Food service requires a person to be on their feet for a long period of time and carry heavy trays of food. They have to deal with a lot of different personality types. When you dine out, restaurant server deserve your sympathy because they are trying to make your dining experience pleasant and enjoyable. We try to show our gratitude because we know that making your server life easier will improve your experience. Is it possible to leave a fat tip and still do that?
We try to help our waitperson by doing a basic clean up at our table when the meal is done, including stacking up plates and utensils. It seems like a way to make the waitpersons job easier, but many of them wish we wouldn't stack the plates because it makes their job harder. Garbage piling onto the plates is the worst sin, because now the server has to clean the plates or fish them out of glasses, which is grosser and more difficult than just cleaning them off a table top.
One way to make your wait person love you is to make room for them when they arrive with a lot of plates. For things that shouldn't be on the table in the first place, this is true. Getting your stuff out of the way makes it a lot easier for the server to place the dishes on your table.
Mistakes can be made while working as a waiter or waitress. It is possible to make them hate you with the force of a billion suns by staying quiet when you are upset. When you don't give a server the chance to fix a mistake, it's something else.
Many people forget to say "please" and "Thank you" when they sit at a restaurant. People think that they don't need to play by the rules of society if they think that a wait person is there to serve them. There is some deep psychology surrounding social dominance, but it is an illusion.servers don't occupy a lower position than you, they are just people doing a job It is important to be nice to them in order to get better service and a nicer experience.
The waiting tables are busy and tiring. The waitperson is dealing with a lot of different tables. It's fine to ask questions about the menu and to need a few minutes to figure out what you're going to order, but nothing will make a waitperson want to order already. Asking concise questions and being prepared to order in a timely manner are the best ways to impress your waiter. It's important when the restaurant is busy.
It seems like chatting up your server is polite, but it is not appreciated. It is easy to take it too far when your server is busy. If you've trapped your server at your table for several minutes having a conversation that doesn't advance your meal order, all their other tables are feeling ignored and the plates are piling up. If you want to enjoy your meal, limit your friendly chat to a few easy exchanges.
In a busy restaurant, it can get a little frustrating when your server doesn't show up or you need a coffee refill. It's a good idea to grab any random person and ask them to serve you. Unless you are experiencing seriously bad service, involving other server will make your server look bad.
If you want to get more specific, you need to let your server in on this complex arrangement from the beginning. Asking them to figure out how to split a bill is difficult if they can keep track of the meal, but making the request at the last minute is rude.
The Swiss Burger has caramelized onions when you order it. It's one of the worst things a diner can do when they realize they hate everything that was delivered to them. If you don't know what you're getting, you don't have to ask your server to change it.
The server is putting up with your bullshit because they are getting paid to do it, but often not well. You can be an ally to your server by tipping them appropriately. With that in mind, tips start at 15% for typical service and 20% for exceptional service. You shouldn't eat out if you don't like it.