Food server training

Just a quick question -
It used to be, occasionally, when you dined out , you might find yourself with two food servers- a seasoned server and a trainee being shown the ropes or at least being shadowed. I usually dine in the less busy, off times when these training periods would take place. I have not seen a food server trained this way in ages. Have you? Is it even done this way anymore?

[Robin Garr]

I've run into it occasionally, not very often.

We encountered a waiter training with our waiter when we went out for dinner recently although I can't remember where off the top of my head. It must've been the trainees 1st day because the regular waiter was still handling most of the tasks. As far as I'm concerned that's the only way to break in a new waiter in a restaurant so they learn the system correctly!

When I served for a corporate chain, I took an admissions test in order to get hired. I attended a 2 week training on food, service, and culture which was all pretty helpful. Then I had 3 nights shadowing a seasoned server. Those 3 nights, I "unlearned" everything from training and spent 3 nights learning where to take a smoke break and how to scam free meals from the line. "Seasoned" servers encouraged me to profile diners (and reform skimp on service to certain groups) and skip out on side work. Maybe it's a corporate thing but sometimes shadowing other servers means picking up really bad habits.

Eventually, I figured out what worked for me without being the staff goody two shoes but I'll never forget how jaded some of those people were when it came to serving.

We were served by a supervised trainee at Mercato Italiano last week. He was being intensely trained and closely watched (and was catching on very fast, too.) Excellent service. Good food, too.

Well, I'm happy to hear that at least some establishments are still intensely training. And I'm not surprised to hear about Alexis' training experience. I guess that's to be expected at times as well. it just seems that the "make it or break it" attitude has become de rigor in many businesses instead of the craftsmanship approach. It reminds me of that line from The Big Kahuna -
"Are you going to throw me into the water and see if I can swim?"
"No. We're going to throw you off a cliff and see if you can fly."

I actually had an owner tell me that he did not have time to train a server. It showed.