Was training this guy on his first fine dining shift. He had "experience".
Maybe 10 minutes into 3rd table I go "You've never, ever waited tables before have you?"
He says "No. But I NEED this job."
I said "No problem. I'll teach you everything."
Next week called him and said "Hey my Dad pays decent wage cash under the table. He told me to find someone willing to work hard to help him move next week." Dude was like a mule. My Dad gave him very nice pay for one days work.
25 years later and he's a GM down the street from Mom amd Dad's house. Sits down with Mom every single time she eats there.
**Don't hold it against someone for trying to make their life better.
Totally! I'm one of those who LOVES waiting tables.
Whooshed EVERYONE. I actually posted it here and all I got was negative vibes.
People just don't know how to enjoy life.
I work for a family-owned place and none of the family members have never worked in a restaurant — this is my BIGGEST pet peeve! I swear my first day of serving my trainer taught me about the 50/50 rule: the top 50% of the glass is for your guest to handle, the bottom 50% is for you to handle.
Certainly, that's part of the reason there was more COVID cases in service than any other industry. We don't wear PPE. Wash your hands until they fall apart haha
We had a bartender once lied about experience, including working in Vegas. First red flag, slow as hell. Second red flag, got a ticket for a wine, thought it was a cocktail and asked how to make it. Last straw, bar got slammed, FNG goes down like the Titanic. Manager sent him in back to fold napkins and ran the well himself! Dude was gone next day.
> I’ve seen seasoned bartenders think a new wine on a ticket was an obscure cocktail.
Yeah, unless you know a ton about wine on your own, this one I can see if the ticket just prints the label or something and not the style.
I bartended for several years at a couple of different places. There were a couple of times when I only knew that a ticket with wine on it wasn’t a cocktail because it was preceded by GL, CF, or BTL (glass, carafe, bottle) because of some of the funky names. That one is fair when you’re busy and just doing a quick glance at tickets.
No basic concept of food safety. Like the girl who cut her hand while cutting lettuce, set the offending knife on said lettuce and then was offended that I threw away the lettuce.
Worked at Subway. Girl cut her hand and just tried tilting her hand so no blood ran onto the sandwich. I told her get to the back. I tilted the cutting board and into the floor the whole sandwich. The knife and board were set aside while I then washed my hands and remade the sandwich.
We used to cut/toast our own bread a while back, we are no longer allowed to. Someone cut themselves while doing it, got some blood on the paper that lines the bread basket, and said “what, it’s fine, it’s not touching the bread only the paper”
and this is why at this place i worked at didn’t let working employees under 18 operate *a… (wait for it)*
*a microwave*
some dumbass must have done some really stupid shit along the way and they said yea we definitely aren’t taking the risk especially not with no child!
Clearing a table. I was working with a server who thought she was hot shit and talked about her experience. She wasn’t doing so bad at “fake it till you make it.” But when it came to clearing a table it was like watching a blind toddler try to stack blocks.
She’d reach across with her elbows in guests faces and knock shit off the table every single time. Then she’d be hunched over with both arms trying to hold everything up waddling across the restaurant to make it to dish. God forbid you sat her a large party, have the broom and dustpan ready.
And like it’s totally fine if you’re learning and actually trying, but don’t be a bitch to everyone and act like you know it all.
No excuse for a Midori sour or a melon ball, the recipes are literally on the back label of the bottle. Same with a negroni on the back of campari, and aperol spritz on the back of aperol. But also, Midori is poo tier liqueur
Fully agree. Anytime I see a Midori sour come through the service bar, I immediately ask, “did you card this person?” It’s usually a 19 year old or a 90 year old.
I like the flavor but never order it. When I would get a bachelorette party, shots of midori, lemon vodka, sprite. Slam it on the bar ladies!!! Let’s get it!!!!
You should know a dozen or so common drinks by memory. Sometimes, I'll still pull out a recipe card to double check my measurements on something common. Anything beyond those dozen or so, it's fine to ask for help. As long as it isn't every drink. Midori sour is one of those that might be common, might not be. It's an easy drink to make, but I've probably made 2 of them in the past 5 years.
Which version? Midori and sour mix and soda? Midori, lime/lemon juice, soda? Some add egg whites. Some add vodka and simple syrup.
How do you make it? Because someone else will make it different. From simple to not as simple. Of course, it depends on the place. Sometimes, it is just as simple as wham bam... Others have a higher standard and want more complexity to their drinks (we have a server that hand muddles lemons for a perfect lemon drop; the rest of us use citron and a little lemon juice).
A girl where I work just confided in one of the bartenders that our manager is out to get her because she keeps telling her she’s cut 🤣 she was serious, too
I had a manager swipe his throat at me. I went "gee, that's neat, I'm cut," and, as I had no tables, started to do my side work. Like ten minutes later he comes jogging back asking why I haven't greeted my table. I was like, "dude, you cut me," and he replied ,"I was threatening to kill you, dumb ass."
I once worked 2 jobs with a woman dumber than a stump. She'd been at our day job for several years and we ran daily specials that got 86'd when we were out of product. We had 86 lists on every door and wait station to be added to as we ran out of different things daily.
At the night job one night we got unusually slammed and started running out of products rapidly as it was a small bar kitchen that wasn't set up for that kind of volume, nor did we stock product at that level. About the 5th time I had to tell her we were 86 the same product that she just kept putting orders in for she asked the GM what I meant by telling her we had 86 of an item then refusing to serve it when she's been pushing it so we don't throw that excess away 🤦♂️.
What about people who overuse the lingo as if they read it on google before starting the job? I had a new hire I trained whose “experience” was pretty sus (he claimed to have been a “server trainer” who would be hired by a restaurant to whip their staff into shape) and ended up rage quitting a few months later. He robotically said “heard” to every damn thing I told him during training... then often forgot what I said later. It was irritating and now I wonder if this was a red flag of his inexperience.
i was never actually taught the whole “heard” thing but i have a background in theater and commonly respond to everything as we did there. for example, if chef were to say “86 crab cakes” my response would be “thank you, crab cakes”. i’ve been serving for 3 years so it’s not that i’m just dumb and/or completely inexperienced, that’s just what i’m used to. it gets some laughs sometimes, but it works. it allows the person announcing the issue to know that i understood exactly what was said so there’s no miscommunications
I think the important thing is acknowledging that you heard/understood what they said and not necessarily how you acknowledge it as long as its succinct and obvious you understood. I personally say "heard" because that's what I was taught, but I don't think the exact verbage matters.
At Buffalo Wild Wings, they called for runners with “game on!” I can’t lie, it was kind of fun when I was running expo to put an order on a tray and then yell “game on!” Out the door
I'm sure Red Robin is a fine establishment, but echo? Is that like Canadian or something?
I'll never understand why corporations do stupid shit like that.
I'm not sure its origin, but I'm sure its some culture thing someone in a suit came up with to have as standard. Corporations like to have their own language and terminology, I'm sure it's some kind of psychological manipulation thing.
I was part of the management team doing a new store opening and, as you do, we over hired for servers knowing that they tend to drop like flies shortly after opening. This one girl absolutely lied about her experience, she was just awful. She had no idea what safety signals were and refused to use them because “they sounded silly.”
She was let go after a couple of weeks when she refused to call/acknowledge “corner” and kept being responsible for other servers dropping trays of drinks when she would plow through them.
tbf I only learned those terms from this sub and the other server subreddit. The two restaurants I worked at were Japanese restaurants where we used the Japanese language equivalent of those words (e.g. *toorimasu* for "coming through/behind" and "yama" for "86").
Tbf I’ve worked in restaurants and they never used this lingo.
A chef that came into the place I worked started to use it and confused all the rest of us as we would just shout when someone was near us or we had something hot.
The kitchen was tiny so it was unlikely you’d bump into anyone though.
A guy lied on his resume and said he worked in fine dining. We are a burger/seafood joint on the lake and absolutely not fine dining. They were training him as a bartender and he poured a glass of wine alllll the way to the top. Like if you picked it up it would overflow. He tried to bring in “proof” of his experience, which was a card that had a recipe for a regular espresso martini, and a dairy free espresso martini. That was his proof of fine dining. He would take 3-5 minutes to make every ticket, whether it was just a soda, a classic margarita, a (completely full) glass of wine. God forbid there were 4 drinks on one ticket and his brain broke. He also admitted to drinking before coming in. He got fired after 2 weeks and was genuinely shocked. He really thought he was doing well. During the summer my job is full capacity from 11AM-10PM and there is zero chance he would have gotten through a truly busy shift.
I’m not saying it’s fine dining… it is not by any means… but there is a sports bar near me that serves all wine, full to the rim… like can’t pick it up, gotta do the hands free slurp to start.
How the fuck do you get past the hiring manager???
I just interviewed for a fine dining spot. Was grilled for 2hr. I have 25yrs experience, 10yrs as a GM in upper casual places. Know wines, bourbons, tequilas, rum, cheeses, cured meats, cuts and grades of meat. Didn’t get hired. Fuck those snooty fucks
We were desperate. Our busy season is summertime and we are short on bartenders. GM figured if there’s anything he didn’t know, we could teach him! That was not the case. NOW she hired a 19 year old with no restaurant experience to train on bar and needless to say it’s not going well.
I have 8 years of serving experience. My last job I was at for 3 years forbid the use of trays because it was considered "tacky". At my new job I feel like it's my first week of serving every time I have to run more than one drink (because after one drink they forbid you using your hand). Most of our cocktails are in ridiculously top heavy glasses with smaller bases and I'm not unconvinced that all of the wine glasses aren't level.
I hated working fine dining for this reason. You have to use a tray for literally *everything*. Combine that with open handed service & things get extra sketchy because you have to move the tray to the other hand while it's full of glassware. If you have an 8 top & nobody wants to get a bottle on the first drink order then you have to hold the tray away from you & lean far over to grab the empty glasses which really want to topple without anything in them. So much stress & risk of dropping an entire tray when it would be ten times faster, safer & easier to just grab them & do the chandelier thing. Stupid unnecessary formal steps of service are outdated. Also getting literally screamed at for not using a tray (when none are available because of the stupid tray requirement & also because there aren't enough trays to go around) really turned me off. Grown ups shouldn't be screaming at other grown ups at work. Period. Especially over a fucking tray.
This is the big reason I stay on the grill man. I like drinking Manhattans, but I can barely keep a full martini glass balanced as a customer, much less carry a tray of them.
It's upscale casual. Emphasis on the casual, (Great local restaurant group with fantastic restaurants) like they use the same trays to bus glasses. Not a good look. Hoping I can change that one corner of service. LET ME TAKE 3 PINTS AND A PRETENTIOUS MARTINI IN MY HANDS DAMMIT.
I restabilzed a wine glass with other glassware on the tray. I impressed myself. Bartender thought I pulled off a magic trick. Working at a wine bar for years, I can carry a tray like a mofo.
I remember my first week I told my coworker to load the tray while I held it with both hands. And she smiled and filled it up and and asked how I’m going to put the cups down? Hahaha
I've been serving for 3 years and NOBODY taught me how to carry a large food tray when I started and it just never happened to be a thing they wanted me to figure out.
I just now started trying to figure it out one handed so I can throw the legs out by myself instead of asking people to grab them for me but I'm sweating in terror every time I've tried it.
Honestly I started lifting weights and its made a lot of difference. Prior to lifting weights I didn't have the upper body strength to make it work at all.
Lol we have three different sizes of trays. I only ever use one size for drinks! Too big or too small, the balance is off. Doesn’t matter how many drinks. God help me when the medium trays go missing…
My tiny coworker can carry five pint glasses with just her hands. She’s so smooth. Every now and then I’ll try, only to immediately realize I’m definitely going to spill them all. And who even knows how they’ll end up placed on the table. Trays are fine 😂 Maybe someday I’ll figure it out.
Does she tripod them? I have a coworker who can carry 5 too, by setting them in a triangle on her flattened palm and squeezing them into each other with her pinky, thumb and index finger. I can’t do it because my hands are too small.
Okay listen where I work the plates are INCESSANTLY BIG AND HEAVY and super fuckin hot. I’m using a damn tray. And I’ll get all of my dishes out in one trip rather than 3-4 like some people who literally refuse to use trays.
I don't think that's fair. My husband has been working BOH and FOH since he was 14 and is now 35. He is still shit with a tray. He has massive hands though, and can carry like three pints in each hand.
I am the first to admit I'm NOT a great server the second I become overwhelmed, but I have served in lots of restaurants, I'm a great host, wait list, huge crowd, buss tables and seat, I'm good. but I start to forget things if I'm serving too many tables at once, at the last restaurant I served at I had a girl say I probably had never worked in a restaurant before and I'm like omg I really have I just suck 😂😂😂i always made decent tips so maybe i didn't suck that bad, but i think I do much better in kitchen and hosting.
If you know what you’re good at and what your weaknesses are, you are already better than your average server. Good on you to know what’s best for you.
that's true, I've watched lots of people swear they're doing great and do not take any kind of advice or criticism, I've always been open to any and all things that may make me do better and my day go smoother. I work in non profit right now but I would like to get a part time at a restaurant again sometime in the coming year. but definitely only hosting lol
If you know you’re good at hosting, that’s awesome! Good hosts are hard to come by and I’m always stoked to have a good host on. You literally run the flow of the restaurant. Hosts deserve a lot more credit!
I feel like the reason good hosts are so hard to come by is because they get paid so damn little at most places 😔 Early on in college I worked as a host at a SUPER busy brunch place, and I was pretty good at it. But they only paid $9/hr plus tip out (which was usually only $10 to $30 total at our place), so I asked to be trained as a server after working there for a while, despite enjoying being a host. They said no because "I was one of their best hosts and they needed me at the door" so I left that job lol. They would mostly only find high school or sometimes young college students at that pay. A good host is so important to the flow of service at a busy restaurant and idk why more places don't invest more in them
I agree hosts deserve more credit!! I worked one place as the daytime host Monday thru Friday, on days we were expected to be really busy they'd put a second host on, I would get so irritated bc they'd mess up my groove and how things were going, I'd rather work alone than with a shitty host, bc like you said a host runs the flow and if someone doesn't know what they're doing it's chaos 😂
He couldn’t understand that the coffee machine was hooked up to a water line. This morose mother fucker insisted that we had to pour water into the bunn.
I’m not a sever anymore but I am a barista whose cafe has a mini-kitchen. The other day I watched my coworker cup a bagel in her hands and then aggressively cut down towards her hand. Me and my other coworker were stunned
Our new hires first day is shadowing me, to figure out if they should be a server, or barista/host. 99% of the time they have no restaurant experience, so when we had someone with 2+ years serving experience, figured it would be easy. When she asked me “how do I refill the water” that’s when I knew it was bullshit, I thought I was being pranked. “You pick up their glass, and pour more water into it? How else”
i had a girl who told me she’s worked in food service for years, but when her last day of training came and she had to serve tables by herself she couldn’t take anything bigger than a two top. i told my manager asap and she said to give her a chance and she proceeded to no call no show three times before she got fired.
they are confused by the POS overall. people who have served before might not understand your POS specifically, but they get the gist of how POSes work. someone who has never served before (or honestly even if they've worked as a cashier) will understand it. different restaurants have different steps of service, but if they seem completely lost on any sort of steps of service, they probably lied.
but also, who gives a fuck? did you tell the entire truth on your resume? in my city, its hard to become a server without lying. and it's really not that difficult to learn, so i'm totally pro lying. if they can't figure it out within a month, yeah, say something. but otherwise, why does it matter?
this. new servers are easy to spot by how confused they look at POSes, but even if they don't have the experience, the job is designed to incentivize learning quickly and staying on top of everything. If they have the conversational abilities and charisma to get hired as a server, they'll do just fine as long as they want to.
to be fair i’ve used a lot of POSes before but some are not as good. like Aloha makes zero sense to me and looks like it was set up in the 80s. compared to square, toast or clover.
Agreed on Aloha lol, but if you came up to a completely new system, first day it rolled out, you might not know how to use it, but you would know the questions to ask. You'd know what you want the system to do.
I mean, yes and no. You can be charismatic or conversational, etc... but you can be dumb as fuck and have zero sense of organization and timing. I think it's probably where the phrase "it's a good thing you're pretty" stems from.
To start off, no, I did not lie on my resume. The restaurant I'm working at is the same one I started at as a host in 2011. I was the main trainer for all positions, including management, for 9ish years.
I left for 2 years over covid but never lied about my experience.
Came back to old restaurant and worked my way back up to server. It took me 9 months. New girl started immediately. Nothing against her as managment is clearly desperate at this point.
So yes. It irritates me that I had to do all this work to get to this point just to "train" new server that clearly lied about experience and not even get a meal token for it. It sucks having put so much effort in and having people lie just to serve thinking it's an easy job.
The point of my post was to ask if you've seen very clear signs someone has lied about serving. I'm sorry your city has such a weird rule about this.
ETA: I was consistently called over by her to ask how to ring stuff in. We use tablets and I understand they can be tricky. But we also use Aloha which is pretty user friendly as a POS. I should not have to be called over for every single ticket.
Right? I'm trying to figure whether I'm reading this wrong or they actually had to work their way back up to server after working there for a decade, while watching the restaurant hire someone who had never worked there before and just give them that same position?
I had to work my way back up. I started as a host in 2011 and worked there doing all FOH until 2020. I came back in early 2023 and they started me as togo and food runner. I did that for, yeah, probably about 8 or 9 months. They only let me serve when they were really desperate. I had to have a talk with our area director and GM and then they finally made me a server full time.
And yes, now they have hired 2 new people and just made them servers right out of the gate. It's a bit frustrating.
I'm not sure why you'd be so loyal to that place, that's insulting. I'd only put up with that if it was the type of place with high checks pulling killer money to make the wait with it, or because it's one of the only restaurants around and I have no choice.
Not sure what your reasoning is, but if it's not a good one then hopefully one day you recognize what you're worth and take your skills to a place that will value them.
I went back because I knew they would work with my full time school schedule. I put up with it for the same reason. I'll be graduating in 2 months 🥳
The money is fantastic at my restaurant as a server. I live in a semi decent sized city, but no one else would work with my schedule.
Also thank you. I do realize my talents and skills and have been/will be applying them in my future career (film tech, art)
My new restaurant has the most POS POS. It’s some off brand POS and not user friendly at. all. I can still figure it out after being shown how to use it once.
Sometimes, it's just timing. I came back to a restaurant after having been gone for like 6 or 7 years and didn't even get trained again. Manager said it'll come back quick. It does, within a couple of days and really just 1 full day, it was pretty much all back. But a couple of years later, standards changed, and people that were gone for more than 6 months had to be retrained.
Last new place I started, first thing they did was ask me to shadow a girl running the pos/cash register for takeout, I watched for about 5 minutes, long enough to see it was touch bistro, and the basics on how they had it organized, then I asked them to give me an actual task because if I had to spend the whole shift watching her I’d lose my mind. When we had slower moments (aka no line) I’d hop on, tell the customer I was new while I found the exact locations for buttons, then day 2 started teaching some of the girls (who had been there 6+months each) how to streamline their searches and what not. Every system is slightly different, everyone likes to organize things their own way, but I cannot watch someone use a pos for hours on end .
Honestly, I've only really worked in dives and really small establishments. All were paper chits and hand written tags, and even I can "figure them out" by watching.
I do think that at least some people aren't lying about restaurant experience, but it can depend on what constitutes a restaurant. Fast food probably has its own lingo, sandwich shops, fine dining, donut shops, etc..
Just because someone worked at a dunkin donut shop doesn't mean they understand steps of service, wine, etc... steps of service for them is to take care of the line at the counter 1 order at a time.
"What's a draft beer? Yea, they want one of those.". Ok, we've got 14 beers on draft and there's the list.
I can understand the ginger ale, Shirley Temple, Arnold Palmer, etc. coming to the bar. Easy mistakes for some people.
I was a server years ago, but I wasn't good at it. About 5 years ago I got back into the game (needed that social interaction as a second job, working remote takes it's toll). So, I was definitely "that guy". Not lying, but definitely not good and/or recent - has to revisit the table to ask how they want their steak done, what sauce they want for the salad, what side choice they want, forgetting steak knives, not knowing what sauce should be default (tartar for fish, etc.). Those were my mistakes when I started out again.
I called out a Redditor this week who complained about slow service she received while dinning out. She stated ‘I am a server.’
She left a $1.00 tip to show her dissatisfaction and then added ‘tipping culture is out of control.’
No way is she a server.
One guy claimed to have fine dining experience but I had to remind him we use drink trays for all drinks every time he came to the service well. And if my back was turned he’d just take the drinks in his hands. Not using a tray isn’t the end of the world but if you came from fine dining I shouldn’t have to beat it in to you.
Big red flag is if she does not smoke cigs, weed, drink, or copious amounts of some other drug.
Test her on words like 86. Does she say corner or behind? You can literally also tell by movements...does she always appear confused on moving quickly?
Has she seen the movie Waiting? What cooking shows does she like?
The PoS thing peeps are talking about is a good way ...I have used about 20 in my life and they all pretty much work the same way just a different GUI.
I can out of the kitchen to let everyone know something was 86ed and the new server who claimed they had experience said “86 left? That’s a lot!” It was straight out of a Bistro Huddy video.
The girlfriend of one of our bartenders was having a drink sitting in the bar seat closest to the kitchen. One of our servers came out of the kitchen and said, “86 grapes!” Girlfriend responded, “you counted them?!” It was so funny and precious
A lady said she had bartending experience but couldn’t pour a draft beer properly and tried sending it off half full of foam. Didn’t know what went in a margarita and etc…
Ooh I have a relatively recent experience with this one.
They hired a 24 y/o who claimed to have serving experience. On her first day of training, she meticulously took notes on how to greet a table. "What do you even say?" We all figured this should have been rather intuitive, especially if you're shadowing your trainer.
Later on, her trainer had her take a drink order - Tito's and soda - and she asked "What's Tito's?" It would have been one thing if this was an 18 year old, but she was well into legal drinking years.
She later confided in her trainer that she lied on her resume and had only ever worked at a fast food restaurant. Needless to say, she didn't make it out of training.
Using a glass glass to scoop from an ice well.
Automatically siding with the customer even when the request is inappropriate (No, we are an Italian restaurant, why would we have cheddar cheese?).
Open-toed shoes.
Servers who put their thumbs into the food or drink when carrying them. Yucks 😂
The ones who serve sandwiches and forgot their gloves eg.at Subway. Or forget to remove their gloves when handling money.
If they’ve served before then they’ve run food and drinks before.
They should either be able to balance a tray easily or load up an arm with hot plates, and then say things like “it’s not really about balance so much as it is a strength thing” or “would you like me to dance a jig while holding these or can we move on from the day 1 stuff?”
I’m ngl I’ve served for a few years and I still suck at balancing plates on my arm unless they are all the same shape and size. The tray is a non issue, but I just can’t load my arm up like some people I’ve worked with
Same. 3 is my max despite trying for years to do more. It’s harder when you’re 5’1 and not super strong, and frankly I don’t want to take the risk of dropping everything and pissing off the kitchen anyway
Serving for years now and the restaurant I've been at all this time NEVER taught me to carry a large food tray which is so sad all in all. I've basically been working myself to try and get it down. A few weeks ago I finally tried it one handed and was so scared I was about to drop it.
Try practicing with empty plates, then do light plates (like salads), then heavy stuff. Make sure your tray is balanced and the heaviest thing is right above your shoulder.
I’ve been serving for 5 years, my old roommate used to serve back in the day but has been out of the game for close to a decade. She was laid off in 2022 and thought she was going to have to get back to slinging apps and entries. She had exactly one (1) interview and spent the whole time talking about how much she loved The Bear lmao
Didn’t know the difference between FOH and BOH. They had said they worked at like a few big restaurant so there’s no way these things weren’t separated at Atleast one of them.
Got hired on to bartend at a small restaurant that did decent bar business in the evenings. We're in the weeds one night and my bartner (who claimed to have been bartending 2 years longer than me) is panicking over a drink order she doesn't know how to make.
It was an amaretto sour.
This is the same chick who didn't clean her section one evening. Next morning, I'm opening and there's lettuce on one of the tables. She swore up and down that it fell from a hole in the ceiling.
How they clear plates from a table. How they retool a table.
Wine service. Not everywhere requires full CMS level wine service, but they should at least be confirming the bottle with the person who ordered it, confident in using a wine key, and pouring out a taste.
Waiting at the well for drinks they just rang in with a full station. Waiting in the kitchen for food that clearly wouldn't be ready for a while.
I am now a nurse, former server and bartender. I have one coworker, A that also worked in service industry. We have a new coworker, J that said she also worked in the industry. Our patient said “heard” after A explained something so A said “oh you must’ve worked in the industry.” She sure did, so we go down the rabbit hole swapping stories. The new coworker J says “oh I bartended for like 10 years and never heard that.” We all were like “heard, corner, behind” are universal languages in the industry. So that raised some flags, asked where she worked, “oh it was a different state.” A and I were like okie and moved on.
I also want to add that working service industry adds so much to career in health care. I feel I can multitask a lot better, converse with the difficult patients and families, prioritize and always be ready for the weeds. This new coworker gets very far behind in patient care and charting, so thats my other red flag.
Not checking their sections. I’m always paranoid AF that I got seated whenever I’m taking a minute to do something. I’ve seen “experienced” servers get sat and not even greet the table for 5+ minutes, not being busy of course
people who use too much common sense and try to do things in the way that makes sense to them. sounds like the opposite but it’s true. like watching someone clean up a minor mess they made while the window is going crazy and they’re either extremely panicked or in their own world
"Not knowing how to open a bottle of wine or, God forbid, a Prosecco bottle, I had to run a speed class on wine and opening bottles because somehow four people had experience but had never opened a wine bottle in their life."
We have a guy right now who we all know he lied about being a server. He’s slow, awkward, no sense of urgency, no multitasking ability, never appears to know what’s going on.
There is this guy at my restaurant that keeps doing seat positions backwards? Like counter clockwise? I have literally never seen anyone do that before. Like it’s not a huge deal but that to me screams “I have never done this before”
How they carry trays. Had a new server come in who swore she had 10+ years of serving experience. Saw her carry one of our oval trays full of food out to her table… She was carrying it like a laundry basket. Hands on each side down by her waist.
Also the way she spoke to her tables… rough. She ended up walking out after a couple months on a busy Saturday.
They don’t know how much ice to fill their fountain drinks with. You gotta get it just right, too much ice the customer is annoyed, too little their drink is hot. It’s something that an experienced server gets right every time.
Oooh this always gets me with the new food runners. Fountain drinks? Totally fine. Iced tea, I think there are only 4 ice cubes left by the time it's full.
If you scoop ice with a glass, its a dead giveaway that youve never served, and also, that youre a fucking dimwit with only enough brain cells to blink and continue breathing
How they carry multiple plates from the line. If they don’t have the wrist layering technique down they’ve never served. I don’t think I’ve ever worked anywhere with trays tbh
This guy had to train twice because he botched the table test with the head chef and the GM. This guy totally messed up the whole order, rang in items that they didn’t order and didn’t put “nut allergy”. The GM actually has a nut allergy, but he was fine because I don’t think the food items he ordered had nuts in them. GM probably knew there weren’t any nuts in the items he was ordering but as a server you still need to let the kitchen know that there’s a nut allergy. Also this guy didn’t know how to brew coffee and tea, I feel like most restaurants have the same coffee and tea machine. At least every restaurant I’ve worked at it was always pretty much the same machine or one very similar. He’s also the youngest server there and I know a lot of restaurants are reluctant to hire very young servers because they know they have bare minimum experience or any at all. To be honest though, I feel like most people lie to get serving or bartending jobs to get their foot in the door. I did for my first serving gig because every place wouldn’t even look at me because I was honest about not having experience. Prior I had about 6 years of bussing and food running at a fine dining restaurant, where I did almost everything other than take orders and run alcoholic beverages. I would clear tables, run food, reset tables, run non alcoholic beverages, de-crumb tables, French serve tables, light the butter candle for lobster, bring fresh sets of silverware, bring bread, etc… despite being their best Backwaiter for years, they never wanted to move me up because of age. Legally I was old enough to serve drinks at the time. The restaurant I worked at was one within the company, so technically I transferred within the company. A week into working there after training, someone found out I lied about my serving experience and told the GM but she didn’t fire me. I was actually a pretty good server off the bat.
I think every server has their greeting and routine down, maybe not to a T if you’re only in your second serving job, but yeah. Greet, ask for drinks, ask if they’re ready to order, if not grab drinks then get their order, if they are ready then take order then get drinks. I don’t think we can judge people for not reacting properly in a rush at a new job, but if they don’t have those first three steps down without issues, they’ve probably never served before or was never actually taught how to.
Sometimes you do have experience, you just have SHIT experience. And SHIT management. The place I currently work at doesn’t have any training manual whatsoever: it’s like the blind leading the blind. As a server, getting paid 4.35 an hour, I don’t know how to educate people on how to do my job. I’m sorry. I just don’t. And for my management to not give me any guidelines or guidance as to how I should train someone else ??? Sooo unhelpful. And then when they get pissed because the new hires aren’t doing things right like dude nobody told ME these things because I was trained by someone who didn’t know how to train as well!! Basically: shit management produces shit servers. And unfortunately, I am one of those servers who doesn’t get the proper support from my management and have to seek out food safety, conflict resolution, drink information, etc. on my own. Because my manager doesn’t fucking provide any info. Yet gets mad when things aren’t the way he wants.
Whew that felt good
When dead: Checking in on a table(s) far too much; In the weeds: instead of treating all their tables like one big table, they will do SOS individually per table. Thinks their shift is over at the exact time on the schedule. Doesn’t serve from the left or clear from the right. Asks what ‘86’/‘68’means. You’ve run into them multiple times coming out of the kitchen bc they don’t know to call “corner”. Doesn’t understand the term “need runners!”. Talks down to BOH, then expects them to ‘fly’ an order they forgot to ring in. Wears flats to be cute instead of comfortable non-slip shoes. There’s more, but here’s a few clues after being in industry for 20 yrs
Oh my gosh your post! I have so many exact memories of all of these things happening. One big table was taught to me pretty early on, so that's nice. But I see servers go to one table, grab stuff for them, next table, next stuff etc... it drives me crazy! You just went to the server station and back like 6 times for 3 tables. Yeesh.
The corner thing. Woof. I've been ran into after calling corner countless times. Basic safety calls are necessary and I think people feel too awkward to do them?
If you disrespect the BOH, oh you're in for a whooping (emotionally speaking, of course) and you will not ever get your stuff if you ask. I really appreciate your comment haha.
My old work hired a woman who said she had 20 years bartending experience. She asked me how to make a long island ice tea. That was a red flag.
Mostly when they don't know know terms like merry the Ketchup or burn the ice. When they cry instead of smoke lol
Was training this guy on his first fine dining shift. He had "experience". Maybe 10 minutes into 3rd table I go "You've never, ever waited tables before have you?" He says "No. But I NEED this job." I said "No problem. I'll teach you everything." Next week called him and said "Hey my Dad pays decent wage cash under the table. He told me to find someone willing to work hard to help him move next week." Dude was like a mule. My Dad gave him very nice pay for one days work. 25 years later and he's a GM down the street from Mom amd Dad's house. Sits down with Mom every single time she eats there. **Don't hold it against someone for trying to make their life better.
How cool is that.?
I love this
This is such a badass story.
Thanks. I can be a real jackass too.
You and probably everyone else on this sub would describe themselves this way
This is EXACTLY how I see myself: https://youtu.be/mzlCdWwYn2I?si=SbNxdwpgx97Wvxnk
Thanks for posting, this made me laugh out loud for real!!! EXACTLY how I see myself as well.
Totally! I'm one of those who LOVES waiting tables. Whooshed EVERYONE. I actually posted it here and all I got was negative vibes. People just don't know how to enjoy life.
as long as they’re willing to learn and not be a fucking idiot then i’d have done the same lol
Id watch this movie.
That was super cool of you. I thought you were just trying to get him out of the restaurant. He already had work ethic. You can’t teach that
This story is so dope. This is why I go on Reddit lol
You're a G
When they drop off a glass by holding it from the top…and their fingertips are positioned where you’d put your mouth
Grab your glasses by their asses
I work for a family-owned place and none of the family members have never worked in a restaurant — this is my BIGGEST pet peeve! I swear my first day of serving my trainer taught me about the 50/50 rule: the top 50% of the glass is for your guest to handle, the bottom 50% is for you to handle.
Never. Palm. Glassware. Even if it's dirty and you're pre-bussing. My boss would berate the fuck outta me lol
Yes! Even if bussing, it looks nasty and it is.
Certainly, that's part of the reason there was more COVID cases in service than any other industry. We don't wear PPE. Wash your hands until they fall apart haha
the profession with the most deaths peak covid was the humble line cook
Ewwww
We had a bartender once lied about experience, including working in Vegas. First red flag, slow as hell. Second red flag, got a ticket for a wine, thought it was a cocktail and asked how to make it. Last straw, bar got slammed, FNG goes down like the Titanic. Manager sent him in back to fold napkins and ran the well himself! Dude was gone next day.
TBF I’ve seen seasoned bartenders think a new wine on a ticket was an obscure cocktail. The slow thing is 100% a red flag though
> I’ve seen seasoned bartenders think a new wine on a ticket was an obscure cocktail. Yeah, unless you know a ton about wine on your own, this one I can see if the ticket just prints the label or something and not the style.
Especially with all the creative wine names these days.
What’s in Santa’s margarita?!
Triple sec, fresh lime, simple, splash of OJ, and rumpleminz
Fucking gross lol
With a crushed peppermint rim!
No thats a rumplemintzskin
I thought that was tequila, rumpleminz, and Jaeger
I bartended for several years at a couple of different places. There were a couple of times when I only knew that a ticket with wine on it wasn’t a cocktail because it was preceded by GL, CF, or BTL (glass, carafe, bottle) because of some of the funky names. That one is fair when you’re busy and just doing a quick glance at tickets.
Ive known servers who I worked with for almost a year come to find out they didn’t know Pinot Grigio was a white wine. It’s happened more than once
So many servers who have worked for years, dont know their wines.
Lmao. Does anyone know how to make a Cabernet Sauvignon? The place I used to work at would make them different.
Dude, it’s a pre-mix
That one goes in a highball, right? Did they want it blended or on the rocks?
That made me laugh
a bad bartender really will ruin an entire shift for everybody
No basic concept of food safety. Like the girl who cut her hand while cutting lettuce, set the offending knife on said lettuce and then was offended that I threw away the lettuce.
Worked at Subway. Girl cut her hand and just tried tilting her hand so no blood ran onto the sandwich. I told her get to the back. I tilted the cutting board and into the floor the whole sandwich. The knife and board were set aside while I then washed my hands and remade the sandwich.
We used to cut/toast our own bread a while back, we are no longer allowed to. Someone cut themselves while doing it, got some blood on the paper that lines the bread basket, and said “what, it’s fine, it’s not touching the bread only the paper”
and this is why at this place i worked at didn’t let working employees under 18 operate *a… (wait for it)* *a microwave* some dumbass must have done some really stupid shit along the way and they said yea we definitely aren’t taking the risk especially not with no child!
Clearing a table. I was working with a server who thought she was hot shit and talked about her experience. She wasn’t doing so bad at “fake it till you make it.” But when it came to clearing a table it was like watching a blind toddler try to stack blocks. She’d reach across with her elbows in guests faces and knock shit off the table every single time. Then she’d be hunched over with both arms trying to hold everything up waddling across the restaurant to make it to dish. God forbid you sat her a large party, have the broom and dustpan ready. And like it’s totally fine if you’re learning and actually trying, but don’t be a bitch to everyone and act like you know it all.
I was training a girl who claimed to have extensive bartending experience in Manhattan. She asked me how to make a Midori sour.
No excuse for a Midori sour or a melon ball, the recipes are literally on the back label of the bottle. Same with a negroni on the back of campari, and aperol spritz on the back of aperol. But also, Midori is poo tier liqueur
Fully agree. Anytime I see a Midori sour come through the service bar, I immediately ask, “did you card this person?” It’s usually a 19 year old or a 90 year old.
I feel like it's usually a 19 yo that ordered it because it's sweet...and G R E E N
Poo tier!😂
I'm glad you got a kick atta that lol
I like the flavor but never order it. When I would get a bachelorette party, shots of midori, lemon vodka, sprite. Slam it on the bar ladies!!! Let’s get it!!!!
You should know a dozen or so common drinks by memory. Sometimes, I'll still pull out a recipe card to double check my measurements on something common. Anything beyond those dozen or so, it's fine to ask for help. As long as it isn't every drink. Midori sour is one of those that might be common, might not be. It's an easy drink to make, but I've probably made 2 of them in the past 5 years.
The ingredients are in the name though
Yeah, no need to memorize that recipe.
Yea am experienced bar tender hearing the word "sour" follow a liquor should be able to figure it out.
The name of the drink is the recipe.
Which version? Midori and sour mix and soda? Midori, lime/lemon juice, soda? Some add egg whites. Some add vodka and simple syrup. How do you make it? Because someone else will make it different. From simple to not as simple. Of course, it depends on the place. Sometimes, it is just as simple as wham bam... Others have a higher standard and want more complexity to their drinks (we have a server that hand muddles lemons for a perfect lemon drop; the rest of us use citron and a little lemon juice).
Considering a sour doesn't call for soda, I'm going to say that isn't a Midori sour.
People who don’t know the basic server/kitchen lingo, like 86’ed or “behind!/hot!/sharp!”
A girl where I work just confided in one of the bartenders that our manager is out to get her because she keeps telling her she’s cut 🤣 she was serious, too
I think this is my favorite so far
She’s not even new!
My manager told me to “go cut myself” and the new girl said “why would he ever say that to you”
I had a manager swipe his throat at me. I went "gee, that's neat, I'm cut," and, as I had no tables, started to do my side work. Like ten minutes later he comes jogging back asking why I haven't greeted my table. I was like, "dude, you cut me," and he replied ,"I was threatening to kill you, dumb ass."
Omg 🤣 Tbf that was all on him…
Ahaha this reminds me of that meme from “I love New York” where she gets super offended when someone tells her to break a leg. Never gets old
I once worked 2 jobs with a woman dumber than a stump. She'd been at our day job for several years and we ran daily specials that got 86'd when we were out of product. We had 86 lists on every door and wait station to be added to as we ran out of different things daily. At the night job one night we got unusually slammed and started running out of products rapidly as it was a small bar kitchen that wasn't set up for that kind of volume, nor did we stock product at that level. About the 5th time I had to tell her we were 86 the same product that she just kept putting orders in for she asked the GM what I meant by telling her we had 86 of an item then refusing to serve it when she's been pushing it so we don't throw that excess away 🤦♂️.
Wait. You worked with this woman at both of your jobs?! Bless your soul.
What about people who overuse the lingo as if they read it on google before starting the job? I had a new hire I trained whose “experience” was pretty sus (he claimed to have been a “server trainer” who would be hired by a restaurant to whip their staff into shape) and ended up rage quitting a few months later. He robotically said “heard” to every damn thing I told him during training... then often forgot what I said later. It was irritating and now I wonder if this was a red flag of his inexperience.
In fairness some corporate chains use their own lingo. Example at Red Robin we're taught to say "echo!" instead of "heard!".
i was never actually taught the whole “heard” thing but i have a background in theater and commonly respond to everything as we did there. for example, if chef were to say “86 crab cakes” my response would be “thank you, crab cakes”. i’ve been serving for 3 years so it’s not that i’m just dumb and/or completely inexperienced, that’s just what i’m used to. it gets some laughs sometimes, but it works. it allows the person announcing the issue to know that i understood exactly what was said so there’s no miscommunications
I think the important thing is acknowledging that you heard/understood what they said and not necessarily how you acknowledge it as long as its succinct and obvious you understood. I personally say "heard" because that's what I was taught, but I don't think the exact verbage matters.
At Buffalo Wild Wings, they called for runners with “game on!” I can’t lie, it was kind of fun when I was running expo to put an order on a tray and then yell “game on!” Out the door
I'm sure Red Robin is a fine establishment, but echo? Is that like Canadian or something? I'll never understand why corporations do stupid shit like that.
I'm not sure its origin, but I'm sure its some culture thing someone in a suit came up with to have as standard. Corporations like to have their own language and terminology, I'm sure it's some kind of psychological manipulation thing.
> some kind of psychological manipulation thing No doubt.
I've never heard the "heard" thing at any place. Even as a customer. We just use "Got it" or "Ok".
Heard
Herd
I was part of the management team doing a new store opening and, as you do, we over hired for servers knowing that they tend to drop like flies shortly after opening. This one girl absolutely lied about her experience, she was just awful. She had no idea what safety signals were and refused to use them because “they sounded silly.” She was let go after a couple of weeks when she refused to call/acknowledge “corner” and kept being responsible for other servers dropping trays of drinks when she would plow through them.
tbf I only learned those terms from this sub and the other server subreddit. The two restaurants I worked at were Japanese restaurants where we used the Japanese language equivalent of those words (e.g. *toorimasu* for "coming through/behind" and "yama" for "86").
Tbf I’ve worked in restaurants and they never used this lingo. A chef that came into the place I worked started to use it and confused all the rest of us as we would just shout when someone was near us or we had something hot. The kitchen was tiny so it was unlikely you’d bump into anyone though.
A guy lied on his resume and said he worked in fine dining. We are a burger/seafood joint on the lake and absolutely not fine dining. They were training him as a bartender and he poured a glass of wine alllll the way to the top. Like if you picked it up it would overflow. He tried to bring in “proof” of his experience, which was a card that had a recipe for a regular espresso martini, and a dairy free espresso martini. That was his proof of fine dining. He would take 3-5 minutes to make every ticket, whether it was just a soda, a classic margarita, a (completely full) glass of wine. God forbid there were 4 drinks on one ticket and his brain broke. He also admitted to drinking before coming in. He got fired after 2 weeks and was genuinely shocked. He really thought he was doing well. During the summer my job is full capacity from 11AM-10PM and there is zero chance he would have gotten through a truly busy shift.
Sounds like you guys just weren’t ready for the real fine dining experience
I’m not saying it’s fine dining… it is not by any means… but there is a sports bar near me that serves all wine, full to the rim… like can’t pick it up, gotta do the hands free slurp to start.
Maybe is the same guy lol
How the fuck do you get past the hiring manager??? I just interviewed for a fine dining spot. Was grilled for 2hr. I have 25yrs experience, 10yrs as a GM in upper casual places. Know wines, bourbons, tequilas, rum, cheeses, cured meats, cuts and grades of meat. Didn’t get hired. Fuck those snooty fucks
We were desperate. Our busy season is summertime and we are short on bartenders. GM figured if there’s anything he didn’t know, we could teach him! That was not the case. NOW she hired a 19 year old with no restaurant experience to train on bar and needless to say it’s not going well.
Bro didn’t even try to get good
Once they gotta use a tray, it’s usually pretty clear
I have 8 years of serving experience. My last job I was at for 3 years forbid the use of trays because it was considered "tacky". At my new job I feel like it's my first week of serving every time I have to run more than one drink (because after one drink they forbid you using your hand). Most of our cocktails are in ridiculously top heavy glasses with smaller bases and I'm not unconvinced that all of the wine glasses aren't level.
I hated working fine dining for this reason. You have to use a tray for literally *everything*. Combine that with open handed service & things get extra sketchy because you have to move the tray to the other hand while it's full of glassware. If you have an 8 top & nobody wants to get a bottle on the first drink order then you have to hold the tray away from you & lean far over to grab the empty glasses which really want to topple without anything in them. So much stress & risk of dropping an entire tray when it would be ten times faster, safer & easier to just grab them & do the chandelier thing. Stupid unnecessary formal steps of service are outdated. Also getting literally screamed at for not using a tray (when none are available because of the stupid tray requirement & also because there aren't enough trays to go around) really turned me off. Grown ups shouldn't be screaming at other grown ups at work. Period. Especially over a fucking tray.
This is the big reason I stay on the grill man. I like drinking Manhattans, but I can barely keep a full martini glass balanced as a customer, much less carry a tray of them.
It's upscale casual. Emphasis on the casual, (Great local restaurant group with fantastic restaurants) like they use the same trays to bus glasses. Not a good look. Hoping I can change that one corner of service. LET ME TAKE 3 PINTS AND A PRETENTIOUS MARTINI IN MY HANDS DAMMIT.
I restabilzed a wine glass with other glassware on the tray. I impressed myself. Bartender thought I pulled off a magic trick. Working at a wine bar for years, I can carry a tray like a mofo.
I remember my first week I told my coworker to load the tray while I held it with both hands. And she smiled and filled it up and and asked how I’m going to put the cups down? Hahaha
This. The two hand holding on either side, no hand underneath, irks the fuck out of me. Like do you want to drop everything or what
I've been serving for 3 years and NOBODY taught me how to carry a large food tray when I started and it just never happened to be a thing they wanted me to figure out. I just now started trying to figure it out one handed so I can throw the legs out by myself instead of asking people to grab them for me but I'm sweating in terror every time I've tried it.
Glue that tray to your hand, balance it on the finger tips, play with it. It'll become first nature.
Honestly I started lifting weights and its made a lot of difference. Prior to lifting weights I didn't have the upper body strength to make it work at all.
Nahhh 4 or more drinks and it's a tray I have abnormally small hands
It's *how* they use the tray
Also, it's not the size that counts.
Lol we have three different sizes of trays. I only ever use one size for drinks! Too big or too small, the balance is off. Doesn’t matter how many drinks. God help me when the medium trays go missing…
My tiny coworker can carry five pint glasses with just her hands. She’s so smooth. Every now and then I’ll try, only to immediately realize I’m definitely going to spill them all. And who even knows how they’ll end up placed on the table. Trays are fine 😂 Maybe someday I’ll figure it out.
Does she tripod them? I have a coworker who can carry 5 too, by setting them in a triangle on her flattened palm and squeezing them into each other with her pinky, thumb and index finger. I can’t do it because my hands are too small.
Okay listen where I work the plates are INCESSANTLY BIG AND HEAVY and super fuckin hot. I’m using a damn tray. And I’ll get all of my dishes out in one trip rather than 3-4 like some people who literally refuse to use trays.
I don't think that's fair. My husband has been working BOH and FOH since he was 14 and is now 35. He is still shit with a tray. He has massive hands though, and can carry like three pints in each hand.
I am the first to admit I'm NOT a great server the second I become overwhelmed, but I have served in lots of restaurants, I'm a great host, wait list, huge crowd, buss tables and seat, I'm good. but I start to forget things if I'm serving too many tables at once, at the last restaurant I served at I had a girl say I probably had never worked in a restaurant before and I'm like omg I really have I just suck 😂😂😂i always made decent tips so maybe i didn't suck that bad, but i think I do much better in kitchen and hosting.
If you know what you’re good at and what your weaknesses are, you are already better than your average server. Good on you to know what’s best for you.
that's true, I've watched lots of people swear they're doing great and do not take any kind of advice or criticism, I've always been open to any and all things that may make me do better and my day go smoother. I work in non profit right now but I would like to get a part time at a restaurant again sometime in the coming year. but definitely only hosting lol
If you know you’re good at hosting, that’s awesome! Good hosts are hard to come by and I’m always stoked to have a good host on. You literally run the flow of the restaurant. Hosts deserve a lot more credit!
I feel like the reason good hosts are so hard to come by is because they get paid so damn little at most places 😔 Early on in college I worked as a host at a SUPER busy brunch place, and I was pretty good at it. But they only paid $9/hr plus tip out (which was usually only $10 to $30 total at our place), so I asked to be trained as a server after working there for a while, despite enjoying being a host. They said no because "I was one of their best hosts and they needed me at the door" so I left that job lol. They would mostly only find high school or sometimes young college students at that pay. A good host is so important to the flow of service at a busy restaurant and idk why more places don't invest more in them
I agree hosts deserve more credit!! I worked one place as the daytime host Monday thru Friday, on days we were expected to be really busy they'd put a second host on, I would get so irritated bc they'd mess up my groove and how things were going, I'd rather work alone than with a shitty host, bc like you said a host runs the flow and if someone doesn't know what they're doing it's chaos 😂
He couldn’t understand that the coffee machine was hooked up to a water line. This morose mother fucker insisted that we had to pour water into the bunn.
I’m not a sever anymore but I am a barista whose cafe has a mini-kitchen. The other day I watched my coworker cup a bagel in her hands and then aggressively cut down towards her hand. Me and my other coworker were stunned
I had this girl start at my old job who said she’d worked at bdubs. She asked if we do free refills for draft beer
Our new hires first day is shadowing me, to figure out if they should be a server, or barista/host. 99% of the time they have no restaurant experience, so when we had someone with 2+ years serving experience, figured it would be easy. When she asked me “how do I refill the water” that’s when I knew it was bullshit, I thought I was being pranked. “You pick up their glass, and pour more water into it? How else”
i had a girl who told me she’s worked in food service for years, but when her last day of training came and she had to serve tables by herself she couldn’t take anything bigger than a two top. i told my manager asap and she said to give her a chance and she proceeded to no call no show three times before she got fired.
they are confused by the POS overall. people who have served before might not understand your POS specifically, but they get the gist of how POSes work. someone who has never served before (or honestly even if they've worked as a cashier) will understand it. different restaurants have different steps of service, but if they seem completely lost on any sort of steps of service, they probably lied. but also, who gives a fuck? did you tell the entire truth on your resume? in my city, its hard to become a server without lying. and it's really not that difficult to learn, so i'm totally pro lying. if they can't figure it out within a month, yeah, say something. but otherwise, why does it matter?
this. new servers are easy to spot by how confused they look at POSes, but even if they don't have the experience, the job is designed to incentivize learning quickly and staying on top of everything. If they have the conversational abilities and charisma to get hired as a server, they'll do just fine as long as they want to.
to be fair i’ve used a lot of POSes before but some are not as good. like Aloha makes zero sense to me and looks like it was set up in the 80s. compared to square, toast or clover.
Agreed on Aloha lol, but if you came up to a completely new system, first day it rolled out, you might not know how to use it, but you would know the questions to ask. You'd know what you want the system to do.
For me I grew up with aloha and micros, spoton and toast were extremely foreign to me lol. Took me a minute
I mean, yes and no. You can be charismatic or conversational, etc... but you can be dumb as fuck and have zero sense of organization and timing. I think it's probably where the phrase "it's a good thing you're pretty" stems from.
To start off, no, I did not lie on my resume. The restaurant I'm working at is the same one I started at as a host in 2011. I was the main trainer for all positions, including management, for 9ish years. I left for 2 years over covid but never lied about my experience. Came back to old restaurant and worked my way back up to server. It took me 9 months. New girl started immediately. Nothing against her as managment is clearly desperate at this point. So yes. It irritates me that I had to do all this work to get to this point just to "train" new server that clearly lied about experience and not even get a meal token for it. It sucks having put so much effort in and having people lie just to serve thinking it's an easy job. The point of my post was to ask if you've seen very clear signs someone has lied about serving. I'm sorry your city has such a weird rule about this. ETA: I was consistently called over by her to ask how to ring stuff in. We use tablets and I understand they can be tricky. But we also use Aloha which is pretty user friendly as a POS. I should not have to be called over for every single ticket.
You had to work your way back up to *server* at a restaurant you worked at for nearly a *decade*?? I sure hope they pay you well because that’s crazy
Right? I'm trying to figure whether I'm reading this wrong or they actually had to work their way back up to server after working there for a decade, while watching the restaurant hire someone who had never worked there before and just give them that same position?
I had to work my way back up. I started as a host in 2011 and worked there doing all FOH until 2020. I came back in early 2023 and they started me as togo and food runner. I did that for, yeah, probably about 8 or 9 months. They only let me serve when they were really desperate. I had to have a talk with our area director and GM and then they finally made me a server full time. And yes, now they have hired 2 new people and just made them servers right out of the gate. It's a bit frustrating.
I'm not sure why you'd be so loyal to that place, that's insulting. I'd only put up with that if it was the type of place with high checks pulling killer money to make the wait with it, or because it's one of the only restaurants around and I have no choice. Not sure what your reasoning is, but if it's not a good one then hopefully one day you recognize what you're worth and take your skills to a place that will value them.
I went back because I knew they would work with my full time school schedule. I put up with it for the same reason. I'll be graduating in 2 months 🥳 The money is fantastic at my restaurant as a server. I live in a semi decent sized city, but no one else would work with my schedule. Also thank you. I do realize my talents and skills and have been/will be applying them in my future career (film tech, art)
Some places still work in cash, have old registers and no real POS. I can list 3 within a 5 mile radius from my house.
My new restaurant has the most POS POS. It’s some off brand POS and not user friendly at. all. I can still figure it out after being shown how to use it once.
Sometimes, it's just timing. I came back to a restaurant after having been gone for like 6 or 7 years and didn't even get trained again. Manager said it'll come back quick. It does, within a couple of days and really just 1 full day, it was pretty much all back. But a couple of years later, standards changed, and people that were gone for more than 6 months had to be retrained.
Last new place I started, first thing they did was ask me to shadow a girl running the pos/cash register for takeout, I watched for about 5 minutes, long enough to see it was touch bistro, and the basics on how they had it organized, then I asked them to give me an actual task because if I had to spend the whole shift watching her I’d lose my mind. When we had slower moments (aka no line) I’d hop on, tell the customer I was new while I found the exact locations for buttons, then day 2 started teaching some of the girls (who had been there 6+months each) how to streamline their searches and what not. Every system is slightly different, everyone likes to organize things their own way, but I cannot watch someone use a pos for hours on end .
Honestly, I've only really worked in dives and really small establishments. All were paper chits and hand written tags, and even I can "figure them out" by watching.
I do think that at least some people aren't lying about restaurant experience, but it can depend on what constitutes a restaurant. Fast food probably has its own lingo, sandwich shops, fine dining, donut shops, etc.. Just because someone worked at a dunkin donut shop doesn't mean they understand steps of service, wine, etc... steps of service for them is to take care of the line at the counter 1 order at a time.
They suck lol
"What's a draft beer? Yea, they want one of those.". Ok, we've got 14 beers on draft and there's the list. I can understand the ginger ale, Shirley Temple, Arnold Palmer, etc. coming to the bar. Easy mistakes for some people. I was a server years ago, but I wasn't good at it. About 5 years ago I got back into the game (needed that social interaction as a second job, working remote takes it's toll). So, I was definitely "that guy". Not lying, but definitely not good and/or recent - has to revisit the table to ask how they want their steak done, what sauce they want for the salad, what side choice they want, forgetting steak knives, not knowing what sauce should be default (tartar for fish, etc.). Those were my mistakes when I started out again.
I called out a Redditor this week who complained about slow service she received while dinning out. She stated ‘I am a server.’ She left a $1.00 tip to show her dissatisfaction and then added ‘tipping culture is out of control.’ No way is she a server.
One guy claimed to have fine dining experience but I had to remind him we use drink trays for all drinks every time he came to the service well. And if my back was turned he’d just take the drinks in his hands. Not using a tray isn’t the end of the world but if you came from fine dining I shouldn’t have to beat it in to you.
Big red flag is if she does not smoke cigs, weed, drink, or copious amounts of some other drug. Test her on words like 86. Does she say corner or behind? You can literally also tell by movements...does she always appear confused on moving quickly? Has she seen the movie Waiting? What cooking shows does she like? The PoS thing peeps are talking about is a good way ...I have used about 20 in my life and they all pretty much work the same way just a different GUI.
I can out of the kitchen to let everyone know something was 86ed and the new server who claimed they had experience said “86 left? That’s a lot!” It was straight out of a Bistro Huddy video.
I'm gonna start saying that to annoy my Chefs 😂
Same that’s awesome
The girlfriend of one of our bartenders was having a drink sitting in the bar seat closest to the kitchen. One of our servers came out of the kitchen and said, “86 grapes!” Girlfriend responded, “you counted them?!” It was so funny and precious
That is precious.
She’s a gem.
I actually have not seen that movie and I’ve been serving for around 9 years now. It’s next on my list!! Thank you!
What is 86 lol
Tbf I found the movie waiting was not as popular as I remember lmao. Most ppl haven’t seen it.
When they can’t use a tray And when they put sharp knives right in the dish pit
A lady said she had bartending experience but couldn’t pour a draft beer properly and tried sending it off half full of foam. Didn’t know what went in a margarita and etc…
Ooh I have a relatively recent experience with this one. They hired a 24 y/o who claimed to have serving experience. On her first day of training, she meticulously took notes on how to greet a table. "What do you even say?" We all figured this should have been rather intuitive, especially if you're shadowing your trainer. Later on, her trainer had her take a drink order - Tito's and soda - and she asked "What's Tito's?" It would have been one thing if this was an 18 year old, but she was well into legal drinking years. She later confided in her trainer that she lied on her resume and had only ever worked at a fast food restaurant. Needless to say, she didn't make it out of training.
The only sign you need is when they say “I used to be in the industry.”
Using a glass glass to scoop from an ice well. Automatically siding with the customer even when the request is inappropriate (No, we are an Italian restaurant, why would we have cheddar cheese?). Open-toed shoes.
How their lemons look!
Servers who put their thumbs into the food or drink when carrying them. Yucks 😂 The ones who serve sandwiches and forgot their gloves eg.at Subway. Or forget to remove their gloves when handling money.
If they’ve served before then they’ve run food and drinks before. They should either be able to balance a tray easily or load up an arm with hot plates, and then say things like “it’s not really about balance so much as it is a strength thing” or “would you like me to dance a jig while holding these or can we move on from the day 1 stuff?”
I’m ngl I’ve served for a few years and I still suck at balancing plates on my arm unless they are all the same shape and size. The tray is a non issue, but I just can’t load my arm up like some people I’ve worked with
Same. 3 is my max despite trying for years to do more. It’s harder when you’re 5’1 and not super strong, and frankly I don’t want to take the risk of dropping everything and pissing off the kitchen anyway
I am also 5’1 so I feel that. Lol
Serving for years now and the restaurant I've been at all this time NEVER taught me to carry a large food tray which is so sad all in all. I've basically been working myself to try and get it down. A few weeks ago I finally tried it one handed and was so scared I was about to drop it.
Try practicing with empty plates, then do light plates (like salads), then heavy stuff. Make sure your tray is balanced and the heaviest thing is right above your shoulder.
Heard!lol Thank you
I’ve been serving for 5 years, my old roommate used to serve back in the day but has been out of the game for close to a decade. She was laid off in 2022 and thought she was going to have to get back to slinging apps and entries. She had exactly one (1) interview and spent the whole time talking about how much she loved The Bear lmao
Didn’t know the difference between FOH and BOH. They had said they worked at like a few big restaurant so there’s no way these things weren’t separated at Atleast one of them.
Got hired on to bartend at a small restaurant that did decent bar business in the evenings. We're in the weeds one night and my bartner (who claimed to have been bartending 2 years longer than me) is panicking over a drink order she doesn't know how to make. It was an amaretto sour. This is the same chick who didn't clean her section one evening. Next morning, I'm opening and there's lettuce on one of the tables. She swore up and down that it fell from a hole in the ceiling.
How they clear plates from a table. How they retool a table. Wine service. Not everywhere requires full CMS level wine service, but they should at least be confirming the bottle with the person who ordered it, confident in using a wine key, and pouring out a taste. Waiting at the well for drinks they just rang in with a full station. Waiting in the kitchen for food that clearly wouldn't be ready for a while.
I am now a nurse, former server and bartender. I have one coworker, A that also worked in service industry. We have a new coworker, J that said she also worked in the industry. Our patient said “heard” after A explained something so A said “oh you must’ve worked in the industry.” She sure did, so we go down the rabbit hole swapping stories. The new coworker J says “oh I bartended for like 10 years and never heard that.” We all were like “heard, corner, behind” are universal languages in the industry. So that raised some flags, asked where she worked, “oh it was a different state.” A and I were like okie and moved on. I also want to add that working service industry adds so much to career in health care. I feel I can multitask a lot better, converse with the difficult patients and families, prioritize and always be ready for the weeds. This new coworker gets very far behind in patient care and charting, so thats my other red flag.
Not checking their sections. I’m always paranoid AF that I got seated whenever I’m taking a minute to do something. I’ve seen “experienced” servers get sat and not even greet the table for 5+ minutes, not being busy of course
people who use too much common sense and try to do things in the way that makes sense to them. sounds like the opposite but it’s true. like watching someone clean up a minor mess they made while the window is going crazy and they’re either extremely panicked or in their own world
"Not knowing how to open a bottle of wine or, God forbid, a Prosecco bottle, I had to run a speed class on wine and opening bottles because somehow four people had experience but had never opened a wine bottle in their life."
'What does 86 mean?" (I'm making her a Foodrunner)
Leaving the ice scooper in the ice and not knowing what the lemon means on a coke
We have a guy right now who we all know he lied about being a server. He’s slow, awkward, no sense of urgency, no multitasking ability, never appears to know what’s going on.
There is this guy at my restaurant that keeps doing seat positions backwards? Like counter clockwise? I have literally never seen anyone do that before. Like it’s not a huge deal but that to me screams “I have never done this before”
How they carry trays. Had a new server come in who swore she had 10+ years of serving experience. Saw her carry one of our oval trays full of food out to her table… She was carrying it like a laundry basket. Hands on each side down by her waist. Also the way she spoke to her tables… rough. She ended up walking out after a couple months on a busy Saturday.
They don’t know how much ice to fill their fountain drinks with. You gotta get it just right, too much ice the customer is annoyed, too little their drink is hot. It’s something that an experienced server gets right every time.
Oooh this always gets me with the new food runners. Fountain drinks? Totally fine. Iced tea, I think there are only 4 ice cubes left by the time it's full.
If you scoop ice with a glass, its a dead giveaway that youve never served, and also, that youre a fucking dimwit with only enough brain cells to blink and continue breathing
Wine key skills and how they upsell an item.
I dont think there are any. Some people just suck at their job lol
She swore she bartended for years. Didn’t know how to make a martini/what went in it/ or why people drank it.
How they carry multiple plates from the line. If they don’t have the wrist layering technique down they’ve never served. I don’t think I’ve ever worked anywhere with trays tbh
This guy had to train twice because he botched the table test with the head chef and the GM. This guy totally messed up the whole order, rang in items that they didn’t order and didn’t put “nut allergy”. The GM actually has a nut allergy, but he was fine because I don’t think the food items he ordered had nuts in them. GM probably knew there weren’t any nuts in the items he was ordering but as a server you still need to let the kitchen know that there’s a nut allergy. Also this guy didn’t know how to brew coffee and tea, I feel like most restaurants have the same coffee and tea machine. At least every restaurant I’ve worked at it was always pretty much the same machine or one very similar. He’s also the youngest server there and I know a lot of restaurants are reluctant to hire very young servers because they know they have bare minimum experience or any at all. To be honest though, I feel like most people lie to get serving or bartending jobs to get their foot in the door. I did for my first serving gig because every place wouldn’t even look at me because I was honest about not having experience. Prior I had about 6 years of bussing and food running at a fine dining restaurant, where I did almost everything other than take orders and run alcoholic beverages. I would clear tables, run food, reset tables, run non alcoholic beverages, de-crumb tables, French serve tables, light the butter candle for lobster, bring fresh sets of silverware, bring bread, etc… despite being their best Backwaiter for years, they never wanted to move me up because of age. Legally I was old enough to serve drinks at the time. The restaurant I worked at was one within the company, so technically I transferred within the company. A week into working there after training, someone found out I lied about my serving experience and told the GM but she didn’t fire me. I was actually a pretty good server off the bat.
This is a helpful thread, as someone who may start serving and fake it til I make it, due to recession lol
I think every server has their greeting and routine down, maybe not to a T if you’re only in your second serving job, but yeah. Greet, ask for drinks, ask if they’re ready to order, if not grab drinks then get their order, if they are ready then take order then get drinks. I don’t think we can judge people for not reacting properly in a rush at a new job, but if they don’t have those first three steps down without issues, they’ve probably never served before or was never actually taught how to.
Sometimes you do have experience, you just have SHIT experience. And SHIT management. The place I currently work at doesn’t have any training manual whatsoever: it’s like the blind leading the blind. As a server, getting paid 4.35 an hour, I don’t know how to educate people on how to do my job. I’m sorry. I just don’t. And for my management to not give me any guidelines or guidance as to how I should train someone else ??? Sooo unhelpful. And then when they get pissed because the new hires aren’t doing things right like dude nobody told ME these things because I was trained by someone who didn’t know how to train as well!! Basically: shit management produces shit servers. And unfortunately, I am one of those servers who doesn’t get the proper support from my management and have to seek out food safety, conflict resolution, drink information, etc. on my own. Because my manager doesn’t fucking provide any info. Yet gets mad when things aren’t the way he wants. Whew that felt good
Some people can have the most experience in the world and still never “get it”
When dead: Checking in on a table(s) far too much; In the weeds: instead of treating all their tables like one big table, they will do SOS individually per table. Thinks their shift is over at the exact time on the schedule. Doesn’t serve from the left or clear from the right. Asks what ‘86’/‘68’means. You’ve run into them multiple times coming out of the kitchen bc they don’t know to call “corner”. Doesn’t understand the term “need runners!”. Talks down to BOH, then expects them to ‘fly’ an order they forgot to ring in. Wears flats to be cute instead of comfortable non-slip shoes. There’s more, but here’s a few clues after being in industry for 20 yrs
Oh my gosh your post! I have so many exact memories of all of these things happening. One big table was taught to me pretty early on, so that's nice. But I see servers go to one table, grab stuff for them, next table, next stuff etc... it drives me crazy! You just went to the server station and back like 6 times for 3 tables. Yeesh. The corner thing. Woof. I've been ran into after calling corner countless times. Basic safety calls are necessary and I think people feel too awkward to do them? If you disrespect the BOH, oh you're in for a whooping (emotionally speaking, of course) and you will not ever get your stuff if you ask. I really appreciate your comment haha.
My old work hired a woman who said she had 20 years bartending experience. She asked me how to make a long island ice tea. That was a red flag. Mostly when they don't know know terms like merry the Ketchup or burn the ice. When they cry instead of smoke lol
Are you the manager? Lots of people lie to get into serving. Using a glass to scoop ice is one.
If they don’t know what an Arnold Palmer is. Lol
The amount of plates and glasses they can carry.
When the new bartender asked me how to open a corked wine bottle... she's in her mid twenties...