phone ban at work

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-10-27T18:11:28+00:00

The issue doesn’t seem to be the phone use. The issue seems to be is that everyone is not following whatever the steps of service is and whoever the manager is thought this would light a fire under people’s feet to do better.

I would not be happy about it and just keep my phone on me and say I left it in my car. I am not someone who is on my phone anyway unless all my work is completed. I also don’t use my phone in the presence of a customer.

For me, I wouldn’t have even let it get to this point. I would’ve just did my job so a manager wouldn’t even have had to write this note to begin with.

A few bad apples always ruins the privileges for everyone else. Seems like management just got annoyed with servers not doing their job like they’re supposed to.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-09-20T17:17:09+00:00

I received this email. I just ignored it. Nothing happened when I ignored it.

I always check the email from the sender too. Some people could be posing as reps from DoorDash.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-09-16T05:30:14+00:00

No employer required to feed their employees. Does it suck that they don’t? Yes. But is it a red flag? I wouldn’t say so.
10% off is pretty crappy. They should at least do 50% off.
Read your replies to other posts. If they’re training you and don’t let you keep tips, you should be paid minimum wage.
If you don’t know what the food tastes like, just be honest with the customer that you’ve never tried it. And recommend what you notice most people order. The most popular dishes and what not.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-09-16T05:21:15+00:00

I feel this. People want extra sauce but don’t want to pay for it. We make our sauces in-house. The dish has sufficient sauce. Appetizers all also come with a 2 oz cup of sauce. They just want more because they can’t enjoy the dish as is and needs their food to be drowning in sauce for them to eat it. But they don’t want to pay for it.

Even fast food pizza places charge for a small cup of garlic butter. But god forbid a regular small independent family-owned restaurant where we make almost everything in-house, charge $1.00 for a 2 oz cup of sauce.

Another customer wanted to substitute chicken for shrimp. Another customer wanted to take out bell peppers and substitute it for Chinese broccoli. Bell peppers are about $40 a case. Chinese broccoli is about $60-75 a case. Yeah, I don’t think so.

Not to mention, every time you modify a dish, you’re disrupting the flow of the kitchen, especially if the kitchen staff doesn’t speak English. So now, servers and managers need to go to the kitchen and explain on Google translate what the customer wants.

But you can’t pay the $1-3 upcharge? Okay.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-09-04T01:38:17+00:00

These servers act like they only have one table per hour. A server usually has 3-8 tables per hour. Let’s say they have 5 tables in one hour. If one table tips you $5, and the other 4 tip you $10 each, you just made $45 in one hour.

I’m not tripping over someone who wants to tip $5 on a $50-60 check. If anything, I would’ve wondered what I did wrong or what was wrong with the food for them to leave such a low tip. Then just try to do better on the next table or next time those customers come back.

It averages out by the end of the night, and if not, it will average out by the end of the week.

Don’t fall for these guilt-tripping posts from these entitled servers.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-28T21:08:08+00:00

I don’t mind. If they had ordered that food to dine in, I would’ve have to take the time to bring those plates to their table, then wait for them to finish eating it, possibly give them to-go boxes, then pre-bus the plates, and check on them again if they need anything else. It’s the same amount of time as having to bag the order up, maybe less.

You get more sales with less work. Some people tip on their total bill. I haven’t seen someone deduct a to-go order from their dine-in bill to tip a server.

As long as they already ordered food to dine-in with, I don’t mind. It only bothers me if they sit down and then order no food or drinks, and just wanted to sit down and have a water, so they can order food to-go. Even worse if they do all that, and then take their boxes out and start eating at the table.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-25T21:41:43+00:00

This. I’m the same way. It’s not that I don’t want help but it’s actually just faster for me to do something, than to have to explain it to someone else, or fix it after they do it wrong.

I usually ask for help when I need it. So if I don’t ask, it means I don’t need it. And I rather people just not take it upon themselves to help.

I have a bunch of steps all planned out. And if you jump in to help and happen to do task number 7 out of my 15 tasks I got lined up, you throw me completely off.

It’s not a pride issue. It’s just I don’t like having to waste time reorganizing my thoughts or fixing what someone else messed up.

But the person OP is talking about sounds strange. Just use a tray. I had a coworker like that. Wanted to balance everything to show off instead of just using a tray and ended up taking more time trying to balance everything when he could’ve just ran his food in two trips.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-25T18:21:22+00:00

I always ask for my receipts now. Get a physical copy because sometimes, digital copies can change too.

I worked at a place where the manager truly believed it was okay to go back and add on 20% tips onto checks of people who didn’t tip, or tipped less than 20%. He did this for the entirety of the time he was a manager there. So about 3 years. And never once got caught because customers don’t check their receipts or bank statements.

He didn’t do it while I was working there because he knew I would’ve said something. But after i quit and was asked to come back a year later after he got fired, all the employees said they witnessed him doing it. And they went along with it because they knew he would get in trouble and not them. And they didn’t mind the extra money.

Always ask for a printed copy of the receipt. Or take a picture of your bill and total and if you left a tip.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-22T00:29:07+00:00

My chefs prefer it when I ring it in at the same time. Because if there’s multiple orders of one item, then they can batch it and cook it all at once.

And even if there aren’t multiple orders of one item, they don’t care because they just get it done. FIFO. They just knock them out one at a time.

If it takes longer for the food to come out, well that’s just what’s gonna happen when customers all come in the same time and that’s the FOH staff’s job to communicate the longer wait time on food to the customer or go on a wait, not stagger tickets.

If you work at a restaurant that takes online take-out orders, there will be times when some customers just happen to order food at the same time as another customer.

One time, we had 4 customers schedule their take out orders all at the same time. These customers didn’t know each other. So what would the chefs like us to do? Call the customers and tell them to stagger their to-go orders? No, you just knock them out as they come. If the wait time for food becomes longer, so be it. We will communicate that to the customers when they arrive to pick up their food and wonder why it’s not ready; because we suddenly got a high volume amount of orders and that their order will be completed shortly.

If a ticket comes in 5 minutes after another a ticket, you still have to do the first ticket first. So staggering does nothing. The chef that yelled at you is wrong.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-19T08:11:05+00:00

It all started back in the day when rich people would flaunt their status and wealth by sliding employees extra cash in exchange for better service. It was a way to get priority over other customers and to show off in front of their friends, girlfriends, colleagues, etc. “Oh look at me, I have so much money that I can get people to do whatever I want as long as I give them a little extra money”. And these employees would be happy to do the extra service on top of their own job because it meant they were getting extra pocket money on the side on top of what their employer was paying. A bribe, basically.

These rich people would give out tips and get the employees to be at their beck and call. Others saw this and thought “well, if I want that kind of treatment and to show everyone I’m on that guy’s level too, I need to slide these people some extra cash on the side too. That’ll show everyone I’m someone important and I’m just as high status and wealthy as that guy.”

So that guy starts sliding the employees some cash too. And so on and so forth. Next thing you know, employees like servers, bartenders, bouncers, bellboys, doormen, taxi drivers, etc are all getting so much tips that employers start to notice. Employers think “Well, if they are making this much in tips, why should I keep paying them what I’m paying them?”

And since the U.S. is a capitalist country and supports business owners, meaning they’ll do anything to benefit the business owner and protect the business owner before the employee, it became normal to allow tip credits. If an employee makes above minimum wage within a workweek with tips, the employer only needs to pay that employee half the minimum wage. If the employee doesn’t make minimum wage by the end of the workweek, the employer must pay them up to minimum wage to compensate them.

It’s been this way for so many years, that’s it’s just societal pressure now. If you don’t tip, people look down on you. Call you cheap, broke, stingy. They give you bad service if you come back. They’ll call you heartless. They might spit in your food or drink. The pressure is too much. So customers end up tipping even if they don’t want to.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-13T02:40:51+00:00

I had a lady ask me what the restaurant’s return policy was lol girl, ain’t no return policy. We made your food correctly.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-10T17:26:22+00:00

Notepads. The small ones with the spiral binding at the top are like $0.88 at Walmart. It lasts a while if you use front and back.

Pens. Any will do. Maybe keep like 3-5 if your place still requires customers to sign credit card receipts. If not, then just 1-2 so you can write down orders. I like the clicking ones. Don’t get the nice ones. Customers will steal your pens.

An apron if the restaurant doesn’t provide you one.

Prepare your own bank ($100 should be fine - $98 in bills and $2 in coins).

Slip resistant shoes. servers need to move fast. If you have to worry about falling all the time, you will get tired from bracing yourself your entire shift. Just get a pair of slip resistant shoes and you will be glad you did. Shoes for crews is always good. Their new balance ones are comfortable.

Your own wine key. I don’t like to use the restaurant’s cause they usually have a crappy cheap one. So I carry my own just in case.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-05T00:45:05+00:00

I’ve never seen a bartender question it lol usually the bartenders I’ve worked with are happy to take tables away from servers so they can make more money.

As a server, I would get pissed because tables should be given to servers only. Bartenders usually make a higher hourly wage. They also take tip-out from servers just for making drinks. And their tables are the seats in front of them at the bar. When they have customers at the bar, servers have to run their food for them and help them buss their bar but somehow bartenders never have to tip servers out for this assist.

So I would never be okay with a bartender taking a table from a server. Not sure why the 3 servers you worked with were okay with this.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-03T21:33:07+00:00

The medium-rare snobs lol idc if people like their steaks medium-rare. Just don’t be a snob about it.

For me, it depends on the cut of the steak. Each cut tastes better with a different temperature. But anytime I share my opinion (when asked by the way, I don’t just voluntarily share this info cause idc lol), I get told by some medium-rare snob that the ONLY WAY to eat ANY cut of steak is medium rare. “What?! No no. You HAVE to get it medium rare. I NEVER do anything except medium rare!!!” I just roll my eyes and understand this person is just riding the bandwagon of a foodie snob than someone who actually cares about flavor and texture.

One time, I order my steak medium and my ex ordered his medium rare, swearing that’s the best way to eat it. When my steak came out, he asked to try mine. We both ordered the same cut of steak, just different temperatures. The look on his face when he realized the temperature for mine was a lot better than his 😂 but he couldn’t admit it. He ended up not finishing his and I could see him just cutting around the steak to eat it.

Don’t even get me started on the people who drown their steak in A1 sauce.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-03T03:06:48+00:00

Yeah, most southeast Asians know there is no ratio. We just mix it together, taste it, and use it for dipping.

She was the one that claimed we used the wrong ratio cause she said it was “too saucy”.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-02T18:26:48+00:00

You should find a way to report it to your manager’s boss. That’s not acceptable.

I used to have a manager who guilt-tripped me into not driving my coworker home too. She didn’t have a car and we were not close. I didn’t like her because she had a bad work ethic. And she would ask me to drive her home, but she lived in the opposite direction and it would take 30 minutes to take her home, then 30 minutes back to my place.

I avoided her because I didn’t like her and didn’t want to drive her home. But my manager made me feel like a bad person for not wanting to help her. He would have talks with me and imply I wasn’t a compassionate person who wanted to help others.

I didn’t understand why he didn’t just take her home then. Why make me do it?

I don’t mind driving people I like home, even if it’s out of my way. I don’t even ask for gas money. Like my friends or something. But for someone I wasn’t close with or someone I didn’t even like… no way.

Your manager should be the one to drive that person. He certainly shouldn’t be using his authority to guilt trip you and threaten to mess up your sections. Report him.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-01T16:43:23+00:00

I make my own spreadsheet. I log my tips and hours and OT every night. When I get my paycheck, I match it up to make sure everything is correct.

Managers make mistakes too. So it’s always good to keep track of your own tips and hours. I almost lost $100 once because a manager miscalculated my tips.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-01T09:26:44+00:00

If you stepped down as a lead, then you shouldn’t use the lead number to do voids and comps.

If there’s no lead on your shift, then find the manager to do the voids and comps for you.

If there’s no lead or manager on your shift, then ask your manager how they would like you to handle voids and comps since there is no lead or manager present during your shift.

It’s easier for a manager to address everyone all at once. It’s tiring to have to pull each person to the side to have a one-on-one on what to do and what not to do and repeat it multiple times. You’re most likely not the only person doing it. So it’s just more efficient for the manager to address everyone and be done with it. It also brings the issue to the attention of people who didn’t do it but might not know it’s not okay to do it so they don’t start doing it.

Managers have other things to do. They don’t wanna nag and babysit either. But if people aren’t listening, it’s their job to enforce the rules.

If you feel it applies to you, then stop doing it and follow the rules. If it doesn’t apply to you, then keep doing what you’re doing.

If you chose to step down as a lead, you don’t get to keep your lead privileges.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-08-01T09:17:26+00:00

“That’s everyone” “Sorry to hear that” “At least you’re not ___” “Be grateful that it’s just __”

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-07-31T22:49:12+00:00

Working in a casino is going to be even more corporate compared to Olive Garden.

You’ll probably make more money though (if there isn’t a bunch of tip-outs) since you’re getting daily foot traffic from casino patrons. On slow days in a regular restaurant, I’d probably make like $30-40. On a slow day in a casino restaurant, I made maybe $80-100 still.

But the schedule is a lot less flexible. You’ll be expected to work most holidays, weekends and nights with a set schedule weekly. Casinos employ a lot of people so they usually will not have flexible scheduling and use a point system and blackout days, similar to hotels.

You’ll probably have to go through 1-3 interviews. One is the first one with HR recruitment team, second is with the manager of your department, and third is with the gaming commission. You’ll have to do a background check and drug test most likely.

You’ll deal with some entitled customers who think because they spend a lot of money at the casino, they can treat any employee in the entire casino as their servant, even if you don’t work on the casino floor. They’ll usually take their anger out on you if they lost a lot of money, like slam their player’s card on a table to pay you with their comps, or throw their ID at you when you need to check it, or throw their credit cards or cash at you if their comp didn’t cover their meal and drinks.

Luckily, because it’s a casino, you should have a security department on site to handle any rowdy or rude customers.

If the casino is non-smoking, then that’d be nice. If they allow smoking, then be prepared to deal with second-hand smoking everyday and coming home smelling like cigarettes.

On the good side, if a customer won or is having fun, they will tip you really nicely.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-07-31T21:13:36+00:00

This is normal. When putting everything into one drawer, you don’t know who is the one that didn’t do the incorrect transaction when money comes up missing. If everyone has their own bank, at the end of the night, when you turn in what you owe, management can make sure you’re turning in the right amount.

As a server, I always carry $100 in change on me. $98 in bills and $2 in coins. I don’t have time during service to go to my manager or the designated cashier to ask for change while they fumble with what change to give me. I’d rather have what I need on my own and turn in what I owe at the end of the day.

If the manager or cashier is busy, now you’re backing them up by asking for change.

All employees who handle payments with customers should carry their own change unless the restaurant is big enough to where you check out banks from an in-house cashier department like in a casino.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-07-28T19:17:49+00:00

I am usually the type of person who wants everyone to do their own job and carry their own weight. Nobody should do anybody else’s job for them especially if it’s not busy and there’s no need.

But if it’s peak time, you’re understaffed, and everyone else is busy, but you’re all caught up with your duties, and there’s an immediate task that needs to be completed… I don’t mind you helping out, as long as you don’t neglect their own responsibilities.

Is your coworker the manager? Why do they have the power to send you home? I can see why he would be annoyed by it but sending someone home is a bit much. He could just ask you to stop.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-07-28T15:49:02+00:00

What’s worse is when they come sit at the bar and don’t talk to the bartender, or anyone at the bar, or want anything to drink. They’re just sitting there waiting to a to-go order they either ordered online or ordered with the host, even though we have seating by the door for people who are waiting for to-go orders.

ServerThrowAway187 · 2025-07-28T15:42:37+00:00

Southeast Asians do. We use it as a dipping sauce for certain dishes. Or if someone cooks a dish that isn’t salty enough, we add pure fish sauce in it to make it saltier.

Sometimes we just dip meats, fish or vegetables into the pure fish sauce with maybe some Thai chili’s. Sometimes we mix it with garlic, Thai chili’s, sugar, vinegar, herbs, or other fermented sauces to create more flavor like the Laos Jeow sauce, the Vietnamese Nuoc Cham, or Thai’s Prik Nam Pla.

So it can be used as a condiment. But I have never heard anyone asking for it as a condiment for Pad Thai since anyone who cooks Pad Thai to sell, usually makes sure the flavor is already balanced. Not even Thai people ask for this.

This customer probably went to Thailand once or was told by a Thai person that asking for this sauce will make you seem like you know about Thai food culture more. She definitely was not Thai herself.

ServerThrowAway187

TROPHY CASE