Get along with the Cooks And Make Bigger Tips

How's your relationship with the cooks? I hope it's good, or at least appears to be in the cook's eyes! I discovered early on in my waiter days the important connection between being liked a lot by the cooks and how it directly affected me earning bigger tips!. Many of these cooks I did not personally care for but I made sure our working relationship was exceptional and we all benefited from it. So will you!

With the exception of a high paid chef, being a cook is a thankless position. They make a certain wage no matter how fast they are or how well the job is done. It is every bit as stressful as a waiter or waitress and the busier they are, the less they are paid per order that you give them. It's hot and greasy back there. Completely opposite of waitstaff in both working conditions and pay. Now if you just take an honest look at that scenario how could you not give the cook a little extra credit or even forgiveness for being a little cranky? A Good waitstaff realizes those unfavorable conditions a cook has to work with and is able to be a bit more lenient with their occasional attitude and realize it's not personal.

Most busy restaurants have training programs that are designed and developed to make the whole process work smoothly for both waitstaff and cooks. It's a well thought out system and you should try to abide by it at all times. Generally, it's the waitstaff that bucks the system more often than the cooks. There are always more "bad" waiters and waitresses than good ones in the cooks eyes. Be a good one and your food will come out better and faster! And when you do need to bend the rules on that rare occasion your words will be heard and you will get action because you are not one of the pests. So what one thing irritates cooks more than anything?

Talking. Often there is too much communication via the spoken word from the waitstaff to the cooks. This is to be avoided as much as possible. It is not reasonable to instruct cooks verbally. Think if you had to take that many orders verbally while trying to cook entire tables and courses of meals! Write it down or post it as you were taught in training using all of the proper abbreviations or codes. The cooks know them! You should too and more important you must use them and trust that the cooks will get it right. They will get it right 99.9% of the time when your order is written out or posted per company policy by the book, the way you were trained.

It's really not hard to get along with cooks. Most waitstaff struggles with it though. Don't try to kiss up to them. Just be respectful and most important do your job the way you were taught and don't bother them! I cannot stress this enough. That is all that is needed to gain favor with the cooks. If they ask for a soda or anything in your area make it a priority to get it for them. Show them the respect they deserve for making you all those great tips! They will indeed remember you for it.