Server

What is your role in the restaurant?

I greet guests at their table, help them understand the menu and make recommendations, then take their food and drink orders. After taking their order I input it into our computer system. When the order is ready I pick it up from the kitchen or bar and deliver it to the table.

When the guest is finished, I present the bill and settle at the table. At the end of the shift I pay out my cash bills to the restaurant, bundle and submit my receipts and collect my tips.

How do you know which prepared order from the kitchen/bar is for which table?

Orders are input into the computer system with the table number, the prepared order is presented with a printout including the table number.

How do you settle a bill at the table?

Guests can pay with cash or card.

How do you track how much you’ve made in tips for a shift?

Our computer system keeps track of that for me and gives me a total at the end of the shift.

What challenges do you face?

During peak times things can get a little hectic. Entering orders seems to take longer when we get busy. We have a limited number of computer terminals to enter the information into, so as things slow down the other servers start to line up to enter their orders. We have asked for more terminals, but apparently they are really expensive so they won’t give us more.

Some of us have tried going around the system and just asking the kitchen to start making something before we enter the order, but the cooks really don’t like when we do that. They say it’s too hard for them to keep track so they want us to use the computer.

• Server enters orders into the system.
• Server collects orders from the kitchen and delivers it to the table.
• Server delivers bills to the tables and collects payments.
• Server helps customers to understand the menu choices.
• Software tracks tips etc.
• System slows down when it’s busy.
• Servers bottleneck on using the computers.
• Kitchen doesn’t like servers working around the system.