This is a topic that I have been debating writing about the “add on”  for a long time. It is an incredibly important topic that can improve both the satisfaction of your guests and increase your income. It is also one of the least popular topics amongst servers. Managers often preach the benefits of selling the […]
Tag Archives | Restaurant
Is Running Hot Food Always The Priority?
I have worked for a number of companies and managers over the years who repeated a similar mantra: ‘Running hot food from the window is the top priority.’ This is often echoed by managers, kitchen staff, and expediters. It has been emphasized so frequently that it’s generally accepted as fact. While this is an important […]
Reasons to be Optimistic
Last night I had a long conversation with my girlfriend after work. It had been a pretty disappointing shift to wrap up a pretty disappointing double to finish off a pretty disappointing weekend. I had a call party not show up. A 17 top I was supposed to split became a 6 top. The 6 […]
We Cannot Be Trusted?
On Friday, I hopped over to Yahoo To check my email. I have used Yahoo as my primary search engine and for my personal email account for as long as I can remember. This time the screen pictured above greeted me. The picture caught my eye. It looked like a guest handing a customer a […]
The Unemployed Martyr
I wrote the following a while back as part of a much bigger project. Â After yielding to the advice of everyone who read it, it ended up on the cutting room floor. Â I picked it up off the floor and decided to share it here. Â This is something most servers struggle with at some point. […]
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.