It is Friday night, the kitchen is running thirty minutes behind and your tables are getting restless. What do you do?

What the interviewer is looking for

• This question tests composure under pressure. Stays friendly and organized during a slam, handles mistakes calmly, and asks for help before things fall apart.
• What to bring out: Being honest with guests early, offering bread or a small touch with manager approval, checking with the kitchen calmly, and keeping energy positive.
• Expect a follow-up like: How do you keep your own stress from showing?

Another way it may be asked: Food is taking forever and guests keep asking where their orders are. How do you handle it?

A structure to follow: STAR, with the weight on Action and Result

1. Step 1

   Situation

   One or two sentences: where, when and what was at stake. Pick a real example you were close to.

2. Step 2

   Task

   What you personally were responsible for. Say "I", not only "we", so the composure under pressure you showed is visible.

3. Step 3

   Action

   The two or three things you did and why you chose them over the alternatives. This should be about half your answer.

4. Step 4

   Result

   What changed, in your own measure of it, and what you would do differently. Only use numbers you can stand behind.

This is guidance on shape, not a script. Use your own real experience and facts; never invent details to fill a gap. See the STAR guide and answer frameworks.

Common slips

• Describing what the team did without saying what you did.
• Choosing an example with no clear outcome, or one you cannot answer detailed questions about.
• Ending on the action and skipping the result and what you learned.

How to practise it

Write two bullet points for each STAR letter, then say the answer aloud in about two minutes.

Related questions

• You just got sat with a new table of four. Walk me through the first few minutes.
• A guest tells you they have a serious nut allergy. What do you do from that moment until their food arrives?
• How do you make sure an order with a lot of changes gets entered correctly?
• A guest asks what you recommend and seems unsure. How would you help them decide?
• You have five tables and they all need something at the same moment. How do you decide what to do first?

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