10+ Sneaky Server Tricks That Customers Almost Never Notice

As one server posted on Reddit, "The larger tables will keep themselves occupied with chatting/catching up, whereas a 2 top will more than likely get bored waiting. Also it's quicker to get drinks for a table of two than it is for a bigger group."

One server on Quora noted that whenever they suggest a fancier version of what you ordered or a featured dessert, a slight nod and a smile can go a long way towards convincing a customer.

As one service trainer said on Quora, it's not often because another customer already ordered a slice, but that's what they want you to think.

Slicing a piece out of an unused cake suggests that other customers want it too, which increases sales.

Specifically, they'll print the bill out ahead of time so it's already ready to go by the time a customer requests it.

A woman on Quora shared that customers have a real "see one, want one" mentality when it comes to food.

"Do this on a busy Saturday night with lots of groups, especially women out with a group of friends."

As the trainer on Quora put it, if a customer said they want a ribeye steak rare with fries instead of rice, they might hear a server say those exact words back to them.

As someone who sometimes makes special orders, I can attest to how comforting it is to hear this.

As one former server said on Quora, asking if a customer wants extra cheese or sour cream and leaving the question at that makes them more likely to consider it an add-on and not wonder whether it costs extra.

An example a former server made of this was: “We make our cheesecake, in house, they are fresh and delicious, we can talk about what flavors we have after you have finished your entre.”

"That gives the customers time to think about dessert during the whole meal. At the end of their meal they are not 'surprised' when the dessert menu is an item of conversation."

Although they normally ask how the check will be split towards the end of the meal, they pop this question at the beginning of service if it's a hectic night. This especially works well for large tables.

A former hotel server explained that automatically opening the menu up the page that has the most expensive items makes it so those are the items that the customer sees first.

One server on Quora said that a common trick when a server drops a piece of freshly-washed silverware is to put it in their pocket in front of a customer and then subtly retrieve it and lay it out in front of a different one.

This is apparently because parents are more inclined to tip if they've noticed that their kids are enjoying themselves. If the kids are happy, everyone's happy.

As the trainer said, it doesn't have so much to so with costs as freshness.

Servers rarely push one item in particular, but it usually happens when the restaurant either has too much of something or is trying to get rid of the last few items before its freshness window closes.

The trainer said on Quora that servers will sometimes lightly touch the arm of the person they think is the most likely to pay.

He warns against doing this in cultures with rules against physical contact, however.

"As a server, anything I can do to make the customer interact with me as a person increases my tip," one person shared, "Make myself notable just once, early on, then fade into the background and make their meal fall into place. "

As they said on Reddit, even those who ordered bruschetta as an appetizer still won't say no to an extra basket of bread.

According to one commenter, wearing earrings that emulate certain food encourages diners to purchase that food.

"I would wear these fake ruby like gemstone earrings, I would always sell more red wine. Swirly earrings that looked like pasta, more pasta dishes."

"It was standard practice to only brew decaf coffee the last hour we were open," a former waiter explains, "That's because you could serve decaf to sunshine who ordered regular coffee, but not the other way around. And to save time cleaning coffee pots at the end of the night, we usually just had 1 or 2 left, all decaf."

As one server put it on Reddit, "We have grilled sandwiches, so when I see that the grill is full, I steer customers towards something else."

Although one server on Quora refused to do this one, it's not unheard of for servers to grab one of these without any intention of actually serving it to anyone.

Soon enough, orders will start coming in for that appealing item they paraded.