Foreword

Foreword

About This Book

There are three very important things you should know before reading this book.

This book is NOT a training manual. Due to the fact that you picked up this book, it is assumed you know how to wait tables. This book will not teach you how to wait tables. This book will not teach you how to carry three glasses in one hand. It will not teach you how to declare your tips or tell you what kind of shirt to wear. This is a book for servers. The information that follows is advice, insight, and techniques to help you earn more and be a better server.

This book is NOT a bunch of theories. I have spent the better part of the last 15 years waiting tables. Every concept described here has been tested, tweaked, and retested on hundreds of actual tables. A server, not an author, wrote this book. This book is a compilation of chapters written in between shifts on a double, after being cut on a slow night, and wrapped up before heading in for dinner shifts. These are tested and true techniques to help every server who applies them make more money on their next shift.

This book is NOT absorbed by osmosis. The only way you can take advantage of the information contained in this book is to read it and apply it. This book will make you a better server. This book will help you make more money. It cannot do either of those things though if you do not use the techniques it teaches. If you invest your time and energy into learning and applying this information, you will be a better server.

Waiting tables is an honorable profession for which I have a tremendous appreciation. You may not intend to make a career out of it, but you should try to make as much money as you can for as long as you are serving. These tips are designed to work in any style of restaurant and can be used by servers at any experience level. Whether you wait tables for extra money or to support a family, this book will help you earn more.

I wrote this book for any server wanting to be better at what they do. It is the compilation of my experience in over a dozen restaurants waiting on over a hundred thousand guests. It is derived from working with some incredible servers and a constant quest to improve as a server. Each and every topic was selected with a very clear purpose: to help you make more money.

As a server people share their lives with us. I have seen the spark ignite on a first date. I have seen men get down on one knee. I have seen 60th anniversaries that had more passion than either of those. People entrust us with some of the most special moments in their lives. We owe it to them to uphold our end and make sure that whether they are coming in to celebrate or just on their way home, we can make their day better.

I have the greatest job on earth. When someone asks me what I do for a living, I say, “I make people smile.” Once you truly appreciate that, waiting tables is more than a job. With that being said, here is how to make more money doing it.