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HOTEL AND RESTAURANT SERVICES

INSTRUCTIONS AND RULES FOR TABLE SERVICE
PREPARING THE DINING ROOM FOR SERVICE
Service goes smoothly when you are well prepared. The more that can be done in
advance the more attention you can give to customers during service.
Everything that might be required for service is kept in the service area, where
preparations can be completed and sometimes the washing-up is done. Other small
stocks of cutlery, crockery, napkins and similar items may be kept on sideboards in the
room conveniently located for re-laying tables.
Keep your preparation areas tidy, everything in its proper place, in good condition and
clean.
GREETING CUSTOMERS AND TAKING ORDERS
A warm friendly smile and pleasant greeting when you first meet customers will do
much to help them enjoy their meal.
Never leave customers waiting without an explanation, an apology, and an offer to
help.
After you have greeted the customers, ask if they have reserved a table. When the
answer is yes, ask for the name, check with the reservations record for the size of the
party, table number and any special requirements.
Lead the way when you show customers to the table. You know where you are going,
and by arriving first you are ready to help customers be seated, e.g. pulling chairs out
for ladies and those with mobility difficulties and handing out the menus.
If they are not greeted when they come into the restaurant, some customers will make
their own way to a table. This causes difficulties if the table is reserved for another
party, or has not been cleared yet, or is in a part of the room where the serving staff are
very busy. If the customers are already seated and studying the menu by the time you
arrive, welcome them by saying e.g. "Good evening". In some restaurants, the staff
introduce themselves by name. You might then offer drinks or take the food order.
For customers you know by name, large parties and VIPs, you should be able to show
them straight to their table. This gives an impression of personal service that
customers appreciate.
Help customers who have communication or mobility difficulties, e.g. by offering a
Braille menu, moving chairs aside for wheelchairs, bringing a high chair or cushions
for children.
If the table is set for more customers than required, remove the extra place settings.
Do this quietly and with as few trips as you can.
Customer skills when taking orders
- If the customer is not ready to order, offer to return to the table
- Face the customers as they make their choices. Look at them when they speak
- Be patient if customers are indecisive or change their minds. Offer some suggestions

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or try to gently guide them to a decision.
- Do not promise what cannot delivered
- Repeat the order to check you have each detail correct
Your most valuable tools are knowledge of products and ability to adapt it to your
guests needs.
GENERAL RULES FOR SERVICE
- serve all food from the left side of the guest, except when special circumstances (a
wall, pillar) make this inconvenient for the guest.
- serve all beverages from the guests right side. Fill water glasses two-thirds full.
- clear from the right. This is the practice.
- serve everyone in the party the same course at the same time
- fill water and beverage glasses, replace cutlery, clear away side dishes, bring bread before being asked.
- serve drinks before food - many customers enjoy a drink while waiting for the meal
and with their meal. The wine for a particular course should be served immediately
before or after the food
- collect the items on plates when needed - too soon and hot food becomes cold while
cold food gets warm. It is a hygiene risk to have food waiting at the wrong temperature
- collect plates before or with the food - otherwise the food has to wait around?
- pick up dropped items as soon as you can - but avoid unnecessary interruption in the
service. Do not leave cutlery retrieved from the floor in a place where they might be
mistaken for clean items.
- Clear as quietly as possible. Handle the cutlery gently but firmly. Do not bang plates
when scraping or piling them even if there are no customers in the room.
ORDER OF SERVICE
When a man and a woman are eating together, the lady is served first.
When two couples are eating together, the lady on the hosts right is served first, then
the other lady, other gentleman, and the host.
When more than six persons are eating together, the person on the hosts right is
served first and then the quests are served counterclockwise. Alternatively, the lady
on the host`s right is served first then the lady on his left, then all the other guests,
continuing around to the right regardless of sex.
In other situations, the old are served before the young, ladies before gentlemen, and
children after ladies.
PRESENTING AND SERVING DRINKS
Drinks and wines are always served from the right. Before serving the unopened bottle
is presented to the host from the right. This gesture enables the host to confirm that the
drink is the one ordered. After this confirmation, the waiter opens the bottle on a
serving table in front of the guests. A small quantity of wine is poured into the hosts
glass. If the wine is up to expectations, it is then served to the guests, starting with the
guest of honour or the oldest lady or gentleman, followed by the other guests and then

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the host.
For white wine and rose wine the glass is half filled at its most. These wines need to
be filled more often and thus the wine will always be at the right temperature and fresh.
The red wine glass is filled to the widest point, no more than half full, so that the
aroma can develop at the point with the largest surface. Sparkling wine and
champagne are served at a temperature of 8C to 10C. The bottle must be brought to
the guests table in an ice bucket, in ice or water, without being shaken. If this rule is
not followed, the wine will "go wild", the cork will pop and the wine will spill out of the
bottle Pour a small quantity into each glass, and the glasses are then filled to a
maximum of two thirds full.
SERVING THE FOOD
Customers expect their food and drinks to be served in a certain order. Menus are built
around the accepted order of dishes, moving from the light and delicate to the more
substantial. The dessert or sweet course will be designed to finish the meal. But
because customers` appetites will depend on what they have eaten, the sweet order is
not taken until the preceding course has been finished.
CLEARING DURING THE MEAL
Customers do not want to feel hurried. Leave a slight pause after everyone at the table
has finished the course.
Sometimes it is better to clear the plates as customers finish, for example. Remove a
plate which has been pushed aside, or is being hit noisily by a child.
Clear quietly yet efficiently. To take many plates at a time and stack them on the
sideboard or carry them out of the room, is the quietest method. Plates are normally
removed with the right hand from the right hand side of the customer. Glasses, cups
and saucers are also removed from the right.
STACKING PLATES AS YOU CLEAR
With practice you can stack plates as you clear them from the table. For most people
eight main course plates is the maximum that can be managed at one time, three or
four if there are leftovers (e.g. bones and other items) on the plates.
For clearing side plates (e.g. bread plates) it may help to take a clean dinner plate to
the table. Use this as the first plate, to stack cutlery and collect leftovers.
For soup plates with liners, collect two plates at a time and take them to the sideboard
for stacking. Clearing more than this is difficult and noisy, as you have to keep
rearranging the piles of liners, bowls and cutlery.
ONCE CUSTOMERS HAVE LEFT THE TABLE
Use a tray, unless there are only a few items to remove. Remove napkins, wipe any
spills. Leave cloth-covered tables covered. Replace the cloth with a clean one before
the table is reused. All cutlery and crockery left on the table should be collected for
washing. Do the same for linen napkins.

CHECKLIST FOR WAITER

WAS THE RESTAURANT CLEAN AND TIDY

WERE DAILY SPECIALS APPETISINGLY DESCRIBED
WAS THE STAFF SUITABLE DRESSED, NEAT AND TIDY
WERE ALL MENU ITEMS AVAILABLE
WAS THE MEAL SERVED PROMTLY
WAS ALL TABLEWARE CLEAN
WERE ACCOMPANIMENTS AVAILABLE
WAS THE FOOD AT THE CORRECT TEMPERATURE
WAS THE PRESENTATION OF THE MEAL APPEALING
WERE TABLES CLEARED PROMPTLY BETWEEN COURSES
WERE THE GUESTS ENCOURAGED TO ORDER A SWEET OR COFFEE
WAS THE GUEST ASKED IF THE MEAL WAS TO HIS/HER SATISFACTION
WERE TABLES CLEANED AFTER THE GUESTS HAD EATEN

CASE PROBLEMS
1

What can you say to a customer instead of:

- I don`t think I can do that
- We have a problem
- I don`t know
- There`s nothing I can do about it its the head offices policy
- I`m new here
- We haven`t got it
- I`ve just come on duty
- I`m not sure I can help you.

You, as a service person, make a recommendation about a wine, and the guest
decides to try it. The wine is brought to the table, opened, and according to
custom, a sample is poured for the host. He tastes it but does not like it, saying
it is "acidic" instead of "soft" as you described.
- Would you take the wine back?
- Who should take responsibility for the rejected bottle of wine?
- What are the exact words you would use to convey to the guest that you
understand his objection to the wine?
- Why did this happen?

Why do you check the service equipment? What do you look for?

Describe your preparation routines. When should each task be done?

What is done to ensure the diningroom is comfortable for customers during

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service? What happens at the end of service?
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Why is it important to know the glassware used for alcoholic beverages?

Why should a bottle of wine be handled with care before opening it?

Why is an ice bucket or wine cooler used in the service of sparkling wine?

Role-play serving alcoholic beverages.

Ask some of the trainees to be guests. Practice suggesting drinks, taking the
order, opening and serving table wines and sparkling wines, serving beer,
cocktails and mixed drinks.

10

What can you do to give customers a good impression of your workplace?

11

What questions might customers ask you about the menu? Why must you give
accurate answers?

12

When should you ask the customers if they are satisfied with their meal?

13

During service, what can you do to keep the dining and service areas tidy? Why
is this important?

14

How can you tell that a customer is ready to order?

FILL IN THE MISSING WORD(S)

15

The most important goals of any restaurant are to satisfy the customer and
make a ___________

16

A second tablecloth or padding beneath the top tablecloth is called a

_______________

17

Stand to the _____________ of the guest when taking orders.

18

Food is served from the ___________ of the guest with the _____________
hand, and beverages are served from the __________________ of the guest
with the ____________ hand

19

Clear
dishes
from
_______________hand.

the_____________of

the

guest

with

the

20 Your responsibility in an emergency is to encourage everyone to _____________.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT ALTERNATIVE

21

The type of jewelry that may be worn with your uniform is a) a bracelet b) a
watch c) a brooch d) a necklace.

22

Closing the dining room involves such duties as a) asking the remaining guests
to leave, b) setting up the tables for the next morning, c) discarding voided
checks, d) turning off all heating equipment such as roll warmers and coffee
urns.

23

A guest traditionally gives a waiter/waitress a tip because a) the guest is happy

with the service, b) a tip is required by law, c) the waiter/waitress asked for it, d)
the waiter/waitress is entitled to it.

24

An example of an unsafe practice is to a) pass co-workers on the right in the

aisles between tables, b) keep emergency exits unlocked, c) pour coffee refills
while the guest is holding the cup, d) bend your knees when you lift a heavy
tray.