How do I create a real experience for guests, not just take orders?

Taking orders is the mechanics. Creating an experience is the art, and you are right that they are different. The good news is that the second grows out of the first once you start paying a different kind of attention. You already have the foundation. Now you add the human part. An experience is made of small things noticed: the guest who seems to be celebrating, the one who is tired and wants to be left in peace, the small preference remembered. It is not about grand gestures. It is about seeing the person, not just the table, and adjusting to them. That attention is what people feel and remember long after the food is gone. On your next shift, pick one table and try to notice one thing about them beyond their order, then act on it. One kind, observant touch. Do that often enough and it becomes how you work. That is the whole craft, built one guest at a time.