Restaurant Dos And Don'ts

I've only ever worked in Food Service. My first job was at the local small town ice cream parlour. The old fashioned type where you walk up to a window and order from someone on the inside where they proceed to feel like animals in a zoo on display while you stare at them making your food in a glass box. I then worked in a McDonald's which is just a whole different experience of it's own. And in Sydney I'm now working as a server in a Lebanese Restaurant (and worked in an Italian Restaurant as well for a little bit of time). It's an interesting experience to say the least, but most of all I've learned a few tricks I now have up my sleeve to help myself when I'm eating out. I've decided to share them with you (although this is also pretty much a rant about some of the insanely rude customers I've had to deal with). It's important to remember that every restaurant is run differently, and these examples are quit specific to the one I work in, but I'm sure you can manage to relate them to how it would be done in a different establishment.

DON'T!!!!!!

• Sit around for 5 hours. We need those tables. If you've eaten, paid (and didn't tip), and are no longer doing anything other than asking us for more ice every five minutes and slowly sipping your cheap wine then you are a problem, especially if we're busy. We're turning other people away because we don't have any free tables; all so you can sit and talk to people while still taking advantage of our ability to bring you more ice, despite the fact that you didn't tip.

• Refuse to take a hint and leave when the staff starts to put the chairs on the tables for cleaning. We wait until a certain point to put the chairs up so we don't bother the customers or seem rude to them. Our first priority is serving you. So if the point comes that we are putting chairs up despite the fact that you are still there, ignore the nice "Oh no! We're in no hurry. Take all the time you need." responses that we give you when you ask. We still aren't allowed to tell you to leave, but we're past the point of worrying about slight formalities and it is your cue to get out, and to tip well while doing so.

• Refuse to take a hint and leave when the staff sits down to eat. We spend hours on end serving you this insanely delicious food. It's absolute torture. If you're the last table there and most of the staff seem to be sitting down to enjoy a nice meal, you are the ones preventing the two remaining servers who aren't sitting down to eat from doing so, and therefore they probably despise you at this point. Please tip well on your way out :)

• Walk in 5 minutes before close and order something complicated. When you walk in, if the host or server has to "quickly ask the kitchen if they're still open" that's your hint that we're doing you a favour by seating you and we expect you to do us a favour and order quickly, order something easy, eat quickly, and leave quickly. Oh, and always remember to tip :)

• Expect the manager to give you exactly what you want or hear your complaint. This is entirely dependent on the integrity of the manager and how good the staff is. Even if you have good reason for complaint, the way you go about it is very important. If you're a complete asswipe about it, don't expect the manager to give a crap, ESPECIALLY if you're treating his or her staff like crap.

DO!!!!!

• Ask questions. Some servers will find this annoying in the beginning, but overall we would much rather you ask a million questions at the start, and know what you're getting, rather than not asking and complaining later because the outcome wasn't what you expected. If you're new to the type of cuisine, don't be embarrassed to admit that and ask what the heck is going on. You'll end up having a lot better experience in the end because you swallowed your pride and asked how things are done so we were able to do our job and help you out. And please tip for all the great advice we give.

• Feel free to help organise and stack dirty plates. AND adjust your body accordingly to make it easier for us to retrieve said items. If you actually lean slightly to one side when I politely say excuse me while trying to remove all of your trash and leftover filth from out of your way on the table I am MUCH less likely to spill oil on that Armani suit you are so conveniently wearing. If we're successful at removing everything (trust me it's not an easy job), be nice an tip well :)

• Be nice to us... about everything. If a mistake is made, don't hesitate to point it out, but be polite in doing so. And be nice to us overall, even if we accidentally forget something or spill on your or are terribly busy and don't pay as much attention to you as you would prefer. If we mess up and you continue to be incredibly polite, we'll probably give you something for free, or give you a discount of some sort. Even if we don't mess up and you're insanely polite and nice to us there's a chance we might give you something for free. Of course if this happens don't forget to tip well :)

• Have patience, ESPECIALLY when waiting for food. The cooks often work very hard to carefully time the food. If a course is brought out sooner than you expected, that means you're taking too long. If you're sitting waiting, it doesn't mean the cooks aren't frantically trying to put your dish together. And remember we're trying to serve an entire restaurant at once, so if it's busy and you ask us to 'check on your food for you'. We'll probably just deliver some plates to the back, stand there for 2 seconds, and return to you to inform you it's on it's way very shortly. We have to work with the same kitchen staff daily, we trust them more than we care about you having to wait a few more minutes than you wanted to, and we don't want to constantly bother them because you're impatient. If you're in a hurry from the beginning tell us and we will put a memo on your order for things to come quickly. You're happy, we're happy, the kitchen's happy. And don't forget to tip.

• TIP! I can't stress this enough. This is a hard one though when I talk about it because the customs for tipping vary from country to country. Take the time to research it. In the USA it's normal to tip 10-20% depending on how well the service was. Not tipping isn't an option (although I'm sure there are those a-holes who don't). Tipping in Australia isn't quite as common though, and not always necessary. And this varies depending on if you're in the country or city as well. Feel free to ask around, various servers, managers, other patrons. Do the research and know what's expected. A happy server is going to be much more willing to go the extra mile for you. If you're given any sort of discount or free item, even if it's helping to correct a mistake that was made, PLEASE consider it when tipping. That's us showing you that we truly do care about you and we are horribly sorry we messed up and we want you to know it and hopefully you notice it and respond appropriately.

Most importantly, remember that the staff is human. We are not your pets or slaves or some other lesser form of being. We are there to serve you, to make you happy, and then to get proper payment in return for our services. We still expect to be treated with respect. And if you're kind to us we will be much more likely to find that table inside that's actually booked but we'll take a risk and spend the next half hour praying to the gods that someone else finishes up before the booking arrives, or to make the change to that menu item that will make the kitchen staff mad at us, or to give you free dessert. It is our job to serve you to the best of our abilities no matter how you treat us. If you're nice to us it only makes our job easier, meaning we can do that much more for you.

Happy customer = Happy staff

That equation goes both ways.

Happy eating!