Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

[lsanderson]

One Hundred Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do (Part 1)
By Bruce Buschel
Start-Up Chronicle

Herewith is a modest list of dos and don’ts for servers at the seafood restaurant I am building. Veteran waiters, moonlighting actresses, libertarians and baristas will no doubt protest some or most of what follows. They will claim it homogenizes them or stifles their true nature. And yet, if 100 different actors play Hamlet, hitting all the same marks, reciting all the same lines, cannot each one bring something unique to that role?

1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.

2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?” Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.

3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.

4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right.

5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated. 6-50

Comments

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Excellent. The comments are quite interesting too. Most people there who disagree with the list are wrong.

K.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

I think this list is spot on.

I do wonder what word the commenters would prefer to use for female guests, I understand lady being right out but if you get rid of ma'am where are you left? It's embarrassing to everyone if you try to guess Ms. Miss. or Mrs.