Happy Friday, Hospitality Heroes!

This week, Brandon and Jess are breaking down the five skills you should be drilling into every server on your team.

👉 The 5 "Ninja Skills" your servers need … and why personality isn't one of them.

Your best server probably isn't your funniest one.

They're your most skilled one.

✅ Higher checks per table
✅ Faster turns without rushing guests
✅ Better guest impressions

Watch the full video here 👇

🎥 5 Things You Need To Teach Your New Servers

You can watch the full video training on YouTube, or keep scrolling for a breakdown of Jess & Brandon’s lessons below.

🍸 Jess & Brandon’s No-BS Service Lesson:
5 Things You Need To Teach Your New Servers

Jess had the same tables, same guests, same sections, same hours as every other server at his restaurant.

Yet he consistently out-earned all of them.

He thought it was his personality.

• "I'm just funnier than everyone else."

It wasn't. It was five specific, trainable skills.

And that word — trainable — is the part that matters to you as an owner.

🍸 Start With This

✅ 1 – Train your team on speed (not rushing).

First round drinks in two minutes. Desserts out in under five. Greet the table immediately.

Not every guest is there for a three-hour experience. Some have a movie after.

Coach foot speed: walking briskly with a purpose. Not running. Not meandering. You want to see a pep in their step that tells the guest I'm coming to take care of you.

✅ 2 – Stop letting your servers beeline.

Beelining is going to their table, then back. Their table, then back. Never scanning the rest of their section.

Teach them to treat the whole section as one. Hit table 22, swing by 23, glance at 26 and 27. Now they know what all four tables need in one pass.

If you can shave even 10 minutes of seat time off your tables, you'll feel it in your revenue.

✅ 3 – Coach awareness. It's the wow factor.

Awareness is when your server notices a guest removed the lime from their gin and tonic three times … and then the next one arrives with no lime, and a smile.

It's catching that the water glass is a third full before the guest has to ask.

The guest doesn't expect your team to notice.

But when they do? That's what gets remembered. And that's what gets tipped.

🍸 3 Quick Wins You Can Try Tonight:

1️⃣ Drill back-questions into every order.

Train your servers to confirm before they ring. "I'll have the artichoke." — Grilled or spinach artichoke?

This one habit eliminates most wrong orders. If your kitchen is refiring, this is probably where it starts.

2️⃣ Run menu mocks during pre-shift.

Sit in their section. Ask: "Should I get the sea bass or the BLT?"

Make them describe both so a guest could picture the food. Not like a college student cramming — like an actor rehearsing lines. If you test knowledge during pre-shifts, they'll start preparing for pre-shifts.

3️⃣ Coach awareness in real time.

Pull a server aside mid-shift. Point at a table. Ask: "What do you see that I see?"

That one question trains their eyes faster than any lecture you could give.

These five skills are trainable. And that's the whole point.

Your server's personality got them hired. Now it's your job to build the rest.

And when you do, you get:

✅ A smoother shift for everyone involved
✅ Bigger revenue on your busiest nights
✅ Better guest flow

🚀 Tactical Reminders:

Jess & Brandon’s Last Three Videos:

• 3 things that are killing restaurants BRAND REPUTATION: Watch now.

• Every SERVER should be doing these habits: Watch now.

• How does having GREAT SERVICE = make you MONEY: Watch now.

You can watch all the past lessons here.

Mike Romaine

Chief Email Ninja at The Restaurant Launch (TRL)

P.S. The restaurants we work with become the gold standard in their market.

• Servers carry themselves with confidence.

• Guests can’t stop talking about the experience.

• And the owner’s name? It carries weight.

If you want your place to be that restaurant, click here and let’s make it happen.