Top Of The Table

Christopher De Voss

Sept. 30, 2001

If a restaurant is a war, then your Seaters/Hosts are the front line.

Don't let this job seem insignificant to you. It's more important than you think. This is the person that sets the mood for your diners. This is the prelude to the dinning experience. The set-up, if you will, to the guest's dinning story.

As a Seater or Host you want to be clean, efficient, friendly, and of course, smiling. You are the first impression and last impression of the restaurant. Remember as the guest walks through the door, the first thing they see is you. If you are leaning with a scowl on your face, shirt un-tucked and a cigarette behind the ear, the ambience of the dinning experience is blown even before they see a menu. Think of yourselves as independent Public Relations Experts for your restaurant.

One of the best ways to set the guests up for a great dinning experience is talk to them as you lead them to their table.

"How was your day?"
"Where are you from?"
"Ever dined with us before?"

If they are regulars,

"Welcome back, wait till you see what the special is today."
Or even,
"Don't get the special, trust me."

For the next thirty seconds you are this guest's best friend.

Try to be pro-active on any of the guest's special needs. One of the easiest, most impressive ways is to recognize the need for a high chair or booster chair. Don't wait until the guests are at the table to ask the question of chair requirements. If possible, have the high chairs and boosters in place before even bring the guests to the table. For some parents, the child placement in the chair can be more work than running a triathlon. We have all seen them as they smash a leg through a hole there, and bib the child like a steer in a rodeo, while at the same time arranging an array of sippy cups, juice boxes, binkies, toys, crayons, placemats, diapers, books, and clothing. Also, if the tables are set, remove non-essential utensils and plates, especially from small hands. You would not believe how much they get in the way after the meal has started. Hand the menus to the patrons; don't just throw them in the middle of the table like a game of 52 pick-up. Before you leave, close the table with your voice, don't just walk away hurriedly, even if you are…"Enjoy your meal," always works well.

You need to know your menu also. During slow times, study the darn thing. Your armpit cannot read the menu. If a guest has a question, be able to answer it. Make sure you get to try the food you serve. It's also OK to have opinions on the entrees served. One important rule, if you don't like something, explain to the guest why you don't like it.

"How's the Spam Pasta?"

"Well, I don't care for it much, but mostly because it has a cream sauce, and I prefer a tomato sauce."

On that super busy Friday night, with a standing line an hour deep, your bound to take some friendly fire from the guests. There is not much you can do to stop it; your job is now similar to a nurse's consoling a dying patient. (Now there is a morbid analogy.) Try to remain friendly, even though the guests may not. You're now the communication between the guests and that open table they so desperately want. Try to give as much information as you can when asked for the fourth and fifth time, "How much longer?"

You want to try to be as accurate with wait times as you can, plus five minutes. You'll look like the hero if you get them in under the estimated wait time, but going over is never forgiven in the average guest's mind. Remember, they don't understand the restaurant game. They don't understand when it's raining, guests stay longer, or the need to hold tables for big parties, or even why everyone is hungry at the same time on a Friday night and wants to dine in the same restaurant as them. If things get really bad, get your manager, that's what they are there for, and don't let them tell you different.

One last thing, and it may seem minor, but it's very important. Make sure those menus are clean and presentable. That can be one of the biggest dinning turn-offs, is a stuck together, crayon drawn, smelly, dog-eared, gobbled-on, unloved menu.