Write the order down:

Clever servers will by themselves or with the urging of management attempt to take your order without writing it down. Perhaps they believe that it will be perceived as magic and they will earn a higher gratuity. If the order is delivered correctly the guest will think it is fortune not talent that prevented a mishap, if the order is delivered incorrectly the guest will be unhappy because the order would have been understood correctly if it had been written down. The situation is further exacerbated when the incorrect order arrives as the entrée. The guest whose order was incorrect has to sit and wait while others in the party are eating. The practice of not writing down the guest order and trying to remember is a policy fraught with disaster and in no way adds to the guest experience. Write the order down