Restaurant Service Basics

Serving means to be useful. The working life is full of market segments, products and service providers. Service providers are people who every day make use of their ability to relate to people, proper handling of vocabulary and perseverance. Service providers do not handle a physical product; they are people selling experiences and creating memorable moments for the client.

This is the case of the servers who, despite being the intermediaries between the kitchen and the guest, are the front of the restaurant where they work, they are the image that represents the company, who make the customer experience become enjoyable. While it is true that a restaurant is renowned for the quality of its dishes, it is also true that if the servers do not provide good service, the restaurant will sell exquisite food, but poor service.

Among other skills that a server should have are: the allocation of the tables, how to prepare the presentation of the tables and courtesies with guests like removing the chair of the guests to sit, remembering the order to perfection, ensuring that nothing is missing while the guest IS waiting for his dish and of course, thank them for their visit and hope they come back soon. Servers are responsible to reflect a positive image, hygienic, reliable, and helpful. The servers fulfill tasks from loading trays and taking them to their respective tables, to ensure that the guest does not lack anything.

In order to provide quality service, the servers must be trained and aware of the right way to serve the guest. In the world of restaurants there are seven forms of service. According to Sondra J. Dahmer author of “Restaurant Service Basics” in collaboration with Kurt W. Kahl, types that are serving in a restaurant are: French, American, English, Russian, Family-style, Banquet, and Buffet. Each of these services will depend on the rotation of the restaurant as well as the type of restaurant that they service in particular.

Every restaurant has a unique identity depending on the amenities offered to guests; also the type of service will be defined by the consistency in menu, decor, uniforms, table settings, ambiance and cuisine. I would like to mention and share my reflections of the services. In my opinion, THESE are the most relevant and mentioned in the service sector, and of course in restaurants. The authors of this book share a brief description of those services which says: French service is a formal type of service enjoyed by the few who can afford the time and expense of meals served in this manner.

This type of service is used in upscale restaurants, elegant hotel dining rooms, cruise ships, resorts, and casinos. In fact, French service not only is an expensive way to eat, but also is the most luxurious and ancient since the restaurants were created. On other hand they describe the Russian service as: Russian service is very formal and elegant, and the guest is given considerable personal attention; employs the use of heavy silver serviceware, and the table setting is identical to the French setup.

There are many similitudes between the French and the Russian service; the main difference is the way they serve the food, more specifically, the utensils Russian service uses are more elegant than the French ones. In the same way we have the English style that says: English service is used occasionally for a special dinner served in a private dining room of a restaurant. The food is served on platters and the heated plates are brought from the kitchen and placed before the host at the head of the table. English service is also as formal as French and Russian, but this service has also a way to serve the plates which is to the left.

The next service is the American which says that it is the most prevalent style in restaurants in the United States: American service: food is placed on the dinner plate. Food is served from the left of the guest, beverages are served from the right, and soiled dishes are cleared from the right. American service also is more casual than French, Russian and English service; probably this is the feature that has made the American service in the form of the most popular services in the U. S. and around the world. And last but not least the buffet service; the most common type of service in many restaurants with all inclusive.

Buffet service, guests select their meals from an attractive arrangement of food on long serving tables. Buffet service is the most common in hotels because it does not need a very personalized service, plus it gives the customer the freedom of Selecting not limited and serving many times as necessary. There is much that must be considered to select the type of service in a restaurant, so the management must make it clear the restaurant concept and the way it operates, with the servers that can provide the best quality service and create moments that the client will never forget.