waitering/waitressing (1 Viewer)

[xtrant]

hey guys
i would really like to try waitressing one day (prob next yr) and i was wondering what kind of skills you need like good coordination etc. or sth like that ?
and how wld you deal with your mistakes to the customers or customer complaints?
and out of curiosity, when ppl give you tips do you put it in your pants or back into the register?
thanks guys!

 

[ambermorn]

I waitressed for two months and hated it lol. You really need steady hands to carry a lot of dishes, but that comes with practice. If you're in a smaller restaurant or cafe, be prepared to learn barista skills and wash up dishes as well to help out. A lot of restaurants require an RSA to serve alcohol too, but my restaurant was BYO only. There are short courses you can complete at training schools or TAFE's for RSA and barista stuff.

As for tips, we put our in the tips bowl to be shared equally, but sometimes as an incentive, the boss let us keep ours.

Customer complaints are handled in much the same way as in any shop, if they send back food the chef ends up recooking it though they'll get particularly pissed off. You need to be on your game ALL the time to make sure all food ends up on the right table on time and as quick as possible. Chef's are cranky buggers and if you're too slow, you'll cop it! I never got a complaint in my two months.

Besides all this, it's a nice atmosphere and customers will treat you nicely unless you screw up their meal. It's worth trying, but it just wasn't for me, I enjoy retail a lot more. Also, be prepared to work a lot of evenings. Good luck!

 

[CieL]

**wall of text**

Um.. level of skill depends on what type of place you plan to work at..

If you want to work at a classy restaurant, prepared to get whipped into shape..
I'd much rather prefer working at a cafe or something.. somewhere casual where the job isnt so demanding..

Basically you need a good memory, good interpersonal skills, attention to detail, some food allergy knowledge would be good, physical stamina, blah blah blah..

Memory is obviously needed because you'd be required to memorise the menu.. know what you're selling, and know what the ingredients are in the foods.. For example, a customer may ask you.. "what on the menu is gluten-free?".. and you should be able to answer them straight away. I'd suggest to work at a place where the foods they sell are the ones you've eaten before.. I've worked at a classy japanese restaurant in which i was asked to memorise the jap names of all the sauces, what it's made of and what it tastes like, etc..

Um.. interpersonal skills kinda is what makes you the tips.. As for the question of "do i put it in the jar or slip it in my pocket".. it depends. The rule at the places I've worked is that all tips would go into the jar.. and it would be evenly distributed out at the end of the week. HOWEVER, the cafe I worked at used to rort me. They only gave me $10 "tips" for every 5hr shift i worked [$20 for a 8-9hr shift].. and I am definately positive i earn more than $2 tips per hour.. and I'm sure I wont get a set amount every shift/week..
So I was like fuck you guys I'm going to make my own tips.. I upped my customer service and soon people were shaking my hand after I serve them dessert/coffee and slipping $5-20 into my hand instead of the bill booklet. That's the tips that I pocketed.. the ones that people personally gave me - and me specifically.

Attention to detail.. at the classy jap restaurant there were a lot of tables. Outside on the balcony and inside. I had to keep check of which tables I should turn over. So I had to know every single table - who's had their entree, main, dessert - who was going to leave, how many pieces of cutlery/plates/cups do i need, which table would i first be cleaning, does anything need refilling? Is there anything missing? List goes on.

Mmm.. physical stamina.. if you can't support a minimum of 7kgs with your left arm.. reconsider the occupation or train up a bit. You have to have a strong wrist and strong fingers. A good back, and not be afraid of hot surfaces.
I've always been quite strong so I didnt have much troubles.
It's a matter of efficiency. It's a bare minimum that a waitress can carry three large plates.. I used to carry around three large pizzas on heavy white plates, or four plates of desserts, or 15 tall glasses of drinks on a black drink plate.

There's heaps more to table waiting but I think I've gotten carried away already lol

 

[Pacchiru]

me too

yay.

 

[icraig88]

lol ciel summed it up pretty well. communication skills is the most important. remembering to repeat orders is a MUST! this will save you in a lot of situations especially when theyre alot of modifications to an order (better being safe than sorry). having knowledge on menu items (both food and bar drinks) is essential. knowing which type of wines matches which food or which beer is a lager, draught, also having a background knowledge on the different liquors and spirits is always good.

pay close attention to your tables, noticing little things (eg, prebussing, refills on drinks) in the end can get you more tips, customers notice this, but you can be relaxed and friendly, talk to your customers, you dont have to be all formal the whole time you wait them, this way you dont look like a robot. it works for me, i have alot of regulars that come in and know me by name and want me to wait them, always a minimum of $10 tip.

i work in a family casual dining restaurant which is alot different a fine dining restaurant which i used to work in. pay was much better at the fine dining restaurant and labour was far less there. but the training ive received where i work now is so much better and have learnt to work in a very faced pace enviroment. i work on bar mostly these days and speed is absolutely essential, especially when you are by yourself on a busy night where you have table tickets coming in and customers ordering from the bar at the same time, memory saves you so much, cocktails, margerhitas and martinis sell alot at my work as well because we promote them alot.

anyways enough ranting on, in the end, all i can say is waitering varies from work place to work place. it can be really easy or it be very fast paced. and since you're finishing your hsc in 2010 i don't see your chances getting a job waitering in a restaurant being very high because majority of waiters have to deal with alcohol and an rsa needs to be obtained (which you can still get before you turn 18). your best bet is working in a cafe in my opinion. good luck anyways and i hope this helps.

 

[CieL]

Hmm customer complaints..

Customers never really complain.. the most common complaints are just coffee having too much head =S
Because when the bartender is rushing sometimes the order goes out before the head settles and by the time the customer looks at it, the latte is half a glass head lol.. but as you work there longer you start to be able to take notice of these things and fix it up before the order gets to the customer..

Generally, with food.. if they don't like it.. or something's wrong with it.. just apologise, take it back to the kitchen or bar, and get them a new dish.. if they're really grumpy or whatever you might want to inform the manager and they might give them a freebie to make them happy whilst they wait..

And if anything major happens there is always a manager there to deal with it. After all, the framework of your job is just to make the customer feel comfortable, take their order, get their food, clean their mess, reset, etc..

 

[gibbo153]

but I think I've gotten carried away already lol

=O are you sure you're not just being your own harshest critic? lololol