I remember the first time I saw it. This was years and years ago at a small seafood restaurant in Milton-Freewater, Oregon, called the Oasis. They employed a waitress who could take the order of an entire table without writing a single thing down on paper. She listened to what the customers wanted, stored the details in her head, and then relayed it to the kitchen.

Needless to say, we all thought this was the coolest thing ever. That server had to be a genius, we reasoned. How else could she accurately record entrees, sides, substitutions, special requests, and more in her head? Keep in mind, she was spot on with all her tables. Did this small restaurant on the Washington/Oregon border have a prodigy on its hands?

As I grew older and gained more experience eating at restaurants (probably too much experience if you look at my waistline 😂), I realized other servers shared the same talent. These skilled waiters and waitresses would simply ask for your order, politely nod when you gave it, and move on to the next person at the table. No paper pad. No pen. No digital mechanism.

This server at The Onion didn’t memorize our orders but the gigantic sundae he brought Sloan more than made up for it 😂

Last night on Reels, I watched this. It is a lighthearted video on servers who do try the memorization method but can’t quite pull it off. The “server” the video features can’t recall orders when she goes to enter them in the POS system. While there, she is shown racking her brain to remember what people chose to eat. She resorts to going back to the table to fill water glasses while subtly confirming what they ordered. As you can imagine, all the orders come out wrong. She attempts to make excuses for the mistake that don’t have anything to do with her order-taking strategy. At the end of the video, she is seen taking everyone’s order again…this time with pen and paper.

This video does make a decent point: if you are taking the orders by memory just as a performative tactic AND it isn’t a skill that you actually have, you should probably refrain from doing so. Why put that pressure on yourself? If someone’s food comes out wrong, the customer will automatically point to the seemingly lazy method of order-taking to explain the snafu.

That’s what I would do at least. But you know what? I have never been able to make that claim. Believe it or not, I have never had a botched order or an incorrect check from a server who used the memorization method. Everything has always been delivered to my table perfectly. Perhaps that is evidence that while the video is funny, most people who work in the service industry actually know better. Basically, if they aren’t 100% sure of their ability to take orders in their head, they aren’t going to do it.

Have you ever encountered a server who took your order in his/her mind? Did it end in accuracy or disaster? Shout out to the Oasis server who proved herself to be the real MVP. Don’t Blink. 🍝