Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip - Confessions of a Cynical Waiter

I am a big fan of kitchen confidential and when I saw this book hit the site I purchased it without thinking twice. An excellent listen from start to finish. The author sheds light on the other side of restaurants the front end. In this book the so called face of a restaurant is shown in many lights. The book has grit and glamour and shows you the many joys and evils of working in a high class eatery.

An excellent read/listen for anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant in any capacity or for anyone who is simply interested in seeing a vivid behind the scenes look into this fascinating world.

If you're looking for funny customer stories or gory details of what actually happens in a kitchen, you might be disappointed.

Although it does feature a few stories, the book is mainly about the waiter psycho-analysing himself and everyone around him. The narrator does a good job narrating what can be a somewhat boring (at times) autobiography. But if you dive into this knowing what to expect, it could be a very enjoyable 9 hrs.

Good, but could be better.

Either wait for the abridged version or skim the blog. The stories of annoying customers and other hassles of the restaurant business are amusing, but you have to wade through too much painfully bad dreck to reach them. Rather than focusing on what he's good at - recounting everyday incidents in the life of a waiter - the author spends most of the book trying to convince us/himself that he is now a Writer. So besides the fascinating details of his childhood library visits and the pain of a critical writing review in college, we get the flowery descriptions of sunsets, painfully artificial expository dialogues, and essays on his views on illegal immigration, the homeless, and what it feels like to be discovering his 'gift' for writing. Skip it.

This book isn't terrible and it's easy to listen to while doing other things - you don't need to worry about missing any of the plot! The author seems to think very highly of himself, and it's apparent throughout the book, which does get a bit irritating. Overall it's an easy listen, and a bit of an insight into the world of America's hospitality industry.

This book starts off as the laugh out loud adventures of super waiter, focused on funny customer stories, and waiting misadventures. However, at about the half-way point, it begins to devolve into the psychology profile of a loser middle aged waiter and his struggles with aging. If I wanted a nonfiction psych biography of someone I'd never heard of, I'd go read livejournal. I wish the second half of the book could have been as good as the first half; the first half is worth the read, but the second half isn't.

I liked it, but am disappointed because I thought it would be funny and it wasn???t ??? sure it was entertaining, but no LOL moments for me. I think if you???ve worked in the restaurant business, you???d appreciate it much more because it???s full of ???insider??? ???nod-your-head-in-agreement??? information. I???d recommend it to anyone in ???the bizz???.

I like books like this - zeroed in on a subject, not trying to contain the whole "sturm und drang" of a life in a few hundred pages. However, the story did rather deflate in the middle, as though the writer/waiter was flummoxed after the initial setup in a "what do I do now?" sort of way.

I love the book name and writer's name, though I could have done without his frequent identification of women by their hair color - eg a "brunette" or a "redhead". I thought this kind of parlance had disappeared by now, and it seemed too retro and sexist when compared to the contemporary feeling of the story.

Still a good read, though!

Coming from Denmark, Scandinavia, Europe I find the book informative, entertaining and well told. American culture seen from a certain personal and funny viewpoint. Lots of insights worth knowing before visiting the US.

This is a fantastic book! It is not a 9 hour whining session like some people may lead you to believe. It is thoroughly entertaining. The waiter is actually a brilliant writer. The only section I had trouble with was towards the end where he states that all waiters do is complain, which some people may think is a bit hypocritical. But I don't think of this book as a rant. I think of it more as a report of what goes on in the food industry. There is a tonne of invaluable behind-the-scenes stories that we really need to know. I don't think I'll treat wait staff any differently after reading it, maybe just tip more. But it is brilliantly written, very funny in most of the book, and the narrator has the perfect voice for this story, very well executed. This is a must read for any food show fans, especially fans of Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.
I would listen to it all day if there was more of the same.

The Waiter was an interesting listen when you're hearing the stories of annoying customers, awful management, and kooky coworkers. The narrator of this book does a good job bringing personality to "the waiter" and also paints a convincing narrative of the customers he encounters. Where the book loses a few stars is the overly stylized dialogue that you'll hear when you're listening to the water recount conversations with his co-worker Beth - it sounds more like a Dawson's Creek script then how real friends would converse. I also could have skipped the waiter's psychoanalysis of customers and co-workers - he seems to think his background in psychology allows him to analyze the behaviors of others. But overall it's a good listen - it is fast paced, funny and leaves you with tips and stories you'll remember and consider the next time you're eating out!