Several years ago, when I was starting my previous serving job, I had a moment of server panic. My new restaurant had just been voted the best restaurant in town. It was busy most every night. My sales were significantly higher than at my previous job. The problem was that my tips were virtually the […]
About David Hayden
Author Archive | David Hayden
Skill Focus: Creating Regulars
I can be a bit of a pain to go eat with. When I make reservations or arrive at a restaurant, I have a conversation with the host/hostess. Before being seated, I need to know if certain servers are working that night. Then we all wait to be seated in their section. This annoys some […]
Skills Focus: Building And Maintaining Rapport
Learning how to build and maintain rapport with your guests A friend recently sent me a message on Facebook before his shift. He is fairly new to the serving game, but from what I can tell he is improving quickly. He told me he was heading into a shift and needed to make good money.He’s […]
Is The Career Server An Endangered Species?
Since the release of my book, I have had a chance to do a fair number of interviews. After the end of the formal interview, I have twice now been told how rare it is to find someone who looks at serving as a profession. This usually leads me to a correction. I think there […]
Humorous Complaint Responses
As servers, we often must come up with complaint responses when we encounter grievances that are not fully thought out. Whether it is that the dining room is too hot or the prices are too high. In many of these circumstances, we have nothing to do with the cause of the complaint. Usually, these are things […]
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.