After my less than flattering review of Hot Schedules I feel like I need to say something nice. I am in general a pretty optimistic person. After sitting here and writing 2500 words on why I dislike Hot Schedules, I need to cleanse my pallet. I never intended for this to turn into “review week†[…]
Hot Schedules Reviewed: Part Two
Hot Schedules is coming. Its rapid growth has it on track to become the dominant scheduling system in restaurants. As a user for several months, I want to provide a frank and unbiased view of the system. These opinions are mine alone and in no way represent the company that I am employed by. They […]
Hot Schedules Reviewed: Part One
A few months ago the restaurant I work at (and who my opinions in no way represent) began using the Hot Schedules program for scheduling. For those of you not familiar with this system, it is a web based system for scheduling employees. It is experiencing incredibly rapid growth and is becoming more commonplace within […]
Tipping On To Go Orders
Part of writing a blog about the restaurant industry and serving is fielding questions from friends. Every couple of weeks I will field a question from a facebook friend regarding tipping. I consider this fair since I do link to this blog fairly often on my facebook. Most of these are pretty easy. I have […]
Making a Difference
The weekend is upon us. Friday and Saturday nights get busy and take a lot out of us. The pace is faster, the side stations are more crowded, and all of the saucers in the restaurant seem to hide. The guests do not seem to understand any of this and have far less patience. This […]
Serving Sober
I am back from vacation and sitting down at my desk again. It feels nice to get back into my writing routine. It was an incredible trip. I was able to hang out with some great old friends, see an incredible show, and revisit my roots. I was also able to share a celebration of […]
On A Good Night
(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 […]
The Stumpers
I will admit it. I am a huge trivia fan. I collect random pieces of trivial information in hope that it one day might come in handy. This has led to an undefeated streak in Trivial Pursuit that began in the last millennium. It also leads to me seeking out opportunities to play trivia whenever […]
Lobster Facts and Trivia
My friend Marcy has been telling me for years that I need a dog. She thinks it would be good for me to have a pet for companionship. I have always avoided getting one based on the fact that my schedule prevents me from being home frequently enough to let it outside. I can see […]
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 […]
Aspirational Dining in a Recession
(Note: In the previous post I defined the growing market segment of “aspirational dining†restaurants. This is valuable background to this post and merits a read.) What sets the “aspirational dining†market segment apart was their creation of the perception that their food cost more because it was worth more. This perception is what made […]
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.