The Strange Case of the Disappearing Soviet Waiter

Abstract:This article explores the phenomenon, causes and attempted solutions to the problem of poor restaurant service in the 1960s Soviet Union. It discusses the role of the restaurant in the dining options of the Soviet urban population, the organization of restaurants, the culture of service and the low status of the waitering trade and economic reforms. It also reconstructs the perspective of the Soviet waiters themselves to examine how they justified the behaviours decried by officials and customers. This exploration reveals a paradox between competing ideals of the 'good life': one of technologically driven satisfaction of biological needs, and the other of promotion of a psychologically rounded good life, in which the whole person merited respect. Lacking that respect and compensated with low wages, Soviet waiters responded with indifferent service.