Eating in a restaurant is suppose to be stress-free and a good experience for customers and staff alike. Here are some of the ways to have a better restaurant experience as told by a former server:
1. Wait To Be Seated
I know that most everyone can read these four simple words yet people still tend to seat themselves then complain when they don't get served. If you don't wait to be seated I won't know where you are. So next time you go out to eat please do not seat yourself. Wait for the kind staff to assign you a seat and it will be a better experience right from the beginning.
2. Stay in your Assigned Seat
This goes with number one. If you move I can't find you and get you your order and if I can't get your order to you it will get cold. If it gets cold by the time I find your new seat you will have cold food. No one wants cold food so do yourself and the wait staff a service and just stay in the seat they put you in.
3. Let me know if you make a mess.
It is my job to clean up messes and its easier to clean up spilled pop as a puddle before it gets tracked all over the restaurant in a sticky mess, not to mention its a slip and fall hazard. I would rather clean it up then to have it be a safety issue.
4. It's Not My Fault That Your Food Isn't Perfect
Think of your server as a used car salesman, you ask the salesman about the price on a car but they have to ask their boss. Servers take your food order but it is the cooks in the kitchen that actually make the food. I can help you to get what you need to be satisfied if it isn't perfect but I am not the cook. Please don't shoot the middle man.
5. Don't Let The Kids Draw On The Table/Window/Adult Menu
I have spent countless hours scrubbing crayon off many surfaces that crayon should never be on. My suggestion is that unless you let your kids do it at home please don't let them do it in a restaurant and if you let them draw on the window please just wipe it off. Also, if you need another kids menu for them to draw on all you have to do is ask and I'd be more than happy to bring out another.
Added Bonus:
ALWAYS TIP THE SERVER
Most servers make about $3 an hour and bust their backs doing it, so show them you appreciate how hard they work to bring you food and clean up after you leave.
