Waiters and Waitresses
Overview
Waiters and waitresses are the friendly faces of restaurants who take customer orders, serve food and drinks, and make sure diners have a great experience. You'll use modern point-of-sale systems to send orders to the kitchen, carry trays of delicious food to tables, and handle payments while working as part of a fast-paced team. This job helps you develop excellent communication skills, multitasking abilities, and customer service expertise that are valuable in many careers. Many servers work flexible schedules that can fit around school and other commitments.
Did you know?
Restaurant servers in America rely heavily on customer tips for the majority of their income, creating significant variability in earnings based on shift timing, restaurant type, and customer generosity.
At a Glance
Median Wage
$31,872.94 Avg/yr
Growth
Stable
Top Skill
Monitoring
Key Responsibilities
- Fill salt, pepper, sugar, cream, condiment, and napkin containers.
- Prepare checks that itemize and total meal costs and sales taxes.
- Serve food or beverages to patrons, and prepare or serve specialty dishes at tables as required.
- Roll silverware, set up food stations, or set up dining areas to prepare for the next shift or for large parties.
- Remove dishes and glasses from tables or counters, and take them to kitchen for cleaning.
- Take orders from patrons for food or beverages.
- Perform food preparation duties, such as preparing salads, appetizers, and cold dishes, portioning desserts, and brewing coffee.
- Check with customers to ensure that they are enjoying their meals, and take action to correct any problems.
- Escort customers to their tables.
- Explain how various menu items are prepared, describing ingredients and cooking methods.
- Bring wine selections to tables with appropriate glasses, and pour the wines for customers.
- Collect payments from customers.
- Perform cleaning duties, such as sweeping and mopping floors, vacuuming carpet, tidying up server station, taking out trash, or checking and cleaning bathroom.
- Garnish and decorate dishes in preparation for serving.
- Prepare hot, cold, and mixed drinks for patrons, and chill bottles of wine.
- Clean tables or counters after patrons have finished dining.
- Inform customers of daily specials.
- Describe and recommend wines to customers.
- Stock service areas with supplies such as coffee, food, tableware, and linens.
- Present menus to patrons and answer questions about menu items, making recommendations upon request.
- Check patrons' identification to ensure that they meet minimum age requirements for consumption of alcoholic beverages.
- Provide guests with information about local areas, including directions.
- Assist host or hostess by answering phones to take reservations or to-go orders, and by greeting, seating, and thanking guests.
- Prepare tables for meals, including setting up items such as linens, silverware, and glassware.
- Write patrons' food orders on order slips, memorize orders, or enter orders into computers for transmittal to kitchen staff.
Career Considerations
Tip-Dependent Income Structure
Restaurant servers in America rely heavily on customer tips for the majority of their income, creating significant variability in earnings based on shift timing, restaurant type, and customer generosity.
Physical and Schedule Demands
The role requires extensive standing, walking, and carrying while often working evenings, weekends, and holidays when most restaurants are busiest.
Limited Career Advancement
Serving positions typically offer minimal upward mobility within restaurants without pursuing additional training for management roles or transitioning to other hospitality sectors.