Waitersfriend

I was recently out and about in the lovely city of Gothenburg, Sweden.  My wife and I were showing an Aussie friend around our new town. 

Inevitably it came to the point in the day when our thoughts turned to where we can have a feed and a few drinks.  We found a place called the Avalon Hotel, which is a boutique style hotel in the heart of the city centre.  It has quite a large outside seating area, which is perfect on a warm (Swedish style) Summer’s day. So we stroll in, looking for a table, with the full intention of parking ourselves there [read more...]

There are no right or wrong ways to present a menu but it is important that you know the house rules and the kind of service that your establishment is looking for in order to have consistency.

There are a couple of ways to present a menu.  If you have a nice menu cover you may wish to present the menu closed so the customer may admire the cover.  If this is not necessary then you may wish to present an opened menu for the customer.  It is a little bit of extra service.

This can be very helpful when a dessert page [read more...]

I think it’s a fair comment that over the last 10 years there has been quite a decline in the manner in which wine is being served, especially in the Australian café scene.  Here are a few examples - I’ve sat at a ‘table service’ eatery and ordered a bottle of wine.  When the ‘server’ returned with the wine it was merely plonked on the table in a wine bucket, quickly followed by the departure of said server.  Sure the wine had a screw cap closure so we didn’t need to be carrying any ‘fancy’ old school equipment like, lets say, [read more...]

1.  If a guest is celebrating a special occasion, print out a copy of the menu and sign it on behalf of the staff & offer it as a memento.  Anniversaries are perfect.

2.  When a cocktail is ordered that no one knows how to make, or a guest says, ‘I had this amazing cocktail at………’ - call the venue they just talked about and ask them how to make it or look it up on the web.  We once called a hotel in the U.S from Australia to get a recipe.

3.  Whenever you sense that a male is taking his [read more...]

Tags: waiter, waiter resources, waiter support

As a waiter, every single night you will come across a guest that has some form of special dietary requirement.  Some of these requirements may seem a little far fetched, however it is imperitive that we listen to the guests’ needs and do our very best to accommodate them in order to avoid any unwanted health incidents.

We would like to name a few that we have come across on a regular basis, and specify the needs associated with each.  Of course there will be other requirements that I do not cover and would love to hear comments from other waiters out there in [read more...]

There are a few potential sensitive spots that relate to bill presentation;

1.  A BILL SHOULD NEVER BE PRESENTED UNLESS REQUESTED BY A CUSTOMER!

2.  Don’t retrieve the bill too quickly, unless it is obviously ready to be paid.  This can seem pushy and some guests take their time in paying!

3.   Always return any left over cash to the table - don’t assume it has been left for a tip.

A good waiter will always know where their tables are up to.  This form of anticipation is important for any good, professional service.  If desserts have been ordered or menus offered then it is a [read more...]

Tags: waiter support

Saying goodnight is just as important,  if not more important, than greeting them when they arrived.  It is the last thing they remember about your restaurant.

At lunch you can use a more relaxed tone such as, ‘thanks for coming” but at night a more formal approach like, ‘thankyou, and good night’ will work well.

Don’t forget to return any items such as coats or bags.  It is also a good opportunity to hand them any information regarding menu changes or upcoming events.

It is important to remember that the customer must always feel well looked after by you.  Saying goodnight has the same [read more...]

Tags: Hospitality, waiter resources

Why do people go to restaurants or any other eatery?

Most of them do it to get out of the house or away from work, or to entertain (show off to) others.  So providing a place where they can come and relax, as well as enjoy good food or beverages while being served by well informed and happy staff is the secret.  The staff will make the night and the rest is just filler - which is of course very important, but no matter how satisfying the environment or the food or the wine is - it just isn’t the same if [read more...]

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 [read more...]

Complaints are an every day occurrence across our industry.  Some are justified and others not.  The one thing we must accept is that they occur.  Dealing with complaints is no different than having good food knowledge or knowing your wine list.  It is just another skill all good waiters & managers should have.  Once you have knowledge of how to deal with complaints you can take control of them and not take them personally.

When a customer complains, ensure that you listen very carefully, not just with your ears but also with your body language.  It is much better to have [read more...]