Being a server is definitely my favorite job I've ever had, you feel like you're your own boss. It's up to you how you want to take care of your tables. if you want to be lazy and give them terrible service then you can. If you want to give them the best service and make sure everyone is having a good time, you can do that too.
I go up to all of my tables with a big smile and a warm greeting. I'm happy to answer any questions or give my recommendations on the menu. If I ever get asked a question I don't know, I'm sure to go ask someone else and check back in with the customer once I have an answer. I consider myself a good server because I genuinely care about the satisfaction of my customers, I want everyone to have a good time and enjoy their meal.
On most checks, I receive 20% and I'm happy about that. There are always some people that will tip less but that's always going to happen.
Last weekend, there was a 15-person party who made a reservation and they got seated in my section. It ended up being around 25 people total but they were friendly and I was having a good time serving and talking to them. One man from the party came up to me at the beginning and told me that he was going to cover the whole tab for everyone at the end. This is a blessing to a server's ears because that means I won't have to split up the check at the end.
Splitting up checks isn't hard but it can get really annoying to keep track of who had what, especially with 25 people.
This table stayed for about 4 hours, drinking, eating and enjoying the band. The man who had talked to me at the beginning came up to me and let me know he was ready for the check, I gave it to him right away and it was around $700. I charged his credit card and then he handed me a wad of one hundred dollar bills for my tip. At this point I was ecstatic, I couldn't tell how much it was but I could tell it was a lot. I thanked him again and again for his generosity.
I went to the kitchen to discover that he had just handed me $300 and I nearly fell on the floor, that's more than I have ever made in one night. I leave the kitchen to see that this man is still standing where we were just chatting and I go back up to him and wish him a good night. He then leaves and I pick up the checkbook, which contains the receipt and his signature. I then see that he added another $200 to the tip through his credit card.
Now I'm truly teary-eyed, I just earned $500 from one table. I was so shocked at his generosity.
A short hour later, I'm leaving work with over $500 cash in my hand and it was the best feeling. I put it right in the bank to save. Overall serving is really fun, it's the nights like those that make the job so worth it.
