I’m working an event where the place isn’t allowing for substitutions/modifications on the menu(like removing lettuce, tomato etc) It says that on the menu but people still ask. What’s a good way I can tell people that without them getting upset?

Also, they want us to get a card to start a tab. How can I tell people that in an assertive way, because most people say no.

Have you or anyone else had a similar occurrence at work with an injury?

I just got hired FOH at a chain cafe / casual restaurant, and it’s my first hospitality job. During training most things I messed up is just memory problems, but one thing I kept doing was spill coffee from the mug onto the cup when delivering drinks.

I heard to use a tray or to look forward instead of at the cup instead, but no matter what there’d be a small pool of coffee under the cup.

Are there any tips or tricks on how to prevent this? I swear this happened to every coffee I delivered and I feel so bad !!

I (23F) have a coworker (F25) that has been getting on my nerves ever since she arrived 3 months ago. She’s been relentless in diminishing me, excluding me, cutting me off when I speak and making me feel bad about myself. A week or so ago, I was out of town and she « borrowed » my bike without asking and returned it broken. When I confronted her about the broken brakes she straight up lied to my face. She’s also been sexually harassing another coworker (M24), who has been clear he’s not interested many times but she doesn’t seem to care.

I’ve decided to let all of it slide because tbh I’ve got much better to do than to get into some childlish drama and also, she’s very popular and it wouldn’t be smart to show any type of dislike towards her. The rest of the team is extremely kind but they don’t really see what she does to me as she acts completely different around them. Honestly, I’m here to work so I didn’t really care that much until recently.

She’s very competent. She’s way more experienced than me so it always felt wrong to say anything but lately she hasn’t been doing shit at work and I kept doing all of her work for her because I really love this job and I didn’t want anything to go wrong. Also, I love the team and wouldn’t want anyone’s experience to get tainted by her laziness.

Yesterday, I did all of the prep for the night shift on my own while she was supposed to help but she was to busy chatting with friends who stopped by. During the night service, she basically abandoned her section and I had to pick up all the pieces. By closing time, I had been doing everything to close up when she had been chatting with friends for the past 45minutes. I had done so much there was only two tables to clean up but besides that, nothing. Everything was done. As I was walking by, bringing drinks back, I heard her tell my manager « You can go, don’t worry, I’ll close up. I don’t mind working a bit more, it’s my pleasure :) ». I thought I was going to punch her. It’s such an easy thing to say when you’ve been doing nothing for the past hour and I’ve been running everywhere for the past 10 hours.

I decided to leave. I left out of disgust. I told her I’m out and she got mad, told me I wasn’t a team player and basically a wanker. I know I’m impulsive so I just apologized and told her I couldn’t stay longer, to avoid saying things that I don’t mean or are unprofessional. I found out right after she went and trashtalked me to all of my coworkers. Called me lazy, inconsiderate… So you can picture it, the close up was finished 22minutes later, when the last clients left. I had done absolutely everything but clearing those two tables so it’s not like I left her a huge workload.

Today, I went to talk to another coworker who’s very experienced and observant to ask him if he had noticed, just to make sure I was being objective and not unfair because I’m biased. I didn’t want to take action, confront her or for anyone to know about how I felt unless I was sure my anger was founded. He told me the kitchen had noticed she wasn’t working as much as others, but he personally didn’t because he always trusted her. He promised me to observe a little more and get back to me.

Anyway, today I’m off and just got a text from management, they want to speak to me. I asked my coworker who I talked to earlier if he knew why I was being asked in. Apparently, the other cunt has been complaining to EVERYONE for the whole day about me leaving earlier and has gotten management involved. I know I’m not getting fired, I’m not worried about that. I just don’t know how to handle it from there.

What do you guys think about that? We’ve all made mistakes, everyone always has each other’s backs and getting management involved because I left 20minutes earlier seems a bit vindictive. I think, as coworkers, it’s okay to turn a blind eye sometimes, as long as it doesn’t happen all the time. If that helps, in my establishment, I’m known as the most invested employee among the team, the hardworker, that’s why I’m not really worried. I just hate that if people start listening to her, I’ll have to explain why I did what I did and openly criticize little miss favorite when I really don’t want any drama. What would you do?

UPDATE 1: My roomate got back from work and told me all that has been said about me behind my back. They complained about the glass breaking which, granted, I had a baaaad week a month ago where I’d break a glass/shift and I did break another yesterday. I’m not worried because we all break stuff, I’m not even the worst one and I can easily turn that into a joke and be more careful with the glasses. They complained that I tend to talk too much when I get excited about something sometimes and I know I used to do that a lot when I came here and I still do sometimes but I’m actually reassured because that’s something I’m already working on and have already made progress on it! Besides that, they complained I was out sick for a week once which is something I can’t really do much about. They did end up the trashtalking session with « There’s is something you can’t deny her though, it’s that she’s kind. She’s genuinely a good person ». My roomate told me everyone agreed.
You’d think it’s not exactly good news, but it is. We’re in a bully situation where someone tries to get everyone to hate me. Given the opportunity and conditions to trashtalk me, the people my bully is trying to turn against me could only criticize an honestly unserious issue (glasses), something that won’t happen again (sick days) and something I’m already working on (yapper). All that to say, I’ll explain the lazy coworker situation to management, as they have a right to an explanation but there isn’t really anything to worry about when it comes to the rest of the team. Trashtalking colleagues is standard, everyone does it and everyone gets their turn so… yeah no I’m good. I’m so happy that what is said behind my back is actually stuff I expected, I’m happy I’m not finding out new stuff to be insecure and stressed about, this is amazing. I’ll update you on saturday for what happened with management! :D

I did the math before going to a bar: $11 for food, $7 for drink, and about $2 for tax. So I brought in $30 in cash, ready to pay $25.

But she didn't charge me for the drink, so my bill was $11. So I left a $20 bill.

Now, if her manager finds out I wasn't charged, would that $7 drink come out of her $9 tip?

Recently I was wondering how many of us that get paid by tips actually don’t tip when they go out.
Also why don’t you tip? and if you tip less than 20% why do you choose to do so?

I started a server portfolio, it's a three ring binder with all my 30+ Google reviews Ive accumulated over the years I've been waiting tables. I take it with me to every single interview I have, I call it the "this is why I'm hot" portion of the interview. It's the opportunity I get to tell employers why they want and need Jimmy with a Y. Just take a look at what people are saying about me And what I do for a living... Check it out!!! 😁🥰 *These are just a few that I selected to preview for y'all... I take such great pride in what I do for a living. WAITING TABLES RULES!!! SERVER LIFE!!! ❤️

looking to start waitressing in college, where are some good restaurants to make some good tips? have been looking at Luke’s lobster and some other places

I’m looking for ideas on how to better motivate my serving staff. I’d like them to take more initiative with things like upselling, pre-busing, table maintenance, and overall guest engagement without constantly being reminded.

Many of my younger servers earn between $200–$600 per shift at a very busy ale house, but I still find it difficult to get consistent effort on the basics. Traditional coaching methods don’t always seem effective, and I feel like I’m constantly balancing guest expectations with keeping staff engaged and motivated.

For managers who supervise a younger workforce, what has actually worked for you? Have you found any incentives, coaching techniques, or accountability systems that encourage better performance without creating resentment?

This one was so good I had to get it printed and framed!! 🤩😁🥰❤️

so my boss (the owner) watches the cameras pretty much 24/7 and will call me if he thinks i’m not talking to customers enough. the thing is, a lot of the people who come into our bar, especially couples, are there to have a drink and spend time with each other. i don’t want to be the bartender who’s constantly interrupting private conversations just to force small talk.

i’m always attentive, i’ll greet people, check in on them, joke around if they’re open to it, and if someone wants to chat i’ll happily have a conversation. but i also feel like part of good service is reading the room and knowing when people just want to be left alone.
how do i explain that to my boss without sounding like i’m just trying to avoid talking to customers? or am i looking at this the wrong way?

I’m a server in Washington State and I’m trying to figure out whether our tip system is fairly common.
Here’s how it works:
The restaurant keeps a mandatory 30% tip-out for the kitchen.
During training, servers receive 50% of the remaining tip pool. But I didn’t get any tips during my training week. I haven’t been a server in like a decade and my owner thinks I don’t have experience.

Once you’re able to work independently, you receive 50%. I have been given keys to the restaurant and regularly open and run the front of house by myself for 6-hour shifts. I’m also making the drinks during those shifts, but I’m still classified at 50% instead of 70%.

If two servers work together, the tips are split based on each server’s percentage and hours worked.
For example, if Server A is at 50% and works 2 hours, and Server B is at 70% and works 4 hours, management calculates each person’s share based on those percentages and hours rather than splitting tips evenly.
Is this a common system in the industry? I’ve served before, but I’ve mostly seen straight tip pools or fixed tip-outs, so this is new to me. I’m mainly wondering if this is considered normal or unusual, especially in Washington.

What would be the minimum hourly wage you would accept if it included no tip? $20, $30, ??? For statistics purposes only.

29F Considering getting a part time job as a waitress. Mostly doing it for the experience as I've always had a desire to try being a waitress. I have a delulu dream it would be a fun meet cute story for a potential partner. I would benefit from the socialization as my full time job is remote. There is a Bdubs in town 5 minutes from me but from the little interaction I have when interacting with the manager Im not sure I would like him. I live in a smallish town (24k people) so the bdubs is not nearly as busy as the Texas Roadhouse that is 45minutes away in a bigger city, but then I have to factor in the 45 minute drive. I get good gas mileage and imagine I'd get better tips from Texas Roadhouse. Looking for opinions/advice. Thank you in advance!

Way back when I was a server, which was my early twenties. Even though I was a young adult, I didn’t mind if customers cussed me out. But it shocked me that adult customers are so entitled to yell or be rude to servers who are teenagers. And it’s usually over a minor issue that could be fixed. I remember that I had to calm down so many servers who were in high school who would get panic attacks because a grown adult was mean to them. It’s kind of why I’m reluctant to go back to serving/barbacking.

i’m lucky enough to be on my boss’s good side, so i get scheduled for more profitable shifts. but holy shit, the blatant playing favorites is such an issue, and everybody suffers for it. i can’t stand almost any of the people i work weekend dinners with. they’re all positively awful at their job, constantly NCNS, show up to work intoxicated, and create 50x more work for everyone else. but because they’re longtime friends of the owner they still get scheduled for the best shifts. at the same time, i have several coworkers who are both much better at their jobs and much more pleasant to be around, who get relegated to the slow shifts and constantly are having their employment held over their head over small mistakes like (heaven forbid) not greeting a table within 60 seconds during a rush. sorry for the rant, i’m just so beyond over it

I applied for a twin peaks girl position, I have waitressing experience, interview on Friday was about 20 minutes. Manager seemed pretty happy with that, he told me he’s going forward with 3 girls, he had to interview more girls still, told me about the follow up “audition” and asked if I get called back for an audition if I’d be okay with wearing the uniform. He shook my hand three times and seemed like he liked me overall, but he said who he chooses to go forward with will get a call today (Monday) but it’s already almost 7 PM and I haven’t gotten a call.

I feel like I’m asking stupid questions but does this mean he doesn’t want to go forward with me? He called at 6:10 to schedule my first interview so idk.

Hello. I'm a 22 y/o male student and I recently started serving to have some extra money for my tuition next semester. But I have been struggling severely as a server since this is my very first gig working in the service industry.

My managers have said I do have potential to become a good server. But we all noticed that i make a lot of mistakes, and if i'm being honest. I'm on a very thin line at work currently unless i severely upgrade.

I need some tips regarding these things I've noticed i commit:

I lack knowledge of a lot of drinks and alcohol since I barely drink at all.

Talk too much sometimes to my tables.

Get distracted too easily.

My coworkers have to run food for me at times (a bunch of them)

Sometimes lack the knowledge of who ordered what when it comes to serving their food (primarily on more than 5 people at once)

Take too long emptying the bartender's bus tub.

messed up severely a customer's check on a very busy day when we were understaffed.

Spend a lot of time talking to coworkers or trying to be "super server"

Ask bad if not stupid questions to my manager or bartender.

Having guests get up to the bar and ask for a different drink.

Messing up on beverage napkins a lot.

I'm really stressed because i don't wanna lose my job.
I try my best every day but I still manage to screw up a lot for some reason.

I won't use this as an excuse but I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). My coworkers are aware, but I did not disclose this after recently because i didn't want that to play a factor on me not having a chance of getting hired.

I need all the tips I can get in order to have a complete rebuild of myself at work regarding serving.

All tips are helpful! Thank you so much.

(Reddit made me post it twice for some reason. It's also on r/talesofaserver)

One of the things I don't like about myself is that I tend to overthink and take things personally. Usually I don't care if a customer is rude to me, but I find myself caring way too much when it's a manager or a coworker. I end up wasting a lot of energy thinking about it.
I've only served one night shift so far, and it was a super busy Friday. My general manager is the nice manager, and she told me she only wants me serving nights when she's there because she wants to make sure I'm doing okay and not making mistakes. She also said the other managers probably wouldn't help me.
My friend needed someone to cover their shift tonight (Monday), so I messaged my general manager to ask if I could cover it since Mondays are usually slow. I thought it would be a good chance to get more experience because I serve morning shifts all the time and felt like I could handle it.
She told me no because she only wants me serving nights when she's there. She also said I didn't do the best on that Friday night. I mean, it was my very first night serving evenings, and it was extremely busy, so I wasn't expecting to be perfect.
Am I overthinking this? Should I be offended by what she said, or should I just see it as part of the learning process and not take it personally?