#service

Diners who squat at a table long after the meal's done.

Kitchen code for 'we're out — kill it from the menu.'

Slammed past the point of catching up.

The next order in the queue — get ready.

The expediter — the person at the pass organising tickets and getting food out.

Bouncing on a restaurant bill without paying.

Kitchen call meaning a dish is five minutes from the pass.

A little something extra, on the house.

Plate and push food out as fast as the line can move.

Remake a dish fast after a misfire, return or screw-up.

Got it, chef.

Clear, reset, and reseat a table at full speed.

A misfired, returned or no-longer-servable plate.

The number of guests served in a shift or service.

The dish that needs finishing for the window — now.

Make a dwindling ingredient last to the end of service.

So buried in orders you can't see daylight.

The service window where finished plates get called, checked, and handed to runners.

Hit hard with a sudden wall of orders.

Shut down server sections and send staff home as the rush dies.

Plated food sitting too long in the window, going cold or wilting before it's served.

Chef calling tickets and quality-checking every plate as it leaves the line.

Drop everything — fire this one now.

Call for any available server to come run food immediately.

A table for four.

The heated shelf at the pass where finished plates wait for a runner.

Guest left without paying.

Carry a plated dish from the pass to its table.

Tiny round bowl for sauces, sides or garnishes.

Carry plates from the pass to the table.

Working the cook stations behind the pass during service.

A table for two.

One full cycle of seat, serve, clear — the unit a restaurant lives or dies by.