I have recently ventured into the restaurant industry specifically I jumped right into the job of serving. Waiting table, slinging Folgers, running dishes, refilling drinks, it was interesting to enter that life middle-aged and have had the perspective of the customer for decades.  It gave me both a unique and fresh perspective on serving given my sales and customer service background. I am happy to say, now having served for a few years and in enough places, I wasn’t a bad patron. But I wasn’t a great one either not by any means. 

Now of course having waited tables I am a great customer a server can always spot a server within minutes of being sat, but I digress. This is the 10 total do’s and don’ts for servers and customers. If the waiter or waitress heads some of this advice and the patrons head the rest I can guarantee the dining experience for both worker and customer will be better.

1. Customer: first let's just get the elephant in the room out of the way. If you go to a sit-down restaurant where they walk the food to your seat, or refill your drinks, or serve food or drinks to you in any way you will be expected to tip. Now, this is an expectation, and not law so a person can legally do whatever one pleases. But that doesn’t mean if you're a customer that doesn’t tip it will be consequence-free. I never advocate for lacking service but a server is free to think and discuss a cheap customer who stiffs a server at their will. So rule one expect to tip or expect to have a reputation as being cheap. And servers talk in the same venue but also within the same town. If you are cheap that's who you are and that's ok but one can’t hide from the truth.

2. . Server: let's get the first big one for us out of the way. The tip and percentage will depend on the quality of service and the quality of the product. We play the biggest game in the joint with the lion's share of our money coming on tips. We can make a tremendous windfall or pay to work it's a gamble it is the life. Understand that some people will see rule one and blow off the rest of this article because they just don’t tip. We can never let that affect service because the tip comes at the end so one could and would never know how much the tip will be if there is one. Understand that the quality of the service and the product I.E. food and drinks will impact the tip and it should. That's the point. Good servers never leave because while we all get stiffed good service to everyone every time will always in the long run yield a decent wage. It's a numbers game.

3. Customer: Attitude matters. A lot. Most servers try their hardest every day with every table, they wouldn’t be servers if they didn’t try every day. See the above rule. We get paid and make most of our money from our tips so we try our hardest always. Sometimes it seems like the food has taken forever, or you haven’t been seated, or we lost your reservations, or the food was wrong, or the food was cold, or the floor is dirty, or the table didn’t get wiped, or you didn’t get greeted, or heaven forbid we spill a drink on you. Those things happen all the time and sometimes they happen because of the server's mistake and sometimes not but I can guarantee if you have ever got bad service or had a bad experience it was not on purpose and the goal of your server was never to make it that way even if it was his or her mistake. So remember that. I don’t expect a good tip or even a good attitude but a good attitude by both parties server and yourself always helps the experience. I can also guarantee you many servers have more power than you realize and a good attitude is much better than a bad one when it comes to going to bat for your customer.  It's a lot easier to comp a steak for someone who reminds you it wasn’t cooked right and they say no big deal than someone who eats the entire thing then yells at you and demands a refund. 

4. Server: Never bring up money or how much you're being tipped and how much you make etc. It's always in bad taste to discuss your income with customers when they have a hand in that income. Yes, many customers have no problem talking about money but as a general rule that shouldn’t be discussed, and if it ever is discussed it should be the customer bringing up the topic.

5. Customer: You pay for the food not to rent the table. Lingering for hours and hours at a table after you have finished your meal and you have stopped ordering drinks is poor manners and bad taste. It is time to move on, Once you have stopped being a paying customer and you are finished consuming what you paid for then leave. Sticking around whether you tip well or not costs the server and business money and its entitlement behavior.

Stick to these basic 5 rules when eating out or serving at work and I believe the experience for every customer or employee will always be better.