So, in an effort to educate the public, and also to make it another person's fault when I use a serving term they don't know, I am going to explain the more common and less obvious words and phrases that we use. And now all you other servers with your fabulous serving stories can just refer the unknowing to this article.
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On the fly - make it quick. This is a kitchen term, and is usually used when a server forgets to put in a food order or the customer sends something back, such as "I need a grilled chicken sandwich with fries on the fly!" I suppose it's the server equivalent of the medical term "stat" or the laymen's "ASAP", although "Sooner than possible" might be better. People don't care for waiting for food, and your tip is on the line.
All day - used for saying how many of a particular item are needed total at this point in time. It took me a few months to really pick up on the use of this phrase, being that it's a kitchen phrase. For example, if someone ordered a tuna salad sandwich, and there were already three of those ordered, then that's four tuna salad sandwiches all day. Ah, kitchen math.
Back/Front of the house - the part of the restaurant and the staff associated with it. The tables, bar area, waiting area, anything that the customers see is the front of the house, as well as the servers, hosts, and bartenders. The kitchen and dishwashing area as well as the workers that stay in that area are the back of the house.
In the weeds - so ridiculously busy that you cannot see your way out. A server term associated with the stressful and terrible feeling of having too many things to do and not enough time to do them and ensure even a moderate tip. This feeling is not just when you have a lot of tables, but also when their timing is all wrong, like when they all want something at the same time.
Wine Abbreviations - abbreviations for particular wine varieties. Obviously, this may not common in most restaurants, but seeing as I worked in a restaurant & wine shoppe, we used them quite a bit. It was hard not to use them to the customers. Those wine names are long and too much trouble.
Cab - Cabernet Sauvignon
Chard - Chardonnay
Pinot - Pinot Noir
Sav - Sauvignon Blanc
White Zin - White Zinfandel
Zin - Red Zinfandel
Notice that Reisling and Merlot do not have abbreviations. I guess they are short enough. Pinot Gris/Grigio also does not have one, I assume because Pinot was already taken with Pinot Noir. I'm not sure if these abbreviations are universal or if perhaps one or two of them are specific to my particular restaurant. Chard and Cab I feel are widely used. In any case, they are the ones I use.
Food runner / running food - the taking of food to a table or the person who does it. Generally, a server takes food to their own tables. But rather than risk the food getting cold, other servers sometimes run it for them if they are busy with some other task. At some restaurants, there are food runners whose only purpose is to run food. I prefer to run my own food, and get a bit touchy if someone else does it when I am nearly done with whatever was delaying me. But I get over it, as it just has to be done sometimes.
Tip-out - the percentage of a waiter's tip that is given to coworkers. Serving customers requires the entire staff, and there are frequently workers who mainly assist the serving side, such as bussers and food runners. The actual percentage is usually restaurant-wide, though servers can certainly give more than the required percentage if someone helped them out a lot on a given day.
Stiffed - not being left a tip at all. I cannot personally imagine receiving such rotten service that I didn't leave a tip, but I'm sure it happens. Being stiffed is usually a result of either poor service or the customer being a jerk. This term is not to be confused with being shafted, which refers to getting a bad tip. I've never been stiffed, though one table neglected to pay their entire bill, so I suppose I was stiffed there. However, if they didn't even pay for their food, I didn't really expect them to give me anything. My worst shafting was receiving a $.94 tip on a $70 ticket. I was heartbroken, but honestly think they made a mistake, as the service was quite good. Servers generally know the difference between good and bad service.
I would obviously recommend not being a jerk as a customer. I've worked with several servers who will follow a customer out to the parking lot and very nicely ask where they felt the service was lacking. So be sure and give bad tips only when they are deserved. Duh.
86 - being all out of something. We have an 86 board that lists the food items we are currently sold out of so that servers will know to tell customers and to not sell these items. For example, after the last crab cake is sold, the kitchen will tell the first server they see "86 crab cake" at which point the server will write it on the board and then go around telling everyone "86 crab cake". I knew a girl who had been working in a restaurant for over a year before she knew what the phrase meant. She somehow had the idea that we had 86 crab cake orders left, which if it had been the case, then we over-ordered.
Side-work - Work other than waiting tables that needs to be done. These are tasks generally performed either at the beginning or the end of the shift, though there is what is known as running side-work, which is performed as the shift progresses. Side-work involves cleaning, restocking, and basic preparation for the next shift.
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Now there will be other terms that are more specific to a particular restaurant. But these are the ones that I feel are used pretty widely, and therefore that you should know to become a more educated citizen and consumer.
Actually, I do this for purely selfish reasons. I want to be able to use these terms when I write about waiting tables here, as they've become part of my regular speech. And I don't want to have to explain them over and over. So from now on, it's your responsibility. Learn these terms. There will be a quiz.
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