Restaurant

by Lindomar Brandão
2010

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 Restaurant

• Providing excellent service, beverages, and meals at

a reasonable price is every restaurant’s ultimate goal.

• Service Operation Categories:

• Quick Service (McDonald’s)…
• Quick-Casual (Subway)…
• Family-Dining ( Habib’s )…
• Casual-Dining: (T.G.I Friday’s)…
• Fine-Dining: (Sky)…

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 Service Personnel

• Dining room managers

• Hosts
• Restaurant servers
• Banquet servers
• Room Service attendants
• Buspersons
• Bartenders
• Beverage servers
• Cashiers/Checkers

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 Dining Room Managers

• In small food service organizations, the dining room manager not only manages the dining room but performs
the duties of host as well. In large organizations, the dining room manager directly supervises an assistant,
whose title may be assistant dining room manager, host or similar.

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 Duties of a Dining Room Manager

• Checking the physical condition of the dining

room before it opens
• Checking the place settings on tables and the
condition of the china, glassware, and flatware
• Making sure the menus are in good conditions
• Noting the number of reservations that have been
made
• If necessary rearranging tables to accommodate
large guest groups
• Checking the schedule to make sure enough service
personnel will be on hand
• Observing and, when necessary, recording the job
performances of service staff

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• Making sure that guests are satisfied and following
up on any guest complaints
• Detecting dishonest servers and guests
• Taking appropriate action in case of an emergency
or an accident
• Dealing with intoxicated or hard-to-handle guests
in a discreet and appropriate manner
• Providing special services to guests who request
them
• Maintaining a pleasant atmosphere in the dining
room
• Performing closing duties, such as turning off lights
and adjusting heat or air conditioning levels
• Providing reports and other data requested by
upper management

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 Hosts

• Can supervise servers, busperson and other service

staff. Check all phases of dining room preparation,
complete mise en place and discuss menu specials,
expected regular guests, and anticipated total
number of guests with servers and other service
staff. The host may answer the phone, make
reservations, greet and help to seat guests, present
menus, take guests orders and help the servers when
necessary.

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 Restaurant Servers
• Take guests orders and serve food and beverage
to them. The skills that servers require differ,
depending on the type of restaurant and the level of
service. Typically, restaurant servers are responsible
for:
• Preparing for service
• Inspecting tables for cleanliness and proper setup
• Greeting guests
• Taking the order
• Serving the order
• Creating a friendly atmosphere where guests can
enjoy themselves
• Closely monitoring guests alcohol consumption
• Completing service and thanking guests
• Helping co-workers as needed

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 Servers Working as a Team

• Help Hosts and Hostesses:

•Greeting and seating guests
•Answering the telephone
•Letting them know when there are guests ready to
leave
• Help buspersons:
•Removing from the tables the items guests do not
need anymore
•Clearing and resetting tables
•Restocking sidestations

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• Help the kitchen staff:
•Writing orders neatly and completely
•Asking guests all the necessary questions when
they take orders, such as, “How would you like that
prepared?”
•Pointing out special or unusual orders to the chef
or cooks
•Properly sorting and stacking used glasses, china,
silverware, and other tableware
• An additional duty they may be asked to take on
is helping to train other service staff. Many
supervisors ask qualified servers to work with new
servers or current servers who are having trouble
with certain responsibilities.

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 Superior Performance Standards

• Demonstrate professional behavior within the

organization
• Make sure the dining room is properly lit, has a
comfortable temperature, and looks clean and
organized
• Are familiar with all restaurant menus and food and
beverage offerings
• Are familiar with all menu items, including specials
and desserts

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• Know whether the kitchen is out of any menu items,
and find out what will be offered in place of sold-out
items.
• Introduce themselves to guests, and use guests’
name whenever is possible
• Accommodate special guest requests when
appropriate
• Make sure food is served at the correct temperature,
attractively presented, and pleasing to the guest
• Frequently check back to the table to ensure guest
satisfaction
• Stay alert to safety procedures all the time.

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 Suggestive Selling & Upselling

• Suggestive selling: encourages guests to buy

additional food and beverage. An example is
suggesting an appetizer to go with the beverage
orders.
• Upselling: means suggesting more expensive and
possible better quality items.
• Suggesting selling and upselling require
tact and good judgment. If guests know exactly
what they want, servers should not try to change
their minds. Instead, they should suggest
additional items that might complement and
improve the guests’ meals. Good servers know
when guests want suggestions and when they do
not.

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Techniques server can use for suggesting selling & upselling

• Be enthusiastic. It is easier to sell something

that you are excited about
• Make food sound appetizing. Use words like
“fresh”, “popular”, and “unique” when describing
menu items
• Ask questions. Find out if guests are really hungry
or just want something light; whether they like
chicken or beef; if they feel like having something
hot or cold
• Suggest personal favorites. Do not say that
something is your favorite when it is not.

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• Offer a choice: would you like a glass of cabernet or
merlot ? Would you like a bottle or draft beer ?
• Suggest the unusual. People dine out to get away
from the routine they have at home. Most people
don’t know what they want to order when they
arrive.
• Compliment guests’ choice. Make them feel good
about their choices, even if they don’t order what
you suggest.
• Finally, professional servers ask for the sale. After
they suggest and describe an item, they ask if the
guest would like it. A good way to do this is to
describe several items and ask which the guest
would prefer.

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Some Servers Tips

• Make sure each table in your section is perfected

set up
• Whenever you have nothing else to do, start
cleanup, restock side stations, do sidework, fold
napkins, wipe service trays
• Work efficiently: rarely move between the kitchen
and the dining room with empty hands; always be
carrying something
• Help guest seating: highchairs, guests with
disabilities, pull out chair for guest, never touch a
child or any guest without permission, present the
menu with the right hand to the guest’s right side

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• Seat guests with children away from the center of the room. Remove from the place settings of
small children
• Find out with the chef and bartenders with food and drinks abbreviations should be used when
taking orders
• Before you bring the beverage order to the table you should check the order by asking yourself:
– Do I have all the beverage for the order?
– Are the beverages in the correct glasses?
– Are the garnishes correct?
– Have special instructions (if any) been followed?
– Has anything spilled over the side?
• Beverages should be served from the guest’s right side with server’s right hand.

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 Taking Food Orders

• Servers should begin by telling guest about the

menu specials. It is their responsibility to always
know about the daily specials: soup, vegetables,
dessert, ice cream of the day, and any other special
the restaurant is running. If the chef does not
announce those specials, you should ask. Guests get
annoyed when they ask about the specials and have
to wait for the server to go to the kitchen to find out.
• Servers should take orders in a standard clockwise
fashion so that they or someone else can serve their
guests without having to ask who ordered what.

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 Serving the Meal

• All the guests in the party should get their meals as

close to the same time as possible. Servers should
turn in the order for each course when guests are
about three-fourths finished the previous one. If the
kitchen is busy they should turn in sooner.
• Courses are served in the following order:
•Appetizers
•Soup
•Salads
•Entrees
•Dessert
•Coffee

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• Servers an cooks should work together to make sure orders are been prepared in a reasonable
amount of time. Don’t make guest wait without an explanation from you of a supervisor. If you are
too busy to pick up the order, ask for help.
• Part of good service is preparing the table for each course before serving it. Bringing out the
condiments before the next course helps ensure that the guest will not have to wait and the food
won’t be cold.
• Empty plates should be cleaned away when all the party is done, so that those who are still eating
will not feel rushed.

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• Before taking the food order out of the kitchen, server should check it carefully
asking themselves:
– Does the food looks fresh and appealing?
– Have all preparation instructions been followed?
– Is the presentation garnished?
– Have all the special requests been met?
– Is the plate clean?
– Is hot food hot on hot plates and cold food cold on cold plates?
• Servers should know who ordered what and serve the plates without having to ask.
• Food should be served from the guest’s left side with the server’s left hand
• The entrée plate should be placed with the main item closest to the guest.

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 Checking back to the table

• Page 56

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Service Styles

• Plate Service (also called American Service): servers take guests order, kitchen staff produce and
place the food order on the plates, servers delivery the prepared plates to the guests.
• Cart Service ( also called French Service): is an elaborate service style in which menu items are
prepared on a cart or gueridon besides guest tables by specially trained staff members, menu
items are cooked, sometimes flambeed in front of the guests.

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• Platter Service ( also called Russian Service): requires servers to deliver platters of fully cooked to the
dining room, present the platters to the guests for approval, and them serve the food. Banquets also
use it.
• Family-Style Service ( also called English Service): requires food to be placed on large platters or
bowls that are delivered to the guests’ tables be servers. Guests at each table then pass the food
around their table and serve themselves.
• Buffet Service: food are displayed on counters or tables, and guests help themselves to as many and
as much of the items they wish to eat.

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Catering & Banquets

• Catering: refers to selling public functions involving food and beverage services.
• Banquets: refers to the setup, production, service and clean-up of food and beverages in public
function space.
banquets is also a group function in which guests are served a pre-determined menu.
Frequently, catering is a function of the marketing and sales department, while banquets is a function of the
food and beverage department.

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Banquet Servers

Provide food and beverage service to banquet guests. Responsible for:

• Preparing for service

• Inspecting tables for cleanliness and proper setup
• Greeting guests
• Serving food and beverage
• Completing service
• Breaking down function rooms and service areas
• Keeping a count of the number of guests served

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Buspersons

The primary job of a busperson is to set and clear tables and help restaurant servers and guests as much as possible.
They are responsible for:
• Preparing tables for service
• Preparing sidestations, condiments, and silverware
• Busing soiled dishes, glasses, silverware, and linens from the tables
• Assisting servers and guests to ensure guests satisfaction
Busperson may be the earliest arriving staff to the restaurant and, along with servers, set up the restaurant dining area
for service.

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Bartenders

Prepare mixed drinks and other alcoholic and

nonalcoholic beverages and serve them
directly to guests or to beverage servers.
There are two basic types of bars:
• Public bars - serve beverages directly to guests sitting or standing at the bar, or to servers who take
the beverages to guests seated in the bar or lounge;
• Service bars - serve beverages directly to servers who present them to guests (usually guests in the
dining room)
Many bars are combined (public/server bars)
There are age restrictions for serving alcohol.

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Beverage Servers & Cashiers

• Beverage servers: serve beverages and food items to guests in the bar and lounge
areas.
• Cashiers: total the price of food and beverages on guest checks and collect
payments. They may also take reservations.

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Room Service

• Room Service order’s expect a high quality of service. You are serving a guest at
his/her room and they are paying more for it. It’s a private service.
• Room service attendants should not accept tips (gratuity) from amenities service in
the room. It’s a gift from the hotel.

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Telephone Courtesy

A telephone call is often a first point of contact a guest has with a restaurant, so telephone courtesy is
a critical skill that all staff members should possess. Guests call restaurants to make reservations,
ask questions, or order room service. Food and beverage staff members should try to make every
caller feel important by being friendly, polite, and professional on the telephone.They should:
• Smile when they talk. A smile help them sound more relaxed and pleasant.

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• Speak clearly. They should avoid slang, technical terms, or words that caller may not understand.
Should avoid “an-han”, “un-hum”, “ok”. Instead, staff members should use “yes”, “certainly”, or
“absolutely”.
• Answer the phone promptly. A phone that rings and rings gives a caller the impression that the
organization doesn’t want to take the call.
• Always answer with the company standers. It should includes a friendly greeting such as “good
morning”, your name, the organization’s name, your department and ask how can you help him/she.

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• Give the caller their complete attention (pretend that the caller is right in front of you).
• Talk only to the person on the phone, not to anyone around you.
• If the call is for a manager or if the caller is looking for a guest you may ask to put the caller on hold, wait for him/her to
confirm and them go and find the person. You may ask a co-worker for help if you need. You may ask to take a
message if you can’t find the person he/she is looking for.
• To take a message, staff members should write down the caller’s name, the time and date, the message, and their
name in case the massage-taker have any questions.
• The end of the call is the last chance to leave a good impression. Always thank the caller and let him/her hang up first.

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Taking Restaurant Reservations

• When taking a reservation, food and beverage staff members should:

• Greet the guest warmly. If it is a phone reservation they should answer the phone promptly and use proper phone
etiquette. If someone is making a reservation in person, they should first warmly welcome him/she to the restaurant.
• Find out:
• The name the reservation will be under
• The date and time of the reservation
• The number in the party
• Whether there are any special requests
• The guest phone or room number
• Repeat the information back to the guest to make sure it is correct
• Thank the guest. Write down your name.

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Food Production

• Excellent food is a basic requirement for a successful food operation.

• Excellent service depends on correctly timing meals. Guests want meals at the correct
temperature, courses brought promptly after a previous one is finished, and all the entrees for the
entire party brought at the same time. This requires careful coordination in the food production
area.

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Garnishes

• Guests like to see attractive-looking meals. The way a plate or glass is presented and garnished
can make the difference between a average experience and an exceptional one.
• Some common rules of plate presentation are:
– Use the correct plate
– Hot food in hot plate, chilled food in cold plate
– Food looks fresh and appealing
– Entrée portion is placed at the six o’clock position
– Appropriate garnish is used

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