Tom Bethel

Who is Our Waiter?

I once waited on a lady who had obviously struggled with this one in the past. When I approached the table for the first time, she asked, “Are you my waiter?” When I responded with “Yes”, she replied, “Good. I don’t want to see anyone else coming to my table.” Yikes Now, let’s face it, this particular…

Restaurant 101

Restaurants are really no different than any other kind of business. You need to drive sales, and control costs. That’s it. Oh, I guess I should say more than that… How How to go about that really is the test, isn’t it? Let’s have a quick lesson in that thing called a restaurant. The prime…

No More Tips?

I would love to see this shift in tipping policies here in the states: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/real-estate-daily/2015/06/6-beers-15-an-hour-dishwashers-and-zero-tipping.html Let’s face it: It won’t be long before Portland votes in a $15 an hour minimum wage. They have it in Seattle. They have it in Los Angeles. Progressive Portlanders are already upset that those two places beat us to…

A Blessing and a Curse

I love eating out. I am not sure when I received, or where I developed this gene, but I do love eating out. That is probably why I don’t have any money. That’s where the problem starts Somewhere along the line, during the growth of this preference, I have developed a keen sense of what is right,…

You Decide

That’s right, you decide. You are the boss. Whether you are the owner, chef, or the manager, you are in charge and you need to make decisions and set policies, so there can be no confusion by the staff. What is our tip-out policy? This is just one of a million things that your employees need to…

Chat ‘Em Up

There is no question that there is often a front-of-house vs. back-of-house rift in most restaurants. What can be done about it is the big question. Starts with you Yes, I know, I sound like a broken record. Nonetheless, it is true. You are the one who gets to set the tone. You are the one who…

Teamwork

That is the name of the game. There is no room for selfishness. There is an ‘i’ in selfishness, but there is no ‘i’ in teamwork. I landed a restaurant manager job a while back, quite a while back, and after the first day, after just a couple of hours in fact, I realized what…

The Host

Let’s break down this most important position. A lot of people in the hospitality industry here in the states like to dismiss this position and unimportant and unnecessary. I used to be one of them. I was wrong Of all of the positions related to the front-of-the-house, this one works most closely with the manager,…

Get That Food Out!

There is actually a list put out (maybe by the National Restaurant Association?) on the priorities that servers are expected to follow during a typical shift in a restaurant. I will bore you with some of the other things on that list a bit later, but want to start with the one on the top…

It’s Good to Get Out of My Portland Bubble

I just returned from the east coast a few days ago, and had a wonderful time. It doesn’t hurt that I get to be accompanied by the best traveling companion in the world. I never lose sight of the fact that it is always good to get out of ones comfort zone. Remind yourself that…

It’s Not Their Fault (Part 2)

Before, when I wrote a post called ‘It’s not their fault”, I focused on the customer and how they should not be held responsible for everything in their dining experience. Yes, I will always agree that customers DO have some responsibility, but most of it ends up being the job of the restaurant. https://tabletalkpdx.com/2014/08/25/ This…

Sunday Brunch

In my early days in this business, I was asked to close Saturday night, and then turn around and come back and work the next morning–Sunday brunch. In those days I did not have a car and the buses did not run that late on Saturdays, so inevitably I would walk the four miles home….