Did anyone feel insanely overwhelmed when becoming a server? I’m in training and almost don’t but it feels like I’m drowning 24/7. I don’t know everything on the menu obviously, it’s my 3rd day. I’m about to be on my own soon and I feel such immense anxiety. I’m not sure if serving is for me. Maybe I’m a slow learner but even my trainer said by now girls are picking up quicker l

Hi there, Waitress located in Louisiana looking for any advice. I started at a new restaurant in October (has a self-serve beer wall, open seating) so a little different than other places i’ve been before. I should also add, I had to start another serving job just to pay bills in December. When I first started a few months ago, business was slow (two tables a night) aside from bigger events we’d cater. Moreover, events were the only nights we had a tip share and I’d always get a little bummed out afterwards because of how many people ended up in the pool when only a small percentage did any work (i mean this very literally, other co-workers will sit at bar oftentimes all night). I chalked it up to there being very few events per month and just to deal with it (later nights, losing money from the pool instead of gaining, drunk co-workers and sometimes managers). Now, business has begun to pick up again. I worked last night ($180) and tonight ($150) which is very good compared to the last few months. Tonight, I was informed that the tip share was going to become a more regular thing (was not clear on everyday or not; not much is clear). I feel like i’m constantly working harder than everyone around me just to make the same money. i can’t not be productive to my environment, not an option. but i don’t want to share with people who sit around all night? Believe it or not, this is actually the job Id prefer to keep and make work compared to my other serving job. Thx for reading and any possible advice.

Technically called grey water...But it smelled worse than a port-a-potty. It was sewer water. Everyone had to hold their noses because it actually smelled like sewage. When I came in, the water you see was 1" high in the whole kitchen. They vaccumed it up and refused to mop with bleach or cleaner. I wanted to call the health inspector or the health department. All the servers and line cooks had headaches breathing in poop water for the day. We were all sharing our greivances and the manager on duty played dumb. The COO was there and just stepped in the water and stood around. I understand that corporate doesn't want to lose a 40k day but it was...foul. Not the first time I've worked in a restaurant with this issue. It was obvious that the water that was backed up was not just cleaning/dishwasher water But laced with sewer water. Disgusting. Reprehensible. And then the manager on duty jacked the heat up to 90 degrees to punish the servers that were complaining.

My kitchen guys made me a cartaco today

Hello! I've been a part of this subreddit for sometimes, when I was hosting it was suggested to me a lot but I didn't actually join until around this past end of November, when I was actually hired into my first serving position.

I've looked up several posts and read them, sometimes even more than once, to try to help myself get better with my job as well as my anxiety around it.

Some of the posts were helpful, but some of them were also old enough I feel it's a time to ask again, if there's any newer tips or anything that really needs to be focused on?

I, persoanlly, know that a lot of my anxiety stems from the fact we have a rather large menu and I, for the life of me, cannot seem to remember it at all. I remember one section one week and completely forget it the next bc that week most of my tables are ordering from that section, it's weird. I dont really know how else to describe it

However, this was my first Friday night that I've served, I switched shifts with another coworker. In my almost 2 full months of being there the only other Friday I worked was a Friday morning/afternoon, my very first day of training so I have absolutely 0 experience with Fridays at this location.

That being said....I was not ready for the almost 6 tables I got within 15 minutes. Yeah maybe that's not a lot for experienced servers or higher/fine dining places, but like even on a Saturday night or Sunday morning (Sunday morning is our absolute best time) could not have prepared me for what I dealt with tonight. Sunday mornings are super busy however they're steady as well. Tonight was not steady at all. Super slow except for this dinner rush.

How can I get over that? Is that just going to forever be a thing? I want to be better but to my knowledge, this doesn't happen often anymore with how my location is going so I don't know how I'm supposed to get used to it? I try my best to fill my time, unlike today, with carryout/doordash orders but even then, none of that made me feel the sheer anxiety I felt tonight.

I'm still kicking myself in the butt for forgetting about this one table for 15 minutes longer than I was supposed to! They did still tip and they were very nice and understanding about it, but still I can't help but feel that if they were placed with another server that is better than I am, that that table would've been happier and had a better experience?

I know I'm probably overthinking way too much, but hospitality has always been a thing I've prided myself on and I feel like I absolutely lacked in the worst way possible tonight?

I guess this more so turned into a rant/vent other than a question, but still the question is there. Are there any tips to help with...any/all of this? Am I just stressing myself out trying to be perfect at something I haven't had enough time with?

I'm sorry if this is a silly question/post. Thank you for the time you've spent reading it and possibly replying.

Love, new server tryna figure sh*t out! Lol❤️

i’ve worked in retail & other food service jobs, but never as a waitress. my new job makes all new servers train as hosts/expo for four days before going on the floor for three days as a waitress, so seven days of training in total. i’ll be shadowing another vet server one day, then half shadow/half taking orders & ringing in the POS & finally, having my own small section of three tables on the last & final training day. i think i’m more nervous about not clicking with the crew there although they seem nice when i’ve met them in passing. it’s a whole different ballgame for me & i’m open/willing to take any advice you folks might have. thank you in advance!

Went back and forth on this for an hour

Got to say I do love servering but got to say it has it moment, this being top for me

Please don’t shake your ice, whistle, yell loudly, snap, or spasm your hand to get our attention

Since i’ll be needing money (to live) soon, I’ve been thinking about saving money and picking up a waiting job at an olive garden, what should i expect? I know majority of these jobs are hard and stressful based on what I’ve seen but is it over exaggerated? i don’t want to burn myself out because ill be working mostly the same days i do school.

I want to start serving and will apply soon I’m wondering about Chains that hire entry level servers. I have customer service experience in retails stores and doing security but never serving. What chains should I apply to? Ones that hire entry level and can make you good money. Thank you!

OK, so I just started my new serving job and I’ve never served before. the first day that I come in one of my coworkers comes up to me and says I hope you expect to not get any hours and immediately started screaming at the managers for hiring new servers because they don’t need anymore. No one has really introduced themselves to me, they just ignore me. I’ve been there now for a couple of days and a lot of people call out and a lot of people give up their shifts so I’m not understanding where she’s getting that information from.

She however, has been rude to me ever since with her other friends that work there. she threw my cash tips at me when i was eating at the table. I asked her a question about something and she gave me a super mean answer, and every time her and her friends talk, including my trainer they always turn their back and walk away from me so I’m not in their conversation.

I’ve asked my server friend about this, and she tells me that apparently with the new servers pre-existing servers are rude to them because they don’t want them stealing their tips or their tables or their money or whatever and wants to run them off. but she tells me this happens everywhere, but I feel like this is not normal. because I understand getting told rude things by your customers, but also getting treated bad by your own coworkers? What do y’all think?

It’s just difficult for me because since I’m new, I’m always asking questions and I need some extra help with certain things, but I don’t even feel comfortable to ask my own coworkers. I also heard them argue right in front of me because neither of them wanted to train me because it was a hassle and it wasn’t worth the free meal. there was also multiple bad reviews on Google about the worst girl specially/ and she makes like no tips. she constantly is talking about politics, quitting, and complaining loudly in front of guests. we disagree politically but i won’t say anything.

it’s also weird because sometimes the rudest girl will say oh “your serving pad is cute” but then immediately are rude to me after? so i’m really just confused

I worked for a very popular high volume bar/restaurant in the Arts District in DTLA. Frequently during the spring and summer months we would have a 1:45 to 2 hour wait time for non reservations. One day we had a very large 100top party booked on the patio that took up 50 to 60% of our seating and a woman comes in (no reservation) and is quoted a hour and a half wait time. Unhappy she goes on and on about she’s a regular and comes here all the time (I had worked there for 3 years at this point, never seen her) and she knows the owner and is going to call them. I offer her party bar seating which sends her into a rant about how “it’s disrespectful that I can’t just get a table” and brings up the owner again. she threatens to call the owner and I say there is no need because they are on site. She goes stone white and says it’s fine we can wait. At this point the owner come up behind me and I state “oh your friend was just asking for you” the owner looks at the woman who now looks like she’s shit herself and says “I’ve never met you a day in my life” turns to me and asked the time I quoted and extended it to two hours. They didn’t stay. I am very professional but if you are mean and unnecessarily demanding once you’re done, it’s my turn.

People are so weird nowadays

this happened last night and i just wanted to share the entitlement.

i work as a host/server/bartender at a small upscale italian restaurant, plates ranging from $25-55. it is located downtown, near some theaters and hotels. a lot of people come here before their shows, we have a lot of reservations on thursday nights through the weekend because of this.

anyway, typical night. i have 6 tables in my section. 4, 4 tops and 2, 2 tops. one of the two tops i had reserved for a single man to come eat. the rest of the tables were either sat or for future reservations that had 3-4 people at them.

although it’s a small restaurant, we were busy. out of no where i turn around and this man says “are you the hostess?” and i say “uhh yes! and server and bartender! i do it all!” he says “um okay? where do you want me to sit?” — and mind you, normally i catch customers at the door and seat them in their spots. this guy pops up out of nowhere. so i say “oh i have a table over here set up for ya!” and point at the table with one placement set. he says “can i possibly sit in one of the booths along the wall?” all of which have reservation signs on them for parties that are more than just one person. i say “unfortunately those are all reserved for bigger parties at this time” he looks at me completely dumbfounded and says “so is that a no?” i say “unfortunately yes, that is a no” and he speaks louder and says “OKAY THEN, BYE!” 👋🏼 and waves in my face. i literally pulled my head back and kind of cocked it in a “what the fuck just happened type of way”… as i watch him pompously walk out the front door, head held high in his entitlement. i should have known by the tone in “so are you the hostess then?” that he was expecting everyone there to pull his pants down and suck on his knob.

anyway, it wasn’t even that bad, mostly just funny. i think it’s hilarious that people think the world revolves around them. bye bye, mister grumpy we don’t need your single dinner anyway! we have parties of 4 coming in to spend way more money and be way nicer and happier with my service. it just blew my mind, never had someone be so passively rude to me. usually they’re just regular rude lol…

I’ve been serving part time (25 hrs a week) for about 3 years and make pretty decent money for the hours I work. I’ve been looking for extra income, I know some people will work two different serving jobs but I’ve been considering working at a coffee stand in the mornings and serving at night.

Who has done this and how was your experience? Did you get burnt out quickly? Was the money worth it?

I would try to work both jobs the same days and have at least two full days off to avoid the burn out and not feel overworked.

Kind of a funny post, so it finally happened…I dropped a finished plate with some food on and I felt terrible 😂 first time too, I was shocked myself and just froze. Any funny stories to cheer me up?

This every happen to any of you??

I'm talking to this 2 top just doing what I do best, I've taken the woman's order and I'm putting it on toast, about to get the guys order then from deep left field this lady that I haven't seen or talked to in my entire life, and isn't in my section walks right up to me and the table and borderline starts screaming at me

"CAN YOU PLEASE TAKE MY ORDER?! IVE BEEN SITTING FOR 10 MINUTES AND NOBODY HAS EVEN TALKED TO ME!!"

Im just standing there frozen. I take a look at the table I'm mid conversation with they are just as stunned. I look back at her and in the most deadpan voice I say

"I'll be right with you?"

Me and the table just staring at her like the crazy person she is, her demeanor completely changes as she realizes that what she did was completely unhinged and she mumbles "It's ..I've just been..waiting for so..long..." As she turns and slinks back to her table.

I look back at my table and say "So sorry about that!" And continue on with my song and dance. They were cool about it luckily, I think they felt bad for me honestly.

Anyways I go find the lady , sitting in an empty section how she came to be there with a menu is a mystery, as nobody is serving there. I legit felt like a parent coming up to a child like ' so let's try this again' She was completely fine for the rest of my interaction with her I took her order and then gave it to the server who's section it would be, even ran her food and she was completely cordial .. I was just blown away.

Just another day in the life eh?

I was asked to do this because I nuked my account recently and someone reached out because they can no longer see a previous post. I will do this from memory as best I can.

If after this post you are interested in working in Airports 80% of us work for one of two companies.

HMSHost (Union)

SSP America Inc (West coast is mostly union, and everywhere else in country is mostly non union)

Theres very few airport bar/restaurants not run by one of these two companies. I've never worked for SSP so maybe someone from there can chime in and give you guys a better idea of what its like to work for them. This post will be my experience as a union server/bartender with HMSHost. My seniority date with HMS is 01/19/2009 :)

For background I've worked in three different airports...going on my fourth. I have worked at a very large (Chicago O'hare) a medium sized and currently a very small regional airport. I am transferring to a 4th airport in two weeks. I will be CLT (Charlotte, NC) next. So I'll be back at a large airport.

CONS

1. Getting to your unit is going to be a huge hassle every single day. Currently at my small airport we walk from an employee lot. Its about a ten minute walk. Then security (we get to cut the line, and is usually quick but in rare instance can take 15 minutes.) Then walk down the terminal to the bar you work at. All in all parking your car to clocking in can easily be 20-30 minutes. At the other two airports I worked there was an employee shuttle. It came every 15 minutes. And boy does it SUCK when it leaves just before you get there.
2. If you're a server, a metric fuck ton of 1 tops.
3. 365 Environment. If you're new you WILL work Christmas Eve/Christmas Day and all of other holidays.
4. You're going to get cussed out over drink prices. It's a lose, lose. You either offend someone by warning them of the prices as if they can't afford it, or you get cussed out for not warning them. For example, yesterday a couple ordered 2 glasses of Pinot Noir. They about passed out when they saw $49.50 for their total.
5. You get stiffed a lot because of reason 4. Most of the time people begrudgingly tip the standard 20% though.
6. Long shifts. You're here for 8 hours no matter what. there is no getting cut. Your shift is your shift. Doesn't matter if its slow.
7. Depending how flights are scheduled literally the restaurant will go from being empty to full in a matter of minutes and it clears out as fast as it filled up. Fun sometimes looking at the tornado that is your restaurant and looking at another server and going "I don't know what the fuck just happened but I made $200 in that 90 minutes" but this can be extremely stressful at times.
8. Seniority and the contract. Nothing else matters. Now that I'm approaching twenty years here I been able to secure Monday-Friday 4AM-12PM with all holidays off. Its amazing for me but it sucked in the early years missing family on Christmas. When I was first hired I was Wednesday-Monday 12pm-8pm and I HATED it. You couldn't get a Saturday or Sunday off unless you used vacation time. I stuck it out for the money though.
9. Airport employees coming in to eat are fucking annoying.
10. Burn out, everyone is burnt out.

PROS

1. The money no matter where I've worked is incredible. I'd never in a million years consider working again at a restaurant "on the street" as we would say. I just got my W2 recently and I made $114,000. I'm currently making $19.44/hr. I started at $8/hr in 2009. But I get regular union and cost of living raises and bonuses when we get a new contract. That $114k is made up of wages, tips, holiday, vacation and bonus pay.
2. Choice between two shifts 4AM-Noon or Noon-8pm or something similar. I'm an early bird and absolutely love the 4am shift.
3. Quite literally almost everyone drinks and the food is over priced as fuck. Checks get high fast in theory translating to high tips.
4. NO TIP OUT. It is in our union contract we don't tip out ANYONE. The agreement in the contract with the bartenders is the servers roll their silverware and the bartenders make the server drinks in exchange. I know that sounds like a recipe for disaster where a bartender wont bother with anyone's drink but the contract is the contract and the bartenders know the second they pull some shit the servers will hide their silverware with the quickness. A lot of times outsiders will come in thinking they "Don't have to make server drinks timely because they're not getting tipped out" Like I said we all have an agreement. They either conform or are let go. I still can't believe the audacity some new people come in with, we don't operate like a restaurant on the street and some people can't wrap their head around that.
5. Health, Dental, Vision, 401k. and PTO. Full benefits and the benefits being union are GOOD. I get 80 hours of sick and 120 hours of PTO every year.
6. If a customer is acting a whole fool you can match their energy and managers will back you. I've literally cussed a customer out for even trying me on the wrong day we were short-staffed and the deer in headlights look of confusion when I'm matching energy will never get old. We're all burned out. Especially managers. We don't care, we don't have to care. We have monopoly on airport food so we don't care if they ever come back. This is another reason I could never work on the street again. I couldn't go back to biting my tongue.
7. Every airport I've ever worked in is a complete fuck show (IYKYK, you just have to experience it to understand. No point in trying to explain.) Even before COVID. Job security. We will never not be short staffed because of reason 1 in Con section.
8. If you want to go into management you can make a metric fuck ton of money. My General Manager got a $150k BONUS this year (JUST A BONUS)
9. You can move anywhere in the country. My husband is in the military. We're going on our 4th move and I have been able to keep my job and take it with me every time. Its also nice for anyone just wanting to be able to relocate and have a good job lined up already.
10. Free airport parking (I travel a lot so I love this one)

I'm sure I'm missing a ton, if you have any questions just ask. Hope this helps.

EDIT: If you're interested in working for HMSHost just google "HMSHost Careers" and search the airport you're interested in working at. I do not know how SSP hires.

Sorry, quick rant. I'm tired of people saying "I'm terrible with chopsticks, can I get NORMAL silverware?"

I one time had someone actually say "I don't know how you people can use these sticks to eat. Can I just get normal American silverware?"

I immediately told her "All you have to do is ask ma'am, no need for the unnecessary details. Also "regular" silverware is used worldwide not just in the US. Here's your fork."

I don't mind giving people silverware to eat sushi or fried rice or noodles, if you can't use it that's perfectly acceptable, just ask for it straight up. The issue is when they have to add a whole explanation of why chopsticks are such a "pain in the ass" and they've always been so bad at it. Practice makes perfect and nobody cares that you chose to never learn.

This is a question for you americans out there:

How am I supposed to answer to this question?

I live in europe and a lot of Americans come to the hotel I work at. And every time anyone asks me 'How are you?' it feels like my answer is wrong.

If I reply with 'I am good, how are you?' some people look at me weird.

If I just say 'How are you?' back then some don't even answer and others look at me weird.

I don't know what to say! Some americans answer normally and other just look like they just saw a ghost.

Can someone help me out? What is the right answer when an american asks 'how are you?'

I'm at work rn and I just received some news about a loved ones passing. I saw the text right before a customer walked through the door. I greeted them as normal, and I tried to sound happy even though I was struggling not to cry. Ig maybe my smile wasn't the best because I was told by a customer that I needed to smile, and I'd look a lot better if I did." Am I wrong for being annoyed by that. Like yea, I know my job is to smile, but I'm not a robot, lol.

Yesterday I was working a bar shift, which entails 7 bar seats, 10 4top tables and togo (togo is only 2 hours until a togo person comes in) we were in the middle of a pop and I have this young couple come in.

At first they're super sweet, little awkward. I get their drinks and I ask if people are ready to order in about 5-10min increments. I had asked them 3 times and each time they get increasingly awkward and nervous, saying no, not yet.

So I leave them be for a while and after they've been here almost 45mins, they're ready to order. He asks me to do them a favor after I get their order, so I get it in and ask what I can do for them. He asks me to call security..

The girl lifts her arm and shes got handcuffs on. One on her wrist, and one around a bar on the railing.

They do not have a key.

The guy is a fucking cop and she used his WORK handcuffs. He's not even supposed to have them right now, so we can't cut them or get a police officer in to open it or he will be fired. I go at it with a wine opener, a fork, its not doing anything. They claim it was a silly accident but idk.

After an hour and a half, a buddy comes with a key. They leave in possibly the biggest rush I have ever seen anyone in.

The dude was so sweet, holding her corn for her. They tipped nice. But possibly the weirdest thing I've ever had happen

EDIT: a lot of yall think this is some weird kink shit, and I assure yall, it wasn't. And even if it was, I don't really care. People are weird, they tipped me good and left as soon as she was free.

It happens, but last night was special. We have a 30 seat huge u-shaped bar. An elderly couple came in and sat at Seats 1 & 2. Another couple had just gotten up from seats 18&19, the opposite end of the bar. Within the 30 seconds it took me to walk the previous couple's plates to dish and back the couple had gotten up and moved into their dirty bar seats. There was only one other person at the bar. They had 27 other seats to choose from. They also refused to look at the menu and insisted on asking us questions about everything. (Mexican restaurant a lot of Spanish on the menu.) The cherry on top was the $0 they tipped on their $91 tab.

The amount of people who walk right past that sign and seat themselves enjoys the living shit out of me. I know they see it😑 when this happens I don’t interact with that table for like 5-10 minutes then I’ll walk by and be like “ oh I’m sorry I didn’t see you guys come in, you must of sat yourselfs” THE WORST PART IS THEY SIT AT THE ONLY FUCKING DIRTY TABLE 🫠 this job is going to make me insane

Hey everyone, Just looking for confirmation that I'm not over reacting.. So here's the story. at my job the changed the bartender tip out policy from 10% all tips made to 20%. It's a small town restaurant/bar that isn't busy. Now i would be totally down to tip out that amount if it was on just liquor sale and the predetermined 10% to the kitchen was on food sales. This is not the case. So each night all servers on shift are tipping out 30% no matter what you make. There was no conversation other than the one bartender (that the regulars avoid) literally crying to the owners that she makes no money on bar after just crying to them that she wanted to be on bae cause she doesn't make money on the floor.

Either way... am I justified to be upset about this or am I just being a pain in the ass for no reason