Work at a Restaurant: Part 2

When we last left off, you were comfortably seated with menus. This is where your SERVER (me!!) comes in.

The SERVER comes over and introduces him/herself, and since here in Canada we are bilingual, most servers are also bilingual. We take note of what language menu you have (at Boston pizza we have a French menu and an English menu, not one bilingual menu. The HOST will have offered you the choice when you walked in.) and address you in that language, but if you begin speaking the other language, we switch also.

If you seem in the mood, we will try and make a bit of small talk to be personable and friendly ("You're among friends at Boston Pizza!"). For example, I decided to tell my first table that they were my first customers, and they had a lot of fun with that. They even wrote me a little encouraging note and left it with my tip. So talking with the customers makes both parties feel relaxed.

Usually customers will not be ready to order this early, so we offer them drinks first. The SERVER gets soft drinks or water him/herself in the "fast lane," but any specialty drinks or alcohol come from the bar.

Let's back it up: What is the fast lane anyhow? It is located between the kitchen, or the "heart of the house," and the dining room. There is a counter on either side of the fast lane. One side has things like the coffee machine, the takeout warmer, and the soft drink dispensers. The other counter is where the food comes out of the kitchen. The EXPO lives in the fast lane (more on this later). The fast lane is a one-way street, to keep it flowing since it's not very wide.

So your SERVER gets your drinks from there and brings them to your table. Have I mentioned refills are free at Boston Pizza?

Work at a Restaurant: Part One

I'm betting my friends are all sick of hearing me talk about it, but I just adore my new job waitressing at Boston Pizza! It's a lot of fun and a great environment, not to mention an establishment I can be proud of (I will take this opportunity to assure everyone of how sanitary everything is).

However, one thing that has forever been spoiled for me is the magic of eating at a restaurant. You sit down, order, and the food just arrives to you, right? You rarely question how it got there.

Behind the scenes it is crazy. Fun always, but crazy! I can't emphasize that enough! Here's some stuff you need to understand:

You enter in the doors and are greeted by the HOSTS/HOSTESSES, who seat you. How do they do this? Behind that desk is a whiteboard with the floor plan on it, the tables are all given numbers according to their section and position. This floor plan is divided equally between all the servers on shift that night. This is called "cutting the board." When a server goes home, the board gets "recut" to cover that section. When seating guests, the HOSTS always try to give booths before tables, and to keep all server's sections equal.

HOST also operate the cash register and receive take out and delivery orders by phone. There are usually three HOSTS on duty to be able to cover all of these requirements.

All that work, and you have only just sat down...