Tip: Expected or earned?

That is the title of an article under the general “Sales tips and advice” page in the “Marketing” section at http://www.about.com. It’s written by Laura Lake, who uses a bad experience at a restaurant to not only act as inspiration for the article but also to illustrate her point. She boils down waiting tables to 4 […]

One way that you know that you’re working in a well-run restaurant

If you work in a corporate restaurant and there’s an upcoming visit by The -Powers-That-Be from higher up the food chain, you know that you’re working in a well-run and well-staffed restaurant if the management doesn’t get all freaky and scared-looking and start assigning a buttload of extra cleaning duties. First of all, this indicates that […]

Regulars and call parties

First of all, let me distinguish between regulars and call parties. A regular is someone who frequents the restaurant enough where they become a recognized patron. A call party is a reservation or a guest who asks for a specific waiter. Not all regulars are call parties, but the vast majority of call parties are regulars. Regulars […]

British up in arms over Cadbury takeover by Kraft

Possibly fearing spreadable chocolate in a tube, the British are very worried now that Cadbury has accepted American processed food giant Kraft Food’s $19.5bil takeover offer which, if it goes through, would supplant Mars as the world’s largest confectioner. Even Warren Buffett, representing Kraft’s largest shareholder Berkshire Hathaway, voted against issuing more stock to fund the […]

On allergies Part 2

In part one, we covered allergies and the waiter. Allergies usually aren’t covered during training and the waiter usually only thinks about it when someone mentions that they’re allergic to something.  Not liking to be taken out of our comfort zones, sometimes it seems like an inconvenience to deal with it. After all, we’re juggling tables, […]

Famed Nashville institution Zola shuts down

Sadly, this was the last week of serving Nashville some of the most adventurous food on the planet from husband and wife team Ernie and Deb Paquette. Deb, the pioneering chef and Ernie, the grease of front-of-the-house and an outdoors dude who has a career in the outdoor industry as a guide and advisor, have […]

How did the tipping standard for restaurants get set?

I’m not going to do a complete history of tipping, which can be traced back at least to the early 1700s in England, and probably further back if you count the money given to household servants for a job well done. We could also talk about how it got its foothold in the US by […]

Ways that you know that you’ve “got it” as a waiter

It takes a little while to become a great waiter (and for some it takes more than a little while, and, let’s face it, some people never get it).Here are some signs that you’ve finally “got it” and you’ve passed from being a beginner and an amateur to a professional. Keep in mind that the […]

Nice post at Waiternotes

http://waiternotes.wordpress.com/2009/12/11/proper-waiter-language/ Our good friend at Waiternotes wrote some very commonsense things about some common quirks in the language and some hoary sayings as well. I admit that I struggle with the “guys” thing. Once I discovered that it’s not considered a nice informal way to refer to a group, I have tried to wean myself […]

The other side of the tipping equation – some tips from a former waiter

From “The Mountain Murmur” This is an article that wisely outlines some dos and don’ts for waiters. I love this part: It’s not that I’m stiffing good waiters. I always tip good waiters, at the going rate plus. (If you can’t afford to tip, you can’t afford to eat out.) But the grouchy, the indifferent […]