The easiest way to look like an absolute professional in the customers eyes is to use position numbers on your tables. This is something generally used in most top end restaurants but there is no reason why it cannot work in any restaurant. It allows food to be taken from the kitchen and delivered to the person who ordered it without standing at the end of the table and screaming, ‘WHO ORDERED THE SPATCHCOCK?’
To make it work, a manager needs to assign a seat on each table that will be called Position 1 - it needs to be a system that works for each table in the restaurant and leaves no doubt in any staff members head which person is position number 1. For example, the seat closest to the bar or kitchen on each table - each restaurant has a different layout but I have found that the above example works well in pretty much every establishment I have worked in.
Now that Position 1 is clear, it is just a matter of heading around the table in a clockwise direction from position 1 - counting up as you go - ie. position 2, position 3 and so on. Always be sure to count the empty positions as well, in case someone joins the table after you have taken the order.
When taking an order, write the position number next to the order, and voila that person will get exactly what they ordered with all modifications and side dishes and no confusion.
This method also helps communication amongst staff - for example, ‘position 3 doesn’t want any more wine’, as opposed to, ‘ the big guy in the blue shirt with brown hair and slight body odour with his back towards me on table 5 doesn’t want any more wine.’
Also think of the times when the kitchen runs out of something without telling you, after you have placed the order. This system allows you to discreetly go to position 4 on table 6 and find another option for them, instead of trying to interrupt a table of ten (very hard without food in your hands) to find out who ordered the dish you have run out of, whilst copping abuse from the loud drunk guys at the end of the table who are adamant that you stuffed up the order.
The less time you spend on administration, the more time you will have to concentrate on nailing your section and maximising tips. Plus you will look like a pro in the process.
#1 by waiterextraordinaire at February 1st, 2010
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Seat position numbers are crucial. For anyone not sure we have a map of all the tables with position 1 marked.
#2 by Shaun Cooper at February 1st, 2010
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Waiter ex - a map is a foolproof way of doing it.
#3 by waitressdiary.blogspot.com at February 1st, 2010
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Absolutely!! Position numbers are crucial I never operate without them. I refuse, absolutely refuse to ‘cattle call’ anything. No matter what. In my restaurant we all use them, however their are slight variances between who considers position one at the table. For me the woman is always one if it’s a deuce. If there isn’t a woman at the table one is always at six oclock or the closest to me from my ‘pivot point’ I always stand at one side of the table. It does vary occasionally but my ‘pivot point’ is usually what is closest to the kitchen. When I write orders I use a template that it designed with three sections and numbered. Any position number that is a woman is circled. When delivering anything women are always first. If I determine who is the ‘head’ of the table aka.. who’s paying. That person’s position is underlined. This guy gets the check, I present the wine to him or her and generally allow him to set the pace for coursing.
#4 by PurpleGirl at February 1st, 2010
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It drives me nuts when my coworkers don’t use position numbers properly. We’re the kind of restaurant where the food is run by whoever is available when it’s finished, so it’s even more important for us!
Unfortunately, 9/10 orders are screwed up in some way. Maybe expo put the plates up backward, and I just picked up the first three and looked at the table number, stupidly assuming they’d be right. More common is when people just plain don’t know how to do it. It’s not hard: the person on the left is position one, and so on around the table.
Some people manage to screw that concept up, though–Brainless told me the other day “I thought it was the person closest to the kitchen!” Which maybe it is in some places, though that seems mighty confusing to me.
We also have round tables, which is of course a giant pain in the ass to determine where the server started taking orders!
#5 by Shaun Cooper at February 1st, 2010
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WaitressDiary - I suppose as long as the rest of the staff know where your pivot point is, then that would work well.
PurpleGirl - there is nothing worse than that blank stare you get from customers when you put a meal in front of them that they didn’t order - they start to get all panicky and teary cos you have stuffed up their order only to realise it is for the person next to them! It drives me nuts too which is why it is so important to have a set procedure in place that all the staff are aware of. Round tables would be a big pain in the ass - have only worked with them on weddings where it is a set menu - but perhaps you could find a line on the floor (carpet join or something like it) and position one is to the left of that line? I dont know, its a tough one. Perhaps someone else has some ideas?
#6 by teleburst at February 4th, 2010
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You know, it’s funny - the classic seat ordering system was counter-clockwise, which I never knew until I did some research. I’ve been in 4 different restaurants in the past 16 years and all of them have gone clockwise. I don’t know if this is just feels more natural to servers.
It’s actually more logical to go counter-clockwise if you think about it. Since the usual procedure is to place dishes from the left and remove from the right, going counterclockwise allows you to place a dish without going behind the back of the guest first. When you go clockwise, you must go behind the next guest in order before placing the dish. Going counter-clockwise allows you to approach each guest from the side that you are placing the dish from.
I’m not advocating changing it, because I think it’s way too ingrained in servers’ minds. But I just wanted to point that out.,
Of course, if we went clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, wouldn’t you go counter-clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere?
#7 by Shaun Cooper at February 4th, 2010
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Teleburst - that is a pretty cool fact! Had no idea that they used to run counter clockwise but it does make sense thinking about. It is actually rare to see a waiter serve from the left these days - traditions are going out the window slowly but surely. Nice little dig at us Aussies too
- we like to move forward down here rather than backwards!!
#8 by PurpleGirl at February 4th, 2010
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I like the idea, but I don’t think any of the geniuses where I work would be able to figure out that left of the carpet groove is position one–that requires putting two and two together and getting 4 instead of a blank stare.
#9 by Shaun Cooper at February 4th, 2010
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Haha purplegirl - I know the feeling…
#10 by teleburst at February 5th, 2010
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Well, not a “dig” really, just a dig at the myth that water flows down the drain in the opposite direction in your neck of the woods than it does in our three basin sink behind the bar.
#11 by Shaun Cooper at February 5th, 2010
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yeah picked up on the reference teleburst.. is it a myth?
#12 by teleburst at February 5th, 2010
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As far as I can tell, it is.
#13 by Hoss Esmaeilzadeh at February 5th, 2010
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Sure, position numbers and a floor map with table layouts and seating positions are crucial to ensure the right meal is served to the right guest. Here are a few other restaurant etiquettes that are forgotten these days:
1) The meals should always be served from guests’ right hand side.
2) The main ingredient of the dish (Beef, Fish, etc) should be facing the guest when plate is in position on the table.
3) The ladies at the table should be served first (oldest to youngest), followed by men (oldest to youngest).
4) Failure to follow rule 3, always move clockwise.
5) Don’t clear the table until every guest has finished.
6) Always clear plates from guests’ right hand side.
7) Do not scrub plates in front of guests.
These are the rules that were followed in the fine dining restaurants not so long ago. Of course, these days tradition is out the door and anything goes. In my opinion, it highlights a lack of proper training.
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#14 by you know who at February 13th, 2010
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Waitersfriend & teleburst, to clarify the down the basin thing;
it is true but only due to the fact the we are actuall underneath and you are on top. imagine that a frisby is spinning through the air. look at it from above and then from underneath. same direction technically but opposite depending where you are looking from.
#15 by Shaun Cooper at February 14th, 2010
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You know who - nice explanation.. it is all clear now!
#16 by banquet manager at February 17th, 2010
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I have always used seat positions in banquet too. When taking tableside orders for plated meals it’s just as important as in a restaurant. But we go counterclockwise so when we serve from the left we are always facing the table and don’t need to walk backwards.
#17 by Shaun Cooper at February 18th, 2010
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Banquet Manager - yeah i guess it does depend which side you serve from. Down here in Oz, most restaurants will serve from the right which of course lends itself to heading around clockwise.