Professional ethics

20 Most Common Restaurant

Service Mistakes
POOR GREETINGS
Staff who greet guests with “how many?” or “do you want
to sit in the dining room or bar?” rather than a proper
welcome. Restaurant employees should be warm, friendly
and play the role of “host.” Hosts and hostesses are there to
greet people and make them feel welcome.
Studies indicate that 38 percent of a person’s first
impression is established by tone of voice, and 93 percent of
a person’s overall judgment of someone else is determined
by non-verbal communication – so make sure hosts are
standing up straight, smiling and personally greeting each
guest. Hosts who seem bored or busy can be enough to keep
people away in the future.
“MAY I HELP YOU?”
I often respond “Uh, yes, I would like a haircut
please.” to this question. “May I help you?” may be
appropriate for customers in a department store who
look lost, but it comes off as curt and rude at a
restaurant. The vast majority of people who enter a
restaurant are there to eat, and team members should
greet them appropriately. Instead of “May I help
you?”, host staff should try something more along the
lines of “Welcome to our restaurant! How many
people will be in your party?”
“JUST ONE?”

A host or hostess shouldn’t ask a solo diner

“just one?” Instead, they should try “will you be
dining alone today?” It isn’t safe to assume all
single diners are sad to be eating alone.
Hosts or hostesses should also never sit single
diners at the bar unless they expressly ask to be
seated there. This can make solo-diners feel
awkward and prevent them from returning.
REMOVING THE DINER'S DRINK

Taking the diner’s drink away from the table to

replenish it, rather that replacing it or refilling at
the table derails the meal and conversation.
Removing diners’ glasses from the table
essentially halts their meal. Waiters should also
bring water as soon as possible once customers
are seated, and should refrain from bringing other
drinks before bringing water.
“No problem”

Saying “No problem” implies that the guests’

requests are inconvenient. Restaurant staff is there
to provide a pleasant experience for visitors, and
responses like “My pleasure!” are much more
appropriate. Employees should use similarly
elevated language whenever they interact with
diners, and team members should focus on
making each guest feel as comfortable and
welcome as they do at home.
TOUCHING THE TOP OF THE GLASS

Even though restaurant employees wash

their hands regularly while at work,
customers don’t want someone else
touching the upper half of their glass. The
top portion is where they are going to put
their mouths – this area shouldn’t be
handled by anyone but them. Servers
should only ever handle the bottom half of
a guest’s glass or cup. Fingerprints near the
rim of a glass can be enough for a customer
to send the drink back.
LACK OF EYE CONTACT
Catching a guest’s eye when he or she enters a
restaurant is, for many customers, the first human
point of contact with a brand. This signal the
guests that the host knows they have entered and
are waiting for attention.
A host or hostess should be able to establish a
personal connection with each customer, and focus
on making them feel appreciated and valued.
OVER-FAMILIARITY

Servers often use overly-friendly and

disrespectful names such as “dude,” “buddy” and
“pal.” Eating in a restaurant is a business
transaction, not a budding friendship – servers
should be welcoming, polite and professional.
Using nicknames and overly casual terms for
guests is rude and off-putting.
Sitting down with customers is another overly
familiar, invasive gesture that will almost never be
appreciated.
NOT HAVING RECOMMENDATIONS

Suggestive selling is an important skill for waiters

and waitresses. Seventy percent of the people who
enter a restaurant don’t know what they are going
to order ahead of time, and many guests are open to
server suggestions.
For example, they may ask whether the smoked
salmon or the tri-tip is better. Staff should never
respond with a bland “everything here is good.” If
they don’t have a personal favorite, they should be
able to respond with which item is most popular.
This doesn’t just help direct the customer; it also
validates the customers’ taste.
COMMUNICATING PERSONAL
DISLIKES
Servers are salespeople for a restaurant, and those
who are unfamiliar with the cuisine they serve or
express that they dislike a particular culinary style
(i.e. “oh, well, I don’t eat seafood”) reflects poorly
on the restaurant as a whole. While guests can get
information about the food from the menu, they
often look for a human opinion.
Instruct wait staff to suggest items they do like or
popular dishes, rather than pointing out menu
items they don’t enjoy.
OVERUSE OF PERFUME/COLOGNE

Visitors should smell the cuisine, not the

waiter. Just as it wouldn’t make sense to put
fragrant lilies at the center of a table, waiters
should not be wearing half a bottle of
cologne when serving food. If a server is
wearing strong cologne or perfume, it could
literally affect how patrons taste the food at
your restaurant.
GOSSIPING
Waiters who gossip or talk loudly can ruin the
atmosphere. The waiter-diner relationship is a
business transaction. Guests pay to enjoy the food and
the atmosphere, and waitstaff is there to serve patrons
and represent a restaurant. If servers are speaking
inappropriately or speaking so loudly that guests can’t
enjoy their own conversations, guests will view it as a
reflection on a restaurant rather than a reflection on
individual servers. After a meal dominated by staff’s
conversations, guests will be unlikely to return.
SLOPPY UNIFORMS
A restaurant should be built around a story, and staff
should reflect that brand. If staff is wearing sloppy
clothing or their personal appearance speaks louder
than their uniform, the impression they give is one
guests will apply to the establishment. To help avoid
such discrepancies, make sure to hire people that
align with the desired message and brand image.
Also, ensure that standards are up to par, including a
well-designed uniform and a clearly defined and
enforced dress code.
BEING UNDERPREPARED

Servers who are ill-prepared when

delivering food, such as forgetting to bring
a steak knife with steak or a spoon with
soup, seem sloppy.
If a server does forget something, they
should bring it as soon as they remember –
as soon as the customer inquires – and ask
what can be done to fix the situation.
NOT CHECKING-IN
Guests usually discover a missing item ­– dipping
sauce for fries, lemon for fish or extra napkins,
perhaps – right at the start of the meal. If visitors
have to wait longer than 60 seconds for the server
to return, they will eat the meal without the item
and have a less enjoyable experience, or allow the
food to grow cold while waiting for attention.
Either situation is enough to deter customers from
returning, so make sure staff checks on visitors
within one minute of delivering each course.
INEFFICIENT STAFFING OF STATIONS

Too much or too little help can both be

costly, and there is a fine line between
having too few servers and too many. It is
just as annoying to have three different
servers ask if you needed anything as it is
having to wait 30 minutes to see a server
again. Either mistake can drastically affect
guests’ dining experiences and can prevent
them from returning.
 Truly successful restaurants don’t just serve good food;
they also provide fantastic hospitality. A guest more
likely to return to a restaurant if they felt welcome and
appreciated. Make sure another staff member makes eye
contact and gives a genuine smile and thank you to each
visitor when they leave.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcTddt9VcQw