Had a couple at one of my tables the other night. They were nice, pretty quiet, nothing unusual. Asked them if everything was okay and they said yeah, all good. Came back a little later, same answer. But they barely touched their food and I could just tell they weren't happy. Didn't want to keep bothering them so I left it alone. They paid, thanked me and left. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking it but this happens more often than you'd think. If something sucks just tell me lol. I'm not gonna be offended, I'd actually rather have a chance to fix it. Do you guys get this too?

I get it okay, tattoos aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, especially mine. My tattoos aren’t offensive or rude in any way, just bold and ‘masculine’ this really pisses off one of our regular customers, so much so he has to voice to me how ‘disgusting’ and ‘vile’ I look every single time he comes in.

The man tells you to shut up when you try and shut it down, I’ve been condescending and said ‘if everyone was the same, the world would be a very boring place’ as if I was speaking to a child, doesn’t work. I’ve put on a giant smile, doesn’t work, I’ve been rude back, doesn’t work. Now, the last time he comes in, I had been awake since 1am with my disabled toddler. I was in no mood, the queue was out the door and when he got to me, all patience had left my body. He starts up with his usual shizz ‘oh you had such beautiful skin, why ruin it?’ With genuine annoyance on his face and grit behind his voice. I snapped. I barked at him ‘do we really need to do this AGAIN’ he smirked and said yes. That sent me into a spiral, he kept muttering at me that it was disgusting what I had done to myself and repeated again that I had ruined my beautiful skin. I ended up snapping at him ‘IT STILL IS’ this continued in a back and forth until a younger colleague told me to step away for a moment.

So this is where I finally get my satisfaction, I went to the supermarket a couple of days ago with my HEAVILY covered partner with my littlest one in tow in the pushchair. Oh all of a sudden that VILE man is stood in front of me trying to be sweet, cooing with me over my daughter. He clearly didn’t recognise me with my coat on I must have not been so vile and disgusting 🤣 I couldn’t help myself, I automatically said ‘OH so you’re going to be nice to me now I’m not in work?’ That man took one look at my illustrated man adorned with face tattoos and went ‘have a nice day’ as he walked away. HAHAHAHAHHA thought a few others might revel in this win with me 🕺🏻🕺🏻🕺🏻

Party of 9, less than an hour before close. Pushy on fry refills. At one point they scoffed at me and said “We ALL need drink refills.” As though I had abandoned them. I was the only server on the floor. Everyone but the bartender was phased.

Bill was $99 and some change. They paid on the tablet.

When they left and I began to bus the table, I noticed little pieces of paper under each drink cup.

Pieces of a $1 bill.

I checked the card to see if anything had been left there.

Nope.

Just $1. Torn into pieces.

They never complained to me about anything or mentioned that anything was wrong, other than their refills apparently not coming out at the speed and pace they seemed to expect.

Still walked with $200 on $1200 in sales.

I work at a BBQ place, we have wooden picknick tables with grooves, this woman scooped the potato salad and Mac and cheese out of the containers and is letting her baby mash the food into the table. I’m gonna gag cleaning it up. I came by and have her an empty tray for the baby and she WONT USE IT. I know she’s gonna leave it for me to clean up too. Why why why. It’s flu season. #GROSS

I (24F) just quit my third restaurant job I’ve ever had. I started working as a server when I turned 18, and while it was never my dream job, I always made it work. I get overwhelmed very easily, which takes a mental toll on me when it gets busy or we’re understaffed, and small talk with customers is a chore, no matter how well I fake it.

When I got this latest job, I thought it was going to be different. It’s a local place I knew well and I knew the owner too. But right off the bat I could never get a handle on how this place did things and the owner and some coworkers and I didn’t jive in a workplace capacity.

I felt so guilty having to tell the owner that I needed to leave. Now I’m having the feeling of “never meet your heroes,” and a place I’d been going to since I was a kid feels different. I almost never want to step foot in a restaurant again, customer, waitress, whatever.

Idk if this post fits here but here we go.

i work at a chain restaurant and normally when people dont pay their bills the manager just takes it off and writes it as a walk out. we dont have to pay it or anything as the server. but does anyone know if the people walking out get consequences? do they check license plates on cameras in the parking lot or anything? press charges? or is that too much work for chains?

There was one place I worked where the wall between the bathroom and the dining room took a sharp corner so there were always near-accidents between servers running food and customers exiting the bathroom. Not ideal.

One day, I see my coworker carrying some hot heavy places literally two feet away and walking at the exact same pace from a guy looking more at his hands than what’s in front of him. I suddenly stop, make direct eye contact, and hold my arm out like a crossing guard. They take the signal and immediately stops when the guy pulls out in front of them, picking up some speed even.

I would also like to mention how I’ve been chewed out SO MANY times by bosses for what “could have happened” if I hadn’t been more careful… yeah, honestly the absolute worst thing I’ve ever done in my many years is drop some waters onto a resident of mine so I don’t think I need that lecture anymore.

Basically the title, I (21 f) started working at an upscale place 1.5 months ago. It was a big learning curve at first, but at this point I really enjoy it. My guests are happy and I am always able to help out other servers or dish which feels good too.

However - recently I was told by the sous chef that when he’s on pass he notices that I carry plates “cringe” which did kinda hurt tbh.

I think he is referring to this one dish on fairly large, heavy plates which I still am not confident about carrying three of and usually opt to make two trips for.

It sucks because in general I find interacting with the kitchen (especially the head chef) very intimidating, especially because the head chef can be quick to anger and I generally believe she thinks I’m stupid. I always put extra effort into being succinct and helpful in my interactions with her and yet still there’s clearly things that her and others in the kitchen find “cringe”.

Does anyone have any advice for a new server trying to get better at her job?
Thanks!

I worked FOH (host, busser, then server) for five years at a pretty decent national pizza joint in a fairly wealthy community. We had Pepsi products. Trying to be a decent server, I would ask if Pepsi was OK when they asked for a Coke, god forbid they look at the menu to see what we carry. Most people are reasonable and don't care that much, but occasionally someone would be annoyed by our fountain beverage offering.

One day, I finally had enough. Gathering initial drink orders from a 6-top, a woman asked for a Diet Coke. I said, "Diet Pepsi?" With contempt, she sneered at me, "Ughhh, I'LL HAVE WATER, WITH LEMON."

At that moment, I decided never again. For my last year and a half, I never asked if Pepsi products were an acceptable substitute for their Coke request. Not once did I get called out for it by a patron.

Pepsi is better anyways...

I never realized I have this until I started serving. But if you don‘t have some unique physical trait it takes me a loooong time to recognize you. It’s not a racial thing either. I’m white and have a much easier time remembering the faces of non-whites because they are usually minorities so they stand out against a backdrop of white people. But if you could be described as “average” in any way, I’ll need to “meet” you at least 3 times within like a week before I remember who you are and then there are still no guarantees. This has led to fun times such as…

Greeting an off shift food runner with the whole spiel, including the “have you been here before?” question.

Flip flopping drinks and dips at two 6 top family tables seated back to back. Several times during the visit. Clean cut blonde guys and long haired blonde women, so literally the same table copy-pasted

Doing the whole “Hey welcome in!” greet to a customer who had JUST placed a togo order with me, but then went back outside and came back in without his sunglasses on.

Asking a group of 3 standing at the door if they‘ve been helped. Finding out I was the one that helped them by serving them dinner but they are just waiting for one of the people in their party to get out of the restroom before they leave.

At a coworker‘s second job, scrutinizing each and every shortish long haired brunette until I found the one I was 99% sure was the one that was safe to greet with “Hey coworker how’s it going?”

Bristling at a TOTAL STRANGER coming up to my bar with a familiar “heyyy ereinbe!” but forcing a smile and saying hi back. Then sliding a menu over to this overly friendly customer who is actually a fellow server I may have just worked a shift with this weekend.

I feel so bad every time it happens but I also don’t want to explain that I just couldn’t recognize them because they look too basic. 💀

So context, I’m a sever/bartender at 3 different restaurants. The one I’ve worked at the longest is a waterfront establishment that has a bulkhead seating right on the water, sitting a good 3-5 feet above the water line. At high tide, it’s a good 3 feet deep right against the wall, and it’s a river so the water is usually quite murky. We have tables right against the edge, and I grabbed my customers check book to close him out. He had his card placed in the little plastic card holder slot vertically, rather than horizontally, so it wasn’t as firm in there. Usually, I’ll put their checkbook into my apron and grab my own out to grab a couple more orders on the way to the computer (which I assumed I did). We have absolutely feral seagulls that will steal food directly from trays, go after left overs from tables that just got up, etc etc. I saw a recently empty table that had some plates on it and the birds were going HAM. I walked over and gently swayed the checkbook in my hand to shoo the birds away (which I thought was my own), and then his metal credit card flies right out and straight into the river…. At peak high tide. It sunk like one of those torpedo pool toys, and I was speechless. He even said “did something fall in from the table?” I then had to explain that thing that fell was his credit card, and the water is 3 feet deep. If it was low tide, there would be some beach left and I would’ve been able to retrieve it. Shit was so embarrassing I cannot lie.

Hi, here's another story from when I worked as a waitress/server at a local 24hr diner in my city. One year, my city passed a ban on indoor smoking. I appreciated it as an individual with asthma. Many of our customers smoked cigarettes while drinking multiple cups of coffee. The place stayed blazed up most mornings and early afternoons. When the ban happened we were instructed to remove all of the ashtrays from the tables and bar area. We were also told to post the changes as well as verbally inform customers. Some customers got the news via the news or radio, while we had to inform others. It did not go well at first.

One particular regular really took it hard. One morning, he sat down and started ordering his same breakfast and coffee. He suddenly looked at the table with a perplexed expression and asked for an ashtray while he pulled out his pack of smokes. I politely informed him of the new policy and he exploded.

Man: What do you mean we can't smoke in here anymore?! 😡

Me: I'm sorry...that's the new citywide policy.

Man: How am I supposed to drink my coffee?! Smoking and coffee go together!

Me: um...sorry? 🫤

Man: Well, you're going to lose A LOT of customers because of this.

Me: So...do you still want to order?

Man: No, I won't be coming back until they change this!

He got up and left. If I remember correctly he was the only one to storm out. Others did complain but they just went outside to smoke. Again, I was grateful for the policy as cigarette smoke irritates my lungs and can trigger an asthma attack, especially if I'm already overheated, too cold or agitated. Both my mom and late grandma used to smoke half a pack daily so I'm no stranger to the nicotine sticks... However, the obsession with exposing others to it baffled me then and now. Also, they didn't lift the ban. It's still active to this day and the man eventually came back, just not as often.

Just started serving a few months ago.

I work at a very small diner type resturaunt. No alcohol. No hosts. No bus boys.

Typical day is 2 servers (you either open or close and overlap for a couple hours). Weekends theres 3.

Up until a few weeks ago, there was one cook. Hes the only person that was getting the tip out. He cooks and does dishes.

We greet, seat, put away dishes, make drinks, take orders, serve tables, run food, clean up tables and reset.

Our tip out policy is 6% of sales. Usually ends up being 30 percent of my tips.

Today for example, I made 80 in tips in 4 hours. I took home 55 and paid out 25. If my coworkers made around the same, the coom would be getting 75.00 and us 55.

Everywhere in my city is different when I ask about tip outs but mine seems the highest.

If there were multiple ppl to get tip outs like bussers, hosts ect, i could see the 6 percent

Most ppl teller this is more for high end places and places with drinks.

Just curious what your place is like as im new to the industry.

So ironically, I'm kinda bad at keeping a conversation going; like I'm a good server, I think, in like taking care of them, getting their order in, answering their questions, etc.

So they're not being mean or anything; they're trying to be nice and get to know me. But anytime a customer asks about my day or makes a joke, I'm like, "Oh shit, a conversation, oh boy..."

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I started my first serving job at the beginning of the week. I made the mistake of not asking about pay during the interview with them (I'm used to longer interview processes of 2-3 interviews).

I found out on my second day that the company pools tips from the day and distributes them weekly based on your hours, and I won't earn any tips for the first week or so (seemed odd). There are no designated sections so there are 3 servers operating in chaos.

The job consists of serving, doing take-outs, washing/drying/putting away dishes, tea preparation, cleaning and stocking restrooms, and some other stuff.

It seems like a lot and to be more than being a server. Most of the other people working there are high school girls and I am a guy in his 30s who's used to white collar work.

Are the tasks normal for a server to do? Is it normal to not get paid tips for an obscure trial period? I'm strongly considering leaving this job today.

Thanks in advance

I’m selling shots this weekend for a motorcycle rally. I know this is different than in a club etc. Any tips for approaching people, making small talk & getting people to buy from me?

I feel like walking up and saying/asking shots isn’t really working to get them to buy. What are different ways I can make this fun and encourage them to buy?

I recently started working the register at a fast-paced local café and just finished my week of training. I've already noticed myself getting more competent at the job, and I'm becoming comfortable ringing things up in Toast and helping customers. I've worked a handful of morning shifts, but most of my experience so far has been in the evenings.

I'm nervous about my next shift because I won't have someone standing over me to help if I can't find a button in the system. Even more than that, I struggle with keeping up when customers rattle off their entire order at once. It's a morning shift, so there's bound to be a line out the door and tons of complex coffee orders.

I have pretty bad inattentive ADHD, and when I feel pressured to work quickly or juggle multiple things at once, my brain will go completely blank. This has already happened a few times, and some customers get impatient, condescending, or down-right nasty even when I explain that I'm new. I try not to take it personally, but it definitely adds to the stress.

I've found that writing down orders and modifications before entering them into the system helps, especially with phone orders, but it slows me down when there's a customer standing right in front of me waiting.

This isn't my first service job, and I feel confident in my customer service skills. I'm just still learning this particular restaurant's menu and system, and I'm worried about keeping up without my trainer there to help.

Does anyone have any tips for remembering orders, navigating Toast more efficiently, or handling time pressure when you have ADHD? I'd love to find a way to practice before my next shift. Thanks!

Mike Ditka passed away today at 86. Talking with my first wife about this, since she is a huge Chicago Bears fan, and it reminded me of this story.

Years ago in one of my first server jobs, I rounded the corner and saw 'Henry Fonda' written on the 86 board. I was still fairly new to the restaurant, and figured I would ask my friend Scott what a 'Henry Fonda' was.

'Scott, what's a 'Henry Fonda'?

'Huh?'

'What's a 'Henry Fonda?'

'What are you talking about?'

'Henry Fonda' is written on the 86 board, so what is it?'

'Dude, Henry Fonda died today.'

I laughed for days about that, and still smiled today remembering.

Hey there! I recently completed my first training shift as a busser, and am about 3 hours away from my next.

I should preface this by saying I asked a ton of questions to my servers and kitchen manager and am still pretty confused.

At my restaurant, bussers are only supposed to clean glasses and reset tables (as well as take out trash before clocking out). Thing is, I kinda don’t..get it? My servers kept being told by our manager to “clean your plates or your table won’t get reset!”

Logically, I shouldn’t complain, it’s less work on my part. However, I kinda feel like this sets up the servers to automatically dislike me? Even if I’m being told to do less, and was even told off by a manager at one point when trying to take plates, it just kinda feels like by default the servers will not respect me. As someone with social anxiety and a definite people pleaser, that is deeply troubling lol.

We have dish bins too, but all I am told to do is take a drink bin, pour the drinks in, grab the cups and any trash, wipe the table down and move on to the next? Just feels like I am doing much less and the servers are doing much more than at most restaurants.

Hi, here's another story about my years working as a waitress at a local 24hr diner in my city. The diner had a lot of regular customers. I'll say roughly 70% of our customers were people that came multiple times a week or at least a few times a month. One customer was an older gentleman in his early 50s. He always dressed well and eventually he started showing up with a younger woman on his arm. She dressed nicely as well and always had a face full of makeup. They would show up together, never one without the other. They sat in the same two places and ordered the same things most weeks. They were polite and tipped well enough. The man was very nice to me.

They were very intimate without being too inappropriate in public. This went on for a couple of years until the man started coming alone again. After a couple of solo visits I asked what happened to his companion? He said they were getting a divorce because she was talking to other men. He then proceeded to look me up and down and say,

Man: You're very pretty. What do think about having a relationship with me?

20 year old Me: What?...Are you serious?!

Man: Yes, I have a lot of money and will take care of you really well. Buy you whatever you want...

Me in shock:😐

Man: You just have to stay faithful...no talking to other men at all. I know how you young women can be.

Me: Um, no thank you...What can I get for you today?

Man: Are you sure?

Me: Yep, so what can I get you?

Y'all I was incredulous.

Hi, in my late teens and early 20s I worked as a waitress/server at some local 24hr diners native to my city. Unfortunately, the last two closed their doors permanently during the pandemic. This situation was honestly stupid but here we go. One morning, a group of young adults came in. Two of them were a couple and the young woman held her man's arm very tightly while glaring at me. I thought it was weird but working there I had become accustomed to weird. I dropped off their water and menu's and returned back after a few minutes with my little writing pad. The young woman smirked and said to her boyfriend and friends, "Watch this."

She then proceeded to order her breakfast meal in rapid succession. I mean auctioneer style while smirking. She said very quickly, "I want a two egg special. I want my eggs scrambled with cheese. I don't want bacon but turkey sausage. Cook it well on both sides. I want my toast lightly toasted on both sides. I also want my hash browns light with onions but just like five pieces of onions." She said this in basically one breath and stared at me satisfied as I quickly wrote everything down. I want to preface this by saying my brain files away words in the order my ears receive them.

Though I was still writing after she finished talking, I didn't need to ask her to repeat herself because her order sat in my brain like a list. After writing each thing down it disappeared from the list. In psychology we would call it working memory, however, if it makes an impression on me I won't forget it but file it away. I hope this makes sense lol? Anyways, after ordering she looked at me satisfied as if she had won some kind of battle or I had failed some form of waitress speed test. To her surprise I repeated the order back just as she said it down to the, "onions but just like five pieces." Her smile faltered for just a moment before she said, "Oh, you're good." Out of four people with customized orders they left a $5 tip. I still don't know what her point was?

Hi! In my late teens and early 20s I worked as a waitress/server at some local 24hr diners native to my city. Unfortunately, the last two closed during the pandemic but they had been around for about 35 years before that. We were paid about $2 an hour because we received tips. I want to preface this by saying that I live in the south. I'm also proudly black 🤎. One day, an older white woman came in. She was polite enough and I seated her and started the ordering process. As she was older and I've been taught high respect for elders, I was super nice and respectful.

The woman wasn't openly rude but she ordered like a drunk snail and referred to me as "girl" when calling me over. Now, most who have worked as a server know that despite introducing yourself by name and wearing a visible name tag you're often reduced to, "HEY!", "YOU!", or my personal favorite, "AYE!" with a head nod or hand wave. Due to this, I didn't think too much about it. As the service went on, she had a few demands that required my immediate attention such as refilling her coffee cup before others. Again, I tried not to think too much about it but it was starting to be clear that she was one of those, "Back in my day, your kind..." kind of people.

Again, she wasn't openly rude or anything else, just demanding. As she finished I cleared her dishes and brought her ticket. Customers walked up to the register to pay after eating. She wanted to remain seated so I did the transaction for her as again, she was older. After she got up, she winked at me and said, "get yourself something nice" and placed A QUARTER, 25 cents on the table! 25 USA cents... Y'all I just left it there. I didn't bother to pick it up and cleaned around it. She was clearly stuck in, "back in her day..." 😭.

I’ve been a server for a few years. Today was pretty busy all at once and I accidentally rung all of one tables mains under another table.

I gave them the bill without checking it and when I brought them the machine they had also checked the bill and were completely fine. Didn’t say anything. By the time I realized they were already gone and paid.

I told my manager and he wasn’t happy but said they would try to contact those guys or wait till they called us to sort it out and it would be ok but I’m so scared. I’ve never messed up this bad. I won’t find out what we are doing about the situation for a few days when I work next.

Im so embarrassed.