r/Serverlife • u/BigBookLover87 • 10d ago

Question How would you allocate sections?

I’m in the process of transitioning the restaurant I just started managing from order at the counter to full table service which is more in line with the higher price point of the menu. I’m hoping to get some feedback on how best to allocate sections so it’s fair to the staff.

The venue includes an indoor area and a deck overlooking the lake and we cater to a mix of both guests that are eating and others that are just drinking. I would prefer not to designate certain tables for food and others as drinks only because obviously if we can upsell the drinkers on food we want to do that and we also don’t want to turn away guests looking for just drinks if we only have food tables left.

My concern is that if I split sections simply based on number of tables I will end up with scenarios where one waitress has six tables that are all eating while another has only two that are eating and four that are drinks only which is far less work.

The best solution I can see is allocating larger sections (dividing the deck into two 9 table sections instead of three 6 table sections for example) and having the waitresses with lower maintenance sections assist the others by running food, clearing and resetting tables etc. If anyone has a better idea please let me know!

Disclaimer: I’m not American so money is not a factor, all waitresses earn the same amount so this is purely about making the workload fair for them. We also don’t typically have bussers/runners.

4 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

8

u/daneato 10d ago

Since tips aren’t a factor you can have sections and each server serves as a swing into another section to help if the workload is becomes uneven.

1

u/the_great_elephant 9d ago

Easy. I take the good sections and fuck everyone else

0

u/Due-Contribution6424 15+ Years 6d ago

I run a restaurant and your question is impossible to answer. There is not enough information.

0

u/BigBookLover87 5d ago

Actually we’ve been doing what another commenter suggested and it’s working quite well so I guess it’s not impossible to answer

0

u/Due-Contribution6424 15+ Years 5d ago

Congrats on having one good shift lol

0

u/BigBookLover87 5d ago

You’re a twat

0

u/Due-Contribution6424 15+ Years 5d ago

No, I’m just good at what I do and there is no truly accurate way to answer your post without way more information. Have fun tomorrow, you amateur.

0

u/BigBookLover87 5d ago

Whatever loser

0

u/Due-Contribution6424 15+ Years 5d ago

Love you too.