In 2008, Milton Sheppard opened the Waiter Training School in the Bronx, N.Y., charging $175 for courses, but the business soon ran out of money. He now operates a clown college in the same space.

Unlike in Europe, where serving is often a career rather than a backup plan, American table-waiting remains a bootstrap business, and some of the biggest skeptics of waiter training courses and schools are seasoned servers themselves.

Waiter trainers claim that an investment in education pays off very quickly for restaurants.

That is what I miss I about college and high school ball so much is that it has no business side to it. It's pure!

I've been working here about three weeks -- since we opened -- and sometimes I am a manager or a waiter. Other times, I'm in the back helping my uncle.

And having performed in high school productions and college productions I was primarily familiar with live performances on stage.