My first job was being a hostess at Cracker Barrel. As you may know, being a hostess requires you to greet and seat guests. However, like any other job, hostessing had it's quirks. So here are five confessions of a former hostess aka me.
1. There is this thing called a "rotation".
In every restaurant, each server has a section. The server's section is his/her responsibility and it is our job as a hostess to fill their section when it becomes their turn. However, sometimes guests make requests to sit else where. While we are happy to fill your request, please do not get mad at us because your server didn't greet you for five minutes or is busy. Rotation is so everyone gets a fair amount of tables and to keep the server's attentiveness to the best it can be. Servers who are "double" or "triple" sat probably won't be as attentive. So please, as a guest, just go wherever the host/hostess tells you to go.
2. Hostesses are also usually responsible for cleaning the restrooms.
Ladies, please do not make a mess. Typically, the dishwashers or bussers that are male are responsible for the men's restroom and the lady hostesses are responsible for the ladies restroom. So please, pick up after yourself and your family. We ladies do not like to walk in their and see a toilet unflushed or toilet paper all over the floor.
3. Nothing is more annoying than checking back and finding that a table has moved.
If you're not happy with your table, tell the hostess right off the bat that you're unsatisfied. Do not sit there and as we walk back, thinking we are not looking, change your seat. It just makes it more confusing in the long run and again, screws up our rotation.
4. If we do not have a certain table available, please don't get mad.
As a hostess, we cannot control when people leave. In Cracker Barrel, the average party stays for about 40 minutes. If they go under, great. If they go over, we cannot control that. So please do not yell at us that you're upset because the "booth by the window you always sit at" is not available.
5. Do not come up to us every five minutes asking how long your wait is.
Again, this goes with the same idea as number four. If we are on a twenty minute wait, please do not come up to us every five minutes asking when your table will be ready. If you went to Cracker Barrel, your name will be called on the overhead. If you go anywhere else, you will either have a pager that will buzz or will be notified by text. Trust us, we did not forget about you.
