When you go out to eat out with friends, family, colleagues or on a date please do these things because the wait staff will appreciate it.
The things to do are
Greet them. They will greet you first usually but do greet them back. You may be very hungry and or in a real hurry but don’t dive right into your order. Acknowledge them with a greeting and then make your order.
Let them speak. Do not interrupt them. Interrupting is rude enough, but don’t cut off wait staff in the middle of their greeting. Not only is it impolite, but you interrupt the specials or any bulletins staff need to inform you of. People in the service industry are more perceptive than you think, and the majority can read and do understand body language and other social cues and do try to be as unobtrusive as possible.
Be patient. Do not call out to the server. If you are so impatient, get up and go to them. Don’t shout across tables for them to come to you. Besides, whatever you need can probably wait, and shouting over everyone isn’t a good look. If you need urgent assistance, walk to the counter or locate someone nearest to you on the floor.
Treat them with respect. Do not snap your fingers at servers. They will come back to your table, they have not forgotten. If you’re waiting a long time, consider whether the place is busy or not. However, if you find that your server is being sloppy and not attentive, you can make a complaint.
Avoid unnecessary drama. Keeping your hands to yourself is a very simple rule that will keep you out of unnecessary drama. If you need to get the staff’s attention, don’t poke, pull, pat or grab them. They did see you come in and they will get to you eventually so wait for them to come and wait on you.
Let them do their job. The wait staffs have come in to work and not to look for a date or socialize. So asking if they’re single is very inappropriate. And getting aggressive is extremely rude. They have not come in to work to be harassed so please do not hit on them.
Keep calm and do not yell. Yelling at wait staff is just mean and being a horrible human being. We all make mistakes, especially when there is so much going on around us. So if your server brings the wrong order or forgets an item you ordered, please do not shout. If you’re truly unhappy with the service, speak with the owner or a manager. There’s no point shouting.
Please tip them if you can. Tipping is a way of telling the servers that you appreciate their efforts. Even when the food was not that great, do leave a small tip because they did after all do their job. And that was to serve you, answer any questions and go back and forth to deal with your table. They do deserve a little appreciation.
