If You Order Your Drink Like This, You Might Be Sending The Wrong Message

When first approached by a server or bartender when dining out, you'll likely be greeted and given a rundown of the restaurant concept and menu. It's polite to take a moment to acknowledge your server before jumping right into your drink order. No one is faulting you for wanting a cocktail, but it is an undeniable fact that the answer to "Hello and welcome," is not: "A dirty martini with extra olives."

If the chef is the brain and backbone of a restaurant, then the servers and bartenders are the heart, the arms, and the legs. And as much as it is their job to create a pleasant dining experience for guests, there are certain niceties and etiquette that should be extended to restaurant staff (although there are many restaurant etiquette rules that are laughable). If you forgo this expected performance of decorum when ordering a drink, intentionally or not, you may be setting your entire dining experience off on the wrong foot.

This first interaction with the person who will be hand delivering all of your food, beverages, and extra napkins for the meal is critical. Restaurant consultant at Savory Hospitality, Salar Sheik, explained to The Takeout that hospitality is somewhat of a two-way street, and how you interact with your server matters. He shared, "When a server greets you with a friendly 'Hello, how are you?' it's a small but important gesture of hospitality. Ignoring that and jumping straight into your order can suggest you're not interested in engaging respectfully — it's like cutting someone off mid-sentence."

After engaging in a short and pleasant exchange of greetings, your server will likely guide you into the next step of the process, which is ordering. Trust us, they are just as motivated as you are to get your drink ordered, made, and delivered to you in an efficient manner. No one working for tips will be interested in dilly dallying here. And Sheik shared that following the server's lead is a good rule of thumb for ensuring as seamless of a meal as possible. He said, "They're trained to pace your experience for maximum comfort and efficiency." After all, your server will be privy to any behind the scenes hiccups and can take variables that you quite literally cannot see into consideration. For example, if the kitchen has run out of one of the star dishes for the evening, your server might know to be quicker to greet tables before guests get attached to any 86-ed menu items. Bulldozing them with a drink order could disrupt that notification and throw your server off, in general.

First and foremost, be your server or bartender's favorite type of customer by simply treating them how you would want to be treated. Sure, your comfort and happiness are a portion of their job, but they are not a servant or a robot. As long as you're polite and sensitive to the fact that your server is juggling multiple requests and people besides yourself, then you can rest easy. Odds are that someone working in the hospitality industry is genuinely motivated to provide good service and experiences for people, and your server will do just that. So go ahead and ask your server for recommendations and maybe even an extra olive or two in your martini.

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