While you're much worse to them than they will ever be to you, servers have the power to make the next time you dine out a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad experience.
To help identify the differences between the heroes of the serving world (and the ones who fall short), we consulted experienced (and very honest) servers to fill us in on the things that they notice about their inexperienced coworkers. Here are their many gripes:
Leave food in the window
This is a big one. When God closes a door, he opens a window, but if you're a server and you leave food in that window for more than a minute, you are going to server hell, where there are no tips, and only the worst customers eat there.
Use a cell phone
Don't carry a cell phone on your person unless it's totally silent and not visible in your pocket. Never take it out on the floor.
Ignore a table because it isn't in your section
Any time the customer has a negative impression of the staff, even if you're not their server, it's going to come back to haunt everyone.
Forget small details
If someone asks for a side of mustard, they really want that mustard, which is weird because mustard is terrible. But regardless, it's only going to make their experience worse, and cost you more time having to go back and get it for them.
Take the right of way from a customer
If you're carrying a tray of four hot entrees, then maybe this can slide. But if you're just walking through the floor, you shouldn't be stiff-arming customers.
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