Say you are going to a really fancy restaurant. These are the people who will be taking care of you and your family:
- The maitre d’hotel (may-tra doe-TEL), who is responsible for the overall management of service
- The headwaiter, who is responsible for service in a particular area, such as a banquet room or dining room
- The captain, who is responsible for server area of about 15-25 guests
- A front waiter, who assists the captain and has one to two years of experience
- An apprentice, who is a server in training
Not so fancy? Maybe you’re headed to Red Lobster. Here, a floor manager might run the dining room. The floor manager is in charge of the operation during a particular shift and supervises a team of servers. Each individual server is responsible for a specific section of the dining room – usually about three tables each – and their three tables are known as a “server section.”.
Food runners are sometimes hired to assist with bringing food from the kitchen to the tables. Bussers, also known as dining room attendants, assist with the cleaning up and resetting of tables. They’ve got a dirty job (but at least they don’t have to talk to customers much).
In some limited-service or quick-service operations, a cashier might also act as host, server, and food runner.
Think Waffle House. At every Waffle House, servers act as cashiers and process payments / take cash at the front of the restaurant, ALSO serve as hosts and seat guests as they come in, and ALSO take orders and bring out food.
They do it all.
Depending on the size and type of restaurant as well as how many guests are served, restaurants shift around roles and responsibilities to do what makes the most sense to them.
In today’s contemporary full-service restaurant (like Red Lobster) these are the kinds of jobs and roles people are assigned:
- Floor manager: This manager is responsible for overseeing the restaurant’s front-of-the-house staff. He or she may assist with the flow of guests and food in the event of a staff shortage or on unusually busy time at the restaurant.
- Host or hostess: These are greeters for the restaurant. In addition, they maintain the flow in the restaurant by seating guests. They regulate the number and frequency of people being seated and ensure that the wait staff have guests that are seated evenly (not too many at one time to properly serve). Finally, they are also an important contact point for guests, as they are the first people with whom the guests will interact.
- Waitstaff: These are the primary servers for the restaurant. Their role is to ensure guests are served everything they order in a timely manner. Waitstaff manage a number of functions that are usually handled by several people in formal service
- Busser/ dining room attendant/ food runner: These roles may be combined or split up, depending upon the restaurant’s organization. However, this position serves to assist the wait staff in both serving and clearing tables.
SERVER TOOLS
In full-service restaurants, servers usually carry many different service tools with them. These may include a corkscrew, change, a pen, on order pad, and if the restaurant uses tablecloths, a crumber (which is used to neatly gather and clear crumbs and debris from a table cloth after entree service).
Service Stations
The service station is the area in which on operation keeps additional items such as napkins, silverware, cups and saucers, condiments, menus, and water glosses. A service station prevents servers from having to go to the back of the house to get these tools all the time! It is a good way to keep frequently needed utensils close by. The objective is to have the proper equipment (utensils, extra glassware, etc.) nearby to help serve the guests quickly.
POS
One feature found in almost all restaurants is a point-of-sale (POS) system. Guest orders are taken by the waitstaff and punched in on the POS system for production. Drink orders may either be sent to the bar or taken care of by the waitstaff, depending upon the restaurant setup. Food orders are sent to the kitchen for production.
Waitstaff need proper training on how to use the POS system, from entering the order correctly to creating modifiers if needed, and ensuring that the final check is accurate. Modifiers are any type of change to a menu item or a special concern. This can range from extra sauce or removal of a condiment from an item to the listing of a food allergy.
SERVICE STYLES AND SETUPS
The style an operation uses to serve its guests can often define how people come to think of that operation as a whole. In fact, sometimes the service style is more of a factor in determining the identity of an operation than the food itself.
Traditional Service
Traditional service reflects four main influences: American, French, English, and Russian. Each service style matches the menu, theme, and decor.
AMERICAN
Food is arranged on plates in the kitchen by cooks and brought directly to the guests’ table by the server. The complete meal is on one plate. American service has quickly been adopted by many operations because it is one of the easiest service styles, provides a consistent-looking product, and uses the fewest tools and utensils.
FRENCH
French service: This style is typically considered the most elegant, but it is very expensive. Servers present the food to guests from a table-side cart, called a gueridon.
A gueridon (gay-ree-DAHN) holds food or liquid items that will be served to guests, as well as dishes and utensils the servers and guests may need. The food is kept hot by a warming unit in the cart, called a rechaud (ray-SHOW).
The finishing touch to the food is done table-side to create a memorable moment for the guest. Table-side cooking is the art of showing great craftsmanship in both culinary arts and service skills. This type of service is expensive to implement because of the cost of the carts and the additional skills required of the servers.
ENGLISH
Also known as family-style dining, English service is the simplest and least expensive. In English service, bowls and platters of food are placed on the table and a seated host or hostess places the food onto plates. The host or hostess of the table then serves the meal on the plates for the other diners, or diners pass the dishes around the table so they can serve themselves.
Although not as common as American service, family-style dining is gaining in popularity due to its simplicity. It is also used in conjunction with American style for side dishes.
RUSSIAN
This style is the most formal service style. All food preparation is done in the kitchen. The bowls and platters of food are then brought on a cart to guests at the table.
Servers hold the bowls and platters as they serve the food to each guest. Service platters hold food for tables of up to eight guests, but are very heavy (in previous times they were made of pure silver) and very hot. Servers need to go through substantial training before being able to serve Russian style. The server is essentially in charge of making the plate look perfect.
Contemporary Service
Quick-service dining is an easy and fast way to dine and typically involves no servers. Instead, guests help themselves to food set up in food bars or order at a counter. Other forms of quick-service dining include drive-through service, buffet service, carry-out service, vending service, and cafeteria service.
Fast-casual is relatively modern terminology describing a restaurant that falls between full service and quick service. Also called quick-casual or limited-service restaurants, these operations are typically distinguished by service type and food quality. Fast-casual restaurants are often perceived to offer better-quality food and a more upscale dining area than quick-service restaurants, but with less expensive menu items than full-service restaurants. Pizza restaurants can fall into this category.