Dear Hiring Manager,
My TIPS alcohol certification and ServSafe Food Handler card sit at the top of my resume for a reason, and at a tavern they matter more than at most rooms I have worked. I am Mateo Alvarez, a Minneapolis server with four years across casual and upscale-casual houses, and I run Toast, Aloha, and Micros without slowing down to think about the screen. Northloop is a bar-forward room, so I want a manager who knows that responsible alcohol service is a judgment call on every pour, not a card I filed once. That is the part of the floor I take seriously, right alongside getting food out hot and reading what a table actually wants.
On a peak shift at Cedar House I serve 90 to 120 covers in a nine-table section while keeping food running on time with the kitchen. I lifted my average check by roughly 14 percent through suggestive selling of appetizers, wine pairings, and dessert, which put me in the top three of a 22-server team for add-on sales. I also cut my average table turn from 62 to 48 minutes by pre-bussing and staying in sync with the bussers and host stand, and I close every night with a balanced drawer in Toast. Before that, at Maple & Vine Bistro, I ran a six-table section and held allergen errors at zero across two years.
If you bring me on, the first thing I would lock down is your menu and bar list, since at Maple & Vine I learned a 140-seat floor's full menu and daily specials inside two weeks and I would do the same here. I also run OpenTable, I have trained four new hires through POS workflow and steps of service, and my nights and weekends are open, which is when a tavern bar runs deepest. I can send references from both Cedar House and Maple & Vine on request, and I am reachable by phone or email to set up a time to meet.