Waiting tables seems like a fairly straightforward job. But anyone who has done it for a while knows that it comes with its own set of challenges. Knowing how to handle a situation when it arises will make you a more valued team member to management who knows that service quality is just as important as the food that the kitchen produces. Having a certain comfort level with tough situations at work will also help to make your job easier.

Aching Feet

Carrying piles of plates and glasses back and forth for hours on end will tire out your arms. But constantly being on your feet actually makes aching feet one of the most typical problems that all servers face. So you’re going to want to invest in some good quality shoes. These may be shoes that are designed specifically for restaurant workers, which can cost of an average of $50, or a good pair of sneakers. But you’ll want to check with your manager first to make sure that whatever you purchase will be within the restaurant’s dress code for servers.

Unruly Children

Unfortunately, parents sometimes feel that their family restaurant outing is actually a break for them from their kids. Sometimes kids have bad days too. Whatever the case, these can be delicate situations. You’ll definitely want to be aware of any policies, written or unwritten, that the restaurant may have in place to deal with these issues. Management might simply step in when children are running around and getting underfoot while parents leisurely enjoy their meal at the table.

The restaurant might also have some tried-and-true strategies for helping parents whose kids are having an off day. For example, there might be coloring materials at a wait station that can be used to help take kids out of an unhappy moment or you might be able to tell the kitchen to rush that family’s order to help turn over the table a little more quickly. After all, other guests aren’t likely enjoying badly behaved children any more than you do.

Recommending Menu Items

Many restaurants will give staff the opportunity to enjoy full menu items so that they can speak intelligently to guests when making recommendations. This could be a meal during breaks that’s included as part of the compensation or it could be during a meeting when they bring staff together to familiarize them with new menu items.

However, if you work in a restaurant that doesn’t do this, you can still make recommendations based on what you serve to other guests. Do you receive orders for the same three or four items every time you work a shift? Then those are solid bets when you need to make menu recommendations.

You may also not need to worry about this at all because your restaurant trains staff to recommend the highest ticketed items on the menu.

Dissatisfied Customers

As the saying goes, “you can’t win ‘em all.” You’re bound to have customers who won’t be satisfied with their dining experience. Maybe their order was wrong or just not what they thought it would be or maybe they were having a bad day before they ever came into the restaurant.

If the order is wrong, the kitchen should be able to fix that. If they’re disappointed because the meal is not what they envisioned it to be, many restaurants will graciously allow the customer to order something else at no additional charge. But you’ll want to check with your managers before telling a guest that a meal is on the house.

Other tools used to change customers’ attitudes for the better are discounts to the bill as well as complimentary items like a free drink or free dessert. Again though, you should ask a manager before giving anything away.

Most importantly, try not to let unhappy guests change your attitude. It will likely make the situation worse, it will change how you approach other paying customers who don’t deserve being treated badly and it will reflect badly on you with your managers.

Splitting the Check

This can become an issue with groups of more than four or six people, especially if you’re only made aware after delivering a single bill for the entire table. So first, you’ll want to make sure you know if the restaurant has a policy about guests splitting checks, such as not splitting checks for parties of six or more. If no such policy exists, then you might consider asking large parties –before you begin taking their order—if they’re planning to split the check. But be sure to do this only after they’re comfortably seated and you’ve introduced yourself.