What are the best and worst server check-back lines you’ve ever heard? —Jason L., St. Louis
A check-back line is a term for when a restaurant server circles back to a table after serving a course or beverage, soliciting feedback. Personally, I’m always entertained by servers’ check-back lines and pay attention.
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Restaurant training manuals and managers often spell out guidelines for this exercise because astute servers can glean a lot of valuable information about a table’s meal experience. A lackadaisical server just goes through the motions—if they bother to check back with the table at all.
In every restaurant, servers are instructed to check back with their tables to gauge satisfaction. Many use the “two bites, two sips, or two minutes” rule.
Yet most are poor with the execution, throwing out lines that elicit useless one-word responses:
- “How is everything?” Fine.
- “Is everything OK?” Um-hmm.
- “You guys all good?” Yes.
- Or our longtime favorite, “How’s everything tasting for ya?”
A well-trained server can discern so much more by observing facial expressions and asking leading, urbane questions. Over the years, several better examples come to mind:
- “Thoughts on the salad…?
- “So what do you think about the _____?”
- ””How’s the _______ ?”
- “How do you like the sauce on the _____?”
- “Everything going well?”
- “May I get you anything?”
- “How are you all feeling over here?”
- And the most recent popular example, “How are you enjoying the first few bites?”
While we’re at it, how about a few alternatives to boorish, post-meal comments, such as “Are you finished with that dinner plate?”
- A simple, “May I?” or “Excuse me…”
- “Ready to move onto something else?”
- Another new favorite comes from an observant staffer, debating whether to pull an entrée plate, saying slowly, “I noticed you paused.”
- And when trying to tempt a guest with a dessert menu, we love, “You’re never too full to read.”
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