5 Tips for Being an Excellent Food Server
Success in the food service industry relies on the quality of your employees preparing and serving your product to guests. Being a great food server in our industry is more than just being pleasant and agreeable. Here are five tips that will help you become and excellent server.
-
Stay Efficient and Organized
If you’re an organized server, then you will be able to manage all of your assigned tables in a timely manner. Your customers don’t want to wait 45 minutes for their meal, so being attentive to their needs and organizing the chaos of a rush hour is a great way to push yourself to being an efficient server.
-
Practice Proper Food Service Hygiene
Start your shift at work the right way; clean and neat! No customer wants their server to look and smell like they are recovering from the night before. Practicing proper hygiene matters not only behind the scenes, but as a server as well.
Ensure that your customers are comfortable with your hygienic practices by:
- Keeping your fingernails clean
- Taking hair out of your face
- Ensuring that your uniform is always fresh and pressed
-
Make the Most of Your Delivery Trips
As a food server, every step you take counts. Make the most out of each of your trips from the kitchen to the dining room floor. Instead of making multiple trips:
- Grab multiple orders from the bar at one time
- Settle more than one check
- Pour refills for your entire section
These little shifts in your actions will add up and help make your shift run smoothly and possibly result in a higher tip.
-
Know Your Menu Inside-Out
Guests will always have questions about your menu. Especially if you are working in a restaurant with specialty items, make sure that you know your menu front to back. Showing this knowledge in the face of a customer question will not only show your authority in the field, but it could also save a life for someone with different food allergies.
-
Make Them Want to Come Back
No matter how you cut it, restaurants survive because of repeat business. Anybody can open a restaurant and be busy at first, but building and maintaining a loyal clientele is the goal. Your guests are paying for the experience to eat at your location, so keep that in mind. If food needs to be taken back to meet their standards, do so without an argument. Politeness gets you a long way and can lead to return visits from a party and higher tips.
Create Servers That Promote Excellence with Certified On The Fly
Certified On The Fly is an online program that can help your location become a leader in its industry. From food storage techniques to personal hygiene tips, our course will help your staff promote the best customer service for an affordable rate. Register your employees for a course with Certified On The Fly today to take that first step into excellence.
Back to Blog