Lessons I Learned from Working in a Restaurant

Today, I have a very different type of post! I’ve been working as a hostess the past two and a half months, and it has been quite the learning experience. I’ve never worked in a restaurant type setting before, although I’ve always had a love of cooking, so this job was the perfect introduction. I’ve compiled a list of tips that I think are important for all restaurant-goers.

               1. Be a good tipper.

This is by far the most important lesson I learned from this job. Everyone always say “Make sure you tip well!”, but often, people don’t. They’ll just put the standard $4 down for every check or leave in a rush and even forget to tip. How much you leave as a tip tells that server how great of a job he/she did. Without a tip, servers make very minimum wage; their jobs are hard. But, if you feel like the server wasn't very attentive or rude, make that known with your tip. They are working to give all customers the best possible dining experience. In my opinion, standard tip wage should be 20% of your bill. My dad says to tip based off the total before tax—I’m kind of hit or miss on that. Also, if you have any kind of coupon that you used, you should be sure to include the cost of that item in your total. Also, keep in mind that other people, such as the bussers, are working just as hard and are also relying on your tips.

2. Please be gracious to all restaurant staff.

 I completely understand that everyone has bad days, and I get irritated when my food comes out wrong as well, but please, please, please try to be gracious to a restaurant’s staff. Working as a hostess, I have to balance the requests of the guests, the servers, and the managers, and sometimes it is quite the balancing act. I’ve had people come up to me yelling because there aren’t any tables available. And not to be rude, but there is not a single thing I can do about that. I’ve also been to restaurants where they said there aren’t any tables available even though I see one open—often this is because the restaurant does not have the staff available to offer you prime service. If your food does come out wrong, just pleasantly tell your server, and a new dish should be preprared no problem.

3. A ton goes on behind the scenes.

This lesson comes based off the restaurant I work at—it’s a local, fine-dining European place. But there is so much work that goes into keeping it afloat. Our head manager has to come in at 4 a.m. some mornings just to do inventory. There are 5-6 head chefs alone that are in charge of purchasing their needed groceries, in addition to all of the prep cooks. Plus, there are bussers, bartenders, patio staff, etc. One time, I took a to-go order on the phone for a grilled salmon entrée, but we had just run out of salmon, so our head chef had to run to a local market to grab more!

4. The customer is always right. 

 I’m not sure how it is at all restaurants, but at least where I work, we have a 100% Customer Satisfaction policy. We will try everything we can to seat you where you prefer, make any dish to your needs, etc. That is not to say that as a consumer you should make unnecessary requests, but know that the staff is there to make your experience enjoyable. And, if you feel like there is an extreme issue, never be afraid to ask to speak to the manager.