My best friend in a busy shift.

Appetizers are my best friend in a busy shift. It's a simple order that takes virtually no time, and once I've taken that order, I can focus on whatever else while my table still feels taken care of.

This lets me get my table set up without spending all the time that comes with entree orders. Ideally I can get orders as soon as I bring the app, but if I'm slammed, I don't really have to be there for orders until they've finished the app. So I've bought myself another potential 10 - 15 minutes on top of the time it took to get the appetizer out.

Remember that people get rude when they’re hungry. An app isn’t going to fill anyone up, but it will likely prevent them from getting upset if there’s a delay on food coming out. If I know it may be a while to get food out, I’ll even ask directly, “Are y’all starving?” And if they say yes, I’ll say, “Alright, let me get y’all an app to get started with then because my kitchen is a bit backed up with orders.”

I'm typically quite upfront and transparent with my tables. This is expectation management. People typically don’t mind waiting. It’s when they don’t expect to wait that they get upset.