This document provides training information for servers at 180 Blue, a student-run restaurant. It discusses how to greet guests, including introducing the restaurant and menu options. It emphasizes the importance of hospitality and anticipating guests' needs, such as refilling drinks before they ask. The document also covers wine service, handling complaints, food safety practices like handwashing, and a review of key details about 180 Blue.

1. 180 Blue
Training

2. Steps of Service:

3. What should you say at
the greet?
Good Evening! Welcome to 180 Blue! My name is
_______________, and I will be taking care of you this
evening. Have you ever dined with us before? No, well
let me tell you a little about 180 Blue, we are a student
run restaurant here at the Thompson School. We are
comprised of Culinary and Restaurant Management
Students. Our menu is designed by our Student Chef.
Each week there is a different chef and menu. The menu
is based on the international region or country which the
culinary team is studying this week. You have your
choice of 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, and then you will enjoy
a delicious dessert prepared by our pastry chef. May I
start you with a beverage while you look over our menu?

4. Hospitality at 180 Blue
Serving exceptional food and
exceptional service!
• Ask all of your guests if this is their first
time dining at 180 Blue. Every table,
every time!
• Introduce first time guests to 180 Blue.
• Names, names, names. Use them!
• Guide guests through the menu.
• Let the manager know that you have a
first time guest at your table
• Be attentive to the needs and concerns
of all of your guests!

5. Greet guests warmly and practice the Five Foot Rule:
everyone that comes within five (5) feet of you, be sure
you acknowledge and smile!
• Open the door for guests coming and going.
• Answer questions patiently and
enthusiastically.
• Anticipate the guest’s needs.
• Bring condiments to the table before they
ask!
• Re-fill drinks before they ask!
• Pour bottled beer into a frosty cold glass for
them.
• Keep a tidy table! (PRE-BUS, PRE-BUS, PREBUS)
• Have a sense of urgency at all times!
• Treat EVERY guest as your own. There is no
my guest, my table, my section mentality in
the hospitality industry!

6. • Know the menu: Can you pronounce all the
names of items? Do you know how they are
prepared? Do you know the cost of additional
up sells? Can you list the key ingredients?
• Use appetizing and accurate descriptions. Key
factors that help are knowing portions,
preparation, presentation, and price
• Suggestive Nod: Smile! Nod when speaking
to your guests or suggestive selling to let them
know that you are listening
• Pay special attention to first times. At
Bugaboo Creek, Have Fun! People who enjoy
their work have better attitude, which lead to
positive results.

7. Wine opening…
• Present the bottle to the host by showing him or her the label
and saying the name of the wine. Make sure the label faces
the host when pouring, glasses not presented on table at
seating should be tray served or carried by stems upside
down. Always inspect glassware to be free of film or spots.
Glasses when serving should be held by the high neck.
• Use the small knife in the corkscrew to cut the foil cleanly
beneath the lip of the bottle. (Wax or plastic cork coverings
need not be removed) Put the cut foil in your apron. Wipe
the top of the bottle.
• Insert the corkscrew just off center, and twist until the notch
on the hinged metal piece of the tools rests on the lip of the
bottle.
• Hold the metal hinge on the lip by grabbing it along with the
neck of the bottle with one hand, then gently leverage up on
the handle of the tool to remove the cork. DO NOT SET THE
BOTTLE ON THE TABLE WHILE YOU PULL OUT THE CORK!
• You SHOULD NOT hear a loud pop when the wine opens! If
you do, you are pulling too fast on the handle. If the cork
breaks, excuse yourself and return to the bar.
• Wipe the rim of the bottle, and pour the host 10z. for them to
taste. The cork can be placed to the host’s right.
• Proceed to serve the rest of the table, ladies first. Fill the 8oz.
glass half full.
• Twist the bottle ¼ turn as you finish your pour to avoid drips.
• White wines should be placed in the center of the table in a
wine cooler. Red wines should be placed in the center of the
table.
• Pour refills from the bottle on the table and remove the bottle
when empty. Offer a second bottle. Remember to serve
alcohol responsibly.

8. What does it mean if we
don’t Care?
You Don’t Know Me,
Most of the places where I eat would never recognize me. I’m that nice
average guest that never complains. I don’t mind waiting at the door while the
Host is chatting with a friend. I patiently wait my turn for a table.
When I finally do get sat, I usually get a menu along with a look from a Trail
Guide that says “where did you come from?” In spite of this I never ask for a
manager. I never fuss. I just wait. If I order a steak Medium Rare and I get it
Well Done, I’ll be quiet and eat it. After all, you made me feel like it was a real
bother to take my order anyway.
I usually like two cups of coffee, but no one offered to refill my cup so I didn’t
ask. I hate to be a bother. If I see you at another table, while you ignore that
I even exist, I don’t make a fuss, I’ll just sit there and see how long it takes
for you to come over. I never ask for more dressing. Most likely you didn’t care
either when I decided that this would not be the place for me to take three of
my clients for lunch tomorrow, or celebrate my son’s birthday next week.
My answer to your lack of interest, attention, and poor attitude is to go
elsewhere. I can
hurt you worse by not coming back, than telling your boss and getting you in
trouble. I’ll just tell some of my friends instead. If you have many dissatisfied
guests like me, we can ruin
your business. It’s amusing to me to watch you spend money for expensive
advertising and promotions, remodeling and equipment to get guests back into
your restaurant.
I would be there right now if I had been treated with some simple courtesy
and dignity. You wonder why your sales are not positive over the last years?
Evidently, you made that decision by the way you treated your guests. There is
no need for me to sign this letter. You don’t know me. I didn’t complain.
I just didn’t come back.
Why is the letter important? What would you do if you
were the guest? What would you do if you owned the
restaurant that received this letter?

9. Handling Guest Opportunities…
When a guest informs you of a problem listen attentively. It is important
that guests know we appreciate their bringing a problem to our attention.
A guest concern or complaint is a gift! An unhappy guest could just leave
your restaurant and never give you an opportunity to fix the problem.
Moreover that guest could leave your restaurant and tell 10 of his/her
friends how awful the experience was and you would never know about it.
Concerns and complaints are your guests’ way of providing you with an
opportunity to make them loyal guests and to turn what might be a poor
experience into a positive one. Thus, they are gifts and you should
sincerely acknowledge and appreciate your guests for bringing the issue to
your attention. This acknowledgement is sometimes nonverbal, so make
sure to maintain good eye contact and appropriate facial expressions when
listening to a guest’s concern.
Each guest has his/her own preference. Whether or not you personally feel
that the complaint is legitimate is irrelevant. The guest is always correct,
right or wrong. Our goal at 180 Blue is to be performing at the highest
level of execution at all times, thereby delivering excellent guest
hospitality and great dining experiences. If a guest is not absolutely wow’d
by the dining experience, then we have not met our goal and the situation
must be remedied immediately. A few tips and tricks for the perfect guest
apology:
Apologize sincerely and immediately. Never make an excuse. Your guest,
no matter how caring, is not interested in an excuse; he/she just wants the
situation remedied quickly. Remember, dining out is supposed to be
relaxing and fun. If a guest is having a poor experience or has a complaint,
he/she is no longer having fun and you should accept responsibility for this
and move quickly to change the guest’s experience.
Most complaints are well within your power to correct. You are
empowered to rectify any guest concern on the spot, if you are able. If a
guest has a concern or complaint that you cannot fix or aren’t sure how to
respond to, following an apology, get a manager involved immediately.
Even if you do fix a problem yourself, inform a manager as soon as
possible. Think of your managers as backup for resolving particularly
challenging guest experiences.

10. How would you handle
this?
• Drop guests entrée?
• Spilled drink on the table?
• Rang in the wrong food item?
• Broke cork in wine?
• Didn’t have a table ready for
guest?
• Guest doesn’t like the taste of
the food?
• We’ve sold all of one entrée?

11. You want to give me
money??
$14 pre-fixed
Menu
All checks should be made payable
to the Thompson School.

12. Food Safety
Personal hygiene is the number one prevention against
contamination. Team Members must bathe everyday and
hair must be clean before coming to work.
Major carriers of contamination are your hands. It is
very important that you wash your hands frequently, and that
your fingernails are cleaned and trimmed.
Here are just some examples of when to wash your hands:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Before handling food
After handling food
After using the out house
After eating
After smoking
After handling dirty dishes
After coughing or sneezing
After touching dirty linen, work surfaces,
equipment
• After handling garbage

13. Review:
• What is the server uniform for 180 Blue?
• Black pants, white shirt, black belt, black socks, blue
tie
• How much is a meal at 180 Blue?
• $14
• Who is responsible for seating the guests?
• The host, but it’s everyone’s job!
• Who is responsible for bringing water to the
table?
• Bus person, server
• How much is a bottle of wine?
• BYOB
• How long should it take you to greet a table?
• 90 Seconds
• How many entrée choices does a guest have?
• 2-3
• How many dessert choices?
• Typically 1
• What is the one word I said would make you a
great server?
• Anticipation
• How much of your grade is based on
participation?
• 70%