RESTAURANT SERVICE

BACK

Understanding the types of services in the food and drink industry is really important as the customer’s dining experience and restaurant success depends on it.

Restaurant service is providing food and drink services to guests in hotels and restaurants, showing attentiveness, and understanding of their needs and expectations.

Types of services:

Table Service
Assisted Service
Self Service
Single Point Service
Special Service

TABLE SERVICE

In this type of service, the guests enter the dining area and take seats. The waiter offers them water and a menu card. The guests then place their order to the waiter. The table is covered in this service. It is grouped into the following types:

English (Family) Service
American (Plated) Service
Russian (Platter) Service
French Service/Guéridon

English (Family) Service

Here, the host contributes actively to the service. The waiter brings food on platters, shows it to the host for approval, and then places the platters on the tables. The host either makes food portions and serves the guests or allows the waiter to serve.
To replenish the guests’ plates, the waiter takes the platters around to serve or to let the guests help themselves. This is a common family service in specialty restaurants where customers spend more time on the premises.

American Service

It is elegant and classy and includes the following features:

It is quick and requires less labor-intensive service and little space.
Pre-plating and pre-setting of the table must be done in case of American Service with silverware needed during the meal.
American Service can be personalized according to the situation, such as breakfast, lunch, or dinner service
The preparation of food is completed in the kitchen except for the salad and bread and butter are bought for the guest ensuring fast service.
This service requires fewer dishes for service since most of the food of the meal is served and garnished on one plate.
This service requires only one server to serve but with an experienced serving skill. However, this service also ensures the involvement of only one server in one area.
In American service, hot food is served hot, and cold food is served cold.

In American service, the F&B is served according to the following manner:

Servers serve food and beverage items from the right side of the guest using the right hand. Other items such as bread, butter, or margarine are served on the left side of the guest using the left hand.
On informal occasions, bread is served in a basket, but on formal occasions, the server serves bread using tongs to place the bread on plates and a fork to serve butter.
Sometimes butter is also served on a small plate.
Servers clear the table and collect the soiled dishes from the right-hand side when the guest has finished all their meals. Sometimes waiters also crumb the table before serving the dessert.

RUSSIAN SERVICE

It is known as “Service a la russe” which means service in Russian Style, originated from the era of Tsars of Russia who believed in ceremony and rituals. Russian service is also referred to as “platter service” since foods are positioned in well-decorated silver platters.

The key features of Russian service are the following:

In this service, servers place all food items on silver platters attractively when all food preparation is done in the kitchen present the platter to guests for approval, and serve the food from the left side using the right hand. Only dishing and presentation are made on the table.
Unlike the French service, this service requires only one server, and less labor-intensive, and is considered a faster service.
The server always has to make sure that the food presentation remains good till he/she serves the last guest.
Russian service utilizes the use of heavy silver service ware and larger numbers of platters while serving the guests.

The preparing and serving of food in Russian service are given below in step-by-step procedures:

All cooking, completion of food preparation, and carving are done in the kitchen except the dishing which is done at the tableside.

Empty soup bowls are placed on a show plate or base plate at the table in front of the guests.
The server carries soups and sauces in tureens or in small, individual bowls and places them on the table.
After placing plates from the right side according to the clockwise direction, the server brings the platters of food from the kitchen and introduces foo to the guest standing to the left side of each guest by holding the platter using the left hand.

French service is a modified service which can be characterized by the following key features:

French service is usually followed in a classy dining room, lavish restaurant, elegant resorts, cruise ships, and casinos.
The unprepared or semi-prepared foods from the kitchen are brought to the dining room placing on a gueridon carrying heavy silver platters. However, the final preparation is completed at the side table in front of the guest and served from the service table to the guest on heated plates.
Since the foods are cooked in front of the guests, the food is required to be cooked or completed in a short time.
Cooking, deboning, slicing, and garnishing procedures are applied in French Service.
French service is considered the most labor-intensive and most expensive service of all formal styles.
The cost of F&B items is high to be able to produce high revenue and cover the labor and other associated costs.

The large number of servers are assigned to serve fewer guests which incurs high operational costs.
The service procedure of French Service is quite time-consuming.
The nature of this service always requires a large number of experienced skilled and highly professional servers to perform their job with elegancy and finesse.

The preparation and serving procedure of French service involves the following number of persons for preparing and serving dishes:

CHEF DE RANG – is assigned for executing prime functions, such as:

Preparing and serving dishes.
Make seating the guest in the absence of the captain.
Serving the beverage.
Presenting checks.
Tossing and Mixing
Plate Presentation and Sauces
Deboning and Carving
Flambéing
Fire Plan

COMMIS DE RANG – works as an assistant of the Chef de rang and is responsible for performing the following actions:

Taking the order from the chef de rang.
Collecting and bringing the foods to the dining room.
Serves the dishes as dished up by the chef de rrang.
Clearing the tables.

DINING ROOM CAPTAIN – to help the guest to be seated and to supervise the service procedures.
COCKTAIL SERVER - who serves alcohol and other beverages.
WINE STEWARDS OR SOMMELIER – who serves wine.

2. ASSISTED SERVICE

Here, the guest enters the dining area, collect their plates, and go to the buffet counters and help themselves. The guest may partially get service at the table or replenish their plates themselves.

Buffet Service

In this type of service, the guests get plates from the stack and go to the buffet counter where food is kept in large casseroles and platters with burners. The guests can serve themselves or can request the server behind the buffet table to serve.

3. SELF SERVICE

In this type of service, the guests enter the dining area and select food items. They pay for coupons for respective food items. They go to the food counter and give the coupons to avail the chosen food. The guests are required to take their plates to the table and eat.

Cafeteria Service

This service exists in industrial canteens, hostels, and cafeterias. The menu and the space are limited; the cutlery is handed over to the guests. The tables are not covered. Sometimes high chairs are provided to eat food at narrow tables. It is a quick service.

4. SINGLE POINT SERVICE

In this type of service, the guest orders pay for his order and gets served all at a single point. There may be may not be any dining area or seats. The following are the different methods of Single Point Service:

FOOD COURT

This is an array of autonomous counters at which the customers can order, eat, or buy from a number of different counters and eat in adjacent eating area.

KIOSKS

The customer enters the choice and amount of money physically and the machine dispenses what customer demanded accurately.

TAKE AWAY

Customer orders and avails food and beverage from a single counter and consumes it off the premises.

VENDING

The customer can get food or beverage service by means of automatic machines. The vending machines are installed in industrial canteens, shopping centers, and airports.

5. SPECIAL SERVICE

It is called a special service because it provides food and beverage at places that are not meant for food & beverage service. The following are the different methods of special service.

GRILL ROOM

In this type of service, various vegetables and meats are displayed for better view and choice. The counter is decorated with great aesthetics, and the guest can select meat or vegetables of choice.

TRAY SERVICE

Method of service of whole or part of the meal on a tray to the customer in situ, such as hospitals, aircraft, or railway catering.

TROLLEY/GUERIDON SERVICE

Food is cooked, finished, or presented to the guest at a table, from a moveable trolley. For example, food served on trollies for office workers or in aircraft and trains.

HOME DELIVERY

Food delivered to a customer’s home or place of work. For example, home delivery of pizza or Meals on Wheels.

LOUNGE SERVICE

Service of a variety of foods and beverages in the lounge area of a hotel or independent place.

ROOM SERVICE

Here food is served to guests in their allotted rooms in hotels. Small orders are served in trays.

TAKING TABLE RESERVATION

A table reservation refers to when a customer calls or makes a booking online or over a call in advance to ensure that a table will be available to them when they arrive. Table reservation can be done in multiple ways which may include reserving over a phone call or through the restaurant’s website or mobile application and even through third-party reservation sites.

Table Reservation Procedures: