I usually fix my own drinks anyway, but I'm running back and forth between alllll the tables and the bar. Tonight our band had to cancel, the other usual bartender had to handle some home stuff, and our barback helped her. So the bar manager told me to just work back there with her.

I really enjoyed the novelty, and I don't think I'd have much problem filling in on my own during the week.

Slow night, but I made in split tips what I normally make on a really busy night out on the floor by myself!

Give me your awkward stories. The weirder the better.

Was searching for some printer paper under the counter and saw rat droppings on top of a bag under the counter in the far corner, no idea how long it’s been there but looked dark in color and not that dried out so I’m thinking not that old. Texted my boss a picture of it and he just said “gross,” and that’s it??

Should I not attempt to clean it up as a cashier? I’d rather not touch it considering I’m preparing food and wouldn’t want to accidentally contaminate the food somehow or make the particles go airborne or some shit if I disturb it. Am I supposed to be responsible for dealing with that? He didn’t even ask me to clean it so I haven’t. Do I need to let my coworkers know? I didn’t put it in the group chat as I know the owner and figured he’d want discretion and would inform others when needed.

Im a full time student who recently started my first serving job at olive garden a month ago. It's just fine and I make ok money. Well when I got hired at OG I also was accepted for a job at a big name tech company but was given a start date of December so I decided to accept both and see if I can juggle the two. I'm on my third day of said tech company and decided I would rather work here. Every time I was at olive I just thought about how much I hated it and wanted to quit lmao. Anyways, I'm scheduled at OG for Monday and next weekend, but I'm also scheduled for next weekend at the tech company. So I was thinking of quitting OG on Monday. My question is, how should I approach it? I'm planning on doing it after my shift but what should I say? "HI I recently accepted a position at a company that aligns with my future career goals so I won't be able to fulfill my duties here. I am resigning as of today"?? This feels a little too professional for this type of job tbh Any advice would be appreciated!!!

We’re told to stick to our own sections, but mainly when it’s busy. but it’s usually never too big a problem if you look after someone else’s table. Taking an order or something for example. I don’t have a problem with others in my section or taking orders and if I do it there’s never been a problem.

I took another tables dessert order tonight, it was quiet at the time and the second the waitress who was on that section came to me I could tell she was pissed. Said in a rather scathing manner “We’ll stick to our own sections tonight if that’s okay,” and stared at me as I said okay and apologised. I got so upset I had to go to the toilet as I was crying. I could see her talking to another waiter and it was obvious what about. I didn’t mean to disrupt her flow at all, everyone weaves in and out of each others sections all the time and it’s fine unless the manager says different.

She took one of my tables order about two minutes before. I didn’t care and I was crying after this. A lot of other staff noticed as well. So embarrassing, the manager told me to go home if I couldn’t pull myself together. I don’t really care anymore, the shift is over now but I’m just wondering what the hell her problem was - She was dropping my drinks to my tables later that night and I wasn’t bothered. I must have disrupted something surely.

I just do not understand what her problem was. She was taking an order off one of my tables just before!

Do you still say "I'm in the weeds", or "ON YOUR LEFT!" in everyday life?

I got "MAKE A HOLE!" from my Navy dad. Useful for parting the crowd on your way to the bathroom!

I (18/F) recently started working at an southern chain restaurant and have had 2 shifts so far. I’ve only made 25/30 dollars each of theses shifts and essentially losing money to work there after transportation. Before I took this position I saw that this restaurant is a struggling chain and has closed over half of their locations and it was stupid of me to ignore this. They were the first to call me back after interview and hire me and I really needed a job. The place is ridiculously slow and there’s no potential to make money. Currently looking for any other job but it’s hard to be a server with no experience, when I get other interviews should I mention that I even worked here ? Edit: worked a busy Saturday and made $67 dollars after 5 hr and 10 tables. I can’t afford to stay here.

Some of my most hated customers are those that try and in some shape or form try to bring up the price in order to get my response about it as if I somehow had some influence on the higher cost. I had this incredibly nice girl and her boyfriend come up and she ordered an item then asks if the prices went up as her and her boyfriend just stared at me in almost a mocking manner, I replied that they probably went up months ago. Her boyfriend laughed after I said that and she kind of just smiled and it was pretty annoying to say the least, maybe she should have attempted to contact the owner and written a elaborately constructed complaint to try and get the prices lowered? It's almost as if some customers come in and order without looking at the menu and just assume the prices blindly then are flabbergasted when it's higher than they thought it would be. The price is quite literally right next to the item on multiple screens and online so I just can't understand that. If you really wanted to save money why eat out? I'd never go to a food hall if that was my goal as they are always overpriced because thats just the way they are.

Almost just as bad are the people that make remarks when the option to tip on the screen pops up, I think it's safe to say that tipping culture is a problem and that depending on the establishment it's not always expected by the establishment such as our since we don't provide table service as it's more take away since you order then pick up the food and seat yourselves, you still are providing a service though and have to often excessively help people that ask repeatedly for extra or free items that could be asked for the initial time of ordering. With that being said there's simply nothing a standard employee is ever going to be able to do about tipping culture as that's up to the service industry of the country in question and ours has adopted this culture. These people might as well go to congress and lobby to get rid of it if they really wanted to abolish it, surely making some cheesy remarks at the register is going to make a difference! Simply choose "no tip," and go on about your day, I don't need to hear your opinion about something entirely out of my control. Obviously establishments with sit down service and related businesses do deserve tips due to the added workload and services provided.

okay so I started working at this restaurant a few months ago as a host. but i ended up becoming an expo. anyways, when i became an expo, i was told i would be making tip share and my wage would soon go up as it became busier. but i found out i wasn’t making tip share and it’s been months and still no raise. i would make more money hosting. i brought this up to my manager and they basically told me i should be grateful to have a job. but i started looking at my pay stubs to verify no tip share and realized my gross income is not matching up to my net after tax is deducted. this mismatch is only reflected on checks in which i expo’d. so i’m wondering if maybe there’s some weird under the table stuff going on. because at my last job i was never “missing” money. if that money is going to somewhere credible, they should be more explicit about where exactly it is going. is this shady/weird?

So, today started like any other day. Show up, see how morning shift went, what's on the docket, and then jump on the floor. First table is a lady waiting for her group. OK, grab her drink and the rest come in to join her. The eldest of the group is already feeling herself, coming from the holiday Christmas party. Grab their drinks and return.

The eldest (65-70) smiles wide and exclaims "My tooth broke at the Christmas party!" Sure enough, missing a tooth on one side. I reply "OH jeeze! Are you alright? What were you doing playing hockey at the party?" She was OK, and the joke landed well.

Then she started flirting with me. Not my first handsy old lady, but what happened next blew my mind. She motions for me to put my hand out. I'm thinking maybe an up front tipper, but no...She puts the tooth in my hand!!!!! Her friends are mortified, I'm mortified and baffled, and she's telling the story. Just popped right out. And here's the kicker, one of her friends says "don't worry, it's clean, she hasn't sucked dick in years!!!!" I'm dead. I laugh everything off, excuse myself, wash hands thoroughly, and take two shots as I try to make sense of what just occurred.

Lovely table, tipped well enough, but what the absolute fuck. Been serving for nearly a decade, seen some weird shit, but being handed a tooth was a first.

Ive been looking into working as a host. What are some tips, and what should I expect? I already work as a server ft, so is it smart to also work as a host pt? Just curious.

I work for a corporate dining establishment and am considered "new to serving" with less than 6 months experience waitressing. I've never worked in a corporate restaurant and they expect you to hit 4 out of 5 story points about our menu before appetizers get ordered. Half of the guests I get have eaten there before and know what they want at the greeting or interrupt with their drink order before you get your name out.

As a customer I hate listening to the story points and don't care about the specials unless it's a promotion or new item. My bosses are always watching to make sure you hit your expectations, and doing micromanagey things like making suggestions about refills for one table before drinks are empty while you're putting in a food order for another. My brain says bring refills with food - there's more room for dessert if you don't push sodas. They also expect you to run other server's food and do things that SAs are taught to do in other restaurants I've worked.

I don't know why it bothers me so much. I think it's breaking my confidence with tables and throws me off to miss the opportunity to hit the beloved talking points because I feel like I will be reprimanded to just go with the flow of service. How do I get past the nerves and stop feeling like I'm giving bad service already? I've had two nights on the floor.

I, 15(m), will have my first ever shift as food runner in a restaurant. I am a clumsy guy, mildly fat, and I'm very scared and worried of dropping things and spilling drinks. My big sister, 23, work as a hostess in the restaurant and she is a very critical person. I would add that i have absolutely no experience. Please tell me what should i expect and wtf do i so

Alternatively, how do I make the best impression from day one and CRUSH this!!!?

​

It's a farm to tabley type of place with a medium sized menu. My plan is to keep my damn mouth shut while learning and do flash cards to get the menu down quickly.

Thanks for any advice.

We serve the plates EXTREMELY hot where I work, hot enough that we have to use cloths. This is fine. Hot food, hot plate. Sometimes if chairs are right to the wall I can’t go behind a customer to put the plate in front of them, so I give them my cloth to take the plate.

Is this okay or not? I feel like it’s fine because when you have no other option you do what you have to do. Would you think it’s acceptable to give them a cloth to take a hot plate?

I put in a time request off 2 months ago for this Saturday. It’s my family’s Christmas dinner. It was never looked at (which I tried to get attention to many times) and I got scheduled. I brought it up to my managers and was saying how it was never approved or denied and I really needed to have this dinner off as this is the first dinner I’ve been able to attend in years. They said since they never looked at it and it never technically approved they considered it denied. I’m really pissed off as this has happened to several of my coworkers but what would you guys do? It was 2 months ago that I submitted this request and they never even looked at it. No coworkers can take the shift.

Edit: I talked to a new manger and explained the situation she gave me the day off so yay it was all ok after all!

Basically I need to quit immediately because I'm sick of being screwed over. No way I'm going in to quit in person. My options are to send an email or message the manager through our scheduling app...I know neither is good but I'm literally miserable and can't work here anymore

For anyone that cares...I've been in the industry for 8 years and this is the first time I've worked somewhere where I'd even consider quitting on the spot. Its upscale casual dining and we get 3 table (6 seat) sections, all the servers have to be there 1.5 hours before the restaurant opens, they don't make cuts, they take 12.5% out of our tips so I end up making like $150 on a 9 hour shift. The GM constantly loses her temper for no good reason, managers micromanage the fuck out of us, and we're not allowed to eat at all during our shifts. I'm also not making enough to pay my bills and my mental health is trash because of this job. And that's not even all of it...

We were very busy tonight, and had a four top which we needed back. Manager told me as soon as it was 7 to drop the bill and say so sorry but we’d need the table back. We’ve done this before, if it’s very busy and we have tables yet to come in we drop the bill nicely.

I dropped the bill and said as I usually “So sorry guys but we will need the table back shortly,” and walked away.

When another waitress took the payment apparently they told her “Tell your colleague the way she dropped the bill wasn’t nice.”

I feel so upset, I’m not going to bother getting too upset about it but if there is one thing I do well at work it’s that I’m nice to tables. I’m not the best waitress but have consistently been told I’ve been lovely. People have told other staff to tell me I’m nice. That’s my job. Waitress - I like to be nice anyway and to make them laugh.

I really don’t know what I did wrong tonight. Maybe because I walked up to them from behind and didn’t make eye contact? I’m so upset and embarrassed, I don’t know what I did wrong.

Went out to dinner with two others. Had an awesome server, she was super attentive, personable, generally on top of refills.

A few bites into dinner, the manager came around. Asked how the food was, we said it was great. Manager asked if there was anything else they could bring us. My drink was going down fast because I ordered something spicy. So I said another drink would be awesome. Manager sent a different server over to ask what we needed. So the other server got me a refill. Not two minutes later, my server stopped by with a refill.

Again, amazing server, and I wouldn't have even said anything to the manager, except she seemed to really want to know if we needed anything else. I'm hoping our server didn't get in trouble for our table needing something.

I just started my job as a hostess a few days a week it’s been nothing but great, but I’m a mom and my youngest had a really hard time at daycare drop off today. I called to find out how was doing and they told me he had a tantrum and was sleeping in the floor.. I held it together

So the bussers at the restaurant I work at are called “server assistants” so that the restaurant can pay them $2.13 an hour plus tipshare. From what I hear from the bussers, they end up making around minimum wage with tipshare ($12 per hour in my state).

I’d be completely fine with tipshare if it actually benefitted the bussers. But in this case, it seems like the restaurant is stealing from the servers so that the bussers can receive minimum wage on someone else’s dime.

If the bussers were paid a decent wage and then got tipshare on top of that, I’d be fine with paying it. But I think it’s ridiculous that it’s on the servers, who make 2 dollars an hour from the restaurant, to pay the wages of other employees.

Also, no tipshare goes to the bar, which means the bartenders spend a ton of time every night making our drinks for no extra money. This often results in the servers having to wait 15-20 minutes for bar drinks. Also, the bartenders often end up making way less money per night than the servers do, because the restaurant only gives the bar 2 tables and the bar top.

I genuinely think that if the bussers were paid minimum wage plus tipshare, then some tipshare could be allotted to the bartenders because they deserve it. The whole system could be managed better.

How do your restaurants do tipshare? Is it the same?

I went out to dinner recently with a longtime friend who told me they'd been prescribed ozempic for diabetes. the food was amazing, but both of us left with more than half of it in takeout boxes.

I have stomach/gut issues, so I've always brought like half my food home to eat later. occasionally the server would look concerned about my tiny appetite, but it's just that I do best with multiple smaller meals or grazing, which ofc isn't feasible in a restaurant. now people are taking medication that has the same effect.

I'm wondering if this seems to be on the increase? I'm guessing it would be more noticeable in more upscale places because that shit ain't cheap. and also probably in LA...

I spoke to you on the phone several times. Somehow, you got the bad luck to get two to-go orders in a row that the kitchen botched. You had every right to be frustrated, but you were courteous and kind each time, simply telling me what was wrong, asking for my manager by name, and requesting nicely for another order to be rung up and comped.

This time when you came in to get your food, you called me “lovely and sweet” in front of my manager, wished me a Merry Christmas, and (even though your order was free) handed me $10 in cash.

You live in a wealthy part of the city and clearly have means , to you it was just $10 and a few kind words. But what you don’t know is that $10 means I can go get a meal tonight, and so stretch my leftovers a few more days until my check comes. You don’t know how terribly stressed out and depressed I’ve been lately and how much your kindness boosted my mood for my entire shift. I felt like a character in a story about the true meaning of the holidays and you were giving me the holiday spirit or some shit I don’t know. I just hope you have the best Christmas ever because you’re a good person.

This was the third run in I have had with DogLady. I didn’t kick her out this time, even though her dog is not a service animal. I didn’t even make her put her dog on the floor (she had a blanket on a chair), but I did refuse to give her dog water or food and for that, I am a Karen.

She called the restaurant to complain, but I am currently the only one working so she had no luck. After that, her daughter (who wasn’t even here tonight) called as well, but hung up when I gave my name.

Had a 14 table tonight. Clearing their mains, giving pastry chef a heads up on their desserts before calling them away. Made sure I had enough time to drop them spoons and do a tea and coffee order before the desserts are dropped. Another waiter helped me clear them, but gave dessert chef a heads up before I got a chance. Fine. He also called them away - The routine is we take a tea and coffee order. The desserts had to be dropped before I even got a chance to do a tea and coffee order. No wonder none of them ordered one by the time I got the chance, they were nearly finished desserts. I barely had time to give them spoons before the desserts came out.

So annoying. This is why I like looking after my own tables. So unnecessary and interfering with another person’s section.

Would it be reasonable or not to tell him the next time I’ll look after my own tables?

I work in fine dining in the financial district of a big city. I'm a host, so it's a pretty relaxed gig for me with great pay. Guests are generally polite if not a little bit cold, but I've been there for a couple months with no major issues.

Until last night. Guy comes in, kind of just silently stands there at my desk smiling at me. I ask if he's just one for dinner, and he doesn't say anything for a good ten seconds. Finally he says yes, so I pull up a chair to the side of the bar for him (we serve full menu there). He seems very happy and says "thank you"—once again, huge delay. He has a heavy accent, so I assume he just isn't super fluent in English and go about my business.

I catch glimpses of him sitting there for a while, but no drink or settings appear. I figure the bartender is just swamped and will get around to it.

Around 30 mins after he sat at the bar, he gets up to leave. He was about to walk out, but in the (idiotic) spirit of customer satisfaction, I ask if everything was okay.

He says No, it's Not Okay. He goes on to say that the bartender wouldn't serve him, and says "He just doesn't like my face". At this point his heavy slurring becomes apparent... oh no. This man is drunk, and getting fired up.

I tell him I'm sorry about that. He asks if that's all I have to say, getting a little loud and backing me into the corner where the host stand is. I step around the stand and go grab the general manager, A.

He's getting real loud at this point, getting close to A who is doing amazing. Telling this guy we see where he's coming from, maybe just go get a bite to eat for now and come back another time. It's not personal, just liability.

This guy doesn't hear a word. He gets louder and says again that we just don't like his face, I guess he was really insecure. He says to A "You want to fight me?"... A is a head taller and twice as large as this guy. A politely says no.

Multiple staff members are hovering by this point. The owner comes down to talk with the guy directly, who attempts to reach over the bar while yelling.

They got him to calm down a bit and sit in the waiting area while we call the non-emergency line because he won't leave. He won't leave because "we asked him to" by the way.

Eventually the cops showed and he immediately went outside with them. They talked for a few minutes and then LEFT with the guy still outside. He taps on the window and flips off the owner before walking down the sidewalk (screaming at guests who are leaving).

What a wild ride. People, please don't ever act like this. If someone asks you to leave, just go. The best part is that he was making a big deal that we wouldn't serve him... this was his way of showing us that he was good to get more drinks?

I’m a new server been one for a couple months. My restaurant bases how good we are off surveys that customers can do after paying on a kiosk. I know i’m a good server just as good as others who i see get great scores. I can’t seem to get people to do the surveys and i don’t know how to ask them to do them bc most don’t, my scores arn’t great but i see my performance otherwise being good. How would you ask?

Hi, I’ve been looking for posts online that really get in-depth of the “in dining room server” position and also working at a hotel such as Park Hyatt. I don’t see anything online covering information about the dining room server. How do tips work? Is it similar to a standard server? Any experiences or tips shared would be great. I have a position as an overnight in room server and am worried that I won’t receive much tips because of the hours.

This happened on Thursday, but the story still plagues me.

One woman said she was thinking about ordering the bruschetta, but didn't want tomatoes on it. Ummm.. bruschetta is like 90% tomatoes. So I politely informed her that its a pre-made mix with tomatoes, onions, peppers, spices, etc. We can't really take the tomatoes out, also it wouldn't be the same dish any longer. If she really didn't want tomatoes, I highly recommended she order something else. She goes along and still orders it anyways.

So, I come by a few minutes after the food is delivered for the quality check, ask how everything is. She complains that there is way more tomatoes than she expected. She has a sensitivity, and apparently her hands will seize up if she eats too many. THEN WHY DID YOU ORDER THE BLOODY BRUSCHETTA!? She told me she expected it to be more of a cream cheese based mix? What?? I was just at such a loss, offered her a different meal of whatever. Thankfully her friends were normal and nice, and they offered to eat the rest of it, so I didn't have to comp it from her bill. But I just cannot get over this interaction.

Edit: just because I've had a few people try to (correctly!) advise that I ask her if she had allergies due to the modification request. At our restaurant, we cater to a lot of allergies and dietary restrictions. So after people place their orders, we always ask about allergies, etc. so that we can nip it in the bud immediately. She never mentioned the sensitivity until she was halfway through the first piece. And I distinctly remember asking them about it too (because sometimes I forget, I'm only human), because I didn't ask for the appetizers, so I said when they ordered the mains "oh, I forgot to ask earlier, but.."

I remember as a few-month-old server at my first job when I had a big busy night for the first time. One of those nights you're so on it, and everything isn't perfect but you've just done the best work of your life so far. I'm sure it was obvious I was rushing myself, and I had a table of two parents and a tween get their meal and dessert be very fun and engage with me trying to make sure they were good. This restaurant had you pay at the entrance and then you just get your things as they're cooked, so I saw cash tips and we'd see card ones later.

After bussing, I found their receipt folded around a cash tip (biggest one I'd ever gotten, easily the equal of their meal and drinks -20yr ago) and a note on the receipt: "You're doing a good job, thanks for the laughs and taking care of us." And I waited til I left and just cried in my car on the way home. It made my night and I still have the paper in a memory box. The ink is way dissolved and the paper is a bit translucent now, but it's something my hubby and I do when we eat somewhere we're served.

Gimme your feel goods, they always make me happy and I hope whoever's reading gets em, too.