23/F As a seasoned server , Just wondering how the tip rules are , pros and cons As I’ve been deciding where I’d wanna work! please delete if not allowed

Let me say I have been in this industry for a long time it helped pay my bills in high school and college and is funding me going back to college to continue my education. Yesterday was my third double of the week and it was a pretty slow lunch. I was at my table taking an order and this guy walks in and I gave him a look to acknowledge he was there and I would be with him in a moment. The lady at my table had an allergy and a couple questions so it took a second to take her order. While I’m talking to her the guy from the front walks up to me and just stands next to me while I’m finishing the order. My table is confused and so am I so I turn and point to a table that he can sit at and I will be with him in a a moment. He asks me where the pizza buffet is and I tell him we got rid of it but to give me a minute and I can help him. He walks to the table frustrated, whatever, and I finish talking to my table and get their order. I go to the old guy who wants the buffet with some menus and he was like when did you get rid of it? I told him at had been 6 months. Shit u not he slams his hand on the table and loudly exclaims “BULLSHIT I came here a month ago and you had it! You just didn’t want to put it out today right.” I’m already irritated and get him a Diet Coke and a water for his friend who will be showing up. The friend gets there and they order a large pizza and I put that in. I had to go to the cooler to get more tomatoes for a salad for someone else when I come back the man is in the kitchen talking to the cook who speaks very little English asking for a candle for his pizza. I tell him to go sit down and I’ll search for it. I look we don’t have any, whatever right? Wrong. I tell him and he says well then you can sing him happy birthday. I bring the pizza out and I just sing the first line of happy birthday, and he looks at me and says keep going. I laugh and say haha I can’t do that I don’t know your name. The pestering guy says his name is Brian and I was like oh okay and continue singing. I finish and he makes a comment that I should have done it like Marilyn Monroe. At this point I’m so irritated I want them to go. Of course the one paying is the difficult one. He tips me $3 after all that and says next time I need to open the pizza buffet. His friend felt bad for me and came in like an hour later and gave me a $10 and he apologized for his friends behavior and said “people get like that when they become old farts” the entire experience ruined my day and I was just completely irritated for the rest of the day by it.

Table of 3, 2 men and one woman come in, and it's clearly one guy's birthday. Both guys are grey, and look to be late 50s or early 60s. They were a relatively easy table, and everything was smooth sailing until it came time to pay the bill.

Dude whose birthday it is asks me if we have a military discount. I told him the establishment's policy of how military discounts are only offered if you come in uniform and have an active duty ID. He proceeds to asked me, "what are you a goddamn communist?" Only took me a second to recover from the shock of his audacity. I explained how I don't make the restaurant's rules, and I even apologized.

But like what?? Really???

Coworker jokingly said maybe I AM a commie sympathizer since I am so strictly following the rules! LOL

How slow are things for you guys right now? I hear that a lot of restaurants are hurting right now, and traffic is down. How have you guys been affected?

Just because I work in a pub does not mean I work for the pub, or for it’s manager. Nor does it mean I can give membership discounts to someone just because they have the barcode app on their phone.

I work at the bistro and the kitchen has been leased out from the pub to my boss and he runs his own business there separate from the pub. He’s a private contractor. Which means we have no affiliation with the company in charge of the pub. So we can’t give membership discounts when someone orders a meal.

I know it sucks for customers to be told that they can’t get what they think they’re entitled to. But why is that my fault? I’m just doing what my boss told me to do. Explain to them in a calm and professional manner that because we are a separate business from the pub we cannot give discounts.

I’m not trying to be unfair to people. It just is what it is. But that makes me the bad guy because I’m the one who has to deliver the bad news.

Don’t shoot the messenger.

Hi friends! I’ve somehow managed to secure a trial shift tomorrow and Saturday night. I was shortly a waitress in high school but that was 3 years ago… I’m hoping to make a really good impression, so I’m just looking for tips on how to be on my a-game! The restaurant is a small Greek place with a cute beer garden.

Thanks in advance 😊

If you’re serving and someone clearly takes an interest and leaves you their phone number, how often (if ever) do you call/text them??

This is a new one for me. My table ordered a mojito, and towards the end of the meal sent it back for being too bitter. She asked if we had any sweeter drinks and I recommended two of our martinis. She chose our pineapple martini, and when I went to set it down at the table she was like, "oh sorry, we don't drink alcohol." Like what?????

How do you order a mojito and a martini and just magically expect that I'm supposed to know you were asking for virgin cocktails. Some people are weird...

Tonight was dogshit. Understaffed, overwhelmed, I did not provide the service I know I am capable of and it pains me. Will I get bad reviews? Probably. Are they warranted? Yes. I admit my faults. I got sat back to back and was in the weeds, I flopped and paid the price. Nobody is to blame but myself.

My last table of the night was a pair of newlyweds. They told me they got married this past Friday and this was their first dinner as a wed couple, I had their drinks comped and talked to them not as a server, but as a human. Kind people, it honestly made my night. I work at an upscale steak place and when they told me the steaks they had were better than the ones they had at their own wedding, it made me happy.

We were understaffed and overwhelmed tonight. Several callouts and a plethora of walk-ins made the night backed up and stressful. Any other restaurant I worked at whenever a guest raved about the food I simply smiled, thanked them and moved on, but after the shitshow that was tonight I felt the kitchen needed the morale boost and told them about this table.

They come out, talk to them, thank them, and have an honest conversation with them. I gave them some champagne OTH and enjoyed my time. I haven't been serving long but one thing I learned is that this not about turn-and-burn style serving, having a small section and working it like an orchestra is something that really strikes with me. Providing personal, and carefully crafted service makes me satisfied.

Does anyone else have a manager that will eat some of your food “bc they are your boss” ? Recently one of our servers took a management position and now she just constantly eats our food. It’s about 50/50 when she knows it’s ours or “thinks it’s dead food” I’m more venting than anything. Today I worked 10 hours and finally got to take a bite of food and as I was doing that (after her fourth meal of the day) she comes over with a fork AND PLATE, takes half of my breakfast/lunch/dinner and says” I just couldn’t help myself” so I said “what are you doing? That’s the only thing I get to eat today..” and she literally said “I’m the boss and I’m hungry” she does this with everyone but not usually to this extent, she will usually just stick her talons into your food and put it directly into her mouth a couple times.

I’m fed up with working as a cashier. I only get a few hours. Thinking about getting a job as a server. Servers, do you get paid decently or is it sometimes on and sometimes off? And is the money you make worth the stress you go through?

I (25, F) just started serving at an American restaurant and I’ve been dropping shit back to back. So the other day, I dropped a glass of wine on a gentleman in a 4 top. Today, I dropped coleslaw down this ladies back. I’m still pretty new but dang when does stuff start to STAY in your hands? Don’t even get me started on drinks. I’m so scared of drink trays.

So someone I work with is now a trivia host on fridays at the restaurant we work at. It’s just the both of us on Friday nights. We are already in a tip pool together the other nights, but the manager is not paying him more to do the trivia, so I’ll be serving all of the tables in the restaurant while he does the trivia , but I’m required to split all of my tips with him. Is this normal? From my understanding the manager is supposed to pay him for the gig. Not me .

No matter how many days I have off in a row, I can’t seem to not need to crash out over the most trivial stuff. Like I’m pretty self aware…so I acknowledge that this shouldn’t get under my skin, but it does.

Here’s a short list of things that felt like my 13th reason in the moment:

-someone ordering a water with lemon AND lime.

-someone ordering a “salad wedge” instead of saying “a wedge salad”

-people asking for straws before I can even finish setting all the drinks on the table.

-someone taking it upon themselves to order “waters for the table” and half the people don’t even drink it. Because they didn’t FUCKING want it to begin with.

-grown people confidently mispronouncing Mahi Mahi as Maui Maui. Bro what.

Anyway, put a fork in me. I’m done.

Guys I’ve officially gotten to the point at my job where me and my coworkers get smashed every “weekend” (Wednesday-Saturday). Not just a few drinks but staying up,❄️”skiing”, getting drunk and going to sleep at 9am (sometimes later). I already struggled with alcoholism but now that they’ve introduced me to snow I have been getting way too into it. It’s really this one guy that I’ve been hooking up with at work who i party with all the time. However I’m still in college and this is affecting my sleep schedule, mental health, and academics significantly. The worst part is that these people I party with have become my closest friends. But my actual best friends have become concerned with my habits , it’s just so hard to stop when I see these coworkers all the time and we’ve built such a strong bond. Ugh. Can anyone relate to this issue ?

I had some amazing luck tonight at work. Every table was nice, tipped great and barely left a mess! I’m posting this hoping I can pass along this good luck!

Recently opened a new tap house and we do tip pooling. I am looking for a system to automate the process. Multiple employees come in through out the day but I want them to each earn the credit card tips in the specific hours they worked.

I can only find software to divide by hours employees worked. Helllppp

Do you give ur tables candy? Our place is heavily GF so not sure if that’s a good idea, I think I might give stickers but I wanted to know if ppl do that

I'm a new host three weeks into my new job at a restaurant, and I've been experiencing really bad anxiety and panic attacks over mistakes I'm making. Looking for any support or advice.

(I already signed up for therapy, but the waitlist I'm on is really long, if I could go tomorrow I absolutely would + I've called every free hotline there is)

Is it normal to still be making mistakes three weeks in?

Some things I've done: I took first drinks for a table and accidentally sent them to the wrong table, one night I was caught using my phone at the host stand by a manager who was drunk and at the venue on a night out (it was quiet by this point, and seemed like a more casual night as another manager was having a leaving party in the venue + my supervisor who is also roommates with the one who caught me had been giving me shots behind the host stand all night), I stupidly asked for a break one night last week at a point when it was really busy, I once wandered into the middle of a massive manager's meeting and stood there like an idiot asking if I could talk to a manager (I've learned now that that's a really big weekly meeting that should never be disrupted), I was the host on shift two days ago when an important key went missing from the host stand, a security guard took it and wandered off and I'm not in again till Friday so don't know the outcome of the situation, I've lost my fob three times and had to have it replaced.

I have ADD which slightly explains the losing things but I just hate the way my meds make my heart race when I take them so I don't.

I feel really shit because being in my probation period means I could get fired at any time at random, but idk if I'm close to that point or not. I feel like shit, I'm so anxious and I just want to know how I'm doing.

There were originally two new host hires, but they switched the other one to barback, so I'm the only new person and am left with no idea if I'm operating at a normal level of messing up, or if I'm especially bad. I just want to know.

I’ll be working a double tomorrow for Halloween and wanted to do a last minute costume. The other servers already have their costumes but I wanted to do something simple as I was not originally planning on dressing up, I was just curious if anyone else is also dressing up tomorrow and what your ideas are? I wear an all black attire for my restaurant but any ideas would be fun to hear!

My restaurant is in a big city with strict liquor laws. Restaurants can serve beer & wine but need a specific (and very expensive) license to sell hard alcohol. We had a buy out last night and my boss tells me right before we start that the hosts have asked for a signature drink and he wants me to batch cocktails for the party. I’m not a bartender nor have I ever presented myself as someone with bar experience but I am the pseudo wine director (meaning I handle the wine list and inventory) so I guess anything related to beverages would fall on me. I batched the drinks reluctantly and did so in the back office, but would I actually get in any trouble for this? I hold a basic food handlers certificate required by the health department to serve food. Most bartenders or people serving hard alcohol also have the RBS certification (stands for responsible beverage service I think) so I guess I’m not worried about losing some sort of certification I don’t have. But would anyone actually get into trouble for this or does ABC (alcohol bev control) actually care about small cases like this?

You have a 3 table section ( restaurant is open from 4:30 to 9:30), end of night, you're cut, you've done your sidework and silvy, out of your 3 tables, 1 payed and left. 2 tables remain, both cashed out. You've already waited 30 minutes, but the 2 remaining tables are camping.

How long do you wait before you just leave?

I work at a small owned pizzeria and at first when I started I was told server shifts were split between everyone but they forgot to mention that doesn’t apply to me. I work 21 hour’s a week yet they put me on a 5 day schedule for short hours 4-6 hour shift’s so I’m only getting 21 hours like everyone else but full time? I don’t like that I’m trying to get it changed. They pay $10.50 a hour and servers 6.50 a hour well I make $30 at most in tips but most days $22 literally and I work so hard I’m always making sure everything is done so the managers only have to worry about making food that’s the goal right? Well I’m put on serve shift everyday now they won’t even put me on kitchen. They consistently beg me to stay and how bad it would suck if I left, I’m doing dishes everyday nonstop which okay I’m fine doing I need money but damn it’s boring and you can’t even listen to music you have to pay full price for food and the gm is honestly a overly inappropriate diva queen. I’m already on the hunt for a new job I make a far commute because I’m waiting on a apt I’m moving into literally a 10 feet walk away and I definitely thought it was a good idea but now I’m losing more money than I’m making I had to fight and make threats for two of my first paychecks because the manager didn’t do his job right because he’s only there two days a week to let the managers have days off. Sorry for the ramble but now I’m finding out there taking 40% out on taxes of my tips and I don’t even make over $30 like I said so why? That’s almost all my check? And I’m driving so much in gas and miles already they kept trying to get me to take a cash advance and wait for my check well I did and a day later my check came now I owe them $80 but I told them they are waiting till my next check since taxes took so much and I need gas to even get to work. The managers do tips when you leave so they count them and I don’t actually make $20-$30 the store usually gives us $10-$20 if we don’t make good tips.

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/Serverlife/s/kvWT2p0rjU

Second best case scenario happened for what could come out from this shit show.

(Best case would be the manager getting fired but there was a zero chance that was going to happen with how she’s manipulated the owners)

After I wrote the higher ups the message saying how disrespectful and unappreciated I felt and that i would like to speak in person to one of the higher up managers they came online and read it but never replied.

They didn’t call me when I didn’t go in so I assumed they had approved my day off I asked for.

They ignored me for 3 days and then sent me a slack message that I couldn’t even read bc they removed me off the slack group…

And I can’t see my schedule anymore so I guess I’ve been let go lol.

Time to file for unemployment! :D

Also the head bartender that also quit that day already got 2 job offers. I’m not too worried myself either about finding a job.

We were the 2 only full time employees there and we always picked up any shifts that ppl called out on or asked to trade so… good luck staffing I guess. But since the manager said we’re not short staffed and totally fine, I’m sure they’ll be ok! 🤣😇

Told all the trainees that just started about what happened because I knew they were gonna make me and the bartender out to be villains who conspired against the manager or some bs. So I found their numbers before they kicked me out of the scheduling app too and gave them the 411 and warned them that it’s a sinking ship. They’re also not gonna continue there 😊.

In the process found out so many coworkers are also over it and want to quit or are looking for new jobs.

They are fucked.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes 🏆

From my manager

I’m the youngest person in the restaurant I manage and have been there 3 years

A server about 50 in age has been increasingly difficult, he has been there 7 years, always gets the best section, only works two days a week, and never covers.

I was having to bus over the weekend as the bussers had both called out and when i went over to clear one of his tables he goes “this is name he’s my favorite busser”

Which seemed like he was trying to be disrespectful on purpose

I asked him to clear some tables at the end and he said “no” towards the end of the night until we argued and he eventually did

I told him and all the other servers to not tip me out when they asked and instead give it to the other busser.

He sold $3500 and only ended up tipping out $60 to the support staff insisting he did most of the work.

How should I deal with this - I’m giving him the worst sections for the next month but besides that I’m not sure

Everyone else respects and listens to me always except for him