NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Mar 22, 2011 13:38:15 GMT -5
basic questions that someone will ask, like where are your scallops from? From a bag in the freezer?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Mar 22, 2011 13:39:31 GMT -5
I meant sea vs bay.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Mar 22, 2011 13:42:07 GMT -5
I meant sea vs bay.
I know. I was being a smart ass. ;D
That should have been in a training packet. I got a training packet that had all the dishes along with pictures of what each finished dish should look like.
With just that I had enough information to please pretty much every customer and BS the rest.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Mar 22, 2011 13:43:30 GMT -5
I'm going to go out on a limb Firebird and say you are like me. Since you have been there and done that, you are a "harsh critic" as my husband calls it, of service. I notice stuff that DH doesn't even blink an eye at. It'd have to be truly terrible service for him to really notice. I think it is important, but I also don't think it is really that hard to do a good job and "excel" as a server. I think it is rough physically and there are quite a few people out there who treat you as if you are the gum underneath your shoe, but honestly serving is one of the easiest jobs I've ever had and it was extremely easy to provide GOOD service. I will also agree it depends on where you go the level of service you expect, but I also would expect that servers working in higher end restuarants aren't "Denny's" material. Harsh critic in the sense that I notice stuff, sure, but I also tend to cut servers a lot of slack when they screw up (unless we're in a really high end place, in which case I pretty much expect it to be adequate from the word go). I found it easy to be good at my job too, but it did involve working hard. Again, I'm not saying that waiting tables is a bad job or that it pays badly. Neither are true. It just annoys me to hear people talking about servers feeling "entitled" to tips for an "easy" job. They ARE entitled to tips because tips are part of their wage in this country, and if you're doing it right it's not what I would call an easy job. Hardest job out there, no way, but it's far from the easiest.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Mar 22, 2011 13:46:58 GMT -5
I agre it isn't easy insofar as you have to have a certain mentality to deal with customers on a daily basis and you also have to be in at least some shape physically.
But overall I don't think it's hard to provide good service.
In zib's case that's piss poor training. I expect at a high end place that you know a lot more about the food/drinks than I do someone at Denny's.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Mar 22, 2011 13:48:16 GMT -5
I will also agree it depends on where you go the level of service you expect, but I also would expect that servers working in higher end restuarants aren't "Denny's" material. Bash it if you want, but I usually get better service at lower end places. A waitress at Denny's is usually covering a section that includes at least half a dozen tables by herself. She's responsible for the drinks, the table clean up, seating, and service. The tables turn over much more frequently. The menu is actually fairly large. And she's doing all of it for crappy pay because the bills are low which means her tips are too. Those chicks hustle like crazy and know how to multi task. Contrast that with the local four star restaurant. Each waitress covers one or two tables max. The hostesses cover the drinks and app orders. The sommelier handles the wine order and pour. The bus boys do the table clean and set up. All the actual waitress does is take the food orders, bring the food out, and check on you throughout the meal. But only for one or two tables at a time. Granted she's got to know a lot more about the food, but the day to day job has got to be ten times easier. She's also expecting easily 5-10 the pay for doing it, because the prices are that much higher. Now, I'm sure she has to split her tips with the sommelier, bus boys, and hostesses, but still.
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AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP
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Post by AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP on Mar 22, 2011 13:52:25 GMT -5
Bingo! Most people go out for the food, not for the service. Not me. I make far better food at home than I can get anywhere else. I'm a gourmet cook, I cook a lot and I am constantly getting better. I go out precisely for the service- and that includes the clean-up- and the atmosphere. My min. tip is 20%, but I'm a regular at places where I'll tip my regular server / bartender 30%. Needless to say, they are eager to provide me with their absolute best service. The don't neglect other tables, but I'll very often get that extra beer they poured on accident, and I get to try food and specials that are in pre-launch. I know the food tech in one of the Outback regions-- and btw here's a hot tip for you: Next time you're in Outback, ask your server about the wood fired (oak) grill, and try the Ribeye woodfired, with the wood fire seasoning. They don't officially launch it until the 28th, but it's available now in most locations as they do the "soft roll out". The don't start advertising until this summer. You don't get sh** from servers whose income is guaranteed. I know- Disney tried it, and it didn't last long. The service suffered immediately. Tips aren't for the servers. They're for YOU. Use them to get good tips. Most people that are upset about tips are really just people that don't have a clue how to behave in public in general. In restaurants they mostly come out on Sunday which we used to refer to as "Amateur Night"...So, if you're one of those people who is all worked up over tipping-- stick to Sunday nights for all of your eating out.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Mar 22, 2011 13:57:32 GMT -5
Bash it if you want, but I usually get better service at lower end places
I expect it no matter where I go and in general I'd rather go to Village Inn for breakfast than out to an expensive dinner.
When you only have 2-3 tables, a lot of assistance and walk out with several hundred or more a night out of it I am going to cut you A LOT less slack than the Village Inn waitress who is having to cover two sections by herself because someone didn't show up.
BTW, Village Inn pays minimum wage. If I ever have to wait tables again I am going there. No more of the $2.15/hr crap it was a nightmare come tax time.
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Firebird
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Post by Firebird on Mar 22, 2011 13:58:08 GMT -5
Bash it if you want, but I usually get better service at lower end places...
Contrast that with the local four star restaurant. Each waitress covers one or two tables max. The hostesses cover the drinks and app orders. The sommelier handles the wine order and pour. The bus boys do the table clean and set up. All the actual waitress does is take the food orders, bring the food out, and check on you throughout the meal. But only for one or two tables at a time. Granted she's got to know a lot more about the food, but the day to day job has got to be ten times easier. She's also expecting easily 5-10 the pay for doing it, because the prices are that much higher. Now, I'm sure she has to split her tips with the sommelier, bus boys, and hostesses, but still.
First, you don't appear to be describing superior service at Denny's. You appear to be describing superior multitasking skills. Part of what you are paying for at a higher-end restaurant is your server's undivided attention. So it's kind of irrelevant to compare multitasking ability.
Second, most high-end servers did their time in lower-end restaurants first. You think a rookie waiter is going to get hired at Nobu? They work their way up, just like any other career.
Third, when you factor in the knowledge required (not to mention the daily memorization), the job isn't necessarily easier just because they're not working as physically hard as lower-end waitstaff. Again, it takes years of training to get into a quality restaurant.
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Sum Dum Gai
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Post by Sum Dum Gai on Mar 22, 2011 14:02:22 GMT -5
Part of what you are paying for at a higher-end restaurant is your server's undivided attention. And all that gets me is a bored waitress who comes to check on us every two minutes because she's got nothing better to do. Leave me alone and let me enjoy my $100 or more plate of food please!
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mmkad4
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Post by mmkad4 on Mar 22, 2011 14:13:40 GMT -5
You guys make this job (i.e., waiting tables) sound so complicated. I'm surprised that local community colleges around the country don't already have classes geared toward people who want to make this their career. If you can talk, do basic math, multi-task, and know how to be pleasant, you can wait tables. There's no science to it. Puhleeze, people!
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Mar 22, 2011 14:57:14 GMT -5
........."I'm arguing this weird idea some people have that it's an easy job. It's not even close to being the easiest service job out there."
In my experience it is one of the easiest- low skill, no education required jobs out there. And, I've been a cook, hostess, bus girl, fast food cashier, front line and backline food prep, retail sales clerk and cashier, night gaurd, paper route girl, construction laborer, movie theatre food stand cashier, every job in a theme park and several other low wage jobs.
But then, for the most part, I found all these jobs to be easy. I haven't had to work a low skill job since my college days, but I would take waiting tables over all the other low wage jobs any day. Tips more than make up for the low hourly wage and servers shouldn't care what method customers give it to them. Which is the whole reason I was outraged by the article. If they can't get paid that night because of the CC tips, then they should plan better like the rest of the jobs out there that don't get paid daily.
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gooddecisions
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Post by gooddecisions on Mar 22, 2011 15:15:16 GMT -5
........"I know the food tech in one of the Outback regions-- and btw here's a hot tip for you: Next time you're in Outback, ask your server about the wood fired (oak) grill, and try the Ribeye woodfired, with the wood fire seasoning."
Outback started serving wood fire grilled steaks and seasoning in my area a couple of months ago. I'm not a big fan of Outback, but agree it is a lot better than the original seasoning.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Mar 22, 2011 15:17:06 GMT -5
Which is the whole reason I was outraged by the article. If they can't get paid that night because of the CC tips, then they should plan better like the rest of the jobs out there that don't get paid dailyAmen I was going to punch one girl in the face if I had to listen one more time to how she wasn't getting enough tips to meet rent. .. but ooh look at this new designer handbag I just bought! Right. .. you can't make rent because people are cheap tippers.
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DVM gone riding
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Post by DVM gone riding on Mar 22, 2011 15:36:28 GMT -5
with the changes in the tax code I think it is more likely to be that watestaff pays taxes on tips they didn't get then the other way around. I do which ever is most convenient for me (if i pay a lot of times BF tips) and leave it at that. Though personally I don't care if they cheat on their taxes a little bit.
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Mar 22, 2011 16:43:43 GMT -5
...:::"I meant sea vs bay.":::...
Isn't this the type of question that some people like to ask just to make the server think they are smart and refined? A friend told me these are the sorts of questions that the server will just lie to. "Sure, thats Atlantic salmon".
The popular counter to "paying servers living wages would double the food price" was usually that the bottom line would still be very similar. It would also eliminate people's "exceptions" like "I don't tip on alcohol". The price would be the price.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Mar 22, 2011 16:58:23 GMT -5
There are two very different tastes as well as some safety issues with the one kind.
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oreo
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Post by oreo on Mar 22, 2011 17:55:14 GMT -5
Am I the only person who worries when you leave a cash tip if it will still be there when someone from the restaurant comes to retrieve it??? I'm always worried some one will go by the table and yank the tip.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Mar 22, 2011 18:06:35 GMT -5
I do the same thing so usually make sure the server gets it from me before I leave.
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