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Dinner Service

Dinner Service is the core of the hospitality experience, guiding staff through each step of the seated dining sequence. When followed closely, these standards ensure a service flow that is polished, intuitive, and built around the guest’s needs.

All Standards (27)

Guest Courtesy

Truly courteous service: Staff should always be articulate, avoiding slang and excessive use of phrase-fragments. All staff members should maintain an engaging expression and demeanor throughout the dining experience.

Training Tip:Use complete sentences and avoid casual slang or filler words. Remain professional in all interactions.
Guest Courtesy

The entire team should always remain polite and maintain a gracious tone and appropriate pace throughout the interaction.

Training Tip:Speak with grace, maintaining a calm and unhurried tone. This is especially true in the busiest of times.
Attention to Detail

The staff should exhibit a genuine sense of interest and concern for the guest’s satisfaction and/or demonstrates anticipatory service when appropriate and helpful.

Training Tip:Proactively check on needs and show authentic interest in guest satisfaction.
Attention to Detail

Comprehesive team training: The entire team can confidently exhibit the ability to engage guests with remarks about the food, wine or related topics in a fluent and nonintrusive manner.

Training Tip:Train to speak confidently yet respectfully on food and beverage topics. Knowing the intricacies of each dish is important.
Guest Courtesy

Channels of communication among staff are consistent and complete - one does not have to fully repeat themselves and requests are conveyed to the appropriate members of service/kitchen staff.

Training Tip:Ensure team communication is seamless to avoid guest repetition.
Guest Courtesy

Personal touch: The guest’s name should be used naturally as a signal of recognition.

Training Tip:Use the guest’s name when known, in a natural and respectful way. This adds a personal touch to the dining experience.
Guest Courtesy

The team should remain discreet and unintrusive throughout the meal, while remaining attentive.

Training Tip:Stay present without being obtrusive. Maintain a balance between attentiveness and discretion, while always giving the impression that you are of service.
Guest Courtesy

Always be solution oriented: Members of the team should not decline any request without offering appropriate alternatives.

Training Tip:Always offer a viable alternative when a guest request can’t be fulfilled. Smooth suggestive selling is a great skill to have.
Technical Execution

All staff should be wearing professional, properly designed, clean and well-fitted uniforms. The entire team encountered by guests should be well-dressed and well-groomed.

Training Tip:Maintain grooming standards and ensure uniform neatness. All persons in view of the guest should be in proper uniform.
Attention to Detail

Once the guest is seated, the table is greeted within one minute. At this time, the guest should be given the opportunity to order pre-dinner beverages.

Training Tip:Guests should be acknowledged promptly with a beverage offering.
Efficiency

All pre-dinner beverages requested for the table, bar counter or lounge are served within 7 minutes of being ordered.

Training Tip:Monitor drink ticket times to ensure timely service. Communicate with your leadership team and your guests regarding any delays.
Efficiency

Refills or follow-up rounds should be readily offered or provided within 30 seconds of the guest’s beverage being fully empty.

Training Tip:Monitor glass levels and offer refills promptly without prompting.
Technical Execution

Be clear and transparent: A choice of waters should be offered prior to pouring. Bottles water should not be immediately poured.

Training Tip:Offer options such as still, sparkling, or tap before pouring. There are many places to upsell, always give the guest a choice.
Guest Courtesy

A common courtesy: When fresh bottles of water must be opened after the original bottle is depleted, the staff should ask the host’s permission to open additional bottles.

Training Tip:Do not open a new bottle without guest consent or without communicating policy. Communicate clearly when you are opening something that the guest is paying for.
Technical Execution

No bottles should be left directly on the table; if a bottle is left on the table, a bucket or coaster is used.

Training Tip:Always use a presentation tool (like a coaster or bucket) when bottles are present at the table.
Technical Execution

Congruent styling: All food and beverage menus should be elegant and distinctive, reflecting the establishments decor.

Training Tip:Ensure menus reflect the restaurant’s brand and elevate the guest impression.
Technical Execution

Beverage program execution: restaurants should present at least five well-chosen and diverse red wines, five white wines and three Champagne/sparkling wines by the glass should be available.

Training Tip:Maintain as diverse and balanced of a wine list by the glass as permitted by the establishment. The beverage offerings should refelct the style of cuisine and the pricepoint of the establishment.
Technical Execution

Wine service should always include demonstration of the label, and pouring at the table with the label of the bottle facing the guest.

Training Tip:Ensure proper wine etiquette: present and pour with label facing guest.
Technical Execution

Steps of service: Wine service should include a tasting sample before the glass is poured when serving wines by the glass.

Training Tip:Offer a tasting pour before full service to ensure approval is a nice extra step when serving a wine by the glass. This should be done 100% of the time for by the bottle service.
Technical Execution

The extra step: Wines Should be served in varietal-appropriate stemware.

Training Tip:Use correct glassware for the wine being served. An effort should be made to incorporate varietal-appropriate stemware into the service.
Technical Execution

Out of stock awareness: Wines listed should be available, or the service team has knowledge of the 86 list.

Training Tip:Keep the wine list updated and the staff informed on out of stock items. All 86'd items of conveyed to the guest in a clear manner at the time of ordering.
Technical Execution

For establishments with a large wine collection or beverage menu, sommelier (or service team member with outstanding knowledge) assistance should be offered.

Training Tip:Make knowledgeable wine service personnel accessible. If no sommelier is available, service team members should be well-trained in wine service.
Technical Execution

In the case of a wine pairing, wine should be poured prior to food being served.

Training Tip:Coordinate food and wine service to preserve intended pairing.
Technical Execution

All dishes should be served as ordered and to the guest who ordered them; staff should never ask who receives which item.

Training Tip:Use seat numbers or identifiers to serve correctly without asking. No auctioning of items to the table.
Efficiency

All guests should be served simultaneously, course by course, and cleared simultaneously, course by course.

Training Tip:While synchronized service is the goal, it is not always necessary to be in complete unison. We want to avoid clearing one individual, while another is still eating.
Technical Execution

Pre- and post-dinner drinks, including coffee and tea, should be served at the appropriate time, unless advised otherwise by the guest.

Training Tip:Time beverage service with the dining experience unless otherwise requested. Communictae: the guest dictates when they would like their afer dinner beverage.
Attention to Detail

When asked where the restroom is located, a member of the staff at least partially escorts the guest there.

Training Tip:As the level of dining become more casual, this step can be reduced. However, in fine dining, it is expected that the staff will walk with or guide the guest courteously to the restroom.