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.