Train your staff to serve drinks well, and you’ll have repeat loyal customers.
Whether your restaurant is fast casual or fine dining, large or small, your serving staff is the face of your restaurant.
They are the ones on the front lines, greeting and serving your customers. As such, you want them to be as trained as possible, so they are providing the best in customer service.
The positive interactions your staff has with your customers can mean the difference between loyal diners and those who never return.
In this article, let’s look at how to train your staff to serve drinks the right way and provide a great customer experience.
It’s important to train your staff correctly because beverages play an important role in helping your diners enjoy their experience.
For example, make them wait to long for a drink, and you’ve got unhappy customers.
First, make sure you have a wide enough selection of drinks that complements your menu. Next, decide if you’ll offer only non-alcoholic drinks, beer, wine, liquor, specialty drinks and/or after dinner drinks.
Next, consider what garnishes you’ll use on your cocktails and your non-alcoholic drinks. Do your research so you know the appropriate garnish to use.
Teach your staff about in glass size. There are specific sizes for specific drinks.
Always serve drinks in the correct glass. This maximizes their flavor and appearance.
Here is a handy reference for the appropriate barware:
Your servers are important to the overall customer experience.
Your server should take the drink order very quickly after the guests first sit down.
If your restaurant offers water, you’ll want servers to bring water as they greet their guests as no one should be sitting and thirsty.
Servers can then share your drink menu. They should take orders quickly and served them even quicker.
Generally speaking, when your servers are bringing drinks to the table, have them handle the glasses from the bottom.
Tell servers never to put their hands and fingers near the lip of the glass. Why? Your customer doesn’t want your server’s germs near where they’re putting their lips. As many times as they wash their hands, they’re sure to be carrying bacteria around. (tweet this)
Always handle glassware by the stems, handles, or the bottom of the glass.
When serving the table, follow the general rules of etiquette. Serve the guest of honor, if known, and women first, followed by the men and children. If there are elderly people at the table, serve them at the beginning as well.
Serve your guests from his or her right side, and then proceed around the table in order of seating arrangement.
Tell servers to set the glass down on a coaster or napkin. If the table has a cloth, they set the drinks on it.
You should remove the glasses when they’re empty, so you’re not wasting your diner’s money. When refilling water or wine glasses, refill them without touching the glass.
If your server can’t reach the glass, they should ask the guest to move the glass a bit closer.
When refilling soda, beer, or a cocktail, remove the empty glass, then deliver a new drink.
When it comes to serving wine, you’ll want to train your staff in some finer details.
First, when pouring wine at the table, always use a cloth napkin to wipe the excess drips from the mouth of the bottle.
You also want to let the guest sniff the wine and give their consent before pouring.
Never hold the wine glass by the bowl. Always hold it at the stem. The wine will stay cooler for a longer time if the heat from your hand isn’t pressing against the glass.
It’s important to train your staff to serve drinks the right way because your drinks are often as important to your guests as your food menu.
In addition to learning proper etiquette and correct glass choice, your servers should memorize your drink menu, so they are able to offer options to your customers. (tweet this)
Your overall goal is providing the best customer experience, and well-trained food and drink servers are the most important piece of the puzzle.
At Restaurant Engine, not only do we create great, responsive websites, but you can count on us to create a website that drives business to all your restaurants and edges you above the competition by using mobile-friendly design with a terrific user experience. Ready to take the plunge and create a website with an online menu, blog and beautiful photos? Get your free website consultation today!
Image: Lightscape and kyryll ushakov on Unsplash
Leave a Reply