(Note: I am enjoying the final day of my mini vacation. Having a great trip. Met my favorite musician and a personal hero yesterday. Today I will be taking the scenic drive through the Ozark hills of Central Missouri. This is a post I wrote a couple months ago. Not my standard fare, but I hope you […]
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10 Reasons Why Serving Is Not Like Your Job
After 15 years in the restaurant industry, I can still be surprised at how little some people know about how the industry works. Restaurants operate in a manner far different than most businesses in the United States. While most Americans are familiar with restaurants from dining out, very few are aware of the working conditions […]
The Greatest Customer Complaint Response Ever
I had lunch today with my friends Emma and Senor Esparza. Â They ate at Justus Drugstore last night. Â Justus is on the outermost outskirts of what could be considered Kansas City. Â In the few years that it has been open it has developed a reputation of being well worth the drive. Â I personally have never […]
Set Schedules As A Manager
One of the most time consuming tasks a manager faces during the week is writing the server schedule. Hours can be spent digging up scraps of paper and consulting server availability just to get coverage for a particular shift.  This is followed by the inevitable complaints from people who work too little or too much. […]
The Advantages of Set Schedules
Yesterday I discussed the disadvantages of having a set schedule. While I think I managed to make some valid points, it was sort of hollow. The primary reason I am still at my current job is because of my schedule. It took about two and a half years, but I managed to get my ideal […]
About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.