First week on the floor, I’m torn between carrying a pocket cheat sheet for ingredients/allergens and specials or forcing myself to memorize everything - cheat sheet saves me when a guest rapid-fires questions, but I feel slower and less confident; memorizing is faster but I worry about slipping up. Any resources/templates or tricks (mnemonics, flashcards, apps) that helped you lock in menus without freezing at the table?
I kept a laminated 3x5 card sorted by protein with the key allergens and common modifiers, and I’d quiz myself on it walking in, then stash it once the rush started — training wheels you can pop back on if a table rapid-fires.
Co-sign @amelia42 on a tiny reference; I used a color-dot key inside my server book (red nuts, blue dairy, green gluten) and ran a 10-card Anki deck on the bus — ditched the key by week two, like training wheels. The real unlock was memorizing the kitchen’s default swaps for each allergen (GF bun, oil-based dressing, saute in oil), so you can answer fast and offer a fix in the same breath.