LESSON PLAN TRS512388

UNIT OF COMPETENCY : WELCOME GUESTS AND TAKE FOOD AND BEVERAGE ORDERS

UNIT CODE : TRS512388

UNIT DESCRIPTOR : This unit deals with the knowledge and skills required in providing pre
meal services to the dining guests as soon as they arrive in the
foodservice facility. It covers the dining room or restaurant service
procedures before the food and beverage orders are served. This
unit involves the initial steps in the sequence of service that
includes the welcoming of guests, seating the guests, taking food
and beverage orders and liaising between the kitchen and the
service area.

ELEMENT
1. Welcome and greet guests
2. Seat the guests
3. Take food and beverage
orders
PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
Italicized items are elaborated in the Range of Variables
1.1 Guests are acknowledged as soon as they arrive.
1.2 Guests are greeted with an appropriate welcome.
1.3 Details of reservations are checked based on
established standard policy.
2.1 Guests are escorted and seated according to table
allocations
2.2 Tables are utilized according to the number of party.
2.3 Guests are seated evenly among stations to control the
traffic flow of guests in the dining room.
2.4 Cloth napkins are opened for the guests when
applicable.
2.5 Water is served when applicable, according to the
standards of the foodservice facility.
3.1 Guests are presented with the menu according to
established standard practice.
3.2 Orders are taken completely in accordance with the
establishment’s standard procedures.
3.3 Special requests and requirements are noted
accurately.
3.4 Orders are repeated back to the guests to confirm
items.
3.5 Tableware and cutlery appropriate for the menu
choices are provided and adjusted in accordance with
establishment procedures.
 4. Liaise between kitchen and
service areas
4.1 Orders are placed and sent to the kitchen promptly.
4.2 Quality of food is checked in accordance with
establishment standards
4.3 Tableware is checked for chips, marks, cleanliness,
spills, and drips
4.4 Plates and/or trays are carried out safely.
4.5 Colleagues are advised promptly regarding readiness of
items for service
4.6 Information about special requests, dietary or cultural
requirements is relayed accurately to kitchen where
appropriate.
4.7 Work technology are observed according to
establishment standard policy and procedures

WELCOMING GUESTS INTO THE RESTAURANT

The moment the guest steps in front of your restaurant, it is very important that the guest is
approached and welcomed right away. This is the beginning of the sequence of service in any
food and beverage establishment. It is important to welcome and establish a positive
connection with restaurant guests from the beginning for the following reasons:
1. A warm and cordial welcome will set the tone of the expected dining experience of the
guest.
2. A warm and courteous attitude given to the guest can contribute to creating a good first
impression that can contribute to sales. Remember that the guest can still change his
mind and dine in another restaurant should he feel unwanted or disrespected when he
steps in front of the restaurant.

SEQUENCE OF SERVICE
The sequence of service is put into motion the moment a guest steps foot into your restaurant
door. The sequence of service is the step-by-step protocol a server follows to makes sure the
service given contributes to a pleasant and satisfied dining experience for the guest from the
time the guest enters the restaurant to the time the guest leaves the restaurant. The steps
followed in the sequence of service are:
1. Welcoming the guest
 2. Seating the guest
3. Presenting the menu and taking orders
4. Service of food and beverage
5. Clearance
6. Presentation of check or the bill of fare
7. Farewell

WELCOMING THE GUEST

The restaurant staff to welcome the guests is usually the responsibility of the person in charge
of keeping track of table occupancy and reservations. This is usually assigned to the
receptionist, the host/hostess, the head server, or the maître d’hotel.

HOW TO PROPERLY GREET THE GUEST

The restaurant staff assigned to greet the guest is always positioned at the front door, cleanly
groomed, and always wearing a welcoming and courteous smile. Listed below is the steps to
follow when greeting guests.
1. Welcome guests into the restaurant within 30 seconds of the guest’s arrival. Put on a
warm and welcoming smile. When necessary, walk up to meet the guests to greet them
with this suggested spiel:
Good (morning/afternoon/evening). Welcome to (name of restaurant).
2. Wait for the guest to acknowledge your greeting and ask if he and his party can be
accommodated the the day’s restaurant service. In the event that the guest had made a
reservation, the guest will inform you of this.
3. Acknowledge that you heard the guest’s query with a slight nod or tilt of your head as
you ask the guest the following important information:
a. If the guest has a reservation
b. If the guest has a preferred seating or table preference
c. If the guest is dining alone, or is expecting other members to join
4. Confirm details mentioned by the guest on the reservation logbook
5. If the guest has made a reservation, verbally acknowledge and thank the guest. Confirm
the reservation details. Then lead guest inside to the reserved table. Don’t forget to
address the guest formally with his name.
6. If the guest does not have a reservation, follow the following protocol:
a. Ask how any other people are joining the guest so that you can check available
tables
b. Ask the guest to wait a few seconds as you confirm table availability.
i. If there is a table immediately available, confirm this with the guest and
usher guest inside the dining area.
ii. If tables are not available, be honest and mention this to the guest. Work
out with the guest an estimated time for table availability and ask if they
are willing to wait.
c. If the guests are willing to wait for a table availability, take note of your
commitment and seat guest in an assigned waiting area. Call and usher in the
guest inside the dining area when the table is available, always remembering to
check back with the waiting guest and giving an update every now and then.

 HELPFUL TIPS TO SUCCESSFULLY WELCOMING GUESTS

 Be conscious of grooming. Always wear the uniform smartly and sharply without any
wrinkles or creases and shoes always polished and neat. Personal grooming is a
must.
 Always wear a warm and welcoming smile.
 Be intuitive about what would give the guest extra comfort and ease but be careful
not to annoy or be too forward and bothersome.
 Speak in a calm and pleasant voice.
 Even if the restaurant is busy, never ignore a guest. Make sure to give regular
updates and communicate what is happening at the restaurant that is causing the
guest to wait without sounding apologetic nor condescending.
  Address the guest formally with his/her name. This is an initial step to making the
guest’s dining experience more personal.

SEATING THE GUEST

Ushering the guest inside the dining area is the second item in the sequence of service. Observe
the following steps when seating the guest/s.
1. After verbally confirming table arrangements with the guest, walk ahead of the guest
and his party and lead them into the dining area.
2. Use an open palm facing upward to show the way, never use your finger to point the
way.
3. Initiate seating the female guest ahead of the male guest. As an accepted industry
practice, a female host pulls out the chair for the female guest to suggest where she
should seat. The male guest usually finishes off seating the female guest as part of a
gentleman’s etiquette. The male host pulls out the chair for the female guest and
finishes off the job of seating her comfortably, and then motions with an open palm
where the male guest is recommended to sit.
4. By now, the server assigned to the dining station will be on hand to carry on with the
sequence of service. The host/hostess then introduces the server to the guests and
endorses the care of the guests to the server in charge.
5. Upon seating, the server then opens the napkins for the guests from the left hand side
and offers to place it on the lap without ever touching a body part.
6. Water goblets are filled with drinking water and unused service covers are removed.
Other dining details are attended to while the guests review the menu like removing
table covers that will not be used or providing high chairs for children, among others.
7. Present an open menu to the guests and conduct a light conversation with them about
the house specialties they might want to consider. Always finish off the conversation
with an inquiry of whether the guests are settled comfortably and to their liking.
8. Breads and butter are served while customers read the menu.
 HELPFUL TIPS TO REMEMBER WHEN SEATING GUESTS
 Be mindful of assigning tables to guests.
 As a rule of thumb, it is best not to seat two big parties within the same station so
that the server is not overburden with serving too many guests at one time.
 Sit and serve women guests before male guests.
 If the table seating is a banquette seats against a wall, the host or maître d’hôtel can
pull out the table to allow guests to seat comfortably.
 Open napkins from the left side of the guest. Unfold the napkins with minimal
handling to ensure sanitation. Look out for subconscious body language from female
guests if they are offended with the napkins being laid out on their laps. It is always
best to ask permission.
 Be mindful that arms of servers should always be away from the guest’s face.
 Before filling out the goblets with drinking water, ask if the guest prefers bottled
water or regular water.
 When serving bottled water, ask for the guest’s preferred temperature. Unscrew the
bottle cap and proceed to pour the water into the goblet. Reseal the bottle and put
the resealed bottled water in the center of the table.
 Pour out water from a pitcher that has a cloth under liner to catch droplets of water.
 Serve water from the right hand side.
 When offering the menu, be aware of the following protocol:
o Hold the menu opened on the first page with the server’s right hand holding
the upper part and the left hand supporting the lower part
o Offer and open the menu in this same manner to all the guests
o Wait for about 5-7 minutes for the guests to read the menu

 TYPES OF MENUS
o Table d’hôte menu: a menu that presents a selection of entrees for a complete
dining experience that runs through different courses starting off with
appetizers, soup, main courses, dessert and coffee for a fixed price to serve an
 identified number of guests. Banquet and buffet menus fall into this kind of
menu.
o ála Carte menu: covers the restaurants meal offerings that can be ordered at any
given time of operating hours. Depending on the outlet, ála Carte menus contain
entrees for Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. Room Service menus fall into this
category.
o Other types of menus: specialty menus like a wine menu, a dessert menu, a
Carte Du Jour (a menu that lists special offerings for the day)

TAKING FOOD AND BEVERAGE ORDERS

After seating the guests and giving out the menu, courteously ask if they would like to be
served a glass of water. Answer politely questions asked about the quality of water your
restaurant serves. If the customer opts for bottled water, just gently remind the guest that this
will be put on their tab/bill. If the guest agrees, then serve the guest the bottled water. Return
to the table after about 5 minutes. Wear a pleasant smile and courteously ask the guests if they
are ready to place their orders. Depending on the order-taking protocol of the restaurant, take
note of the following steps when taking food and beverage orders.
1. Have your order pad ready together with your ball pen. Make sure to write down the
table number and seat number to facilitate specific order taking per guest.
2. Ask the women guests for their orders first. Then move on to the children and then the
men. It is best to have a technique to move clockwise around the table when taking
down the orders so that you remember what to serve each guest.
3. When all orders have been placed, repeat the orders addressing each guest to get a
confirmation. Don’t forget to mention special cooking requests (e.g. doneness of steaks,
salad dressing on the side, extra plates for sharing, etc.) or service requests (e.g. service
per course or family style, etc.)
4. When you get the final confirmation of orders from the guest, thank the guests, collect
the all the menus. Remove unnecessary table ware and service ware and add the
necessary service ware (for example, steak knives, if guests ordered for a steak).
5. Advise the guest expected their expected waiting time before their orders can be
served.
6. Then exit gracefully from the table.

 TYPES OF ORDER TAKING SYSTEMS

 Docket system: the basic communication cycle model that is initiated by the
server when orders are listed on a notepad, copies of the notepad order are
then sent to the kitchen for production and another copy is sent to the cashier
for billing. A “Duplicate Docket” system has copies of orders taken sent to the
kitchen and cashier with the server holding onto his rough draft. A “Triplicate
Docket” system has the server filling out 3 copies of the order sheet for
sending out to the kitchen, cashier and service area.
 Checklist: a printed listing of menu items offered by the restaurant that the
server ticks off as guests place their orders, usually used in fast food and
short order establishments.
 Blank order slips: server writes guest orders on a blank order slip; carbon
copies are provided to the kitchen as well as to the cashier for billing. This is a
basic step to the docket system.
 Touchscreen POS system: a combination of computer software and
hardware that automates and facilitates order taking as it links up service with
kitchen and cashier for instantaneous turn-around. This can sometimes have
a combination of hand-held devices where the server punches orders to. A
computer screen or monitor set up in the kitchen and cashier

 BEST PRACTICES IN TAKING FOOD AND BEVERAGE ORDERS

 Know the elements of the menu by heart. You are the first person the guests
encounter and more often than not, they will ask you any or all of the following
questions:
o What are the specialties of the house?
o What are the best sellers of the restaurant?
 o What are the ingredients of this dish?
o What can you recommend for us today?
o What combinations of your menu can I try?
It is best to be able to answer all of the guests’ inquiries so that you can create a
most memorable dining experience.
 Do not hesitate to create rapport with the guests. To be able to properly answer
guest queries on the restaurant’s food offerings, try to find out what the guest’s
food preferences are so that you can suggest the best entrees that they can try. A
personal testimony on restaurant secrets or best-selling entrees favored by other
customers are good rapport-building topics. But be careful not to be overly-talkative
to put-off the customer into thinking that you are gossiping or hard-selling the
restaurant’s services.
 Project confidence and authority without being off-putting or condescending. A
pleasant smile and helpful aura will always win the guest’s trust.

LIASE BETWEEN KITCHEN AND SERVICE AREAS

As the server on the floor, you automatically become the point person representing the
restaurant the guests rely on for their dining experience. Simultaneously, the moment you take
the guest’s order, you become the person of authority with regards to what the guests want to
eat that the chefs in the kitchen refer to. In other words, you become the link between the
guest and the kitchen. When you liase between kitchen and service areas, your primary
responsibility is to make sure that COMMUNICATION LINES ARE ALWAYS CLEAR.

There are two basic areas to look out for when you liase between kitchen and service areas.
1. Relaying information
2. Monitoring kitchen service points and checking quality of food

RELAYING INFORMATION
Relaying information can be grouped into two major categories:
A. Relaying information from the guest to the kitchen
 General food orders
Depending on the restaurant’s protocol, food orders are relayed PROMPTLY to the
kitchen in any of the following industry practices:
o SPOKEN: server walks into the kitchen to relay the guests’ order to the
assigned chef. The chef takes down details of the orders given.
o WRITTEN: server hands over the order slip to the assigned receiving chef
o ENTERED: server enters into a Point of Sale (POS) computer terminal that is
linked to the kitchen the details of the guests’ order
Whatever method is used to relay information from the service area to the kitchen,
required information transmitted to the kitchen are:
o Table number
o Number of guests (“pax”)
o Dishes or food items ordered
o Name of server
 Special cooking requests/instructions
Special requests from the guests on how they like their food to be cooked or served
must be indicated and communicated clearly to the kitchen. Examples would be:
done-ness of meats, grilled versus fried, salad dressing on the side, syrup for
beverage versus sugar, etc.
 Special food orders
There are times when the guests will ask for food items that are not in the menu.
Listen, take note, and promptly inform the kitchen if the special food orders can be
accommodated. It is also best to confer special food requests with the manager for
cost and billing purposes. This could be a simple hard boiled egg, hot water with
lemon, and the like.
 Requests for additional items like refill of bread, butter, coffee, beverage refills.
B. Relaying information from the kitchen to the guest
  Timing advisory on when food ordered will be delivered to the guest. (For example,
a 15-minute wait for a steak well done off the grill.)
 Advisory when food item has run out of stock, maybe due to seasonality or stock run
for the day (e.g., seafood, fruits in season, etc.)
 Special instructions for server to execute and finish off entrée prep at table side
 Further clarifications on special guest requests

 TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

 Practice active listening. Take down notes.
 Do not interrupt. Let the speaker finish.
 Do not hesitate to ask questions. Clarify whenever in doubt.
 Repeat information received to confirm and recap.
 Speak clearly. Use simple words. Be straight to the point. But always be polite.
 Make sure to talk among restaurant and kitchen staff away from hearing distance of
guests. Use restaurant hand signals when appropriate.

MONITORING KITCHEN SERVICE POINTS

This part of the liaison duty deals with collecting meals and entrees from the kitchen and
serving them to guests. Remember to check with the kitchen after about 3 minutes from
placing your order slip to follow up on the status of the meals. Take note of the following
sequence of events when monitoring kitchen service points:
1. Always be on the lookout for an advisory from the kitchen that your orders can be
served. Depending on the restaurant’s system, this could be a lighted bulb, a soft tinker
bell, or an electronic beep or vibration on a gadget or computer POS.
2. Counter check with order slip if food being released by the kitchen is up to order and is
properly plated. Look out for accidental drips or splashes and clean them. Make sure
you collect and deliver the right order to the right table and the right guest.
3. Collect additional condiments, side dishes or service ware to complete the meal, per
kitchen or entrée instructions.
4.