Something I Learned About Wait-Staff in My Restaurants Which Is Indispensable Knowledge.

How you roster your wait staff will determine your success.

I owned my first restaurant at 20, and at my zenith had 13 units in both the U.K. and USA, simultaneously. When I began, I knew nothing. I was totally inexperienced in the art of people management and HR.

But I quickly understood the power of persuasive management. Influence rather than rules.

After a time, I became good at reading and understanding people through my work. I had a simple philosophy for my restaurants. When 6 pm arrives, and we open, the curtain goes up and we are on stage. All my restaurants had theatre kitchens — every single one. Everything we did was a show, we are constantly being critiqued and watched. All people are fascinated by food.

So show off.

Do things with panache and style. If you open a bottle of wine, think of the cork as a movie star jumping out of a cake. If you’re filleting a fish, do it with a flourish.

And this was how I learned to pick my wait staff:-

In a restaurant, there are basically three types of wait staff. When you next eat out, look out for these traits … you’ll see them if you pay enough attention.

Technically Proficient (№1's):-

They know all the rules. Do all the right things, say all the right things, seldom botch an order, and ensure the back-of-house is clean and serviced, they’re often refilling sauces and ketchup bottles and polishing cutlery and glassware, but have no real personality.

Oh, and they are always moaning about how little the №2s do. They can never understand how they always make the least tips but do the most work.

№1’s and 2’s are always at each other’s throats, unless №3’s are around, and they keep the peace.

Hair is scraped back, no make-up, no jewelry, and possibly a psychology major. Often religious.

Characters (№2's):-

They are absolutely shit at serving, they cock up the order, they do less than nothing the whole night, and everybody in the back-of-house moans about how bad they are,

but the customers love them.

They’re often begging the kitchen to fix a problem of their doing. They lean on your table when taking the order, they are likely chewing gum (forbidden) and they usually need to leave work early for a very important non-reason, like a house party, and get a №1 to cover for them, but always get the tip in full later. They never have a clean apron or a pen.

The only thing a waiter/ess has to ensure is that they smell fresh and bathed; arrive on time for the shift; have clean clothes on, with clean hands and nails; and have a pen that writes. That is generally it. They 9/10 botch most of that up, EVERY shift.

They might be cheerleaders and bring people to the restaurant and they make great tips. They’re always wondering what all the fuss is with №1.

They’re good-looking, into sports, medicine, political science, or law. Never have petrol money and are always on the scrounge for leftover food. They can talk their way out of a straightjacket and they are lazy as fuck. But bright.

The Holy Grail (№3's)

Every so often you get a person who is both technically proficient, and a great character. They’re like hen’s teeth and they sail through the evening on a cloud. No issues, no faults, and huge tips. Many 2’s think they are 3’s, but they’re really not.

They laugh with №2 and commiserate with №1, explaining the situation in such a way that №1’s are not pissed off. If you have a No.3 working, there is usually no issue between 1’s and 2’s either. It all runs like clockwork.

They’re often very natural, look amazing with very little effort, and have that “neighbour next door” feel about them. They very often come from troubled or disadvantaged homes and know the value of money, in fact, most things. An amazing number of my 3’s have been into snowboarding, surfing, or skiing. They love life.

Once you know this, you can manage your staff optimally. But here’s the thing. If you only have №1’s, it all runs shipshape, but the restaurant is like a morgue. No atmosphere and no customer interaction. Sales are down and tips too. Everyone leaves the restaurant a bit dejected and nobody really knows why.

The food just wasn’t up to its usual brilliance, something was just a little off tonight.

Conversely, if you have all №2’s, everyone is ecstatic and the atmosphere is a party. Everyone is having a blast until things start running out, and need replenishing, and the second sitting begins arriving but the tables are not ready. There are no glasses polished or cleaned, the tables are not cleared, the cutlery is a mess, nothing is wrapped and the place looks like a bomb has hit it. Whatever you do, don’t frequent the restrooms — it’s dire.

On their own, №2’s are a disaster looking for a place to happen.

You’ll never have enough №3’s to fill a roster, so forget about it. If you are lucky you could have two or three out of the entire 25–30 wait staff you have on call. You need to disperse them carefully.

To properly roster a restaurant, you need 45% 1’s, 40% 2’s, and 15% №3’s. And if you can make it work, you can team together a 1 with a 2 on a station, and sort of get away with a pseudo №3 feel. That’s assuming they understand the assignment and agree to it. It usually works with an understanding that they work together and split tips 50/50 until №2 gets a large cash tip and pockets it because she forgot, and tells everyone she did all the work to earn such a great tip anyway.

№2’s stink. They really do. But you need them.

I am pretty sure this knowledge transfers to almost every walk of life and employment. A great salesman always sells.

I made a young guy my business partner when I was nearing 30. He was 22 and had worked for me for 3 years. I gave him 25% of my business because he was an incredible №3. I hated dealing with the public. It was worth the 25% to have him do it.

We had a 40-seat restaurant in London, that did 1 million dollars (equivalent) a year from in-store food sales only. Not including alcohol or functions. If he was on duty, we did 20% more in sales and had no problems. People waited for an hour in the bar next door until we called them and we were rammed from 6 pm when we opened until 10 pm when we took the last orders. Everyone left happy.

If he wasn’t working, which was seldom, it was a train smash. Every time. Customers bitching they had been waiting for 15-minutes, food wasn’t what they wanted, etc. I monitored this over a 4-year period. Eventually, I realized he was the common denominator.

One guy.

I realized the importance of having just one guy in your organisation who combined those exceptional people skills with product knowledge. Hen’s teeth is what they are. Are you that person?