The One Thing You Should Ask At A Restaurant To Get Better Service

When you're out for dinner, your focus is usually on deciding what to order. However, it is also possible that how you place that order could have a noticeable impact on your meal as well. One question to ask your server that may be surprisingly effective is: "Should we order everything at once, or stagger it?"

This simple question works because it acknowledges that restaurants don't operate on a steady rhythm. In reality, kitchens run on timing, capacity, and coordination. What works during a quiet lunch might cause delays during a busy dinner service. By asking the server what would work best at that moment, you are giving them the chance to work with the kitchen, which can help prevent misaligned expectations.

For example, ordering everything at once might mean overwhelming a busy kitchen, and so it's a toss-up if dishes will arrive together or sporadically. On the other side of the coin, staggering your order could lead to uneven pacing. It's little things like this could cause chefs bigger headaches, especially when orders change mid-service or arrive without context. Having an awareness of the behind the scenes makes life easier for all involved.

This question doesn't just help the team in the kitchen, but it will also improve the dining experience for you, as well. Servers know the ins and outs of the restaurant, like which dishes take the longest to make or whether it's better to hold out on ordering dessert or additional drinks. Having worked as a server in a busy gastropub, I know that when guests open the door to this kind of guidance, the service will usually run more smoothly.

It also shifts the interaction in the direction that maybe the customer isn't always right, making the whole affair more about collaboration. Ultimately, restaurants function best when the guests and staff are aligned. It is no secret among servers that they will (generally) be more attentive and helpful to your party when they feel trusted, so keep this approach in mind when dining — especially in big groups, where you'll be ordering multiple courses. Instead of treating service like a transaction, it's a shared process that everyone is in together. And while there's no guarantee of everything going perfectly, it does tap into one method for receiving more VIP service by showing awareness of how restaurants actually work. And often, that small shift is enough to turn a good meal into a great one for all parties involved.