Restaurant Slang

Before you work in a restaurant, there are some slang terms you need to familiarize yourself with. These terms are used universally in restaurants, although each restaurant will often times have it's own slang as well.

1. 86 - to be out of something. For example, "86 Sam Adams for the night because the keg is out." It is also used as server shorthand to describe things a guest doesn't want in their food. For example, "86 tomatoes on the salad."

2. Alley Rally - a meeting of servers in the back of the house, usually at the beginning of a shift. The manager usually leads the meeting and discusses the specials of the day and goals for the shift.

3. All Day - the total amount of food the kitchen has at the time. For example, if there are two orders being cooked and the first is for two orders of grilled chicken and the second is for one grilled chicken, the kitchen will say, "Three grilled chickens all day."

4. Back of the house - the kitchen area of the restaurant. Including the cooking area and server stations for making drinks.

5. Big Top - a table with a large number of guests

6. Buried - a server who is extremely busy and overwhelmed. They are "buried" under work.

7. Campers - a table of guests who remain sitting at their table even though they are finished eating and have paid.

8. Check Back - returning to the table after the guests have gotten their food to check if they need anything else.

9. Comp - giving a table food or drink for free. This is usually done by managers if food was incorrectly cooked or if there was a problem at the table. It also can be done by managers for their friends or for regular customers.

10. Cover - a customer as a statistic. For example, if you served a total of 30 guests at your table you could say, "I did 30 covers tonight." It also can be used to describe how many guests you have at one of your tables. For example, "I have a cover of 6 at my table now."

11. Double - working two shifts back to back, such as working both the lunch and dinner shifts.

12. Double /Triple Sat - having two (double) or three (triple) of your tables sat close together. A pet peeve of servers who get "in the weeds" as a result of this.

13. Dragging - taking a long time. Can refer to the kitchen getting overwhelmed and filling orders slowly or to a server who is slow to get to their tables.

14. Drop the Check - giving the table their check after they are finished with their meal.

15. Dying / Dead Food - food that has been sitting in the window under the heat lamp for an extended period of time. It is referred to as dying if it can still be taken to the table and as dead if it is no longer able to be served.

16. Expo - the person who is in charge of pulling food from the window during a shift. They pull food when it is ready and prepare it to be taken to a table.

17. Fire Food - to begin cooking food.

18. Front of the House - the area of the restaurant where customers sit. This includes the reception area, the seating area, and the bar.

19. Grat - to add gratuity to a table with a large number of guests. Usually, gratuity of 18% is added. This protects servers from not getting a tip on a large party.

20. In the Weeds - a server who is extremely busy and overwhelmed. Usually a server in the weeds is not getting to their tables quick enough and their tables are getting frustrated.

21. Line - the area of the kitchen where the cooks work. It includes the hot side, where all hot food is cooked, and the cold side, for salads.

22. No Call / No Show - a server who does not show up for work and does not call ahead.

23. Nuke Food - to microwave food.

24. On the Fly - to rush food. For example, if you forgot to ring up steamed vegetables for your table and they have already gotten the rest of their meal, you would call for "steamed veggies, on the fly!"

25. Party - the number of guests at your table. For example, you could say you have two top parties at our tables.

26. Posi - this term is only used in some restaurants, but it refers to the computers used by servers to input orders. Also known as posi stations.

27. Push It - to encourage tables to order a particular item. For example, if the kitchen is trying to get rid of a particular food item, they will encourage you to "push" that item all night and sell a lot of it.

28. Run - to take food to a table. There are also food runners whose whole job is to run food to tables.

29. Sat - refers to when the hostess seats guests at your table.

30. Sidework - the closing work servers must do before they can leave at the end of the night. Usually, this includes cleaning your tables and doing a task in the back of the house. There is also "running sidework" which are tasks given to servers to complete during a shift, such as refilling tea pitchers or emptying the trash.

31. Skate - to leave without doing something. For example, servers could "skate: without turning in all their money or without doing their sidework.

32. Slammed - being extremely busy.

33. Station - the areas where servers can use computers and input orders. Stations also include tea and water pitchers, places to store menus, and trays for carrying multiple drinks.

34. Stiffs - guests who do not leave their server a tip. The server gets "stiffed" if they receive no tip.

35. Stretch It - to make a certain item last throughout the night. For example, if the restaurant is low on ranch dressing the manager will instruct servers to "stretch" the dressing and use it sparingly, only when specifically requested.

36. Turn a Table - to complete a party and to re-sit it with another one. For example, a table is turned when your guests leave and the hostesses seat you with a new group. Servers attempt to turn their tables quickly so they can maximize their tips since the more tables you serve, the more money you can potentially make.

37. Upsell - an attempt to sell your guests more expensive items than the ones they ordered. This can be for food or drinks. For example, if your guest orders a vodka tonic, you can upsell to him by suggesting Grey Goose instead of the house liquor since it is more expensive. This is done to maximize the ticket price so you have a better chance of getting a large tip.

38. Verbal Tipper - a guest who praises your serving ability and compliments you instead of offering you a tip. Verbal tips do not pay the bills!

39. Void - to remove items from a ticket. This is unlike comping because the item is deleted from the ticket rather than having it paid for by the restaurant. This is usually done when a server mistakenly inputs an item or when an item of food never makes it to the guests.

40. Walk In - guests who walk in without having a reservation.

41. Walk - customers who leave the restaurant without paying their bill.

42. Window - the area in the kitchen through which cooks pass food to servers to take to tables.

43. Well - the area of the bar where bartenders leave drinks that are ready to be taken to tables.