how do waiters keep track of who ordered what?

[edwardh1]

for a large crowd say 8 people. is there a standard way of listing so that whoever brings the food from the kitchen knows who gets what?

 

[09_GXP]

Typical is whoever is to the left of the server when standing looking at the table is customer #1. The numbers then go clockwise from there. So in the case of 8 the person on the right closested to the server would be 8
1 2 3 4
Server ->facing direction
8 7 6 5

 

[Mr Nice]

I was about to say clockwise or counterclockwise.

 

[spackard]

It's by the number printed on my receipt.

 

[Schmoe]

When I was a waiter in college, I used a cheat sheet and had a system that went clockwise from the head of the table and wrote everything down. Not that hard once you get use to it.

 

[ZZman]

I once went to a restaurant with about 10 people. The waiter took our orders by memory and brought them back in correct order!

Blew us away and got a huge tip.

 

[The motor guy]

That must really mess them up when they skip a person cause they don't know what they want yet. Lol

 

[skyactiv]

Than you have some that have a photographic memory and some that ask "who got the chicken fingers"?

 

[Chris142]

The ones here mix up my wifes and I food and its just the 2 of us!

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
The ones here mix up my wifes and I food and its just the 2 of us!


I had a waitress miss our whole table once. She's like oh wrong person, im sorry. I'm like no wrong table. Lol

 

[Number_35]

If you look like a 'Chevy' sort of party, they number the LH side of the table 1-3-5-7 from front to back, and the RHS 2-4-6-8. They then serve the food in this order: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.

 

[Crispysea]

Rotating table restaurants used to be popular. I guess they went away like the Wankel!

 

[The motor guy]

Originally Posted By: Number_35
If you look like a 'Chevy' sort of party, they number the LH side of the table 1-3-5-7 from front to back, and the RHS 2-4-6-8. They then serve the food in this order: 1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2.

Good one!

 

[69GTX]

I tip for the quality of the food and prompt, courteous service. A good memory really doesn't factory in. And if a waitress initially puts my wife's order down in front of me....no biggie. I can accept that 2 second delay.

I couldn't remember 6 to 10 orders without writing them down by seat position. Don't expect a waiter to either.

 

[Nick1994]

My family has gone to a certain Mexican food restaurant for over 40 years. Of course waiters and waitresses change but some of them have stuck around for years. When we go there, often times they just bring out the drinks, as they know what we order. One guy will take the whole order for 8-10 people all by memory, has never messed up.

 

[SZR48207]

Some probably do the Michael Scott method and make up some really offensive nicknames for the people at the table and use that method.

 

[Bud]

Originally Posted By: 69GTX
I tip for the quality of the food and prompt, courteous service. A good memory really doesn't factory in. And if a waitress initially puts my wife's order down in front of me....no biggie. I can accept that 2 second delay.

I couldn't remember 6 to 10 orders without writing them down by seat position. Don't expect a waiter to either.


+1

 

[Toy4x4]

I worked in a fine dining restaurant years ago. We wrote everything down. HAD to. 5-7 tables with 2-8 people each who ordered up to 5 courses. Drink orders on top of that. We utilized the front & back waiter system. Front takes orders, served drinks, keeps an eye on things, assists back when needed. Back runs the food call-ups to cooks and brings food out according to course and helps front out when time allows. A very sensitive set of timing procedures considering it was fine dining.

 

[spackard]

There's a guy up at Kal's Bar-B-Q, North Mathilda Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA.
After you've been there a few times he remembers what you order.
Does that for every regular customer.