PLAINFIELD, Ill. -- On a busy Saturday afternoon, waitress Audrey Baker raced to clear the dishes from a table at a Bob Evans restaurant here.

For two decades as a Bob Evans waitress, Ms. Baker relied on a busboy to clear syrup-plastered dishes and wipe biscuit crumbs from her tabletops. But with restaurants in a sharp downturn amid the recession, Bob Evans is among a growing number of full-service eateries that are eliminating busboys to cut costs. Instead, servers are primarily responsible for clearing their tables.

That...