Signing Off!

The semester is over so it's time for Tips and Tables to end. I hope any one who read this blog enjoyed it and can take away something from it too. The purpose of my blog wasn't to make you feel like a horrible person if you don't tip 20% or to make it seem like people as a whole are horrible beings. The purpose of this blog was just to demonstrate how hard servers do work and to make people more aware when eating at a restaurant. Some people really do assume servers are low class people who cannot pass school or find a job elsewhere. My boyfriend works in a restaurant full time at age 23 and people judge him every time I say that. It's unfortunate that people think that way since really serving tables is an in between job for many people looking to find something else or working towards a higher goal. Many servers have other "grown up" jobs in offices, but just cannot make the bills and so they wait tables on the side. Others, like myself, are serving tables to put myself through school. Some servers just haven't decided what they want to do with their life yet and while they are thinking it over they are at least working to support themselves. And of course some just wait tables, but who is anyone else to judge them for that? If any person pushes him or her self to work a job, no matter what job that is, I will respect them for it. At least they are trying.

So next time you eat out a restaurant, keep the things I have said in mind. Especially around the holidays, tip considerately and be kind and respectful. If something goes wrong, it's not the end of the world. I promise that at any good restaurant, they will take even better care of you if a mistake is made. You will probably even get a free dessert - and that's never a bad thing right!?

I also hope you enjoyed learning some behind the scenes secrets of restaurants. If you use some of their lingo any server will be impressed. Just the other night a customer asked me for a ramekin of honey mustard and she was loved it when I complimented her use of the term. Most people don't know what a ramekin is so it's fun when someone does!

So here I am signing off on Tips and Tables. Enjoy your holiday meals and remember - treat others as you would like to be treated - no matter who they are or what they do!

On the Brighter Side....

After reading through my previous posts I would assume my readers are asking the question "Why the hell would you ever want to work in a restaurant?!?" I realize I have been rather negative in my posts, but that is because it is so easy to think of the frustrating times. Really though, there are many benefits to working in a restaurant. In this post, I will discuss the good things that come from waiting tables.

The biggest benefit of working in a restaurant is the flexibility. Working in a restaurant is excellent for students or those who are occupied during the day. The hours are extremely flexible and it allows you to have your days totally free. Opening shifts begin around 3:30 or 4, and earlier on Fridays of course, but restaurants can arrange for your shifts to only start at 5:30 or 6 if you have a day job or attend class. In fact, there are a couple servers working at Outback who work in offices during the day from 8 to 5. They only wait tables at night for extra money. Additionally, your schedule is extremely flexible and you can change it easily. This week I have three tests so I released three shifts I was scheduled to work and they were picked up online by other employees within the day. There are so many servers working that people are always willing to pick up a shift if you need them to. The flexibility is also helpful if you need last minute money. If you go into work you can usually convince someone to go home and give you their shift. The flexibility is unlike any other job I know of. It's so helpful if you need to get off work for a test or if you don't have a set schedule and need to change your hours from week to week.

Another benefit is that you get instant gratification since you leave with your earnings each night. Yes you get paid in a check too, but it's usually so low since servers only make $2.13 an hour. Most of what you make is in your tips so when you leave each night you know exactly how much you made and you have it instantly. That's why being able to pick up a shift quickly is so helpful. You realize you are going to be late on your rent and you go into work that night and leave with enough money to pay it. It's perfect for people who live day to day - like college students! I know being able to pick up a shift after I spent all my money at the bars is extremely helpful.

An additional benefit is that you never have to take your work home with you. When you leave the restaurant for the night you are totally done. You never have additional paperwork or have to prepare for a meeting the next day. You come into work fresh and leave fresh each night. Work never leaves the restaurant. This is really beneficial to people with other jobs who cannot afford to do anything extra. It's also perfect for college students who have studying to do.

So while I would never want serving tables to be my career, there are many benefits to serving and it's perfect for my life right now. Just because someone is serving tables doesn't mean they are lower class or not smart enough to get another job. They very well may have another job and be serving tables to have enough money for their families or to pay rent. For my life at the moment, serving tables is ideal. I can pretty much choose when to work and I never have to worry about extra work I may have to put in. Serving tables never conflicts with my schoolwork or studies and I practically control how much money I bring home from serving. If I only need food money one week I can work just one shift, but if I am saving up for holiday presents I can work every night. It's totally up to me and that is why serving tables is not all that bad!

Rude Things People Do

In an earlier blog I mentioned one rude thing people do - staying past close. In this blog, I will give short descriptions of some other frustrating things customers do in restaurants.

Gift Card Tipping: It's a great feeling when you receive a gift card to a restaurant and when you get there you want to make sure you get your money's worth. So if you have a $50 gift card for two people, you may get an appetizer and two expensive entrees so that your bill is close to $50. It may seem like a free meal so you do not have to tip - BUT you do! Your server still has to tip out (remember that is 3% of the bill servers have to give to busboys and hostesses) on the total cost of your bill. Also, they served you well and deserve compensation - they don't get tipped just because you have a gift card that makes your food free. Often times, guests will just leave whatever is left on the gift card. However, you need to make sure that is a sufficient tip. If you only have a couple dollars left on your gift card, but your bill came to almost $50 - that is not a good tip in the least. You should tip well since you didn't have to pay for your meal at all. Also, if you have $10 left on your gift card, but you only want to tip $8 to get to 20%. That is kind of a waste. You might as well leave the rest of the gift card to your server - are you really going to come back to the restaurant and use a gift card with $2 on it? At the very least, make sure you are tipping on the full amount of your bill no matter how you end up paying.

Soda Refills: At Outback, we charge $2.50 for a soda. So, if you are eating there you definitely want to get your money's worth out of that soda since you could have bought a whole liter of it for only a dollar at Wal-Mart. However, if you go through six sodas during one meal it is very frustrating for a server. At most restaurants, there are only pitchers of tea and water so each time you need a new soda your server has to go to the back and get you a new glass of soda. It's one thing if you do this on a Sunday afternoon when there isn't much business, but on a Friday night when your server is already overloaded - be aware how much extra work your server is going through just because you want to drink a gallon of diet coke. If you do want that much soda, at least be lenient with your server and don't get too upset if it takes them a couple minutes to refill your drink. As a side note - no one needs to drink that much soda in one sitting.

Straws: At Outback, we bring out bread and appetizer plates with our drinks so we always have to carry a small tray. If there are four or more people, that tray is pretty heavy. Luckily, we can usually set it on the end of the table in order to pass out the drinks, but not always. EIther way, it is quite common for the person who gets their drink first or second to ask for a straw before we even have unloaded our tray. We all carry straws on our tray or in our pocket - they are in plain sight to show that we brought them for the table. When you ask me for a straw and my hands are totally full, I have to hold back not to snap at you. Be patient with your sever, if they don't give you a straw once all the drinks are passed out, that is the polite time to ask for one. Not when their hands are totally full. It also undermines them and makes them look like they are not a prepared server.

Full hands: Severs are supposed to pre-bus, to remove plates when customers are finished with them. Often times we pile a large amount of plates into our hands and are quite strained since they are so heavy. One very rude thing people do is try and pass you plates when your hands are clearly already full. My way of dealing with this is to use humor, "Haha I think I am all full but I will be back in just a second to get that for you." However, sometimes customers look at you like you are weak or not taking care of them by refusing their dirty dishes. As a customer, if a server's hands are full, put anything you are finished with at the end of the table. They will come and get it when they have a chance and it will be out of your way too.

Asking for Things: It's the job of a sever to get a customer anything they want. However, customers should be courteous with requests and try to make things easier on a server. Something very frustrating that people do is ask for one thing and then as soon as you get back, they realized they forgot to ask for something but now they need it. On busy nights this is especially frustrating for a server who is already multi-tasking. You know you need to get that item for a customer or else your tip will suffer, but at the same time you need to take an order. Customers should be considerate and try and ask for whatever they need when the server heads off to get something the first time.

Taking Extras Too Far: This is a rare thing people do, but when they do it, it's extremely rude. People can take getting extra of something way too far. For example, once a table is finished with a loaf of bread we already offer more. However, you will get tables of three people who go through six loafs of bread. That is just a rude thing to do. Another example comes from a shift I worked last week. A woman at my table didn't order a salad, but her friends did. Instead, she asked if I could bring out a bowl of croutons, cheese, and dressing. Of course she did not want to be charged for this, although I should have. That is a very rude thing to do and is really just taking advantage of the restaurant. It's also a difficult task for your server, who doesn't want to anger their table by charging, but doesn't want to get in trouble for providing that for free. The last example comes when people ask for too much dressing. If you get a side salad, there is no reason for you to have four sides of ranch dressing. Not only is that horrible for your health and weight, but it's a hassle for your server to continue bringing you such large amounts of dressing.

These are just some small things customers do when eating out that are just rude. Keep these in mind next time you eat out!

Not Your Typical Management

Management at a restaurant is quite different from management of other businesses. Managers at restaurants are often extremely busy and involved with the inner workings of the restaurant and they often have a much more casual relationship with their employees. These things have both positive and negative aspects, which I will discuss in this post.

*Note: In this post, I consider only managers at corporate restaurants. Managers of private restaurants may be very different - especially if the manager is also the owner.*

Firstly, managers at restaurants usually have very different backgrounds than managers of other businesses. They usually worked as a server at one time and slowly worked their way up the chain. Often times, they do not have a college degree or if they do it is not in something very difficult. They probably worked at the restaurant for an extended period of time - at least ten years - before they got to where they are. They are used to working nights and long hours, although all the managers I have worked for did have a family. The hours they work will demonstrate that they have a different social life than the typical manager. This contributes to the different relationship they have with employees as well.
The background of restaurant managers has both positive and negative aspects. It's positive because managers have worked as servers too and they usually understand your point of view. It's easier for them to listen to your problems and help you solve them. In the same light, they will recognize when you are being unnecessarily difficult and they won't hesitate to fire you if you are not doing your job correctly. Managers are required to know how to do all the jobs in a restaurant so that will definitely benefit the employees since the manager understands what you are dealing with and that problems do arise.
The negative aspects of the background of restaurant managers is that they sometimes are not prepared to deal with problems that arise and they may not be as professional as they should be. They do not usually have college degrees and although they understanding the inner-workings of a restaurant very well, they may not be as prepared as they should be to deal with business issues. It can also be difficult for servers who feel they are more intelligent than their boss. For example, servers who are in college or graduate school.

Secondly, managers of restaurants are much more hands on than other managers. They will not hesitate to go on the line in the kitchen and start making salads when the salad staff gets behind. Or they will start cooking steaks when the time calls for it. It is not rare for a manager to spend half a shift in the kitchen is we are unexpectedly busy or if a kitchen member calls in sick. Managers are also always dealing with the problems that arise with customers. Usually, the manager and a "key" are on staff on a given night. On weekends, two keys may be working. These "keys" are servers who have had training to work as a part-time manager too. They have no authority to make "big picture" decisions in the restaurant, but during a shift they have all the personal authority of a manager. The keys deal with problems with customers, comp food that was made incorrectly, help servers when they need manager authorization, and can discipline servers when they step out of line. The manager will usually decide at the beginning of the night whether he will be front or back of the house, but that doesn't mean that he won't switch if the occasion calls for it. If he is front of the house, he will be talking with customers and dealing with their problems and if he is back of the house, he will be working in the kitchen or as an expo the whole night.
The hands-on aspect of restaurant managers is positive because it makes servers connect to him and respect him more. They see he is doing the same work they are and it makes him more respectable. He isn't just being an authority figure giving orders. However, managers mess up just like the rest of us and it can be difficult for a server to confront a manager when he sent the wrong food to their table or messed something up. It can also be positive because when a server has the general manager talk to their table, it makes customers feel valued and can help their tip.
However, the manager being so hands on had it's negatives too. Managers often get too casual in that atmosphere and will get snappy with servers. It is not uncommon for my manager to yell at a server during a shift for something the server did by mistake. It's not like the server did something on purpose, but the manager is in the heat of the moment caught up in the action and he does raise his voice. I think this is negative because the manager is supposed to be an authority figure above the petty things, and this often brings him down a notch and makes him lose respect in our eyes.
Another negative to managers being so hands on is that sometimes they do not realize the consequences of their actions because they are so involved. The other night, for example, our manager decided to have a contest for all the servers to see who could run the most food. To keep track, he told us to keep the ticket of each food we ran. This seemed like a good idea, except that people were stealing tickets and we were losing track of food. Also, the reason a ticket is stabbed and kept on the line once food is ran is so that servers can keep track of their food. They can check back there and see their food was ran. That way, if there is a problem they know the mistake was not made in the kitchen. The tickets are also necessary because servers may run the food to the wrong table and need to come back and check. Or something may have been left out but you cannot check what that was if the ticket isn't there. If the manager had not been so involved in the kitchen, he might have predicted that his contest would cause major problems. But the consequence of his action was that food was lost and huge problems arose. If he had taken a step back and been a big picture manager, that would not have occurred.

Lastly, managers at restaurants tend to have too causal of a relationship with their staff. This is because they work long hours beside one another and servers are often times friends so the manager becomes involved in that atmosphere. Managers hear about the private lives of servers during shifts and they cannot help but get caught up in the gossip and social atmosphere. Usually, managers will drink after work with servers too. Our manager does so only occasionally, probably once a week, but it is enough that the manager-employee line becomes blurred. Managers also play favorites and treat those they prefer much kinder and more causally.
In my opinion, this is only a negative aspect. Some may argue that this could make the workplace a more fun and kinder place, but I feel differently. Managers need to be an authority figure and this relationship blur only complicated things. It's difficult when your manager is joking with you about your boyfriend one minute, and yelling at you because you rang something in wrong the next. It's also very difficult to take a manager seriously if you have seen him out drunk or you know too much about his personal life. Managers in a typical business setting do not fraternize with their employees because they need to maintain the employer-employee line. The employer needs to maintain his authority and respect. In restaurants, this blurring raises problems and can cause tension.
For example, in the restaurant I work in my manager often times jokes with me about my boyfriend, another restaurant employee. This is all in good fun, until he then yells at me for a mistake that my boyfriend has made. That is extremely unprofessional and not fair to me as an employee. It's difficult to discern when the time is for jokes and when the time is to be serious when your manager acts in such a manner.

This post is largely my opinion of restaurant managers at corporate chains, based on my own experiences. I have worked in two corporate restaurants now and this description is accurate of those managers. It may seem hostile and too critical, but there are definitely problems with the way managers at restaurants act. There is a reason the majority of businesses have managers who maintain the employer-employee relationship line.

Side Work During a Shift

During a shift, a server has a lot more work to do than just wait on their tables. In this post, I will discuss the additional tasks servers must complete during a shift waiting tables.

Before I started waiting tables, I would often wonder what my server was doing in the kitchen for extended periods of time. I used to think they were just being lazy or talking with their friends instead of paying attention to their tables. Although when the restaurant is slow, servers often are just talking with each other in the back, most of the time they are actually working hard and the customers just don't see it.

Each shift, a server is assigned "running side work" to complete. These are tasks that need to be completed consistently throughout a shift. For example, some of these include refilling the ice bin under the soda machine, making tea when it is low, making butterballs when they run out, and emptying the trash bins. On a slow night, servers usually will just stick to their side work, but on the weekends or a busy night - servers will do whatever is needed in the back. So if one server who is assigned making tea is extremely busy, whoever has a chance will start making it. It often takes up to five minutes to do these tasks and that is time spent away from their tables. So customers should not assume that just because you don't see your server for a few minutes, they are in the back slacking off. Probably, they are trying to support other servers and do the work the restaurant as a whole needs.

The most important task a server needs to do during a shift besides focus on their tables is to run food. Food running is one of the most important parts of waiting tables. Servers should try their best to run their own food to tables, but they also need to help one another out. Especially on a night when everyone is busy, any spare time you have needs to be spent running food. If you don't take time to run other people's food, your food will get stuck behind theirs and your tables will suffer (and your tips) as a response.
Food running needs to be done on both cold side (salads/appetizers) and hot side (entrees). If servers are not running salads, their tables won't have enough time on their salads and their tips will again suffer. Running salads is usually extremely quick and easy because all you have to do is grab them (if there are 1 or 2) or toss them on a tray and you are off. If there is a soup involved, it takes another minute because you must fill the bowl yourself and add any toppings required, but it is still very quick.
Hot side is a totally different issue, however. There is usually an "expo" on hot side, but not always. The expo is in charge of pulling plates from the hot window, arranging them in order on the tray, and preparing them to be taken to the table. To order the plates, we always ring in food in order of the people sitting at the table so that we are not auctioning off food when we get there. This way, any server can run the food - not just the server waiting on that table. To prepare the food to go to the table, there is often a lot to do. As a steakhouse, Outback server A LOT of baked potatoes. People all like their potatoes with different toppings. So there is a potato bar with the butter, sour cream, cheese, bacon, and chives and the expo will add the toppings the customer requested onto the potato when the food is arranged on the tray. Also, all our vegetables are steamed so the bag must be removed from them. Some of the foods require speciality sauces and those too must be added. For example, our pork tenderloin has a sweet glaze that we must put on top when the food comes out. Mashed potatoes are kept out front so those must be put on the plate by the expo. The expo also must make sure the plate looks presentably. If there is too much sauce or the plate is messy, they will move the food to a different plate or organize it to be more presentable. These are only a couple of the tasks that must be completed before food is sent out. When an expo isn't there, the servers must read the tickets and do these tasks. Also, there are two trays to arrange and prepare the food on so often time an expo will be preparing one tray and a server will be preparing another.
As you can tell from my description of food running, it is quite a time consuming task just preparing the food to be taken out. However, once you get the food to the table there are other things that you may be required to do. For example, it may taken a couple minutes just to give out the food at the table - especially if it is a party of more than 4 people. Also, the servers are supposed to "prebus" or take the dirty dishes from their table as the customers finish with them, but often they do not or are too busy. So if you take food to a table, you must also remove those dirty dishes and put them in dish. At Outback, you are also required to ask if they need anything else to go with their meal. About half the time, the customers will ask for steak sauce, dressings to accompany their meal, or extra of something. You, as the server who asked the question, are then required to take what they need to their table. It doesn't matter if you have a table you need to attend to - at that point you are the responsible party and must finish helping them.

Hopefully my description of running side work and food running illustrates that if you don't see your server for five minutes, do not assume the worst. They may be helping out a fellow server, making sweet tea, or running food out to another table. All of these things are extremely necessary to the restaurant functioning as a whole. If your server wasn't doing those things, the others would not either and your experience as a whole would suffer.