Busboy
Encyclopedia
Busser, busboy and busgirl are terms used in the United States for someone who works in the restaurant
and catering
industry clearing tables, taking dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables and otherwise assisting the waiting staff.
in Mexican
restaurants or bread
in an Italian restaurant. The busser may also serve initial drinks like water and orange juice
. In large restaurants with many employees with specific duties, a busser may not be required to do much in the kitchen
except bring in dirty dishes and items from the dining hall. On the other hand, they are generally responsible for all assistant activities in the dining hall—like resetting tables, clearing dirty dishes from tables, clearing spilled items, shining cutlery
, refilling water and juice glasses, restocking waiter stations with water, bread, or juice. They may also restock dinnerware—clean plates, cups, glasses and utensils. They may also help the server carry food to customers. In small restaurants with few employees, they may have additional duties, like washing dishes, restocking the kitchen, taking out the trash, etc. The most popular organizational method assigns each busser to a station, or area of tables.
Bussers receive varying salaries. Generally they get a low hourly wage (often the minimum wage), but also earn tips—usually a percentage of tips left to the servers for that shift. (If they are a trainee, often they receive no tips for around three days. Trainers typically take those tips as their "Training Wage." In a busy restaurant that might be between $10 to $250 for a shift. Therefore, a busser who works alone can make more than a server, but generally makes a little less. Bussers may also wear slightly different clothing to differentiate them from servers. For instance, they may wear a black apron
while the server wears a white apron.
s like the server. They store cleared items in the bus box or tray and take to the kitchen's dish washing area. Bussers often use larger tubs or trays to lessen the number of trips. Restaurants must also have glass racks and such for the busser to unload the dirty dishes.
Despite this, many servers choose to give a "standard" tip out. In other words, they will give this amount to any busser, and for every shift. The amount that they give out has no relationship to the quality of their shift. A common term for this "standard" tip out is "capping out". For example if a server always gives out a five dollar tip, they are said to be "capping out" at five dollars. The term "capping out" has become increasingly popular among bussers in North American restaurants.
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
and catering
Catering
Catering is the business of providing foodservice at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, public house , or other location.-Mobile catering:A mobile caterer serves food directly from a vehicle or cart that is designed for the purpose...
industry clearing tables, taking dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables and otherwise assisting the waiting staff.
Description
A busser's duties generally depend on the size of the restaurant. In upscale or larger restaurants, they may bring water and introductory foods, like tortilla chips and salsaSalsa (sauce)
Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...
in Mexican
Mexican cuisine
Mexican cuisine, a style of food that originates in Mexico, is known for its varied flavors, colourful decoration and variety of spices and ingredients, most of which are native to the country. The cuisine of Mexico has evolved through thousands of years of blending indigenous cultures, with later...
restaurants or bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
in an Italian restaurant. The busser may also serve initial drinks like water and orange juice
Orange juice
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate...
. In large restaurants with many employees with specific duties, a busser may not be required to do much in the kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
except bring in dirty dishes and items from the dining hall. On the other hand, they are generally responsible for all assistant activities in the dining hall—like resetting tables, clearing dirty dishes from tables, clearing spilled items, shining cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
, refilling water and juice glasses, restocking waiter stations with water, bread, or juice. They may also restock dinnerware—clean plates, cups, glasses and utensils. They may also help the server carry food to customers. In small restaurants with few employees, they may have additional duties, like washing dishes, restocking the kitchen, taking out the trash, etc. The most popular organizational method assigns each busser to a station, or area of tables.
Bussers receive varying salaries. Generally they get a low hourly wage (often the minimum wage), but also earn tips—usually a percentage of tips left to the servers for that shift. (If they are a trainee, often they receive no tips for around three days. Trainers typically take those tips as their "Training Wage." In a busy restaurant that might be between $10 to $250 for a shift. Therefore, a busser who works alone can make more than a server, but generally makes a little less. Bussers may also wear slightly different clothing to differentiate them from servers. For instance, they may wear a black apron
Apron
An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...
while the server wears a white apron.
Equipment
Bussers typically clear dirty dishes into bus tubs or bus boxes. In upscale restaurants that want to avoid the cafeteria look of bus tubs or boxes, bussers may use trayTray
A tray is a shallow platform designed for carrying things. It is larger than a salver, a diminutive version commonly used for lighter and smaller servings, and it can be fashioned from numerous materials, including silver, brass, sheet iron, wood, melamine, and papier-mâché...
s like the server. They store cleared items in the bus box or tray and take to the kitchen's dish washing area. Bussers often use larger tubs or trays to lessen the number of trips. Restaurants must also have glass racks and such for the busser to unload the dirty dishes.
Famous people who worked as busboys/busgirls
- Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader
- Alec BaldwinAlec BaldwinAlexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
, actor, was a busboy at Studio 54Studio 54Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
, a New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
disco. - Ike BarinholtzIke BarinholtzIsaac "Ike" Barinholtz is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. Barinholtz is most notable for his membership in the recurring cast of comedians on sketch comedy series MADtv from 2002-2007.-Early life:...
, actor and comedian on MADtvMADtvMADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
. - Dick CavettDick CavettRichard Alva "Dick" Cavett is a former American television talk show host known for his conversational style and in-depth discussion of issues...
, actor and host of The Dick Cavett ShowThe Dick Cavett ShowThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including:* ABC daytime ... - Johnny DeppJohnny DeppJohn Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, actor - Robert Downey Jr.Robert Downey Jr.Robert John Downey, Jr. is an American actor. Downey made his screen debut in 1970 at the age of five when he appeared in his father's film Pound, and has worked consistently in film and television ever since. During the 1980s he had roles in a series of coming of age films associated with the...
, actor, worked as a busboy at a restaurant in New York City for three years, was "too sweaty" to work as a waiter. - Richard FeynmanRichard FeynmanRichard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
, American physicist and Nobel Laureate, worked as a busboy in his aunt's restaurant in New York in the 1930s - Jake GyllenhaalJake GyllenhaalJacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
actor, was a busboy at the restaurant of a family friend. - Langston HughesLangston HughesJames Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, writer & poet; dubbed the "busboy poet" by journalists after a famed poet read his work on a restaurant table and decided to publish his first compilation. - Andy KaufmanAndy KaufmanAndrew Geoffrey "Andy" Kaufman was an American entertainer, actor and performance artist. While often referred to as a comedian, Kaufman did not consider himself one...
, worked as a busboy allegedly in case something happened to his acting career. - Ho Chi MinhHo Chi MinhHồ Chí Minh , born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam...
, VietnamVietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese revolutionaryRevolutionaryA revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
and PresidentPresidentA president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
, was a busboy in Boston at the Parker House Hotel. - Raymond OrteigRaymond OrteigRaymond Orteig was the New York City hotel owner who offered the Orteig Prize for the first non-stop transatlantic flight between New York and Paris....
, hotelier. - Al PacinoAl PacinoAlfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
, actor. - Jim RootJim RootJames Donald "Jim" Root , also known by his number #4, is an American musician known for being the rhythm/lead guitarist of the heavy metal band, Slipknot, and the lead guitarist for rock band, Stone Sour...
, musician. - Huey Morgan, musician.
- Rivers CuomoRivers CuomoRivers Cuomo is an American musician, best known as the lead singer, lead guitarist, and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an Ashram in Connecticut, Cuomo moved to Los Angeles at age 19, where he participated in a number of rock bands before founding Weezer in 1992...
, musician. - Jon StewartJon StewartJon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
, comedian, and host of The Daily Show worked as a busboy at a Mexican restaurant. Stewart has in fact named his production company Busboy ProductionsBusboy ProductionsBusboy Productions is a production company that was launched by Jon Stewart in the mid-1990s when he was known for hosting The Jon Stewart Show on MTV.In addition to Stewart, executive Chris McShane is in charge of development and production. -Name:...
. - Jhonen VasquezJhonen VasquezJhonen Vasquez , also known as Chancre Scolex or simply Mr. Scolex, is an American comic book writer, cartoonist and music video director...
, cartoonist - Wally WoodWally WoodWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
, cartoonist - Ian JohnstonIan JohnstonIan Johnston was one of the true pioneers of reproductive medicine in Australia. He was a primary contributor to the development of human IVF in Melbourne, Australia...
, actor - Zach GalifianakisZach GalifianakisZachary Knight "Zach" Galifianakis is an American stand-up comedian and actor known for his numerous film and television appearances including his own Comedy Central Presents special...
, actor and comedian - Michael AligMichael AligMichael Alig is the co-founding member of the Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by long time best friend James St. James and Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, founder of the Club Kids who started as a busboy at Danceteria in Manhattan, NYC in 1983 - Bree OlsonBree OlsonRachel Marie Oberlin , known by the stage name of Bree Olson, is an American pornographic actress and Penthouse Pet.-Early life:...
, pornographic actress
Busboys in history and popular culture
- Raw Dog Screaming Press published a Tom BradleyTom Bradley (author)Tom Bradley is an American novelist, essayist and writer of short stories. He is the author of The Sam Edwine Pentateuch, a five-book series, various volumes of which have been nominated for the Editor's Book Award, the New York University Bobst Prize, and the AWP Award Series in the Novel...
novel entitled Lemur, about a would-be serial killing busboy. - The Coconut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts was started accidentally when a busboy lit a match.
- A band called The BusboysThe BusboysThe BusBoys are a musical group known for playing rock 'n' roll with a bar band, boogie woogie flavor.-Overview:Formed in Los Angeles in the late 1970s, the original lineup featured brothers Brian O'Neal and Kevin O'Neal , Gus Louderman , Mike Jones , Vic Johnson , and Steve Felix...
had success with two songs "The Boys Are Back In Town" and "Cleanin' Up The Town" featured in the movie GhostbustersGhostbustersGhostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
. - Busboys are quite common in the works of comic artist Corey LewisCorey LewisCorey Sutherland Lewis is an American comic book creator. He is primarily known as the creator of Sharknife, published by Oni Press. Other works include PENG for Oni, and providing back-up comic strips for the Darkstalkers and Street Fighter comics for UDON...
. - Busboys were portrayed as lazy, habitual cannabisCannabisCannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
users in the film, Waiting... (played by comedian Andy MilonakisAndy MilonakisAndrew Michael "Andy" Milonakis is an American actor, writer, rapper, and comedian of Greek descent best known for creating and starring in The Andy Milonakis Show on MTV and MTV2.-Life and career:...
and Max KaschMax KaschJoseph Maxwell "Max" Kasch is an American film and television actor. He is the brother to fellow actors Cody Kasch and Dylan Kasch. Max appeared in the 2003 film, Holes as Zig-zag...
). - An early SeinfeldSeinfeldSeinfeld is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, lasting nine seasons, and is now in syndication. It was created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld, the latter starring as a fictionalized version of himself...
episode entitled "The BusboyThe Busboy"The Busboy" was the seventeenth episode of Seinfeld to air, despite being the eighth produced. The episode was the 12th and final episode of the show's second season. It aired on June 26, 1991.-Plot:...
" was centered around a busboy who was fired due to George CostanzaGeorge CostanzaGeorge Louis Costanza is a character in the American television sitcom Seinfeld , played by Jason Alexander. He has variously been described as a "short, stocky, slow-witted, bald man" , "Lord of the Idiots" , and as "the greatest sitcom character of all time"...
's accidental actions. - In his stand up special Chris Rock: Bigger and Blacker, comedianComedianA comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
Chris RockChris RockChristopher Julius "Chris" Rock III is an American comedian, actor, screenwriter, television producer, film producer and director. He was voted in the US as the 5th greatest stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central...
claims that no white person would ever trade places with him, even though he's rich. As he puts it, "There's a white, one-legged busboy in here right now that won't change places with my black ass. He's going, "No, man, l don't wanna switch. I wanna ride this white thing out. See where it takes me."" Chris Rock also comments on busboys in his song Busboys, McDonald's And Minimum Wage that appears on his comedy albumComedy albumA comedy album is an audio recording of comedic material from a comedian or group of comedians, usually performed either live or in a studio. Comedy albums may feature skits, humorous songs, and/or live recording of stand-up comedy performances, but the most common type of comedy albums are stand...
Born SuspectBorn SuspectBorn Suspect is the first comedy album by Chris Rock, recorded in 1991 in Atlanta, Georgia.-Tracks:All tracks by Chris Rock, except where noted.# "Intro" – 0:28# "The South" – 0:46# "Weaves/Color Contacts" – 3:59# "Crack Mayor" – 4:56...
.
Power Bussing
The term "power bussing" refers to three or more bussers simultaneously cleaning one section of a restaurant. The term is gaining popularity in current restaurant establishments across North AmericaReceiving their tips
Many restaurants require their servers to "tip out" the busser responsible for the servers section of the restaurant. It is considered common courtesy to tip out the busser, and failure to do so will be frowned down upon. The amount that a busser receives from their server should be related to how much money the server made, as well as the effort the busser made during the night.Despite this, many servers choose to give a "standard" tip out. In other words, they will give this amount to any busser, and for every shift. The amount that they give out has no relationship to the quality of their shift. A common term for this "standard" tip out is "capping out". For example if a server always gives out a five dollar tip, they are said to be "capping out" at five dollars. The term "capping out" has become increasingly popular among bussers in North American restaurants.