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A few full service casual restaurants are trying to come up with “gimmicks” to create a sense that you are receiving good service. For example, Chili’s, a popular chain restaurant now has 2 servers per table. Is this is supposed to mirror fine dining establishments where you have a front and back waiter? Instead of trying to be more than what they are, they should follow the basic rules to good service. There are several basic rules to good service, but an important aspect is to “treat your entire station as 1 table”. Without practicing this simple step, you could have 4 servers per table and a guest still not receive good service. How could this be? The idea of treating your entire station as one table ensures that you are constantly looking at your tables whether making eye contact with a guest or physically walking past to see whether the table is in need of something. It makes more sense to get refills for all of your tables at one time than to make 4 to 5 different trips to 4 to 5 different tables. What tends to happen with the 2 server per table method is that each server has their own dedicated station, but are supposed to come by and see if their partner’s table needs something. This often results in no one coming by and checking as they think the other server did it. In these difficult economic times, it is important to have excellent customer service as well as an excellent product to ensure continued success.

What methods does your restaurant take to ensure good service?