I have never waited tables, so I'm hoping some of you can shed some light on my question. Now and then, I will go to a restaurant, and the waiter/waitress will take our order and not write anything down, even if our party is 4-5 people. Sometimes the food comes to us exactly as ordered; sometimes things are wrong; and sometimes the waiter returns with the food and asks us who ordered what meal.

Why do they do this? Is it to impress us? Are they expecting a larger tip, and do they deserve one? Don't they have to write it all down when they submit it to the kitchen anyway? Any ideas?

Dear [email protected],

Perhaps I can shed some light on the situation you mention by relating my experience. The stardate was 10699.7 and I was working in restaurant on Tuliga (in the Illiazeat sector) to make money for my Star Fleet Academy tuition. I recall my first day working there being trained by the humanoid co-workers to write onto paper the orders from the patrons. Partly from the need of effeciency, soon afterwards I took it upon myself to simply directly store the verbal orders in my positronic brain and then relay verbally to the chef who operated the kitchen. The tips increased as I used this method and soon all the waiters started doing the same thing. Today, of course, the way that I used to take orders is standard. It is interesting to note that most diners do not realize that virtually all the waitstaffs in eateries today are either android or Borg and that they utilize my paperless system as a means to receive larger tips.

data -- thanks for sharing.

Do you go back to school soon?

I think the answer lies in the type of restaurant you're at.
When eating in a top notch $60-100 per person establishment, lack of note taking is because you are being served by a superior class of waiter. It's a skill. And better tipping is part of the package.
If a waiter at a high end establishment can't get your order right, something's wrong and the management will not put up with such shenanigans.
If you're at a mid-range or cheaper eatery and the waiter goes sans notes and screws up, it's because they're either lazy (not a good waitperson), inexperienced, overworked or having a bad day. It's annoying for the diners regardless and reflects poorly on the staff and may well warrant a reduced tip. Restaurants are having an ever tougher time getting good staff, so plan to keep lowering your expectations.

I've been in the restaurant service industry for 20 years now and things have changed quite a bit over the years.
previous poster is right about the upscale restaurants and don't want waiter scribbling on a note pad. But
now with the computor systems they go directly from the table to the computor.
The order is printed out to the appropriate department, mainly kitchen,
bar or wine cellar. There is no verbal
contact between wait staff and back end people. It insures everything is accounted for and there friends aren't going to get freebies or waitstaff give freebies so they can seem nice to pad thier tips. The backend staff are not to make an item unless there is a requisation slip for it. Although waitstaff can go back and talk in more detail as some things you can,t portray on the computor...like they want more vegetables and less rice. Next time you
go to a fast food restaurant notice they have a key for everything...its just like that but alot more entailed. Writing down orders do not have that much value as the waitperson is going to leave your table and walk 10 steps away and plug it straight into the computor and will throw away the written order in a matter of seconds. After it is plugged in you can get a running copy of it anytime out of the computor. The computor system which revolutionalized
the restaurant business was called the ramanco system. Now there are so many out now its hard to keep up with.

Tracy, FYI...it's COMPUTER with an "E"

Thanks, all. I hadn't realized restaurants had become so high-tech, which must mean the technology is working well.

One more question, then. Often, the waiter comes to your table and holds a "food auction", meaning they say, "Who had the chicken?" "Who had the steak?" What is going on with that? Shouldn't they have a system to remember who ordered what?

My husband and I have been noticing this lately also. We're not impressed. We realize that it is because of the new technology, but that only goes so far. It wouldn't waste that much paper to write the order down and then go to the computer. Some of the waiters can't remember things in those few steps and I'd rather have my order right and given to the correct person. I hope the restaurant industry gets the message.

Cindy,
I'm also baffled. I waited tables while in college and made a point of remebering who ordered what. I never did the food auction routine tableside. I find that practice irksome and a sign of poor service.

I too have had bad experiences when things aren't written down. I would say that whenever an order is taken and not written down, the odds are about 50-50 that I might get what I ordered, the way I ordered it. I wish they'd just write it down! I don't tip more to people with good memories -- who cares? I just want what I ordered, and I don't care how they get it right, just that they do.