Glossary
QA:
“QA” stands for quality assurance. Some restaurants call this the “Expo.” This is person who works in the kitchen of a restaurant. His or her main purpose is to assure that the food comes out right and in a timely manner. He or she is head of the kitchen and must be aware of all irregularities in an order.
86:
This is a term used to say without or out of.
Example: A guest wants an Old Timer Burger but wants no mayo on it. Hence, the server would ring in OTB 86 mayo. The manager needs to let the staff know that the restaurant is out of garlic toast temporarily. He or she would say we are 86 garlic toast.
Corner:
This is what an employee uses when going around corners that he or she can’t see what’s on the other side. It simply lets anyone who is on the other side of the corner know that he or she is coming. This avoids many accidents and also saves the restaurant money. Most collisions with someone carrying a trey ends up in broken dishes, ruined food, unhappy guests, unhappy employees, and wasted time.
Behind You:
This is a term you use to let someone know you are coming behind them so they don’t back up into you. It also saves the restaurants money for the same reasons as listed above.
Fight or Flight:
This is a phrase used to describe altercations with guests. An employee must realize when it is time to fight and when it is time to run. Small problems can be fixed by servers, anything that could lead to making the guest have a bad experience means you should “run.” Go get a manager and get him or her involved in the situation. They can do more to fix the problem then you can.
Table Turn-Over Time:
This phrase is how long it takes a table from the time it is seated to the time the guests leave. The lower the table turn-over time, the more money the server and the restaurant make. Also, this lessens the wait time for other guests at the door to be seated. The key is to be able to get a table in and out quickly without making them feel rushed.
Bus:
This just means to clean a table.
Wait-Time:
This is a phrase used to describe how long a guest must wait to be seated.
In the Weeds:
This is a phrase used to describe when an employee is really busy and running behind.
Pre-Bus:
This is where the server cleans the larger dishes off of the table before the busser gets to it. This saves time for the busser and also makes his bucket lighter. It allows him to bus more tables before returning to the dish pit.
Food Running:
This is the act of bringing food from the kitchen out to the guests.
