Over the summer I waited tables at a local fine dining establishment to make some extra spending money for college. Personally, I think everyone should have to work at a restaurant at some point in their lives - you learn so much about dealing with people (both at the tables and behind the scenes).
1. Restaurants are kinda gross.
By kinda, I mean extremely. Not every restaurant is this way, but the two I worked at definitely cut some corners when it came to sanitation. This is a totally gross confession, but sometimes I didn't have time to wash my hands between serving different peoples' food or drinks, so some cross-contamination could have occurred. Also, my restaurant's floors were always sticky for some reason, no matter how often we mopped it. Honestly, I feel safer eating at restaurants where I can see my food being prepared in front of me - knowing how often I'd see a fellow waiter cough or sneeze in the kitchen makes me not trust the food prepared beyond my sight. I don't want to sound like I worked at a restaurant of slobs (the chefs were always professional and clean), but waiters are people who get busy and sometimes have to grab your food by hand. So be cautious.
2. Don't refuse a table.
Unless you absolutely need to seat in a certain section, please don't refuse what the hostess leads you to. She probably asked if you wanted a table or booth already - don't change your mind once she leads you onto the floor. The hostess' job is to make sure every waiter gets an equal number of tables throughout the night, so when you refuse a table, you might be screwing a waiter out of a table and causing someone to get overwhelmed by too many tables at once. Also, waiters can be mean to the hostess when she doesn't sit them right away, so make her life easier and just sit where she puts you!
3. Clean up after yourself.
If you or your child makes a giant mess, please do your best to clean up after yourself! It's not pleasant or timely to have to clean up mashed potatoes on the floor or crumbs all over the table when you have other customers to take care of. Also, the busboys can get busy as well, and waiters don't get sat unless their tables are spotless. Don't be a jerk - if you make a mess, at least try to clean it up.
4. If we make a mistake, tell us!
We want our customers to be happy, so if we mess up an order or forget something, please let us know! We can't read minds, and we don't want to be punished in the tip for a silly mistake. Waiters are only human, and humans are prone to error. On the flipside, if we do something really well, let us know! We're always on the lookout for ways to improve our service!
5. Don't skimp on the tip.
If I had to pick only one pet peeve, it would be people who tip badly. Waiters barely make 2 dollars an hour in most places, so we depend on our tip to supplement that income. Even if your waiter was horrible, leave a little bit of a tip. Ten percent if your service was poor / mediocre, 10-20 percent if the service was good and over 20 percent if the service was phenomenal or you've got cash to spare. On the subject of cash, cash tips are always preferred to credit card tips. Credit card tips have to be taxed, and often, a percentage of the tip goes back to the restaurant to pay the bartenders or busboys (at my place, 20 percent of our credit card tips were given back to the restaurants). Cash tips are easy and we get to take them home at the end of the night, instead of waiting a week or two for our check.
Going out to eat should be a fun and special treat to yourself! Just be sure to treat your waiter like a person, rather than a servant - you never know if your waiter is a student struggling to pay for textbooks, someone in-between jobs, or a mom with three kids at home. So be nice and tip well and enjoy your meal!
