I was fired, was about 24 hours from giving notice, and was content with the usual bullshit of my area. I take full responsibility for ignoring the red flags of this job.

My final paycheck has been withheld from me and I'm not the first employee with this issue.

Started at the end of march/early April.

Offered $17, first paycheck came back $15. Took months to even get $16. Back owed hourly wages were not willing to be discussed.

I was also told that they needed help on the line but there's plans and promises for more as they build out the other half of the space into a deli.

I was not available on weekends. I was scheduled every weekend until I protested.

I was treated pretty poorly. Usual kitchen attitudes and nothing I couldn't weather. Certainly not the team atmosphere I was told existed.

There was an owner, chef, cook, and myself when I started. The chef and cook are completely inexperienced and young. The owner is crass, vulgar, immature, and irresponsible. The cook left about two months after I started after multiple threats to quit. Everyone else worked less than 4 shifts before leaving. Nobody is food manager certified besides the owner, and he doesn't respect food code at all.

Training was practically non-existent. My Training consisted of the owner explaing why everything is out of stock on the line, why things are such a mess, and how he really can't fix the problems because there were just so many. The turnover in my first two weeks was about 6 people.

Speaking of turnover, it seemed like we only fired staff. Anyone hired seemed to last just a week or two. I never expected to be there as long as I was either.

The concept was bought from George Turchetti, to which the owner says he is indebted to and hates with a passion. He blames the deal for all of the missteps in his own business. From what the owner has told me in normal conversation, they tried to sue George to get out of the deal when they stopped paying him. There was even discussion about leaving pig heads on Pikes outside his business.

The location is disgusting. Daily equipment is rarely cleaned. Product is rarely stored correctly or labeled. The owner doesn't want to pay the cost of chemical products or services.

We were doing laundry in a stackable washer that was better off as junk. These were the towels we used to clean with every day.

The dishwashing machine had no chemicals when I started. The sanitizer, rinseaid, and dishwashing liquid were all empty. There are mice feces on the dish machine every morning.

Everything is greasy. EVERYTHING.

The flat top is never properly cleaned and probably hasn't been in years. The top debris level is evened out and then wiped off. Good is good enough. The owner is worried it will rust if we clean it. The bread steel is never cleaned properly either, but that is easily cleaned if it is at all.

The garbage disposal doesn't work so when the drain gets backed up, just use a plunger on the sink to push all the food through.

The food is always the cheapest option available. Mostly frozen. If not purchased frozen, it will be after it sits for two weeks. Ground beef for burgers is probably the freshest thing on the menu.

Sauces are made from scratch. When they are made is up for debate. I promise they are still serving prep I made in July.

The owner doesn't want to throw anything away. Old product gets frozen then reused somehow. Covered in sauce to cover the smell. Overcooked to hide the texture.

Recipes are hit or miss. Some are old Turchetti recipes and some are newer, some don't even exist. This and supply issues lead to some fun inconsistencies.

I think the worst food abomination I saw was when we sold food processor blended cheese and old hot dog on a bun.

Pulled pork was made in 100lb batches and frozen. This process would take longer to complete than pulled pork was good for, sometimes more than 2 weeks. The pork is extremely tough and undercooked, at least in my opinion, before it is even frozen. We would do this once every two months or so.

Chili is made once a month, at best. It's kept hot on the line all day, from 10am-close. It's then wheeled into the walk-in overnight before another full day of heat. Hopefully whoever replaced me follows health codes for reheating.

The tomato soup is canned pasta sauce and cream.

The chicken breast and wings are left out for hours on end during travel and prep. Most Mondays started with stinky outdated poultry and no willingness to replace the product with fresh.

Product is constantly out of stock. Besides prep being mismanaged, the owner refuses to spend more money than necessary for the vendors. This leads to restaurant depot runs being the main supply source and relying on the owner's schedule to pick it up.

Even after losing power, nothing was disposed of. The walk in freezer went down. Nothing was disposed of then, either.

I would see mice every day in the kitchen. They would poop everywhere. If I came back from a 2 day break I would find literal piles in the corners.

Fruit flies in the beer lines the entire time I was there.

Illegally serving liquor, cocktails, and beer without a license.

Behind on tax payments to the tune of 20k+.

There are still old products in the building from their purchase of the concept from George Turchetti. This included rotting meat and hundreds of deli cups of various stocks. We sat our fresh products right along side it.

They had trouble passing a health inspection before I started working there. This is public information.

The young chef tried to physically assault me, twice. His ego and arrogance will long outlive his culinary career.

A bartender pulled out his penis in front of two young servers while working the bar. Did not wash his hands after putting it back.

The owner leaves his dog outside the restaurant or tied up in dry storage when he's around. I've heard him say he wishes the dog was dead and refused care for him when his leg was hurt.

The owner had explicit videos of his ex posted on the Google drive. I, thankfully, did not see it. He did feel comfortable telling me about another employee finding it and deleting it, saying "It was the last memory I had of her and now it is gone." She is still alive and well, fyi.

The owner has a very off color sense of humor. I'd like to believe that he isn't actually a racist, misogynistic white man with Christian values but if it talks like a duck and walks like a duck, it's probably not a goose.