Tips From Your Server

You know how you can tell if someone is a vegetarian? They'll tell you.  They will complain that there are not enough vegetarian choices on the menu and how it doesn't make it vegetarian if all you do is take away the chicken on a pasta dish.  Just order off the menu based on your dietary needs and don't go into a 10 minute lecture to me (the server who can do nothing about the menu) about how you aren't being accommodated.

I know you met the owner one time and now want to brag to me about it, but I see them on a regular basis and in fact even know their spouse, kids and what kind of car they drive so when I see it in the parking lot I know to be on my best behavior.  

The best way to create an accident is to hand me something I'm not prepared for.  If I'm setting down an entree that is hot, absolutely do not hand me your empty salad plate.  I will stack your empty plates and take them back to the kitchen, don't worry. 

A list of already made "tips" can be found here: http://tipsfromyourserver.tumblr.com/listofposts  

What would you do if you found this?

What do you think about these restaurants adding automatic gratuities?

I'm not expressing my view on the Zimmerman trial, but sharing this article about a waiter (what this blog is about) who got attacked. :(

Well, I guess this is one way to make your kid comfortable.

A sibling fulfilled his brother's dying wish, and tipped a server $500. Now that the video's gone viral, he's doing it all across the country.

I wonder how you decide which child you can't afford $6 on.

We all see them coming and cringe a little bit inside thinking about the whining and squirmy children heading straight for table 19. It's honestly a toss up between getting those parents who have it all under control and the parents who are more aware of their friends than they are the fact their 2 year old has just hit the next table in the head with a salt shaker. For most parents, eating out causes the same anxiety we feel. Children are unpredictable. Even your best behaved child will somehow seem as if Satan himself has taken over when they are in a dining environment. Here's some tips that will hopefully delight the parents & help make the dining experience a little less stressful... 1. Greet each child individually. Compliment them on their hair, their dress, their superman costume, etc. 2. Get names! Children love to be called by their names. 3. When you get those kids cups, write their names on the cup. It'll make it easier on you, too, when there are four kids and their all having lemonade. 4. Ask the parents if they'd like the kid's food out first. Then follow through. 5. If food is going to take a while make sure to bring out whatever breadsticks, biscuits or crackers your company offers quickly. Most people don't bring their kids in starving but it gives them something to do other than color on your walls with the crayons you so nicely provided. 6. Keep that check handy. When children are involved you never know when you're going to have a fit on your hand that only leaving can solve. 7. Unless a child's life is danger, never "parent" a child who isn't yours. Nothing will make a parent angrier than you disciplining their kiddo. Especially if they are the "anything goes" type. 8. Stay on the side of the parent. If they say no ice cream, do not try to push it. It may make the kids upset, but the parent is tipping you, not the kid. 9. Don't lie to them. Kids are smart. 10. When the situation rises that the table is unruly let your manager handle it. They can be the bad guy. It's easier.

One time I had a table leave a dirty diaper in the middle of their table after leaving.  What is the grossest thing someone has left on their table after leaving for you to clean up?

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