Let me show you how it's done*

Tonight I got to do a role playing exercise with our new employees. It’s always my favorite part about hiring new people. I remember when I was new I wanted to quit after about two weeks because I was so intimidated by employees that had been there for so long. Most of the employees when I first started did not treat others with the respect they deserved, and it definitely got to me at times. I tried to remember my experience as I became the experienced one, and new people looked to me for guidance. I didn’t want them to feel the same way I did.

At the end of the shift for the trainees, they are usually quizzed on what they have learned or sat down for some review to refresh their minds. Training can be pretty intense at Olive Garden, you have to remember menu items, how to describe them, how they taste (employees get a chance to taste them of course), the different wines, what wines go with what meal, and what to suggest for an appetizer; it can add up to a lot to remember.

I got the chance to sit down with the trainer and three new employees and pretend that I was out to eat while they took my order. I always try to be realistic and use what I have encountered before, which is not always that pleasing.

In the first scenario, the trainer and I were on our lunch break and were in a hurry to get back. The server greeted us, and I interrupted her, which happens often, as she asked if we’d like a sample of wine. “No wine samples, ma’am, we can’t drink on our lunch break.” She stepped back and took a deep breath, and I could tell she was nervous. She then asked what other drinks we’d like and started naming what the restaurant had. I interrupted her again, “Actually ma’am we are in a huge hurry and know everything we want, can we order now?”

NOTE- No matter how much of a hurry a customer is in, servers are still going to get the drinks before anything else, so it doesn’t actually speed things up to order all-at-once.

She smiled and politely listened as we gave our orders. I tried not to be too picky yet. When she came to check on us, I interrupted and said we were fine. When she was talking to another employee for a minute, I waved my hand at her to come over to our table. “Ma’am we need to get going, can we get boxes and our check?”

As she was handing me the “check” I handed my card to her right away. “You can just take it now, we need to get going.”

NOTE- Usually when servers drop a customer’s check they don’t have time to get change right away. They have other tables to check on and it only puts them more behind schedule when customers think they are the only table being taken care of.

For the next scenario, we were out to eat for a friend’s 21^st birthday. We were loud, obnoxious, cheap, picky… as disruptive as we could be. I ordered a bottle of wine for the whole table, and our server asked for everyone’s I.D.s except mine (Red flag! Ask everyone for his/her I.D.).

The final scenario was perfectly pleasant. I didn’t want the new hires to think everyone was terrible all the time. Most of the time, tables are pleasant. However, they needed to know what it was like to encounter ones that weren’t. Maybe next time I’m training I will do a “dine and dash.”

"Hey guys!"*

A topic came up last year in my Intro to Journalism class about calling a group of men and women “guys.” I was interested because someone gave an example about eating in a restaurant.

My professor said, “If a server says ‘How are you guys doing?’ then I correct her immediately and am very offended.”

I was flabbergasted, because I realized it was exactly how I talked to my tables. I always greet tables with, “Hey guys, how we doing tonight?” and nobody has ever corrected me or seemed upset. The more I thought about it, the more I realized how different generations have become and how disrespectful it may sound to the older generation.

Check out this website with all the comments about this topic.

Ever since this topic came up, I have become more conscientious about how I talk to my guests, and I change the way I greet my tables depending on their age. If I have a table of teenagers to people in their 20s, I greet with “guys”. If I have a table of all women, I say, “Hello ladies,” and if I have guests in their upper 30s and above, I try to greet with, “Hello folks,” and that seems pretty neutral to me.

Soup, salad, and breadsticks*

Everyone loves coming to Olive Garden for its unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks meal, but they don’t often realize how much work it is for a server.

Me: “Are we ready to order folks?”

Guests: “Yes, we are going to make this real easy on you. We will have the unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks, please.”

When someone orders this unlimited deal, which is under ten dollars, it not only makes it physically more work for us but also annoys us more than any other entrée. This order makes more trips for us and less time for our other tables with higher bills. Check out this video. Although the language is a bit vulgar, and I would choose otherwise, it gets the point across.

Now check out this video. He has a great point. It is so conflicting to have such high-priced meals and then one low-priced meal at a restaurant that is supposed to be known as classy and prestigious. People come and order the unlimited deal when they want to be cheap and save money, but if you are really looking to save money, Olive Garden is not the place to go.

Sometimes people order an entrée that comes with unlimited soup OR salad. When this happens, it is safe to assume a guest will eat one bowl of soup or salad because they have an entrée coming out after. However, a lot of times guests will fill up on four or five bowls of soup and then just get the entrée boxed up so they have a meal for later. Legally this is okay, they have the right to eat as much as they want, but actually it is a lot of work for your server and most of the time, a tip is left that doesn’t match the work.

So while the bill is a lot lower when ordering soup and salad, it is more work for us than regular entrées; tip accordingly.

To-go boxes*

I have no problem with boxing up food. I love it when other servers do it for me. I always remind people it is their lunch tomorrow, so they don’t regret having so much left over. However, there are frustrations with boxing food.

One of the most annoying things a server will encounter is when their guests leave the boxes of food the server has personally boxed up. I always box the food up for my guests myself. It takes time away from other tables, but guests usually really appreciate it. It can really be frustrating when guests who request the boxes leave them for us to clean up anyway. This not only took time, but it takes up a lot more space in the trash can for to-go boxes rather than just dumping the food in it. It is understandable that people would mistakenly forget to grab the food, but it is still frustrating.

We usually keep the boxes on a shelf for about 15 minutes in case the guests come back for their boxes. When guests come back 30 minutes later asking for their boxes, it can be a bit annoying. We can’t hold everyone’s food for the night in case they remember having left their box on the table.

Another annoying thing with to-go boxes is the issue of soup and salad. When a customer orders the unlimited soup and salad, this does not mean s/he can take a bunch of it home. The customer gets unlimited amounts of whatever s/he can eat while dining in the restaurant. When guests ask me to give them refills and then boxes of salad, to-go bowls of soup and bags of bread, I have to tell them no. If everyone did this, we would not profit from the deal. Occasionally, I let guests have a bowl of soup to go if they haven’t eaten much, if they want it for what is left in their current bowl, or if they have some breadsticks left on the table, but usually my answer is, “I’m sorry we can’t do that.” A lot of guests have a major problem with this.

Many guests don’t seem like they need a box. If someone has three bites left of his or her meal, I personally don’t think s/he needs a box. I’d rather guests finish their meal with only that much left. I once had a lady ask me for a box for three pieces of calamari. I thought she was joking, but she wasn’t. Boxes are for larger portions of food you cannot finish, they are to take home, and they are not for unlimited soups and salads.

Being a server is easy...NOT*

I have been told many times, “It can’t be that hard to be a server.” People seem to have the assumption that all servers do is carry food out when it is ready and then just stand around waiting for our guests to be done to take their plates back to dish. It is assumed we never clean our tables because that’s what bussers are for. These assumptions are wrong. A lot goes into being a server; it’s much more than just waiting around for people to be done eating.

Each section at the restaurant has six tables and each server has three tables (two servers to a section). There are usually two to three bussers and two hosts on each side of the restaurant. There is one manager who walks the floor (the whole restaurant) to make sure the guests are taken care of, and the servers have help if they need it.

When I get to work, and once I have been sat, I grab some coasters and a wine bottle, greet the table, and ask what they’d like to drink and if they have any appetizers in mind, and if yes, I put the order in immediately and bring the drinks out. Meanwhile, I have probably been sat another table, so I greet them quickly. Usually after greeting my second table, my first table is ready to order.

Whenever someone is ready to order, I have to make sure and ask each one if they want soup or salad with the meal. Each customer gets unlimited soup or salad with his/her meal, unless s/he gets the “Unlimited Soup, Salad, and Breadsticks” as a meal. After taking my first table’s order, I grab the drinks for my second table and bring them out and again ask for appetizers. I then go to the kitchen, grab the soups, salads, and bread. After dropping these off, I greet my third table, write down their drink orders, then go to my second table and take their food orders.

After taking the second table’s dinner order, I go to the computer and enter the meals of my first table. I always enter the meals in after taking out the soup, salad and bread because this gives them time to eat those things first. After entering in their food, I pour the drinks of my third table, leave the tray of drinks, and go get the soup, salad, and bread for my second table. Sometimes I will take the drinks out to the third table first and tell them it will be a minute to get their order, as well. Once I drop the tray of salads and stuff to my second table, I ask my first table if everything is okay, then either go back and grab the tray of drinks for my third table, or if I have already done that, I take their order. I then go to the computer to enter in my second table’s food and proceed to get the salad, soup, and bread for my third table. As I drop this off, I check on my second table and see if everything is okay.

On my way back, I enter in the third table’s order, and once that is finished, it is probably close to the time my first table’s food is ready. If not, I go out and clear any empty plates. Once the first table’s food is up, I drop it for them, pick up the empty soup and salad plates, ask if they need more bread, refill their drinks, etc. On my way back to refill them, I check on my third table. I try to grab whatever every table needs in one trip. After refilling my first table, I clear plates from my second table because their food will be coming up soon.

After dropping off my second table’s food, I ask them for more refills on anything and before going back I check on my first table to see if everything tastes okay and then stop at my third table to clear any empty dishes. Once I bring the refills out to table two, my third table’s food is ready. I bring their food out, check for refills, and then clear any empty plates from my first table. Usually at this point people may be ready for boxes or dessert.

After checking on all my tables to see if everything is okay, table one is probably ready for their bill, assuming I have boxed up their food and asked for dessert, and they said no. I drop the bill off, along with our famous Andes mints, and tell them I will be back to get them change whenever they are ready. Again, I check to see if my other tables need refills. If I have a few minutes in between my tables eating, I fill ice, lemonades, teas, glasses, or help other servers carry food to their tables.

I then go to my table, grab their bill if it is ready, and tell them I will be right back with their change. I always make sure to tell them I will be back with their change. When a server asks if customers need change back, s/he is more likely to get a smaller tip. It shows the server isn’t greedy or expecting too much to tell the customer s/he will be back with change. Usually my second or third tables need a refill of some sort while I’m getting change to my first table. I get their refills and bring the change out. After dropping the change, my second table is ready for boxes or dessert. I repeat the process with only two tables, and at this time, the busser is cleaning the rest of my table off. My third table is probably then ready for boxes, my first table has been sat again, and my second table needs change. At almost no point during the night am I “sitting around.”

By the end of the night, I’m exhausted. After my last table has left, I can’t leave without doing my sidework, which consists of rolling enough silverware for my section, picking up around my area, setting my tables up, and other assigned sidework. Every server has different sidework, depending on the section. Sidework includes emptying the ice, clearing the side station, emptying trash, filling mints and sugars, spraying the walls, etc.

There isn’t much downtime being a server. If it is a slow night, then of course there isn’t as much running around, but there’s always sidework a manager has ready and always help to give to other servers with too much to do. Next time you think you have bad service because something took a few extra minutes, remember your server has other tables to take care of, as well, before you reduce the tip.

Birthdays*

Birthdays change as people get older. When they are in middle school or younger, birthdays are great; kids order pizza with their friends, go bowling or skating, have slumber parties, play games, etc. When they get into high school, they want to have dances, go to movies, dress up, and still have slumber parties. When people get to college, most want to dress up, go out, drink, take tons of pictures. Once the 21^st birthday is over, it is all “downhill.

I always find it funny when younger kids or students come into Olive Garden and make sure to ask for the birthday song. They usually don’t get the cake because they don’t want to spend more money, but they always want the birthday song. I love singing it and am known by many of my co-workers to get pretty into it.

When adults come in to eat, someone besides the one with the birthday leaves the table or waits for the birthday man/woman to leave the table and then tells the server they would like the song. When it is time to come and sing the song, the one who it’s being sung to usually turns bright red and gets mad or embarrassed.

We have a “Buena Festa” cake that is $6.95 and feeds about four to six people. We usually decorate the cake and put a candle in the middle and gather as many servers as we can to sing. Once we reach the table we say,

“Attention Olive Garden, we have a very special birthday today. It is ______’s birthday and we are going to show them how we celebrate Olive Garden style! Ready? Buena festa! What a joyous day (hey!). Life's good; fortune is sure to come your way. Come on, sit back, and just relax! We'll fill your plate the Italian way (Wooo!). We're so glad you came to celebrate with us today (Hey)! Happy Birthday!

Darden Dimes*

There are many organizations that seek to raise money for what they believe to be important causes across America. For example, Raising Cane, a restaurant in Las Vegas, helped raise money for a family on Extreme Home Makeover by donating a certain percentage of each sale of chicken wings and special sauce. Also, in Massachusetts last year, Teamsters Local 25 raised nearly $200,000 for autism and has become a leading fundraiser for Autism Speaks, a national advocacy organization dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, and treatment of autism. Darden, which includes Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Bahama Breeze, and Smokey Bones, hopes to impact the lives of those in need, specifically Darden employees.

Darden Dimes is a project launched in 1999 for the purpose of being an employee-funded source of support for Darden employees facing financial crises. Participating employees donate a minimum of ten cents from each paycheck to the fund. Though this amount seems small, it adds up since hundreds of employees participate.

In 2004, Darden was a huge contributor to the Hurricane Charley Relief Fund. Hurricanes Charley and Frances left many employees in Florida with no transportation or housing. Darden was writing checks in amounts of up to $100,000 for employees after the natural disasters. At that time, 30,000 supporters were donating to the fund, and five years later it has grown even larger. For more information on this, click here.

In 2008, Olive Garden helped in Montgomery, Alabama, when a devastating tornado destroyed the homes of many. They gave soup, salad, and breadsticks to those helping with the recovery effort and helped employees’ family members through Darden Dimes.

There was a story posted at the Cedar Rapids Olive Garden about one of our own employees experiencing the help of Darden Dimes. She had struggled with breast cancer, and thanks to Darden Dimes, she received help with a lot of her medical expenses. She wrote a story about how it affected her and her family and how grateful she was for the help, and it was pinned on our bulletin board for everyone to read. After that, there was an increase in employees participating in Darden Dimes. Ten cents taken out of your paycheck each week is not very difficult; it is an average of forty cents a month or about $4.80 a year, which is easily affordable. Contributing more than ten cents is even more helpful.

Olive Garden not only helps its employees with Darden Dimes, but it is also unanimously known for helping in times of trouble for non-Darden employees. Pennies for Pasta is a national fundraising program that partners with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and many elementary, middle, and high school students that supports the fight against blood-related cancers. This program was launched in 1994 and has raised more than $42 million since then. Once a year, school districts have three weeks for students to fill jars with spare change, and the class that collects the most gets a pasta party delivered by Olive Garden.

Aside from Pennies for Pasta, Olive Garden has helped with Extreme Home Makeover and other disaster relief around the United States. Not only does Olive Garden care about its employees and their families, but anyone who’s in need of some kind of help. Check out this video.