#Restaurant lingo free

The point-of-sale system, or POS system for short, lets a restaurant tally up order totals and accept payments from customers. Servers might do this to help a busy co-worker or to care for a friend who is sitting in another server’s section. When one server picks up, it means they are taking over a table for another server. Mise en place refers to measuring out, chopping, and preparing relevant ingredients before the chef puts them in the meal. This is a French term that describes food preparation. Servers enter orders, and then the kitchen can see when to cook certain items. A KDS is essentially just the digital version of the paper order tickets older restaurants use. KDSĪ KDS is short for “kitchen display system.” It refers to a viewing screen that helps the kitchen keep track of orders. Servers, hosts, and bartenders are all FOH staff. FOHįOH, or “ front of house,” is a term that refers to staff in customer-facing positions. Instead, chefs use this kitchen slang to tell someone to start cooking a dish. In a restaurant setting, saying something needs to be “fired” doesn’t mean lighting a literal fire. If you want to avoid conflicts, you should try to reduce the chances of anyone being double sat. This is stressful for the server since they end up having to take a lot of orders and deliver a lot of food in a very short amount of time. If a server is being double sat, it means the host has seated two or more parties in the same server’s section at the same time.

#Restaurant lingo free

A server might comp a menu item if the guest has a problem with it, or comping can provide a free reward to VIPs or celebrating guests.

CompĬomp is short for “complimentary,” and it is usually used as a verb. It’s one of those restaurant terms and lingo that you need to know, but you hope you rarely hear. However, rudely kicking them out can lead to poor reviews. These guests can be a problem because they take up valuable resources without resulting in any profit for your business. CampersĬampers are restaurant guests who continue to sit at their table after they have finished eating and paid a check. They will typically do things like take dirty dishes to the dishwasher, throw away table debris, and wipe down dirty tables. BusserĪ busser is a staff member responsible for cleaning up a table. This is a small keypad with touch buttons that staff can use to move a ticket to a cooking state, select a ticket number, prioritize certain tickets, and more. Bump BarĪ bump bar is a tool used to control the kitchen display that manages orders. Any non-customer facing role, including chefs, kitchen prep, or storage area staff, are BOH staff. BOHīOH stands for “back of the house.” This refers to any restaurant staff who work behind the scenes in the kitchen. However, if a steakhouse lets people order a steak and then pay for a separate side of their choosing, the mashed potatoes would be a la carte. For example, if the roast chicken is always served with potatoes, they aren’t a la carte. 86 is also used as a verb, such as saying, “86 the soup of the day.” A La CarteĪn a la carte item is a menu item that people order separately from the rest of the meal. You’ll need to tell wait staff about the 86ed item so that they know to quit offering it to guests. If the kitchen has run out of an ingredient, it is 86ed. Common Restaurant Terms and Lingoīelow is a list of common food service terms and their definitions: 86ed

Our guide will give you insider knowledge on what phrases like “bump bar” and “FOH” really mean. There are all sorts of unique phrases used in restaurants around the nation, and knowing them will make it easier to communicate with your staff. If you’re in the hospitality industry, it’s a good idea to brush up on restaurant terms and lingo.