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waitressing Nirvana
YAY!
I just finished the Diner Dash last night and boy, it WAS a marathon, just like Flo said!
I thought I'd throw in my personal strategies. Sorry, but this is a really over-written post, and I haven't got the brains to edit it down.
On the last level of the fifth restaurant, I felt like the two most important things are the podium and the choice of who you seat together.
First off, you want to be at the podium ALL the time. Obviously, you can't be there all the time, but that's the attitude you want. To that end, I always tried to seat patrons in groups of four tables, ending up at the lower Left hand corner. For instance, 2 groups on the bar, and 2 groups on the left side tables, making one group of four, and 2 groups along the bottom edge, and 2 on the right side, making a second group of four. (I wasn't able to do it by seating 12 at a time, as I could never get matching groups, so I couldn't sync the groups up.) By seating patrons that way, you can run down an aisle and hit 4 tables quickly and end up back at the podium to spread a little love. (Going to the podium will NOT break a chain!) Also, this way, the 2 groups of four are near one another, which helps for the all important "Check chain". I was able to ALWAYS deliver all checks in one chain. (remember, don't check and pick up dishes, just drop the check!) The precise placement will depend on the sizes of the groups, but always keep an eye on building little "aisles" so you can hit 4 tables at a time QUICKLY!
I'm not 100% sure, but i think you at least maintain the love of the people on line by standing at the podium, even if you don't see that heart on the podium. It's critical that your patrons have a LOT of love when you seat them, because they will be waiting a lot, so you can always get four-chains, or six-chains, or 8-chains (or 12-chains, if you're erinreid!)
You should go for 2 groups of 4 at all times. Sometimes, though, I had to sacrifice and seat SIX people instead of 8 because I always sat like groups of 4 or 2. In fact, I even did rounds of just ONE group of four because I didn't want to seat dissimilar groups. By seating like groups, you will have an easier time pickup up 4 orders, dropping 4 foods, etc. By syncing the 2 groups, you can easily get 8-chains.
BUT remember, you have to KEEP going back to that podium, or you'll lose customers while serving 8 at a time! Watch the seated diners and let them sit around a while, as long as they have a couple of hearts when they get their check, you're ok. After you get them eating, you should usually be able to stand at the podium until you get TWO podium hearts, which should make the waiting customers very happy.
Also, be careful what types you have in the diner at once. Businesswomen should take precedence in seating, since they're probably least patient, but only seat them with Young Girls or Hotshots, or you'll wind up with one group too fast and one too slow. Seniors and College Boys eat at a similar rate, (though COllege boys seem to order faster) If you don't keep the standees happy, you'll be tempted to seat impatient business women with impatient college students- DISASTER!
From reading around, there are no hard and fast rules, these are just the concepts I used and I won with about a $51,000 score on the final round. And be aware, you don't have to be a perfect machine to win this level, you CAN make a little mistake here and there and still win, so don't get discouraged. If you only seat 4 once in a while, it's fine, if you lose a group or 2, you can still win!
And yes, ignore the snacks! I did occasssionally use the drinks when I was messing up and let a table get too unhappy, but it's hardly ever worth the time, and it's NEVER worth breaking a chain over!
REMEMBER:
Keep your standees happy!
Try to keep your diners in like groups!
Keep your diners close to each other!
Sync your 4-groups to build 8-chains or even 12-chains!
Don't rush, let the diners spend their time seated while you...
KEEP YOUR STANDEES HAPPY!
Thanks everyone who posted, i'd have given up in Restaurant 3 if not for y'all! And thanks to the guys at gamelab and playfirst!
Steph
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