Experiences at the lob: 4/7

Since some classmates of mine suggested I make posts about actual experiences at work here is my first one. Tonight was a pretty slow night at Red Lobster. I started my shift at 5:45 and waited probably 10-15 minutes to get my first table. My first two tables (were only allowed to have 3 tables at a time) were sat pretty close to the same time so I got pretty occupied in trying to get to their needs in a timely manner. While I was tending to these tables I noticed the hosts were setting up a "large party". At Red Lobster this means a table that is going to have 8 or more people sitting at it. Corporate only allows for one server to be responsible for 7 guests at one table at a time. That is why a table with 8 or more guests at it is considered to be a "large party".

Anyways, once I got the first tables situated I looked into the party situation. 6 ladies were sitting at the table and my partner who was serving the table with me had already gotten them drinks. When I went over to introduce myself I asked how many more they were waiting on and they said only one more guest would be joining them. At that point my partner decided to take the party on their own since it was only going to be 7 people. These situations are actually pretty common. Hosts will set up a big party because a guests comes in and tells them a certain number of people will be joining them. This occupies two server's tables at the same time. When the guest number is reduced to allow one server to take the table; the other server who was planning on waiting on that table is out of a table for a certain period of time. The time I had to wait for a third table was half an hour from when my second table got sat. This is pretty frustrating because as a server you are hoping to constantly have three tables at time to hopefully maximize the tip money. The half hour I went without a table turned out to be the busiest part of the night so I unfortunately lost out on some money.

After the whole party situation got cleared up and I received a third table the night ran pretty smooth. It was an average weeknight at Red Lobster; not too slow or busy. I am not sure about other restaurant's policies on how many people can sit at a table before another server has to help out. Always be sure how many people will be joining you when going out to eat. Being 1 or 2 people off isn't usually too big of a deal, everyone understands it can happen.