A restaurant server is the liaison between the guest and the kitchen. The server's job is to make guests feel welcome and comfortable during their meal and to get their food, condiments and drinks to them in a timely fashion. Sometimes, a server is also a diplomat, sending food that isn't to a guest's liking back to the kitchen to be remade or explaining to a guest why the food isn't ready on time. The majority of the success of a guest's experience in a restaurant rests on the shoulders of the server. Even if the food is amazing, an inattentive server leaves a bad taste in a guest's mouth.
Server training is paramount to a restaurant's success. How a server approaches a table, delivers food and drinks, removes plates and glasses and converses with guests should be covered in training. Because the guest's experience in a restaurant relies on good service, the training of a server is one of the most significant features of a restaurant's training program. A good server is also important to the kitchen, because the kitchen needs appropriate cooking instructions for food and a timely response from a server once food is ready.
Restaurant server training can be done in a variety of ways. Some servers are trained on the job, shadowing a senior server and being taught essentially to mimic everything he does. Other training programs are done during off hours, practicing how to set, approach and serve tables before guests arrive. Successful training programs usually include a full teaching and tasting of menu items so that servers can adequately describe and sell the food they are serving. Role playing is another successful training method, where other servers or kitchen staff act as guests and a new server practices on real people (who may be harsher critics than regular guests) before serving restaurant customers.
The benefits of restaurant server training to the restaurant and guest are many. A server who places orders clearly benefits the kitchen staff, because they, in turn, will get food out to customers correctly and quickly. A server who constantly forgets how a guest wants her steak cooked or forgets to write down which side dishes she orders slows the kitchen down immensely. A well-trained server is efficient and friendly. She remembers to bring the condiments to a table before the meal is served and asks if the children would like crackers or bread before their meal arrives. The restaurant benefits from this type of service because guests remember their positive experience and return often.
Richard Saporito has been in the restaurant business for 30 years, was a waiter for many of them, and is now the president of Topserve Restaurant Consulting. He said, in an article for Restaurant Report, that, " A recent survey asked diners why they went out to eat, and the main response was 'to feel good.' (After all, the word 'restaurant' has French origins meaning 'to restore.') As a waiter for many years, I felt my job was to restore humanity, especially to diners arriving from a stressed-out day."
