Restaurant Lingo: 101
If you’ve ever talked to your friends who’ve worked in a restaurant and you can’t understand what the hell they’re talking about, it’s probably because you’ve never been introduced to the restaurant lingo. There is very much a different language in the restaurant than in the real world. So many things have different names and sometimes it can be very confusing unless you know the language. However, it’s imperative to learn the language of the restaurant if you want to succeed, otherwise people are just going to look at you like you’re a tool bag. We don’t want that, do we? Here are a list of terms commonly used in most restauarants around the country.
86 - Can mean either “get rid of”, or “out of” a certain product.
All Day – The total amount of a required dish to one kitchen station.
Apps – Appetizers.
BOH- Back of House. Includes: Prep, Line Cooks, Dishwasher, Expediter.
Bev Nap – A Beverage Napkin on which the ordered drink sits.
Busser - A FoH employee that’s job is to clean and reset tables and bring dirty dishes/glassware to the dishwasher
Campers - Customers that linger for longer than desired times.
Cambro - Also called a Lexan. A large plastic topped pan that stores food product.
Chef de Partie – Station chefe, or line-cooks.
COGS - Cost of Goods. Generally what the food costs to make prior to adding overhead costs.
Closer - the FoH or BoH employees that stay until the end of the shift, to make sure that other employees perform their closing work. Usually the last employees to leave the restaurant.
Closing work – Work that is required to be performed by servers after they have been cut.
Commis - An apprentice who works under the Chef de Partie.
Comp - To give something away for free, either because of a mistake or to please customers.
Cut - To release an employee from the shift. If a server is “cut”, they will no longer receive tables and can begin doing their closing duties.
Deuce - a 2-top
Dine-N-Dash – When a customer eats and walks-out on the check without paying.
Dish Pit - The station at which the dishwasher washes the dishes.
Double/Triple/Quadrouple Sat - For one server to receive two or more tables back-to-back.
Dropping – Not what you think. Means to deliver food or drinks to a table.
Dying - When a food order has been sitting out for an undesirably long period of time.
Expo - The Expediter. The man in the middle between the FoH and BoH, that organizes the services.
FOH - Front of House. Includes: Hostess, Bussers, Runners, Servers, Bartenders, FOH Manager.
Fire - To begin cooking.
Flip - The process of which a FoH member cleans then resets a table to be sat again.
Foodie - A wanna-be chef, or food critic who constantly criticizes the meal.
Food Runner - Any FoH that brings food to a table; sometimes a paid job title.
Garde-Manger - Pantry Chef. This person is responsible for cold food prep, salads, cold apps, and occasionally the dessert specials.
GM - General Manager. The top of the pyramid in restaurant management.
In the Weeds - When a FoH or BoH finds themselves needing to do too much to handle in a short period of time.
Kill it - Also called “Burn it”. Usually a well-done piece of meat.
The Line - This is where the chefs cook and prepare the services. Called such because the grill, sautee, and build stations are set up in a straight line.
Low-boy - A set of cooling shelves in the kitchen that is situated underneath the preparation tables.
The Man – The health inspector.
No Call No Show - When an employee doesn’t show up for their shift and fails to have called ahead of time to report that they will not be coming in to work. Usually results in that employee being fired.
Nuke it – When an item needs to be microwaved.
On the Fly - Anything that is needed faster than normal preparation time, or perhaps pushed to the front of the line.
On Wheels – When an order needs to be boxed up to-go.
Opener - The FoH or BoH employees that arrive at work first to perform preparations for the rest of the employees to begin their opening work when they arrive.
Overhead - The added charges to menu items to cover small costs such as employee pay, paper and chemical products.
Party - Any group of people at a table.
Premium - A better brand of alcohol, not as good as a top-shelf.
Prep – The area in the kitchen where food cooked prior to the shift is prepared. Can also mean to prepare the order to be served.
Pittsburgh - A special cooking of a steak – usually a filet – that has to be frozen briefly, then fire-cooked to burn the outside, while keeping the center cool and rare.
Push - A term used by management to encourage servers to sell a certain product.
POS – Point of Sale Machine. Usually, the name of the POS is the computer program used by the restaurant. Posi, Aloha, and Micros are POS programs commonly used.
Refire – also known as a “reheat”. If an item is found to be undercooked, or need to be remade to any extent.
Reggae - When an item is to be made as it appears in the menu. No special modifications.
Re-plate - If a dish comes out looking terribly, the expo may request this to make the dish look more presentable.
S/A – Server Assistant. Can also be considered a Food Runner, or a Busser.
Saucier - Saute Chef responsible for all dishes that come out from the sautee station, and occasionally the sautee specials.
Service - Each full set of meals for a single table.
Server - A waiter.
Shift – A period of time the employee works, either Lunch or Dinner
Shorting - Can mean either a customer receiving less change from a server than required, or a server receiving less money than required to cover the cost of a check.
Side - Can mean an extra food item on the side, or can mean to remove an item from an order and put it on the side.
Sidework – Work that is required to be performed by servers during any shift.
Sharking - When a server intercepts tables at the hostess stand to give him/herself more tables in their section.
Silver - a.k.a. Silverware.
Slammed - See “In the Weeds”.
Starch - Any white-colored food containing starch. E.g. Potatoes, rice, pasta.
Station – The set number of tables that have been assigned to a server for the course of the shift. Also called “Section”.
Stiff – A no-tip. “Stiffed” is in reference to when a server receives no tip.
Sommelier - A wine waiter.
Sous Chef – The second in command in the kitchen, who runs the kitchen if the chef is unavailable.
Split - Also called a double, or “working straight through”. Employee works both Lunch and Dinner Shifts.
Sub – Substitute. Often used in conjunction with 86 when discussing special orders on menu items.
Take - The total amount of tips a server ends up with after the end of the night after tip-out.
Tip-out - The amount of cash the servers must give management to allot to any number of assistants, bartenders, or hostesses.
Togo [Tow-Go] – To-go food.
“Top” - A table. e.g. A 2-top is a two-person table. a 10-top is a 10 person table.
Top-Shelf – The best alcohol the bar has in stock.
Turn and Burn – Also known as ‘flipping’ tables, but generally with more emphasis on numbers of times the set of tables has been flipped.
Upsell - To suggest a higher-priced item or an addition to the already ordered food to inrease the cost of the ticket.
Veg - A side vegetable.
Waitron - Waiter.
Walking in – When a service is needed to be made at the regular service pace. Not to be confused with a “walk-in”.
Walk-in - A cooler in the kitchen large enough for someone to walk-into if they were looking for an item.
Welcome Back – When an item no longer is 86′d and returns to it’s proper state. It could mean from everything to menu items to the kitchen printer.
Window – A heated shelf connected to the kitchen where the Chef of Expo stands to keep food hot while the entire service is put together.
Well - A “well” drink is a mixed drink that uses the cheapest alcohol the bartender has in house.
Now, this isn’t all the terms, and not everyone use them. Feel free to post a comment with the terminology your restaurant uses.
explain the freezing in doing a steak Pittsburgh–> Im in Texas and have had it ordered with all cuts before and also called Black n Blue. The way I have always seen it done is you baste the steak heavily with olive oil b as you grill and the oil residue is what causes the meat to blacken
otherwise a fine list of terms tho I think top shelf has lost its meaning as the uber premiums trend would make them uber costly. Our place has a 14 buck single barrel tequila margatini while a patron and grand ma marg runs 8.50.
I don’t know about the freezing in Pittsburgh Rare, but that’s just the way I was taught how to do it. I suppose because if it’s not done properly, a wanted Pittsburgh will end up being just a regular medium rare steak. The freezing, I assume, keeps the center cooler so it doesn’t cook as fast as it normally would.
Cool list…must admit in all my years I’ve never heard the term “Reggae” though.
Reggae? Really never heard it? Stems from the word regular. We use it all the time at Chili’s.
itll depend on who works what and where. every store is different, just like every staff is different.
I’m an expo and a server and I work at a fairly popular chain restaurant that can get very loud.
Echo — Used with the kitchen and expos to confirm hearing something. It can be used in a few different ways:
Server: “Side of ranch, please.”
Expo: “Echo, side of ranch.”
or
Expo: “Did you echo that table 86 no bacon?”
Kitchen: “Echo that table 86 no bacon.”
Phase — Same as cut. To be taken off the floor.
Flash phase — To be taken off the floor and to not be responsible for sidework. Usually this is done only when a server is in a section that was not especially busy, or the server was called in to cover a section that was added in, just in case the restaurant got busy. (Do other restaurants do this?)
Floor — (Hey, some people might not know..) The area of the restaurant where the tables and guests are, as opposed to the kitchen.
Section — The tables a waiter is responsible for taking care of on a shift. (I think a LOT of people, especially campers, who have not worked in the food industry don’t understand that most restaurants don’t work on a rotational basis. It always bothers me when the hostess tries to seat someone at a table and they ask to move to a different server’s section.)
Mixo — Mixologist, aka, bartender.
Lead — The head server of a certain area of the restaurant. Servers with sections in that area have to check out with their lead before they can leave.
Prop — To help another server with a large table, but not extensively. E.g., get drink refills and help clear plates occasionally, but not take any orders or have any extended interaction with the guests. Usually the main server receives most of the tip, but the prop gets tipped out by the server. Ex: “Lisa is going to take that 12-top. Could you prop her, Adam?” (I think this is just the restaurant I am at.)
DMO — Dishwashing area. (I have NO idea why we call it a DMO)
Menu count — Two numbers, one over the other. The first number is the number of menus at tables of guests who have not ordered. The second number is the number of people waiting to be sat. For example, a menu count of sixteen over twenty means sixteen people are sitting down with menus and will be ordering soon, twenty people are still waiting to be sat.
Not sure if this is what you’re looking for, but I thought I’d chime in.
The only one I’ve heard of those is “Floor”…
Hmmm… the chain restaurant I’m at uses pretty much all of those, except the prop (we’ve never had to ask help on a big table to the point that someone would require a tip out) and we have never been busy enough for our menu count to be a two parter. Usually the expo or hostess just runs around and then tells us how many menus are down and the kitchen will says “echo 8 menus!”
I wonder if we work at the same place?
Shift Leader (closer). Normally this indicates that there are a set number of closers, and they work by themselves, they are the end authority to close a shift and they rotate the nights they work. For instance, the last restaurant I worked at, there were three shift leaders: I had Wednesday and Friday, another had Thursday and Saturday, the last was Monday and Tuesday and we all rotated on Sundays. It was nice because we could pick the nights based on seniority we had to work from 3:30 to midnight, rather than just walking in and wondering if we’re closing or not (not meaning working from 5:30 to 10:30). We also had some pull with managers due to seniority.
Turn-the same as “flip”
Cocktail/Lounge-tables in the bar area. To “cocktail” might also mean to focus on serving bar tables, a different skill set and requirement than to floor serve or to close.
En Pointe/Bar Volume/Service bar: the AM bartender would frequently work service bar on busy nights rather than leave after 4, and they get cut. The PM bartender who came in at 4 would close and actually do most of the face-time with guests.
Backwait (similar to propping)-
Rotate-open seating: people sit wherever and the few people on the floor just ping-pong tables back and forth. Done in the early morning, in the afternoon, and in the last hour or two before the establishment closes.
Popped-The floor fills up with a steady stream. The restaurant probably doesn’t go on a wait, but everyone suddenly gets very busy for a solid hour, and then everyone leaves. A “0 to 60″ moment.
Straight-through: A server comes on the floor and stays through lunch and a large portion of dinner without a break. Shifts might begin at 12 or 12:30 rather than 10 or 11 and end at 7 or 8 versus 9.
Phase-different from cuts, IMHO. Phasing indicates an open seating plan, where a guest might sit anywhere. Cuts imply that a portion of the restaurant is closed for seating and the resto layout is normally “blocked” into sections, while restaurants that phase are normally a very open layout. Phasing is also done, often in shared sections. Three people fill a 12 table section, for instance, rotate until all three are “on” and then people leave as the business slows.
Headwait: same as closer, possibly with managerial duties, or label for senior servers with key ability.
To be on: To be on the clock, or actually working. One goes from a quick bite, putting on/adjusting their uniform, finishing a line or bowl, coming their hair, to being involved in their shift after clocking in.
Key: A server or bartender with seniority who has managing duties that are limited to hourly-paid shifts that are scheduled through out the week, versus a GM or AGM who might work 9 to 8 or 4 to 1am for salary.
DMO I believe stands for Dish Machine Operator.
Dish Machine Operator = DMO
Where I work, out dishwishing area is called the GU (Not sure why or what it stands for).
Also, for the Well Drinks (The cheapest drinks at a bar using the cheapest liquors) Are also called, Rail drinks as it contains liquor from the bartender’s Speed Rail, the liquors most used in the majority of the bar’s drinks.
GU=general utility, where not just the dishwasher is but mop sinks and other cleaning supplies are kept.
GU-General Untility; another name for someone who does everything that is not covered by all other titles. Applebee’s uses that title.
D.M.O = Dish Machine Operator
Broken Arrow = Extremely busy and way behind (In the Weeds) you need to call employee’s at home to get here a.s.a.p. to help us.
this may be of the more shallow servers but at my work we have a phone with only two phone lines so to tell someone in the back that there is someone attractive in the lobby you would yell “line three” or “hey pick up line three” and you would see a flood of coworkers jump to the front to help whomever is on the line.
At least during the Viet Nam war, a unit commander sent the signal “Broken Arrow” when his unit was about to be overrun and destroyed by the enemy. All available combat aircraft were to break off whatever they were doing and come to the rescue RIGHT NOW.
re: “weeds”, I can remember hearing “up a tree” years ago to mean the same thing
Heard – every restaurant I worked for uses this term to acknowledge having heard someone say something. Did ya just miss that one or do we only use that where I’m at?
Crop Dusting- To walk past a table or through a section and break wind. Used to work with a guy who did it all the time and if we had a jerk in our section we would take five after tellin him “hey, table 5 needs a fly-by.” lol.
Crashing – When a particular station in the kitchen is slammed with too many orders to keep up and ticket times are getting so long that another cook (or manager!) is needed to come help that person get back to speed. Example would be “Hey Salad is crashing. Get Grill over to help him out for a bit”
In the red- When a ticket time is running longer than average. Our computer system at work automatically changes the ticking time on the screen from black to red when it’s taking longer than the average time.
I just now stopped by to this site and got to take some time to say thanks for the good wakeboarding strategies!
we pretty much always use “weeded,” but ive heard a couple people use “sideways” as a synonym
cleaning supplies should be environment friendly too, choose cleaning supplies which does not harm the environment-’;
A term that I’ve heard used is “Canadians,” usually referring to black customers (bitch at me all you want about not being PC. I don’t really car). As has been talked about on here, the trend with these types of customers is along the same line as “foreigners” in regards to tipping.
Indian families, i have noticed, do not tip. like at all. they will put .54 on their card as a tip, just to make it an even amount on their bill. One f our best servers got 3 cents once. The guy actually talked to manager about how awesome she was. *sigh* it is all about the tips, but some things are really hard. Culture can stand in the way, as stated, but so can just hopping across states. But, i always make sure to greet every table sweetly, and never ever anticipate a tip-less table. it makes you resent the table during their stay, and your service suffers. other customers can pick up on this as well. And they might get the wrong idea.
buy out-some groups or company make reservation for the entire house or floor that night.
i work in fine dining and we also use hand signals with s/a.save you a lot of time!you don’t have to go around other tables, just signal your s/a what you need.for example you want sparkling,still or tap water at your new table,you are ready for chef complimentary,they are finished apps or entrees and ready to start reset for next course.
My friend and I used to say we were scraping the barrel of humanity when we were working in “the shitty section”. Still laugh anytime I hear that.
I’ve also always heard the word “heard” used in every restaurant I’ve worked. Meaning the same as “copy, roger, 10-4,” etc.
“Going down in flames” or “went down in flames” usually referring to the kitchen getting so backed up that ticket times are far beyond what’s expected, but also used when a server is in the weeds and getting busier to express the urgency in getting help from other servers. “Hey Alex is going down in flames go see what he needs.”