I work at a restaurant so it will be a tad different but still the same idea.
I work nights, anywhere from 3-6 hour shifts, we dont get any breaks but because the longest shift is like 6 hours there's no real need.
It is intimidating at first and chances are if you havent had that sort of job before, you'll feel a bit incompetant for a while but you'll get the hang of it (ie carrying plates, 2 coffees in one hand, 3-4 drinks, dealing with the heat of plates etc etc) pretty quickly and it will become second nature eventually.
If i understood what you said correctly, I too do a bit of everything, in between waitressing wash up, help in the kitchen, take away section and that gets a bit hectic because you are all over the place. but yeah you will get used to it.
Customers are both the best and worst thing about the job. Depends on the type of place you work, you will have a shitload of regulars which you get to know which makes things great. At the same time, you have to be an extremely patient person. Because in hospitality you are going to have to deal with your customer for longer than after they purchase the product, (i realise this is stating the obvious) it makes things extra hard when you get an annoying or rude customer because you actually have to keep going back and trying to please them, its not just, serve them and its over. People expect good and constant service so like yeah be prepared to smile and be cheerful and chatty for your entire shift regardless of your mood (in retail too i realise).
Depending on where you work and whether and how they operate, closes suck majorly if its been a busy night or day in your situation? Clean up is really tedious and a pain in the arse because we are left with maximum 3 people at the end of the night although you DO get used to it and it kind of becomes routine where you just know exactly what needs to be done and you dont think about it and in the case of my work, working close kind of becomes a bit of a social affair (if your boses are cool). In general most people are pretty cool and laid back and in between serving and preparing meals and stuff, everyone interacts quite a bit. On that note, you're a guy so it will be a bit different but everyone i know who works in hospitality has the same opinion as me, but guys (particularly the chefs and kitchen hands etc) who you work with are very open and sexually forward and swear a shitload and make lots of crude jokes and stuff which is cool if you are like me and dont care and half the time join in and laugh along with them, but if you are a girl who gets offended easily, be warned.
I'll probably think of more later and i realise that most of what i said is really obvious but yeah if you want to hear about bad experiences, go into the 'rules for customers' thread and look up any posts by me, there are a few, and you will see the main complaints that i have because i cant be bothered to go into them now. Contrary to that, there is a shitload of good about working in hospitality but you will find them out for yourself.
