Okay I know I am not a waitress anymore but I do have some words of wisdom to pass on to those of you who are, Believe me when I say these few things improved my tips enourmously. I do miss it and hopefully this will give you some extra Christmas money!!!! I wrote these for the younger waitresses I worked with who kept asking me how come my tips were so much higher than theirs. I use to make close to 75 a day and this was in a small town restaurant they were making like 20. After trying some of my tricks and techniques their tips improved...so here you go:
Twelve Ways To Improve Your Tips:
1.. Always smile with your heart, even when you are having a bad day.
2. Always be nice to the kids. 
Treat them like they are...the cutest children you have ever seen. Parents like the special attention given to their children, espcecially new parents. If you have an upset child, you will have upset parents. Offer crackers or small piecesof fruit such as bananas...be sure to ask the parent first as their children might be allergic or their parents might want them to save their appetites 
3. Do it before they ask. Have the check ready. Bring extra napkins to the table. Carry out all condiments they might desire.
4. Ask them if they need a booster seat or high chair, do not say "I think there might be one over there in the corner."
5. KNOW THE MENU!!! You must know the menu.
6. Look the part. Make sure your clothes don't smell wierd. Wear clean pressed clothes and keep your hair and nails clean.
7. Be Positive 
8. Ask them if this is their first time to eat at your restaurant if you don’t know them and introduce yourself. Ask them where they are from and suggest daily specials to them.
9. Take away unwanted dishes as soon as they are finished. Refill drinks as often as you can. No one wants to look at their empty plates. Offer dessert.
10. Never count your tips in front of your customers, if they see you have already made a lot that day they are likely to tip less\
11. Don’t complain to them about anything.
12. Always check back to make sure they are doing okay. Fix any problems as soon as possible. Don’t argue with customer abouthis/her meal. If necessary take yourself out of it and ask a manager to handle the situation.
I hope this helps let me know...Barbara 
5 comments:
Barbara; I'm not a waitress, but I know several young girls who want to be waitresses; I'm going to pass these tips on to them.
Now I know why you former customers like to chat with you at your present job :)
I would have loved to be served by you; you seem like a great caring person who truly wanted to give good service to those that came into that restaurant
betty
gee Barbara...do you work for the corperates at Ruby Tuesday? LOL. Its all in our training...you seem like you were a great waitress (I always say server, bad habit..lol)
Do you miss being a waitress? I have my days where I dont want to do it..but for the most part I love my job.
Holly
"3. Do it before they ask."
I absolutely HATE when servers bring me a refill I haven't acknowleged I wanted. I also HATE when servers bring you the check WITHOUT ASKING if you are finished. Sometimes I am NOT finished.
"8. Ask them if this is their first time to eat at your restaurant if you don’t know them and introduce yourself. Ask them where they are from and suggest daily specials to them."
NO SMALL TALK. I came into the restaurant to be with WHO I'M DINING WITH, NOT to make FRIENDS with the wait staff. Don't introduce yourself, I'm NOT going to remember what your name is that's for sure. I'd rather them just come to the table and say "May I start y'all off with something to drink?" If you take up my time by WASTING IT, your tip will be LOWERED. I came their to eat and drink as well as dine with the person or people I am with. I DON'T want to know the wait staff or care to. I am hungry and thirsty. I want my food and drink as SOON as possible. So taking a minute to talk about daily specials that I DON'T want is WASTING my time. I don't want the waitstaff to know WHERE I'm from. That is pretty PERSONAL information to give out to someone that is a STRANGER. If the waiter or waitress wants to talk, do it AFTER the food order has been put into the computer not to DELAY someone's food.
http://www.sandiegomag.com/blair/08-01-03.shtml
"Dennis Riusa calls it the “part-time service mentality.” Most of you would prefer your waiters to be servers, not buddies. “I really don’t care what my waiter’s name is,” sniffs Chula Vista’s Olin Bjorsky. “I am not interested in what dishes the waiters and waitresses like,” says La Jolla’s Patricia Winter. "
I absolutley hate it when the child is a horror, and the parents try to calm them down but the child is to spoiled rotten to even care what the parents are telling them it annoys the hell out of me and i have to really keep my cool and the kids yell or pitch a bitch fit because they can not have the choclate cake and then they start crying and yelling and kicking and then it pisses the parents off and the child gets taken out and the parent walks out and they forget the tips oooooh that really pisses me the fuck off !!!!!!!!
I also don't want to know anything about my server, and I don't want them to know anything about me, other than my drink and food order. I don't want the server to sit beside me (I will never go back to Outback for this reason) and I don't want him to start up a conversation with either myself or whomever I'm with. I don't want my plate or any plate taken away until everyone at the table is finished...I don't know why, then I feel rushed. I don't like being asked more than once how my meal is. If there's a problem, believe me, I'll let you know! You can refill my drinks all you want, and if you want to leave me with the check at any point, that's fine...just make sure you actually come back to either take my payment or get me coffee/dessert if wanted.
I know it's hard to please everyone, I've been a server off and on for years, and what I want from a dining experience is not what everyone prefers. I wish there was some card or signal customers could give out at the moment of first interaction. Sometimes you can tell by their body language and whatnot, but more often than not, it's too easy to misread in a busy restaurant.
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