Front of House

Campers

You know the scenario. A busy night in your restaurant, tables turning as they should, everything going according to the book, but some guests just have to stay a little too long. They just sit and sit and sit seemingly forever! It’s the dreaded customers called Campers! Read more...

Great Service = Big Tips!

Front of House

As a hospitality employee working for gratuities, the endless search for that elusive BIG TIPPER continues. Could you be the server or bartender who gets the BIG ONE tonight (get your mind out of the gutter)? Try these “tricks of the trade” to make more money than ever before. Read more...

A Server’s Perfect Little World

Front of House

In my perfect little server world, every guest would be interested in what I had to say. They would actually listen to my table greeting, laugh at my tableside humor, and feel happy that they are sitting in my section. Read more...

Tip Making Tips for Tip Makers

Back of House

This short piece is a simple pep talk to remind all you servers, bartenders, managers, hostesses, musicians and aspiring chefs to keep trudging along towards your life goals. They are much closer than you think. Don’t stop now…you’re almost there! Read more...

What’s the Culinary Difference?

Food for Thought

As a food critic, I dine at a variety of restaurants. At each stop, I cannot help but notice just how different each establishment is from another, and I’m always amazed. Some are still stuck in the early 80′s, some restaurants think they are on the cutting edge. Read more...

The Chef-fields and the Mc-Servers

Back of House

The age-old feud continues in a revealing look at the relationship between front-of-the house, and back-of-the-house restaurant employees. I have been meaning to write this story for years now, as this situation is one that just doesn’t go away. Read more...

Suggestive Up Selling

Front of House

You and your guests are sitting down for dinner, looking through nicely worded menu selections, only to have the server rave on and on about how great the most expensive dish on the menu is. Okay, we get it! Up selling is a necessary “evil” of this business. Read more...

Want a Free Tip?

Front of House

When I was a younger server in the late 80′s and early 90′s, I worked at a very strict restaurant run by insane people with fanatical ideas of what great service was…or so I thought at the time.There were some rules that probably would not fly today.. Read more...

Don’t be a Skater!

Front of House

Lazy waiters, known as skaters, quickly become very unpopular among restaurant and club staffs, and eventually management find out who the lazy ones are. Things can get pretty rough for the skaters, and they usually end up getting fired…or beat up out by the dumpster. Read more...

The Crutch

Front of House

As I worked my way up from dishwasher, to bus boy, and then on to many famous restaurants as a server, Captain, Sommelier and owner, I was becoming a “People Specialist” without even realizing it. Most want to “get out of service end of the biz” and think about that all the time. Read more...

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