Best Practices

Test Your Servers Before Putting Them on the Floor

Well-trained servers are critical to the guest experience in any full-service concept, and assessing the effectiveness of their training is essential. Consider devising short tests specific to your restaurant’s training program. If you do not have a testing system, recruit staff members to help you devise one. Rather than one long and intimidating test, you might create a series of short server tests. Some of the more common areas of testing include:

Company history/Concept statement. Restaurant servers should be able to answer basic customer questions like, "When did you open?" or "Is this the only location?" or "Where did the name 'Blue Fish Grill' come from?" Much of this can be covered during orientation and training, but giving the trainees a short quiz can help them retain this information.

Menu descriptions. Dedicate a large portion of the training process to helping the trainee learn your menu and giving them the ability to describe it. Fortunately, trainees can study your menu in their free time (homework) and observe it during training. Create the restaurant server test using multiple-choice, essay, true-or-false, and fill-in-the-blank questions about your menu. Example: The Southwest Chicken Salad is served with ______________ dressing.

Menu abbreviations. The increasing use of POS systems in restaurants has greatly reduced the need for servers to remember menu abbreviations. If you are still using handwritten checks, having a standard menu abbreviation list helps prevent incorrect orders and reduces the time it takes to write them.

Investing in training and development leads to the most significant return on investment a company can have.
– J.P. George

Responsible alcohol service. There are several alcoholic beverage regulatory agencies, state restaurant associations, and companies that teach responsible alcohol service courses. (See below for more information.)

Table identification (seating chart). This restaurant server test is easily prepared by simply taking a seating chart and removing the table and station/section numbers. Have the trainee then write the table numbers and stations/sections on the chart.

Restaurant policies. A good way to make sure the trainee has read the policies and procedures listed in the employee handbook is to create a test on the material listed in the handbook.

Use these resources from RestaurantOwner.com to build tests for potential restaurant servers:

Server Training - Mock Service Report: This complements the server trainee's final written test by offering additional verification that key training aspects have been met. It ensures that trainees are well-prepared to deliver exceptional service.

Server Training Certification Form: Use this to evaluate the successful training of servers by observing their performance under regular working conditions. It includes a notes section for evaluators to provide feedback, facilitating constructive discussions with employees post-evaluation.

Hospitality Training Checklist: This checklist provides a structured framework to train and reinforce hospitality best practices among your team. It focuses on enhancing the quality of guest interactions, creating memorable dining experiences, and building loyalty.

Have a profitable week!

The RestaurantOwner.com Team