12 Things to keep in mind if you're a bartender or server
Beth Dugan, a regular contributor to FoodService.com and an excellent writer (author of The Responsible Serving of Alcoholic Beverages, among others) wrote an interesting piece yesterday in one of the forums on FoodService.com:
I was in the biz – I waitressed and bartended, so here is my rules for servers. I know how it should be and if you want 20% out of me, then do it right.
- Don’t put a round table and a square table together. It is dumb. The person in the point has no place to put his meals. And don’t act to snotty when I put the round leaves down and point out that the crack hasn’t been cleaned since the dawn of time.
- I have a name. It is not “hon, dear, or hey you” as well. And if you are a female and you call my husband that, when I go to pay the check your tip will be substantially lower than 20%.
- Don’t lean down to take my order. You look stupid and the survey was flawed.
- You don’t want to lose your tips when people start dividing up the bill – then give us a sheet with the breakdown. If you have a POS it will take what, 2 seconds to do???
- The rule is oldest female to youngest female, oldest male to youngest male with Host (either sex) last. If you don;’t know your manners then perhaps you need to learn some.
- You can say “please”, “thank you” and “you’ re welcome” as well.
- Serve from the left, clear from the right. Every elbow in the face just earned you a $2 deduction.
- I ordered decaf. There is a reason why I drink it – especially at 7am. When you refill me with the caffinated stuff, I am going to hand it back. If you can’t remember your drink orders, what are you doing in a restaurant.
- I don’t need to see your t*ts, your a** or other body parts. They should be covered up. Bending low to get more money is a really dumb move when women control about 80% of the household money. Helloooooo
- Write my order down. I am tired of waiting until everyone else is finished for you to bring all of the things you missed.
- You are a commissioned sales person. 20% is a suggested level of compensation – it is not a given. If you can’t perform, then you will not make the money. And don’t whine at me. You did not deserve it.
- I will come in 5 minutes before closing and expect service. The same as if I came in 2 hours earlier.
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