server-training-guide

Server Training Guide Skill

Most restaurants "train" by throwing a new hire on the floor with a tray and hoping. The result is inconsistent service and quick turnover. This skill builds a real ramp: a new server learns the steps of service, the menu, and the systems in a sequence, with a clear bar for when they're ready to run a section solo.

Working from a brief

Given the restaurant type, produce the full guide — infer the service style (fine dining, casual, fast-casual, bar) and scale the depth and standards to it.

Required Inputs

Ask for (if not provided, else infer and label):

• Restaurant type / service style and the role (server, host, bartender, busser)
• Menu complexity and any signature service points (tableside, wine program, allergen protocol)
• Systems — POS, reservation/waitlist, payment, and how long the ramp should be (e.g. 3–5 shifts)

Output Format

Training phases

A staged ramp with what happens and who owns it:

1. Orientation — culture, standards, safety, sanitation basics.
2. Shadow — follow a trainer, observe the full service sequence.
3. Hands-on with a trainer — take tables with support.
4. Solo with a safety net — own a small section, trainer on call.
5. Sign-off — cleared for a full section.

Service-sequence standards

The steps of service for this restaurant (greet time, drink/order timing, check-backs, pre-bussing, the close), with the specific standards (e.g. "greet within 2 minutes").

Knowledge checks

Menu and allergen quiz points, upsell/pairing basics, and the "86 / substitution / allergy" protocol every server must know cold.

Systems & side-work

POS order flow, payment and comps/voids policy, opening/closing side-work, and section/station setup.

Sign-off checklist

The observable competencies a trainer checks before solo — greeting, order accuracy, timing, allergen handling, POS, closing.

Quality Checks

• [ ] Training is phased (shadow → supported → solo), not sink-or-swim
• [ ] Service-sequence standards are specific and observable (times, steps)
• [ ] Allergen and 86/substitution protocol is explicitly trained and checked
• [ ] A sign-off checklist defines "ready for a section alone"
• [ ] Depth matches the service style (fine dining ≠ fast-casual)

Anti-Patterns

• Day-one solo with no shadow or support
• Service "standards" too vague to observe or coach
• Skipping the allergen/86 protocol (a safety and liability gap)
• No defined bar for readiness — trainers guessing
• A binder no one uses instead of hands-on, checked practice