Submit your questions here.
In this section, readers can submit their own questions about my experiences, or the restaurant industry in general. Want to know what it’s like to be a waiter, or why things happen the way they do? Any questions that are approved will be moved to the body of this page and answered for all the world to see!
June 23, 2008 at 10:11 pm
How, in a restaurant chain setting, does a higher net sales lower COGS when every venue in the chain has to buy the same products, and nothing but the same products, at the same price?
June 23, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Interesting question! I didn’t mean for this section to be a quiz, but to answer your question, I’d imagine food waste would be the answer, but I may be wrong. Naturally, higher volume restaurants will generally use more product than a lower volume restaurant. Especially in a corporate chain restaurant where you cannot tailor the items you purchase and menu to the clientèle that you are serving. The Cost of Goods also accounts for the total cost of the goods that have to be thrown out, either because of overrings or going bad.
A restaurant can never be certain which of their menu items customers will order, so they take past reports to determine the commonality of customers ordering a certain item and order goods accordingly. However, one week you might sell a lot of chicken, the next week a lot of beef. Because you now have to throw out all the extra chicken that has gone bad, your COGS rises.
In a higher volume restaurant, waste accounts for less COGS than a lower volume restaurant because the odds are that you will use that product regardless. Especially if say, you run out of the beef, because you ordered less than chicken which had sold more last week. You now have to 86 that item from the menu, forcing the customers to choose the chicken anyway. Therefore, your COGS decreases.
Does this sound correct in your mind?
February 6, 2009 at 9:07 pm
Less of a question, more of a comment. I eat out a lot and although I have never waited tables, I have had jobs where my income relied on tips. Everyone is human but I must say that a little smile, a simple apology and an attempt to take care of the other person goes a long way on both sides.
I live in New Orleans which is notorious for bad service, but am from California where the service was almost always good- and my biggest pet peeve about waitstaff is when they are rude. Honestly- mess up my order, bring it out undercooked, forget my dinner salad, forget to give me my check- I don’t care, just be polite about it and I will do the same; and you’re ensured a good tip. Most waitstaff I have encountered are kind but those who are not should find another profession; because for pete’s sake, it ruins everyone’s night when a waiter is a jerk. As for the customers- they’ll never change.
Good luck in your job, I know it’s a toughie.
February 7, 2009 at 1:47 am
You won’t get bad service at places like Brennan’s, Galatoire’s, Commander’s Palace, or any of those great restaurants in New Orleans.