Restaurant Etiquette
I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted, but I’ve been working like a crazy person, trying to squeeze in as many shifts before this weekend, when I’m done for the summer!
Once again, it’s my job which influences this post on restaurant etiquette. I was raised using proper restaurant etiquette, but this is not once of the most important things to teach children anymore, and many people forget very basic things about eating out that can reflect poorly on you, especially in the company of other people
1. Seating
What is the first thing you do when you come into a restaurant? You sit. Or rather, you are seated. It is generally not acceptable to seat yourself, unless a member of the staff asks you to. Wait until you are seated, then allow the women of your party to sit first.
2. Drinks
There has been a lot of debate on this topic in cyberspace recently: http://saveyerfork.livejournal.com/13107.html. Some would say it’s fine to order just water to enjoy with your meal, and at lunch, I wholeheartedly agree. However, if you’re eating dinner at a nice restaurant, it’s a good idea to order a drink. Even if you don’t drink alcohol, order iced tea or soda. This is where the restaurant makes its money!
Note: If the management buys you a drink, but the server still has to bring it to your table, you should tip on this drink.
3. Ordering
This is where a lot of people have NO idea what they’re doing. When the waiter/waitress comes to take your order, the women should order first UNLESS you are at a very large table (6 or more). Then, a lady should start the ordering, and the rest of the party should proceed around the table. Order your dishes in the order that you would like them (appetizers first), and let the waitress finish writing the last person’s order before you take your turn. Don’t interrupt the other members of your party: it will only confuse the server and give more of an opportunity for things to come out wrong.
4. Complaining
If something is wrong, say so! Servers in restaurants want you to be happy, and when asked nicely, will be quite happy to change things for you if something is wrong. PLEASE bear in mind, however, that problems in the kitchen are NOT your server’s fault. If meat is over/undercooked or the food took too long to come to your table, your server is not to blame, so please be kind when letting them know what is wrong.
5. Finishing
When you are finished with your food, place your knife and fork together on your plate. If you didn’t use your knife for the second course, place it on the plate anyway. Servers are not supposed to clear until all members of your party are finished, and we don’t know if you’re all finished until you’ve crossed your silverware. DON’T place your silver in this fashion if you are not finished, or a server will ask to take your plate. We’re not rushing you, we’re just interpreting this sign to mean you’re finished.
6. Asking for the cheque
If your server is all the way across the restaurant, feel free to make that universal sign for a cheque. HOWEVER: if your server comes over to the table, there is NO REASON to mouth the word “cheque” whilst scribbling on your hand. We’re RIGHT THERE. We can HEAR YOU.
7. Tipping
Anyone I know who has served before tips 20 percent automatically, 25 if the service is amazing. 15 is a fine tip, but if you’re tipping anything below 15, tell your server why. You may think you’re being mean, but we’d like to know if you were unhappy in any way so that we can be better next time!
FAQ Fridays: Restaurant Etiquette said,
August 3, 2006 @ 8:56 pm
[…] Anyone I know who has served before tips 20 percent automatically, 25 if the service is amazing. 15 is a fine tip, but if you’re tipping anything below 15, tell your server why. You may think you’re being mean, but we’d like to know if you were unhappy in any way so that we can be better next time! Source: FAQ Fridays: Restaurant Etiquette - FAQ [Feed] […]
Springs1 said,
August 20, 2006 @ 4:07 pm
“The food took too long to come to your table, your server is not to blame”
Sometimes it CAN BE the SERVER’S FAULT!I just had a few months ago a waiter that took our appetizer order when my husband and I ordered our drinks. We were waiting a while and asked him about our appetizer. It turns out he NEVER PRINTED THE TICKET because he claimed he FORGOT to put the order in, meaning it was *HIS* FAULT we waited a LONG TIME for an appetizer, NOT THE COOK’S AT ALL. We waited literally a half an hour, which that is the amount of time we should have been receiving our entrees. Also, there could be times when a server goes get table 6’s order that is a party of 2 doesn’t put the order in right away. Like I’ve seen a waiter get our entree order and go greet a table of 6 people BEFORE putting in our food order. Well, HE DELAYED our food from getting cooked faster or being NEXT on the list, because in that amount of time, another server put in another table’s order more than likely, making us wait longer to eat. So YES, the server DOES have SOMETHING to do with “HOW LONG” you wait for your food. If I order at table 5 and the server puts in the order RIGHT AFTER, OBVIOUSLY I will get my food as SOON as I can, where as if my server goes to greet 2 tables of 4 people and busses a table BEFORE going to put the order in, well OF COURSE table 5’s order will be delayed at least 5 minutes or more. So DON’T say it has NOTHING to do with it, because it DOES!
http://www.complaints.com/complaintofthedayoctober142000.4.htm
“We were waited on and order was taken at 11:40am, and did not receive our lunch until 12:25pm. I understand that the noon hour is busy, but not only did our drinks run out, but our waitress avoided coming to our table.
This not only made us late coming back to work, but the food was cold. When we looked on our ticket our order was not placed until 12:08.”
Basically this letter that someone wrote states their order was delayed by their WAITRESS, by not putting in the order until 12:08p.m.
My point is, the server DOES have a LOT to do with *HOW LONG* people wait for their food. If you don’t print a ticket, how in the world is the cooks going to KNOW to cook it? If the order doesn’t go into the computer for 10 minutes, well gee, that’s 10 minutes the customers could have had their meal quicker. So QUIT SAYING that it has NOTHING to do with “Taking TOO LONG”, because it has EVERYTHING to do with how long someone is waiting. Even if I order a well done steak, if the server waits to put my order in for 10 minutes and basically in a sense *SITS* on my order for that long, I’ll be waiting LONGER for that steak. You KNOW that’s the TRUTH! I know that a steak well done would take a long time, but it will take LONGER if my server doesn’t put in the order RIGHT AFTER they get it. If the server “FORGETS” to get the food and it just “SITS”, it CAN be delayed due to the *SERVER*!
If you put the order in right away and get it right away, then the COOK is at fault for the food taking a long time.
Courtney Haldeman said,
December 14, 2006 @ 2:49 pm
I work at McDonald’s in Manheim. If that would happen we would have been fired.That is bull crap, But sometimes it is not your fault.
Courtney Haldeman said,
December 14, 2006 @ 2:52 pm
email me any time. I have been working at Manheim McDoalds for almost 4 years. I started working there when I was 14 years, and now I am 18 years old.