Customer Reviews

How to Burn Down the House: The Infamous Waiter and Bartender's Scam Bible by Two Bourbon Street Waiters

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

It seems that the editor wanted to have as many pages in this booklet, so he could call it a book, that he could muster. Large type, small pages, and liberal use of white space still couldn't get it even to 100 pages. The editor even started counting at the title page, so by the time you get to chapter 1, you're already on page 21. I guess the editor took some of the lessons from the authors, about how to rip-off the customers, to heart. I don't read very fast, and spent less than two hours to completely study this novelette.

The authors try and convey a image of rampant rip-offs by a single waiter being possible, but I just don't believe that the scale of their implications are possible. There are a few good scams that may be possible, such as recycling customer checks, but any decent restaurateur has these beat with a good point of sale system, and security cameras.

The references to how bartenders rip-off the customers and store were extremely weak, and probably thrown into the book"let" in order to claim that area is covered. I seriously doubt that the authors ever worked behind the bar, or even interviewed any bartenders before writing this book. For example, they say the bartender should short pour to rip-off his customers. What good is that going to do the bartender? They don't pay for the liquor, the owner does. If anything, over pour so you get larger tips. Duh! Remember, the owner is paying for it, and a customer appreciates and rewards a bartender pouring heavy.

At $12.95 the book is overpriced. It would be appropriately priced around $3.95, provided you always received free shipping. So, for the Amazon rating, if you took $12.95 and divided it by 5 stars, each star is worth $2.59. ($3.95 value / $12.95 cost) * 5 stars) = 1.53 Amazon stars, and we round up to 2 (plus I'm feeling pretty generous right now).

On the positive side, I like the concept of the book, and would like to read one that is more detailed, accurate, and covers more real life situations.

I read this straight thru and laughed time and time again. This is one of the funniest most irreverent books i have ever read. Not only is it hilarious, but it is a real education. I never guessed that the waiters and bartenders had such a vast and ingenius repertoire of crime. I haved showed it to people in the business and just avid diners and they have all raised an eyebrow but also cracked a smile. There is a lot of unexpected depth here. If the waiters are this developed, what about everyone else?! Five stars easy.

A must read for every restaurant manager/owner and even for restaurant customers. After reading the various ways that servers can line their pockets above and beyond tips, it makes you a much more aware and less likey to get taken. The lengths they would go to pull a scam and their outright audacity were almost amusing, as long as you're not the one getting ripped off.

Wow! Having worked as a waiter and bartender all over the country, through college and even supplementing my income as a struggling entrepreneur, I am so happy to find a book, at last, that truly does this rich environment and unique subculture justice.
There have been a few somewhat amusing books, like "Kitchen Confidential", written by a tongue and cheek chef, that have made our stomachs turn and hair stand up, but the truth is, to really cut the meat right to the funny bone, the stories and the tricks needs to be told by the workers themselves. And further by workers that have truly mingled in the trenches and gotten their feet wet so to speak. Anything less is a euphamism and can only be considered goose-knecking and second hand info.
The previous review and others seem to condemn these guys as promoting theft, but I think they miss the point entirely. It is only from this predatory and unscrupulous perspective, that one gets the clearest picture of really the most interesting, the funniest, and a truly ingenius aspect of the restaurant and bar experience that no one outside knows about and no one inside has ever had the backbone to write about.
I say hats off to DeGlinkta and Francis for sticking their necks out and delivering a great, gut-busting, and extremely useful read. Surely they must have known how the moralizing majority would react. If they never write another book (and I hope that's not the case)they have written a classic.

This book is a must for any restaurant manager who ever wondered why there is less money in the till than he/she thought there should be. It is also for any restaurant patron who upon driving home from the restaurant thought that the check amount was much higher than he/she was expecting but was too busy conversing with a friend to examine the check in detail.

The authors explain that every scam depends on the customer paying in cash. No cash, no scam. It almost makes you want to put up a sign that says, "Only Credit Cards Accepted. No Cash."

Francis and Deglinkta explain each scam in a style that is easy to read and makes you laugh. However, you realize that this is not a laughing matter when you read how the enterprising waiter increases his income at your expense.

I highly recommend this book for every restuarant manager who wants to ensure the cash from the restuarant's sales remain in the till and every restaurant patron who wants to ensure the waiter's pockets aren't filled with his/her money.
Hans Steiniger
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How to Burn Down the House: The Infamous Waiter and Bartender's Scam Bible by Two Bourbon Street Waiters

This is a quick and funny read. Except for the bartender scams, I find it hard to believe that these kind of shenanigans go on in a restaurant; maybe because I am an honest, goody-two-shoes, and I wouldn't have the chutzpah to do these kind of things. As one reviewer notes, these scams are a little outdated, but possible I think in a poorly run restaurant with lax controls.

But as former bartender, I can say the bartender scams are entirely plausible and in fact go on constantly almost everywhere. Also stealing cases of shrimp and steak out the back door also goes on, but that's more outright theft than a scam.

I do think this is a worthwhile and enjoyable book for restaurant owners and managers to read. If nothing else, it reminds you keep your guard up, and for what.

This book offers good tips for any restaurant owner, especially an absent one. The amount stolen from a business, whether it's goods or time, grows exponentially to the number of hours an owner is absent. This book doesn't cover every way to prevent losses, but most of the sneaky ways profits can disappear.

I own a 400+ seat restaurant that stays open 24/7. The biggest threat to my business is theft by my employees. Over the years I have seen a variety of schemes and techniques by which waitstaff attempt to pad their pockets and empty mine. This book covers tactics that will work in a mismanaged and outdated restaurant. If a restaurant relies on the waitstaff to not only order food, but also prepare it at food stations and pay for the customers' checks without the presence of a cashier, then expect rampant theft.

This book reveals tactics that will not work in a restaurant that has a computer system for ordering food and a separate cashier. At the end of the shift, a point of sale computer system will easily report to management what checks are open and what checks have been paid. Even during the shift, the computer will show what tables are open with customers eating, and what tables are closed and settled. So the book's tactic of using an old check on a new table of customers won't work in restaurants with computers.

The "wagonwheel" concept in this book intrigued me. The idea of splitting a check into multiple checks and moving the same food item from check to check after printing each new split ticket works nicely, but the waiter needs the help of a bartender or cook to complete the theft. The waiter alone cannot steal with the presence of a separate cashier and computer system. And frankly, if a waiter has the help of a cook and a bartender, then theft is very easy. There is no need for a scheme to rob the store, nor this book to tell how it's done.

I was also disappointed with the style of the book. I would have preferred actual stories of theft as opposed to simple step by step methodology.

I was looking forward to reading this book. I am constantly hoping to plug the holes in my restaurant's register. This book was of NO help. A point of sale computer system does more than enough to protect the laziest of managers and restaurant owners from theft. The schemes and tactics in this book are outdated.

This book is revolutionary. Eye opening insight to the world of restaurants and the staff that "run" them. It truly is one of the best books that I have ever read, and hysterical. If you have ever worked in the industry, it is a MUST READ!!!

Lifting the Lid on Why Restaurants Fail So Often
Although restaurant technology has made some these scams less predictable they are still in play. I have discovered these scams in mid stream in my own restaurants but it is always late in the game. The "Floor Dick" description, or manager on duty, is a perfect portrayal of an individual whom is clueless to the many scams and schemes being used under his or her own nose. With the average restaurant profit being under 3.5% (if you serve any alcohol it is actually less)you can see why these scams can "Burn Down the House." Restaurant customers as well as restaurant employees can learn a lot from this book as well as laugh.