Excuse Me, Waitress!
An Ethnography of Female Waitresses at Buffalo Wild Wings
Lindsay Taylor
Wesley Joseph
Cari Perez
Kiana Lively
MKTG 4720
December 3, 2012
Introduction
As you sit down to eat at a restaurant, there are several elements that you are like likely to
remember from your experience; perhaps the food quality or the atmosphere. One element
that leaves a lasting impression on a customer is the service they receive while eating. In this
retrospect, the servers become one of the most crucial factors for a restaurant. Because of the
importance of "good customer service" waiters and waitresses are chosen to represent the
values and ideals of the restaurant they are working. Just as these servers are part of the
culture of their restaurant, they also have a microculture among themselves. The division
continues, even by gender. The "waitressing job" is often thought of as feminine in its appeal,
creating a microculture of its on for a female wait staff. With this idea and mind, we decided to
observe a local restaurant in town, Buffalo Wild Wings in Valdosta, GA with a research question
of: What is the culture of the female wait staff at Buffalo Wild Wings?
Collecting Data
In seeking to answer this question, the team began by observing the restaurant as a whole.
When walking into the space, there are three clearly separate sections. The entire right side,
when you walk into the restaurant, is a kitchen and preparation area, not visible to the
consumer. The first area you see to sit at is the "dining" section. Along the left and back side,
there are booths lining the wall. Inside, the section is filled with multiple tables ranging in
shape, all with space for at least four customers. Televisions completely line three walls of the
area, large screened showing various programs. Towards the back of the restaurant is the bar
section. The only booth-like seats here are along the wall that connects dining to the bar. This
wall, though is so tall, dining cannot see over it from the other side. All of the tables are bar
height, including the booths, all requiring a type of stool-heighted chair to sit at them. Most of
these tables are set for two, and at the very back of the area, single seating is available at the
actual bar. A door leading outside in between the two sections brings consumers to a patio
area.
By studying the observations, assumptions regarding the functionality of the layout of the
restaurant and how it relates to the overall culture of the waitresses could be made. With the
clear division between bar and dining, it seems inevitable that there would be some differences
in the wait staff. With these potential idea in mind, the research team moved forward in order
to understand if these assumptions held any truth by interviewing random waiters and
waitresses at the Buffalo Wild Wings location. Within this focus group, we were able to
interview one male and three females. The employees were asked a series of nine questions
that are designed to understand the structure and potential differences between male and
female servers as well as between the females themselves; particularly, the interviewee's
perception of the role of gender in the restaurant industry and the cliques and social pyramid of
the restaurant .
Stated below are the questions asked to the wait staff:
1. What are some words to describe female servers?
2. What are some of the stereotypes of female waiters?
3. Do you think you change into a different person while talking to customers?
4. Do you think tips are based on performance only? What other factors affect tips?
5. How do you tailor your service to make a better impression? Any unique keywords or
strategies?
6. Do you feel like your co-workers are your family, acquaintances or friends?
7. Do you think there are cliques within the staff? If so, what are they based on?
8. What are the differences between bar servers and dinning room servers?
9. What are the main differences between serving an all male group, an all female group
and families?
The results from the interviews are provided organized below:
Person 1: Female, 20 years old, 4.5 years of experience, 1 month at the establishment
1. Neurotic, concerning, personal, caring,
2. Brainless, uneducated,
3. Hell yea, I’m not country at all and I have a different personality depending on
the people. I talk way more country because of our location. I curse a lot outside
the work place and I definitely cant do that on the job
4. I think its not based only on performance. Sexual orientation plays an important
role. Physical appearance.
5. I tailor my voice and interest depending on where they are from. I do not tell my
name at all. I make it common language to make them feel comfortable. I always
welcome them to the restaurant.
6. Just acquaintances. At other jobs I feel like I have worked with best friends so
that’s different.
7. Hell yes. Here definitely, not at the smaller restaurants I’ve worked. Bar girls vs.
dinning room girls.
8. Knowledge about alcohol, definitely know how to work faster because alcohol is
drank faster…A bar servers knows how to deal with men. Dinning room girls are
more professional and bar serves like being bitches.
9. Men: really flirty
Family: play with the kids, make them the main focus
Female: get ready for battle. They are needy so you need to be more on top of
things.
Person 2: Female, 21 years old, 3 years of experience, 3 years at the establishment
1. Outgoing, nice
2. sluts, gold diggers, teases, single moms
3. I don’t change at all. I cannot be rude if they are being rude to me
4. I don’t think its based on performance. There are many people that I have given
perfect service and they still do not tip well. They are clueless about how to tip
or aren’t aware of this industry
5. I always ask how they are doing. I always say my name, sit at the table if they are
alone. Sometimes I wink
6. I think my coworkers are my friends. I don’t confide in them.
7. Absolutely. There are the dinning room girls and the bar girls. They are based on
dinning rooms, appearance or baggage. Definitely age, drinking habits, smoking
habits.
8. I think bar girls are better servers.
9. If you serve an all guy group, you can do a shitty job and they still might tip you
because of appearance. Girls feel threaten by appearance and it doesn’t always
reflect the service provided.
Person 3: Male, 28 years old, 9 years of experience, 3 years at the establishment
1. Outgoing, energetic, topical, talkative
2. Typically in college, girls who like to party, typically sorority girls, server girls
have more money, not spoiled, self sufficient, driven
3. Yes completely. Depending on the demographics: age, socio-economic status,
demeanor of the customer, mood
4. Definitely on how the server makes the customer feels. They need to feel special.
Not just on service; Appearance
5. Saying yes maam, no maam when appropriate. Always introduce myself.
6. Definitively friends.
7. I don’t think this place is too clique-y. Some servers are not willing to work
harder than others so those kind stay together. But we are nice and open to new
employees.
8. The bar girls are more flirty and they feel like they are more entitled. Their
service is more focused on the atmosphere rather than the food. The dinning
room girls are more concentrated on being professional. Bar servers are a little
more energetic but less focused.
9. Families and female: they are treated with more professionalism
Males: more joking around and more flirtatious
Person 4: Female, 24 years old, 2 years of experience, 2 years at the establishment
1. Multi-taskers, quick on your feet, good memory, pretty, witty
2. Lazy, dumb, that we are not hard workers, we only care about the tip
3. Yes, for sure. My voice fluctuates, I’m friendlier, I would even say fake.
4. No only performance. Some people know how to tip because maybe they have had
experience in this industry. I feel like people that tip shitty already know they aren’t
going to leave you well.
5. I always welcome them. I tell them to take their time; I ask if they are traveling or if they
have been here before. I always tell them my name.
6. I’m not sure. I would say friends. I feel like we are kind of a family.
7. Yea, I would say so. They are based on the different parts of the wait staff (kitchen, bus
boys, servers). Not really among servers.
8. The bar servers are more cut throat, it is more fast paced in the bar. They have to be on
their toes more. In the dinning room you receive more help. The bar is more laid back
and you can joke around with the bar people…and you kind of have to be bitchier in
there because of their drinking habits.
9. Male: flirt more, Female: nicer, Families: try to be wholesome.
Analysis
From the responses given by the staff at Buffalo Wild Wings, there were several ideas that were
drawn in order to state elements of the female culture at the restaurant. While none of the
servers thought the restaurant was "severe" in its schisms, there was a clear idea that gender
made a difference in terms of the types of service given, as well as tips.
As one of our interviewees explained waitresses are seen as “caring and personal”. The role
that is fulfilled by women in the restaurant industry often is beneficial to their finances because
the expectations of the consumer.
This exemplifies a stigma placed on women and by default, waitresses as well. The role of
women as care takers can be observed through history. The personality traits that are given to
women in plays, movies or books more often than not include characteristics of mothers, care
takers, wives and nurturers. The restaurant business is not an exception. Similar to the medical
field of nursing, women represent the role or nurtures out side of the home by taking care of
the consumers of those settings. Woman nurses are often better received and considered to be
doing a better job than their men colleagues. As one of our interviewees explained waitresses
are seen as “caring and personal”. The role that is fulfilled by women in the restaurant industry
often is beneficial to their finances because the expectations of the consumer.
Not only does the nurturer role factor into the persona of a waitress but the sexuality notion
factors as well. Person two stated that:“If you serve an all guy group, you can do a shitty job
and they still might tip you because of appearance.” Women are often hired as waitresses if
they can represent a “girl next door” type. As our focus group also showed, the women always
try to make the customers feel comfortable. At Buffalo Wild Wings, the majority of the staff is
female and were often seen and heard asking questions that would make the dinning
experience wholesome.
Through the team's personal observations, we often heard questions that would support the
notion of women as caretakers. For example:
1. is there anything I can get you?
2. Is the food ok?
3. Can offer you dessert?
4. Would you like something to go?
5. Would you like a coloring page and crayons
Alongside of this, the dialect of the southern location of the restaurant was also seen in the
observations. The waitresses observed often said, "hun" or "sweetheart" to customers, another
feminine element under within "Southern Hospitality."
The sexual factor was also seen through observation. At one visit, every female waitress serving
was wearing short black shorts as their uniform bottom, while then men wore knee-length
shorts or pants. The female's bottoms were so short, their aprons they kept their materials in
were longer. The fact that all four women that night had chosen to wear shorts of that length
when the uniform simply calls for "black bottoms" shows that to some degree, the waitresses
understand the sexual elements they represent and can use this as an advantage.
Besides the gender differences regarding the female versus male staff, the differences between
the females themselves also proved to be distinct. From the focus group, we were able to gain
insight as to why how and why certain groups were formed within the restaurant's female wait
staff. Like majority of cliques, the groups with in Buffalo Wild Wings among women are formed
because of social interests.
Our focus group seemed to agree that the female servers are split between bar servers and
dinning room servers. The interviews showed that dinning room waitresses are more
professional and hard working while the bar staff is often seen sitting with customers,
socializing, eating on the clock or goofing around. Bar server nature is seen as energetic, flirty,
or even “slutty”. Through on-site observation, we noticed that the staff working in the bar kept
up more with their appearance, often having their hair down and full make up on. The dinning
room staff stated that they are harder works because they deal with families that are “needier”
and require more attention. Just like our Person 4 stated, waitresses in the dinning room try to
be more wholesome and would rather appear as motherly than the flirtatious bar waitress.
By the answers from each section of waitresses, the schism is visible. The dining room
waitresses often claimed they "work harder" having to deal with angry parents, larger groups,
and screaming parents, while the bar side often stated it was just "cooler" by the bar area.
Because different types of customers were seated in these areas, different serving
accommodations were necessary to provide the best service for all. Along with the schism seen
at work itself, after work the separation continued. One interviewee stated that after work, if
they were going to get something to eat, the people that waited the bar would go together and
the people that waiting dining might go together. They didn't often intermingle after getting off
the clock. On the other hand, waitresses switch between working bar and dining, so the
separation observed was not seen because of the people working, but where they were
working. This split shows the main separation between waitresses in terms of the culture of the
restaurant.
Conclusion
In trying to discover if the "waitressing job" had its own individual culture, we looked a local
restaurant in town, Buffalo Wild Wings in Valdosta, GA with a research question of: What is the
culture of the female wait staff at Buffalo Wild Wings? With the ideas surrounding the
importance of "good customer service" and waitresses perpetuating this, we sought to
understand the microculture presented at the restaurant location. Through interviews and
observation the research team was able to make several conclusions regarding the traditions
and customs of the female wait staff at Buffalo Wild Wings. Between males and females, the
waitresses were often seen as the caring and wholesome type and well as the sultry and
seductive type. In many cases, they were both, showing the versatility females had to have for
the work location. This schisms noted between the two types of waitresses became more clear
by observing the bar versus the dining area. Through a combination of social stigmas pushed
onto women, particularly in this industry, the waitresses of Buffalo Wild Wings separated
themselves by values all stemming from the culture of the restaurant.