Do you need prior experience to be a waitress at a high end restaurant?

Question

I've heard the jobs are difficult to come by, and I do not want to make a fool of myself.

Answer 1

Start at a small family style restaurant. The work is much harder than it looks. You need to learn things like how to deal with difficult customers, drunks, unruly children in a way that controls the damage and makes the customer not angry.
Remembering what each customer wants and how they want it is hard. At a casual restuarant like Denny's if you forget who ordered which dish you can just ask the customers at the table but in a upscale place where dinners are on business or celebrating special occasions everything must be perfect. Also you must know what is in each dish and how it is prepared to you can advise if asked. Just learning the wine list and deserts would be a major project.
I waited tables a while and it takes some time to learn to carry the huge trays and how to serve.
After you have a few months in a smaller restaurant try a larger one like Red Lobster that isn't upscale but a little busier. Then after a year or so try the upscale restuarants.

Answer 2

When a person starts a new job - any job - it’s a learning experience. Someone has to or should “show the new girl” or the “new guy” where things are and how management wants things done. This make the operation run much smoother.

Without the proper training, there’s no sense giving a new person a station or a position. There will be two Qs which always asked: “Where’s . . . ? [this or that]. This is perfectly understandable.

In a “high end restaurant”, THE ONE Q no customer, maitre d’ or manager ever wants to hear is
“Who’s got . . . ?” If a server asks any customer that Q, he/she has no business working the floor or serving tables in that restaurant.

A good server starts with one person for drinks or cocktails. Then asks each subsequent person sitting at that table what he or she will be having for drinks or cocktails. The drinks and cocktails are prepared and served in the exact same order the server took those orders.

When its time to order the appetizer and main course, he/she returns to that very first person and takes that person’s order. Then in the exact same order goes to the next person and does the same. When the food is prepared, everything is served in the order it was ordered. This is true through coffee. dessert and any after-dinner drinks. This is all part of the training. To prevent those horrible words “Who’s got . . . . ?” the server develops or creates a system.

In all my years in the business I worked with very few servers who had any kind of system. One had her system down to a science. I never heard her utter those words, “Who’s got the . There was also a young man with that same trait.

The second was a young lady I never worked with, but when we made reservations for that particular restaurant or went to that particular restaurant, we always asked for her. Why? It was an absolute pleasure to have a professional wait on our table. Believe me, she was well-compensated. Simply because she never wrote anything down. She had a photographic memory. Everything was served to perfection - exactly the way each person at our table requested it! The check was always correct. She was the best of the best!

As long as you have your system and know what to do and how to do it, you shouldn’t make a fool of yourself. Will there be times when you are “in the weeds”; “up a tree”; OR up tat well-known “creek without the paddle“? Yes!

Working in the Food and Beverage business is very hard. The hours are long. Many times hours go by without a break. Folks arre on their feet a great majority of the time. For servers, the pay isn’t so great. Why? This is the incentive to give good service - hoping he or she will be compensated with good tips. -

T.I.P.S..
To
Insure
Prompt
Service

Sometimes a person has “to work a double”:
.Working breakfast AND lunch
Working Lunch AND Dinner.
OR working breakfast and dinner.
Very few High end restaurants are open 24/7

There are many, many other tips you will learn. Things to do and things not to do.

Thank you for asking your question. I enjoyed taking the time to answer your question. You did a great job - not only for your information, but for every other person interested in reading my answer.

I wish you well!

VTY,
Ron Berue
Yes, that is my real last name.

Answer 3

Yes, but you could always start off in a high-end place as something less than a waitress, working your way up. That way; you'd get a chance to watch people who do the job and then you'd be likely to be promoted if you showed good skills that are needed for a place that are required in that sort of job.

Good luck, and don't worry about making a fool of yourself while you're learning in any job :-) We've all been there

Answer 4

Waitress in a high end requires lots of special skills and there is No way to gain them without experience .
If you know the owners , maybe they will train you however .
Never hurts to ask , but if you fake it and say your experienced , you will look like a fool during the 1st hour .
Be honest , it will work out better in the long run .

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Answer 5

Yes. High end restaurants you are expected to be able to carry multiple plates, handle all sorts of customers with grace, wine experience etc etc.. the list grows on. Some places offer on the job training, but in a more competitive market, then they will more likley hire the person with the most experience because it means the business will flow smoother..unless they think you are totally great and quick to learn etc!

Answer 6

yes you do. Most restaurants want you to have experience in the food industry. Even if you can do everything they want you to do they still want experience. It's not an easy job and they want to know that you have been able to handle it somewhere else.

Answer 7

yes. They usually prefer anywhere from 6 mos-2 yrs prior experience.

Answer 8

My guess would be yes. My recommendation would be to go to the restaurant you're thinking about applying for and ask.

Answer 9

Depends how 'high end', haha. Personally I would ask if experience is required so I wouldn't embarrass myself.

Answer 10

go to restaurant watch their duties for several times then apply and most do offer training.