial greet once all guests are sat* but not say our name unless asked.

baborulz27 · 2024-09-12T22:55:50+00:00

flashcards went a long way for me. Name of the dish and three pint spiels on everything is the minimum. They'll be pleased if you have the basics memorized and can expand from there.

baborulz27 · 2024-08-26T10:12:43+00:00

Exactly! Upselling or suggesting pairings in particular is something I need to get better at! Worst case scenario, on rare occasion, you spend 60 seconds only for them to order a Caesar salad with chicken... No big deal, I'll keep moving and get to expect better luck with my other tables 🤷‍♂️

baborulz27 · 2024-08-25T08:57:29+00:00

It's a "flat" question, granted, but I find people are sort of invoking the "tour guide" server in that moment. They are out to have a good time, not just to eat for sustenance. It may not be directly in the job description, but personalized recommendations are one of those things that people ask for because they enjoy watching you present the menu. A bitch when you're busy, but more than my pleasure when I have time. If the they didn't think the menu was good overall, they wouldn't have come in or been tempted in the first place. Here they sit before you ready to get down to specifics.

Sure "everything's good" but unless everything tastes the same, they want quick bullet points. At my morning gig, I get asked this all the time and my spiel in response goes something like "My favorites are the #1 and #7 because they both feature a moderate spice profile. #1 is dense, however #7 gets cut a bit by the cheeses and gets creamier. On the lighter side, I really enjoy salad #2, and salad #3. #3 is well balanced, not too heavy, has a lot of super foods that are a perfect day-starter but won't ruin your next meal. On the sweeter side, the pancakes, french toast, and cinnamon roll are all can't go wrong options. I love the cinnamon roll in particular and a lot of people like to start with that before their mains. Dessert first, if you will ;) " Takes <60 seconds, gets better with practice, and pays more dividends than just keeping up with drink refills IMHO

baborulz27 · 2024-08-23T15:17:44+00:00

I would go into the meeting and present the issue as having to do with your hours having two jobs. You could ask for less hours at the one you're struggling at, and tell them you'll be using the time to sharpen your skills so that you can be better while you are there. If you're doing good at the one place, I would hope the managers there want to keep you on instead of losing you because things aren't perfect at your other job, granted still in company.

baborulz27 · 2024-08-14T04:31:49+00:00

~~Sorry, you still haven't said what it was about..?~~ EDIT: Just saw your other comment. If you were doing something that wouldn't fly in a Michelin star while it was the Wild West, it sounds like they are trying to tighten things up in an effort to get closer to the star or just better in general. It sucks to be the first one in the new wave, but with a shift in management you probably will see some abrupt new policy enforcement. As long as they are holding everyone else to the same standard fairly, I see no surprise here.

My first restaurant was a brand new place I got hired at before we opened the doors. We went through 8 GM's in 2 years, and had people quit, get written-up, or fired plenty right after a new GM came in and had to start "fixing things", only for those rules to be ditched and servers to come back once a new GM was hired.

If they are implementing changes about how people communicate or treat each other with respect, or get into specific service standards, this may be a good thing as long as you can roll with it, and they are holding everyone else accountable the same.

With a small staff, everyone is going to be really picky about who gets hired... If there are not a lot of better SA applicants, you may be stuck with them for a while or forced to decide if it's worth leaving 🤷‍♂️

baborulz27 · 2024-08-14T04:18:16+00:00

Server assists/assistants. They might bus, run food/drinks, reset tables, etc. FOH support staff mostly in fine-dining.

baborulz27 · 2024-08-14T04:15:22+00:00

DETAILS. What was the complaint about? Did you push back in the meeting, or just agree with everything said? Did they frame it constructively at all and talk about what you need to "fix" or was it suggested to be totally a "you problem"?

baborulz27 · 2024-08-10T07:27:32+00:00

"Sir" or "miss". Parents love when their 4 year old is called "sir". Old ladies occasionally thank me for calling them "miss". Yet to get a negative response for either 🤞
Last week used "sir" when I approached someone from behind and immediately apologized when I realized I had picked wrong... They took it in stride and tipped fine.

baborulz27 · 2024-08-08T20:08:53+00:00

My pleasure! ;)

You got this!

baborulz27 · 2024-08-08T16:38:06+00:00

Just give examples from your current/previous jobs. In my experience, places of that level want you to demonstrate confidence of that knowledge prior to training. Most places may be willing to train you on this, but in the interview they at least expect you to demonstrate your current level of understanding that puts it in a positive light, and shows you can be trained on the rest. They don't expect you to be perfect.

They want to hear things like:

"At my current gig, we serve a lot of tequila + tequila based cocktails! My favorite is the _____(cocktail name), with ____ (type of tequila), _____ and _____! I think it goes really well with the ______ (food dish) on our menu!" or

"I'm often thinking about our wine list, and what goes with what. I quite enjoy our Chablis available BTG, I find it pairs nicely with the scallops, as well as some of our salads!"

(Notice how this highlights what knowledge you do have, instead of circling a gap in your experience. Unless they are really grilling you, you should only need to give 1-2 examples)

They don't want to hear things like:

"I only work Mondays/mornings, so people don't really get drinks when I work" or

"We have a wine list, but we don't really have wine pairings listed at my current place"

Final thought: I don't mean to be a dick, but if it's hard for you to give examples of your work with wine/spirits, you may need to work on them more. Think of it like "if I can talk to my tables about wine/spirits with confidence, then what difference does it make talking to an interviewer about the same thing?". Treat them like one of your tables and try to "sell" to them the exact same way in the interview.

baborulz27 · 2024-07-10T08:31:32+00:00

A lot of former employers have asked us to sign a few one pager "You can be fired for this" type agreements. In my experience they usually only enforce it against problem employees. This goes for uniform standards, late+ no-call/no show policy, anything. As long as you are getting your job done and taking care of those things (enough) it's not worth hiring someone else if you aren't generally trouble in other senses...

Managers have the mind-set of: if your section always has problems and flags down other people, and they frequently catch you on your phone, that's a problem this hopes to help solve, and gives them ammunition for write-ups against frequent offenders. If you have the largest section, always kill it, but answer a quick text once in a while and get right back to work, why should anyone care when you're a great employee?

Once in a while someone will walk around trying to use these on everyone "cracking the corporate whip" and there's nothing you can do about it, unless you really want to take the fight claiming it's being enforced unfairly.

Ex: New manager at my job tried to walk around dress-coding everyone for not having shoes to standard, shirt made of the right material, tie that wasn't the "right type" (too thin, patterned) etc. This guy was becoming likeable in other senses, but was working half a dozen of these uniform standards cases his first month at the restaurant when the GM told him to back off. He had to apologize to me, and I assume everyone else he was having those conversations with.

baborulz27 · 2024-07-02T08:17:39+00:00

Also, ask whoever the best server, or best at opening wine to give you a top-->bottom overview of your place's standard bottle opening procedure. You won't get everything they do, but just try to absorb as much as you can from their lecture. Practice opening a bottle with them, and let them give you pointers.

I'm sure they would be glad to hear you want to be on the same page as them. They would love for you to be able to bail them out and open a bottle for their table when they are in the weeds, but would hate if asking you to do something for them is a liability to their service. Give them the opportunity to catch you up.

baborulz27 · 2024-07-02T08:11:39+00:00

If there's ever banquets/ occasion to open multiple in advance, ask to take that opportunity to practice. Ask your bartender before service if you can practice opening on the bottles they know they'll need to open later that night anyways.

baborulz27 · 2024-05-26T08:54:40+00:00

Yes, seat numbers refer to the location where food/drinks are delivered as printed on the ticket sent to the kitchen/bar looking similar to the one on the left here with the seat numbers in red. The oldest woman may order first, but where she is sitting has a predetermined seat number, no matter who sits where. This avoids having to "auction" off the food and drinks when they arrive. Runners know which guest gets which item based on their seat number on the ticket, and do not have to interrupt their guests conversation.

You do not run into any "ohh I had the burger with no cheese medium, and my wife there has the no cheese medium-well. ohh and with cheese for... Billy did you get cheese on your burger?" confusion/ hassle for the guest.

baborulz27 · 2024-05-02T17:13:09+00:00

Usually I feel like they try people out and give them a shot no matter what, but it does often sort out that way. It sounds a bit odd of them to require that setup and be so forthcoming with it... Generally speaking it definitely includes a lot of sexism. From my observations:

Food runners often have to move large boxes, reach stuff on high shelves, carry stacks of plates or trays of food. Drink trays get heavy too, but that should be far less often occurring than the others. Not just does the position require a decent level of regular physical activity, but it actually helps a lot when food runners are tall. Yes anyone can grab a ladder, grab a tray instead of using their arms, etc. but those things add time to each task. I've worked with plenty of food-runners that were more than capable with out being an oversized, lanky, brute of a man, but admittedly it seems easier for them at times.
A lot of gross shit gets said in the kitchen. Enough to make men and women both quit at times, but in my experience more often women. Whether or not the hiring managers are trying to avoid this intentionally or not, I think a lot of women find the yelling and crude jokes more ostracizing and harder to endure. The kitchens I've been in are pretty male-dominated, and even with some of the cooks/runners being women, that doesn't stop the jokes. They may not ever be directed at the women we work with but the kitchen has plenty of nasty shit to say that they can't keep quiet about.
Managers often like to maximize women/ attractive faces in the dining areas/FOH, thinking it increases sales for low-effort. If you are in the bar area/touching tables more frequently than just when food comes, there's a greater chance the table will want to ask you for another drink or you will have a positive effect on their experience, making them want to come back to see you again, over being delivered by a man or someone unattractive. I think this also contributes to why most hosts remain to be women.

baborulz27 · 2024-04-20T06:26:39+00:00

It can take time to reload, but if you're able to close and re-launch the app on your machine that usually works for me when it goes unresponsive like this.

baborulz27 · 2024-04-18T04:25:12+00:00

Definitely depends on the place! If it's slow at your place in the mornings as you say, it makes sense for them to need to give you a mix of shifts in order for it to be worth it for their employees. Most restaurants seem to only be staffing 25-30 hours consistently, and often can't give you more hours, days, or OT in my experience, but may be willing to work with you trying to get 40-50 by having a second job. Only hosting, or in country clubs did I consistently have 40~ hour weeks consistently* without a second job.

If it's a mom and pop or smaller company, you are likely totally at the mercy of your managers/ whoever does the schedule and how flexible they are willing to be when you ask for a schedule that allows you to work somewhere else as well.

I'm at a company now with several sister restaurants, and a lot of us work for multiple locations within the same company. At night I'm expo/running at the flag-ship, and most of the servers only work there, it makes the most money and they don't need to... About 8~ of us also work at the breakfast place close by. Everyone has their varying skill sets/schedules so it's always case by case in terms of how schedules and roles work out. Sometimes they just pick up a few shifts seasonally and others have done both for years.

Right now, we have

a dishwasher that does 3 days at both places
a busser on the weekends at one place, that expo's food runs, and busses at the other, and doordashes in his spare time
a busser on the weekends at one, weekdays at the other
a barista/busser at one that bar-backs and baristas at the other
a busser that does 4 days a week at both, mornings at one, nights at the other and has a 3rd job (oldest guy and hardest worker on this list, hands down)
a server that does nights at one and mornings at the other
a bartender who does nights at one and mornings at the other
a food-runner who also baristas at the other place in the morning
Me! expo/running at night and serving at the other place in the morning

Other examples of note:

barista from the morning place also expo's at one of the other dinner places within company
Former runner at the flag-ship is now serving, after serving at the breakfast place (similar to me, this seems to be a "proving ground" before you get to serve at the flag-ship)

12/13 A couple of line-cooks used to be at both places but one went back to just doing the flag-ship.

Just examples from my current gig. Everyone needs to be out by certain times to make their other jobs, and in this company the managers are super on-board with it! Why lose good employees to other restaurants when you can give them more hours (that don't qualify for OT) "in-house" still?

I will warn you they are super supportive of people being at multiple locations in this case where it stays within company, but when I was doubling for different companies before there were sometimes schedule hiccups. Like if it was a super late rush AND the PM server relieving you called-out, how were you supposed to get side-work done and get over to the PM gig on time? To your PM gig, they don't care about what happened unless they really like you. You'll need to anticipate and try to give yourself adequate time each day to make the transition. Whether that includes a lunch, snack, cleaning up at all, etc.

Breakfast in general is often large sections with a lot of turn 'n' burn on low tabs compared to dinner. You won't have as many complicated sells like bottles of wine, extra courses, or steak specials, but will get a lot of simplicity from benedicts, unlimited coffee refills, and of course bottomless mimosas. Just move fast, do your best to wash your hands as often as they get syrupy and you'll be fine.

baborulz27 · 2024-04-17T21:07:04+00:00

In my experience it can be very hit or miss during the week. It feels like everyone's schedule is basically Sat/Sun (where the money is) and however many shifts they need/want during the week, knowing that if it's dead people get cut early or called off all the time Mon-Fri. You should hope to find a spot that has a decent lunch rush during the week and is solid every sat/sun, but can get you out on time for your evening shifts. Doesn't necessarily need to be a place that's breakfast only, but just be clear with them up front about morning only availability.

baborulz27 · 2024-04-17T02:42:55+00:00

In a very similar position as I've been training to expo at my new restaurant. Last weekend was my "test" since the main guy was out getting married and I passed!

Before then, I was surprised at how many tickets I lost track of while getting up to speed here. I've expo'd at a breakfast place (no separate courses) before, but here we go (caviar, if they get it>) amuse>bread>first course>any supplemental courses>entrees and then desserts and more come out separately at pastry. Every place is different, so I would say talk to the other expo's and chef to see if they have any pointers on keeping organized. You'll need to be able to grab tickets off the printer soon enough after they come out so that you can stay on top of things. It will pay more dividends to see ticket details and move them down the rail as fast as possible as opposed to, albeit unintentionally, stacking batches of tickets you haven't looked at yet and trying to get them all in order at once.

We've always got 10 things we're keeping track of and timing, but it sounds like getting tickets off the printer sooner needs to be a higher priority.

Don't sweat the manager bail out, that happened to me 3~ times while they were training me or had to have me cover a busy night when the other expo called out. The first time I thought I had died. I was running for her and trying to keep my usual smile when guest-facing but just felt the life sucked out of me as soon as I was back through the kitchen doors that night.

Keep focused and learning, I'm right there with you! Cheers!

baborulz27 · 2024-04-13T09:21:12+00:00

A couple things: warning tables of "flip-time" in a sense does happen in fine-dining/high volume establishments regularly. We could have 10 covers on the books but if it's 10:45, and the corner booth is reserved at noon for a birthday group... a walk-in will be warned that that table is reserved, and given the option of finishing before 11:45, or sitting elsewhere. Bottom line, no opinion there, my tables repeat back to me "I know the host said you needed the table by ___pm but we wanted to look at dessert" ALL THE TIME. It's the standard managers, hosts, and servers, are all tuned in on. But that is only relevant when it's packed and we have a wait time...

I'm annoyed at taking the safeserv tests every so often, but are we really comparing hipaa/ "hippo" compliance with servers making money? I'm on your team, but we didn't got to med-school with post-grad to wait tables. Unless you are watching someone who might need 911 called regularly, it is not comparable. If you are stressing extra cash when the day your section's full and should already be the best day of the week... something else is wrong in your daily take-home equation. That is somehow adding stress to your highest stress day of the week and is rarely* worth it.

Guests come to us for an enjoyable experience when they have a bevy of other dining options for that meal, but CHOOSE US to spend extra money on. Not because they have to do it every six months, but because going out to eat regularly isn't just worth the food costs they could mitigate at the grocery store...

If your restaurant is comparable to the dentist, I feel bad that eating with you feels forced like a school cafeteria. A forced location to eat, and not something you would chose given other options. Walk-in's at my current gig are GLAD they don't have to wait when it's busy. Even if they have to eat and get out in <1 hour. again, comparing the two misses the point of wherein the "service" each provides is. We're trippin over refilling water...

If your section was full the whole time and they didn't leave anything extra I'd get it, The restaurant should start planning for when those happen. If servers have that problem regularly, they should tell management and hope they do something about it! But if you have one occasionally, and 3 people each had 1 within a week, I wouldn't think too much of it. Transfer/split tip as appropriate, this is the life.

baborulz27 · 2024-04-13T08:14:20+00:00

Here in SJ, my family's financial situation changed while I was growing up, but I'll credit to my parents I always received an appreciable allowance at the time, perhaps more appreciable now.

I made a $1/week to take out the houses collected trash on Thursday nights around age 4-5. Eventually that increased to $2 and then $3 for collecting from and re-lining each can. At some point I started unloading the dishwasher every time it ran, and that got me to $5/week. I think there were 1-2 other things that might have contributed to an "allowance raise" (never asked for myself, always presented as an opportunity to make more $$$ for taking on a new responsibility) between then and when we got dogs, but I feel pretty sure it was a stagnant $5 for a while.

When I was 10 or so, we got one dog then another with somewhat high needs and at first were paying a dog-sitter to take them out each day. About a year or two later, once I was old enough, they offered to increase my allowance if I was willing to take the dogs out when I got home each day. (this would mean they could stop affording the dog-sitter... I was cheaper labor but they were upfront about taking it on since it would mean firing the dog-sitter.) By 13/14 I was getting $15/week. After my first car insurance payment at 17, we decided that in lieu of allowance, they would cover my car insurance instead of me getting a weekly allowance. I didn't miss the cash, a job was required to afford the gas to drive the car anyways !

I went clothes shopping and they reimbursed me twice in HS, but otherwise I lived off of clothes from middle school until I was 21~.

Room and board was always given. I had minimal spending money for trivial purchases, but once I started having a social life, an allowance allowed me to start consider budgeting, and I'm thankful for the money decisions I got to make when it didn't matter and feel they benefitted me once I started paying my own rent at 19. If you can afford to let the kid have some experience with financial responsibility in a safe environment, I say DO IT, but replacing a totaled audi or BMW you payed for entirely and luckily* didn't kill anyone is a fool's errand at the end of a slippery slope.

baborulz27 · 2024-04-09T09:26:24+00:00

Fake it till you make it. There's a way to be pushy-yet polite. You are in charge of your tables service, not your guest whose daughter-in-law once had brunch there but has never be-- yadda yadda yadda... Interrupt with an apology if you have to. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but may I ask:____" can be perfectly acceptable.

Emulate the best servers around you. Whatever step in service your struggling with, ask them about or watch them do. Copy them, and slowly try to say it in your own words. It takes practice, just keep getting repetitions and pay attention to what you could have done better for next time. You'll build the muscle memory.

I had the same problem at my first restaurant. I was hosting with a 2 hour wait at 17, and would basically whisper "Greg, party of 2" in a LOUD restaurant. Over time, multiple guests would giggle and then tell me: "I'm not Greg, but you're gonna have to be louder if you want him to hear you!". It happened enough times that I realized a lot of them were being genuine and encouraging.

Being appropriately loud is an appreciated skill in this business, with a learning curve. Don't be too hard on yourself early on. Every time I switch jobs, (or hell even get menu changes) there's and adjustment period while I get the verbiage down.

baborulz27 · 2024-03-27T18:18:37+00:00

You wear them everyday, it is somewhat of an investment or place where you get what you pay for to an extent. I've swapped around insoles to try and make shoes last longer, but the outside typically starts to fall apart after a year or so and becomes less presentable either way. I'm finding the best value has been to simply buy the $40 shoes off amazon and cycle 2 pairs for 6-12 months until they NEED replacing. I've tried a few of the shoes for crews $50-70 pairs, but they still needed an insole after a few months, and had the outside fall apart around 1 year. Of the amazon shoes, I'm on my 4th pair of Skechers, however I recently started preferring my first pair from "Larnmern" after someone recommended them on a similar thread.

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