Busser

For other uses, see Busser (disambiguation).

"Busser" redirects here. For the French composer, see Henri Büsser.

Busser, busboy or busgirl are a term used in the United States of someone that works in the restaurant and catering industry clearing dirty dishes, taking the dirty dishes to the dishwasher, setting tables, and otherwise assisting the waiting staff (waiter/waitress).

Description

The duty of a busser generally depends on the size of the restaurant to a certain degree. For instance in an upscale and/or larger restaurants, they may bring water and introductory foods like tortilla chips and salsa in Mexican restaurants or bread in an Italian restaurant. The busser may also serve initial drinks like glass of water and orange juice if it is a breakfast. In larger restaurants where there are many restaurant employees with their own duties, a busser may not be required to do much in the kitchen except bringing in used 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 the customers' tables, clearing spilled items, shining cutlery, refilling customers' water and/or orange juice, restocking waiter stations with water, bread and/or orange juice and cleaned dishes like plates, cups, glasses and utensils to be used later. They may also help the server with carrying food out the dining hall. In smaller restaurants where there aren't a lot of employees, they may do additional duties in the kitchen like washing dishes, restocking the kitchen, taking out the trash, etc.

The most popular method of organization is for the busser to be assigned a station, or area of tables, which he or she shall serve. The salary a busser receives varies. Generally they get a low hourly wage($3-$4), but also get a tip out which is usually a percentage of the sales from all the servers for that shift. In a busy restaurant that could be anywhere between $50 to $150 for the shift. Therefore, if a busser works alone he or she could make more than a server, but generally makes a little less. Bussers may also wear little different clothing to differentiate them from the actual servers. For instance in some restaurants they may wear black apron while the server may wear a white apron in order to not confuse the customers in deciding who is server and who is busser.

Equipment

Bus tubs or bus boxes are tubs used to clear dirty tables. In an upscale restaurants where displaying bus tubs or boxes are not aesthetically pleasing, they may use trays like the server. The items cleared from the table are stored in the bus or the tray and taken into the kitchen's dish area to be washed. Bussers use large tubs or trays to lessen the busser's trips to the dishwasher. Restaurants must also have glass racks and such for the busser to unload the dirty dishes.

Famous people who worked as busboys

• Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leader
• Alec Baldwin, actor, was a busboy at Studio 54, a New York City disco.
• Ike Barinholtz, actor and comedian on MADtv.
• Dick Cavett, actor and host of The Dick Cavett Show
• Johnny Depp, actor
• Robert Downey Jr., actor, worked as a busboy at a restaurant in New York City for three years, was "too sweaty" to work as a waiter.
• Richard Feynman, American physicist and Nobel Laureate, worked as a busboy in his aunt's restaurant in New York in the 1930s
• Jake Gyllenhaal actor, was a busboy at the restaurant of a family friend.
• Langston Hughes, 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 Kaufman, worked as a busboy allegedly in case something happened to his acting career.
• Ho Chi Minh, Vietnamese revolutionary and President, was a busboy in Boston at the Parker House Hotel.
• Raymond Orteig, hotelier.
• Al Pacino, actor.
• Jim Root, musician.
• Rivers Cuomo, musician.
• Jon Stewart, comedian, and host of The Daily Show worked as a busboy at a Mexican restaurant. Stewart has in fact named his production company Busboy Productions.
• Jhonen Vasquez, cartoonist
• Wally Wood, cartoonist
• Ian Johnston, actor
• Michael Alig, founder of the Club Kids who started as a busboy at Danceteria in Manhattan, NYC in 1983
• Bree Olson, pornographic actress

Busboys in history and popular culture

• Raw Dog Screaming Press published a Tom Bradley 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 Busboys had success with two songs "The Boys Are Back In Town" and "Cleanin' Up The Town" featured in the movie Ghostbusters.
• Busboys are quite common in the works of a ugly comic artist Corey Lewis.
• Busboys were portrayed as lazy, habitual cannabis users in the film, "Waiting..." (played by comedian Andy Milonakis and Max Kasch).
• An early Seinfeld episode entitled The Busboy was centered around a busboy who was fired due to George Costanza's accidental actions.