I still occasionally get the guest who will say, I can buy this wine for half this price at the store. Which is true, but it doesn’t come with a staff to serve it and a crew of chefs ready to cook you an incredible meal from a fully stocked kitchen. I wonder if the […]
About David Hayden
Author Archive | David Hayden

The Economics of Tipping
I still occasionally get the guest who will say, “I can buy this wine for half this price at the store.â€Â Which is true, but it doesn’t come with a staff to serve it and a crew of chefs ready to cook you an incredible meal from a fully stocked kitchen. I wonder if the […]

The Great Debate (Introduction)
There are a number of topics about serving and restaurants that are open for debate. The opinions are generally split between those who have been in the industry and those who have not. It is very similar to the political process as it currently stands. Most people have chosen either the Server Party or the […]

Recommended Reading 11/8
Saturday night we had a notable guest at the restaurant. I say notable guest rather than celebrity out of fear that many of my readers would only know her from Dancing with the Stars or Raising Hope. The older folks out there would then facepalm remembering all of the great work she did in our […]

Independent vs Corporate Restaurant Priorities
This morning I read an article regarding the rising costs of food and how restaurants will respond. In the article former server Charles Ferruzza finds a pair of local restaurant owners who say they will refuse to raise prices to compensate for the increase in costs. The owners discuss absorbing the costs themselves or reducing […]

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About The Author
David Hayden was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He took his first serving job in 1996. Since that time, he has worked for over a dozen different restaurant companies. He has held both hourly and salaried positions at independent and corporate restaurants. He has waited on over 100,000 guests and trained hundreds of servers. He has been named "Best Server in Kansas City" the last three years by the local weekly paper.