For the Love of Bartending

Restaurant bartenders are a different breed than waiters. For instance, they make far less money than servers, yet often work twice as hard; and they’re usually under a lot of scrutiny from the serving staff.

That’s not to say that restaurant bartenders aren’t appreciated by their colleagues – they definitely are; but bartenders seem to get a lot of flack from servers during the dinner rush.

In order to survive a night of serving full table sections, servers have to work according to their own rhythms. When these rhythms are thrown off by something as simple as having to wait an extra five minutes for a strawberry daiquiri, bartenders unfortunately become public enemy number one. However, since many restaurant bartenders also work the odd serving shift, they’re usually pretty good about taking their ‘enemy’ status with a grain of salt.

A typical weekend bartending shift at my place of employment consists of:

• Arriving at 4 p.m. to stock bar fridges and ice trays;
• Cutting fruit for the garnish station;
• Counting and monitoring the bar till throughout the night;
• Polishing glassware and wiping down bar stools;
• Changing empty beer kegs;
• Making and preparing all drinks – one by one – for every table in the restaurant;
• Serving dinner and drinks to a [usually full] 14-seat bar;
• Answering phone calls for reservations and take-out orders; and
• Helping servers run food during their downtime.

All of these tasks are done by one person – sans help – on a busy evening.

While not every restaurant operates the same way, the basics of bartending remain consistent across the board. Bartenders do more work than they get credit for; that is why bartenders deserve respect, appreciation and a little bit of empathy from the serving staff.

On behalf of servers everywhere, I say: THANK YOU, BARTENDERS.

Servers: Underappreciated Labourers

Most waitressing jobs are labour-intensive. In an eight hour shift, a server may take up to 15,000 steps and lift up to 40 pounds of weight. Servers are constantly on their feet, and continually practice poor posture. And the list of work-related injuries servers endure on a daily basis include (but are not limited to):

• Burns, from touching hot plates and pouring boiling soup;
• Cuts, from handling sharp knives and cleaning broken glass;
• Bruises, from bumping into table corners;
• Sciatica, from the uneven weight distribution of carrying trays;
• Carpal tunnel, from carrying multiple plates with one hand;
• Achy neck muscles, from looking down to seated customers; and
• Emotional distress, from interacting with a wide variety of tempers and personalities.

For these reasons, waiters and waitresses fall into the category of labourers. However, the very things that classify servers as labourers are also the things that render servers underappreciated.

It seems as if the only people who can appreciate the strength and skill involved in waiting tables are fellow servers and restaurant staff. People who have never worked in a restaurant just don’t seem to understand the physical and emotional demands placed on servers – and we do it all for a mere 15 per cent.

So, the next time you go out for dinner, keep the following things in mind:

• When you ask your server to bring out a piping hot plate, she might burn herself;
• When your table of ten orders one drink at a time, your server has to run around taking unnecessary extra steps; and
• When you verbally undermine your server’s intelligence, you may have just cost her an extra $80 in therapy bills.

The Auto-Grat

Most restaurants have a policy in place whereby if a specified number of guests [or more] are seated at the same table, a certain percentage for gratuity is automatically added to their bill. Not only does this practice eliminate - for the customer - any uncertainty regarding standard tipping procedures, it also ensures that the server will receive a proper tip for her hard work, based on what is assumed to be a higher-than-average bill. In the world of waitressing, this is more commonly known as the Auto-Grat.

Auto-Grat policies differ from restaurant to restaurant, but the standard practice is to add a 15 per cent gratuity to the bill for parties of eight or more. In fact, this practice is so common in the restaurant industry that experienced large-party diners should automatically expect to pay the Auto-Grat when settling their bills.

Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Some customers feel insulted when they’re forced to pay an automatic gratuity because it takes away their freedom of choice. After all, everyone has the right to choose how much money they want to spend on good service. For this reason, most restaurants now include their Auto-Grat policies in the front cover of their menus – in plain sight – so as not to insult the customer’s intelligence.

Of course, there are times when the Auto-Grat isn’t expected to be paid; for instance, when a party of ten receives sub-par service, or no one at the table receives the correct dinner. In these cases, the gratuity is understandably left in the hands of the customer.

But when a party of ten receives exceptional service and has no problems with their food, they shouldn’t complain about having to tip their server accordingly. Customers who complain about the Auto-Grat [simply because it’s on their bill] are, more often than not, ignorant about the service industry as a whole. Standard tipping procedures are usually unknown to these types of diners because they just don’t bother to do their homework before going out for dinner.

So, the next time you and seven friends walk into a restaurant, please know that you will be charged that extra 15 per cent for service. And if that bothers you, split your party in half.

The Benefits of Waitressing

I believe that everyone should work as a waitress at least once in their lifetime. Even though there are some obvious downsides to working in the service industry, there are also a lot of benefits that can transfer to other areas of your life.

This week, I asked a few of my co-workers to come up with some beneficial, transferable life skills they’ve learned from serving in a restaurant. The top three answers they gave were: Patience, time management and communication.

1) Patience

The age old saying, ‘Patience is a virtue,’ might be somewhat outdated, but the underlying message still rings true: Patience needs to be practiced in all areas of life.

According to the International Business Times, there are four universal reasons why we need to practice patience: It builds reputation; it gives way to remarkable results; it leads to positive recognition; and it is your most formidable resource.

In any given night, servers will encounter a variety of personality types; and they all want their server’s attention at the same time. You might be helping one table of customers who can’t make up their minds, while four other tables glare at you from across the room.

Fittingly, The Bitchy Waiter claims that “patience is learned. And when your income is dependent on how patient and attentive you are, it’s learned quickly.”

2) Time Management

Time management is a beneficial life skill because it’s the act of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities. As such, time management increases your efficiency. The skill of managing your time can demonstrate your value as a productive employee, student, parent, partner and friend.

Waitresses learn how to manage multiple tables simultaneously, each at different stages of their meals. Thus, servers always need to think one step ahead in order to keep a good flow of their sections. Furthermore, waitresses have a list of side duties to tackle throughout the night – a set of chores divided among staff members. In order to finish these tasks in a timely manner, servers quickly learn how to manage their time properly.

3) Communication

The art of communication is one of the most important life skills to acquire. Communication can be as simple as learning how to speak to others in a respectful manner, and as complicated as reading into someone’s personality through body language.

Acquiring good communication skills is vital to all areas of life, from the workplace to the home. Communication skills help to build important relationships by establishing trust and loyalty between individuals.

As a waitress, you can’t avoid communication. In fact, servers may have to converse with up to 75 people in any given shift. For this reason, servers quickly learn the art of good communication in order to emit a positive, caring attitude with customers, and to improve their overall dining experience.

There are many other beneficial, transferable life skills that servers learn on the job, but my co-workers ranked these as the top three. I’d like to thank Shelley, Topher, Leigh, Kat, Anne and Bri for sharing their insight. You helped make this blog post happen.

Restaurant Life

When people go out to dine, they only see one side of restaurant life: the deliberately staged ‘outside’ atmosphere that includes aromatic fragrances, welcoming faces and calming décor. What they don’t see is the other side of restaurant life: the chaotic ‘inside’ environment filled with frantic servers, overworked chefs and a pile of dirty dishes.

This is not to say that all restaurants experience the same level of chaos on the inside; but the basic elements of restaurant life are assumed to be universal. All restaurants – at one point or another – are faced with the hustle and bustle attributed to promotional specials and holiday weekends.

During moments of chaos, restaurant life becomes a place where ‘sink or swim’ is the main mantra. Chefs, line cooks and pantry help scurry to produce delicious meals in a timely manner, bartenders scramble to create thirst-quenching beverages, and servers hustle between the kitchen and dining room to satisfy customer needs.

If customers aren’t aware of how many people work behind the scenes to produce the perfect dining experience, they might take that whole experience for granted. For instance, on a busy weekend, popular restaurants will often over-book their reservations; in turn, customers have to wait extra time before a table becomes available. During these busy evenings, customers seem to only be concerned with what they see on the outside: dirty tables, lines of people, and frantic servers. But in these cases, staff members actually work twice as hard to ensure that everyone has an exceptional evening.

What people need to understand is that restaurant life does not merely consist of food, servers and customers. There’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes to make their dining experience worthwhile. Each department of the restaurant – including servers, hostesses, bartenders, bus kids, managers, cooks, dishwashers and food runners – works in synchronicity to produce an exceptional product and flawless service.

The sooner people realize just how complex restaurant life can be, the sooner they can appreciate all the hard work that goes into their dining experience.