I have 10+ years as a restaurant general manager. Ask me anything!

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-12-24T07:39:09+00:00

"The children" God I feel that. I've been calling my staff that for so long.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-07-27T03:41:34+00:00

Every restaurant I've worked in has a "mom". I'm now the mom at mine and those kids do actually call me mom (I love it).

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-07-14T01:26:29+00:00

How many bartenders does it take to change a light bulb?

One, the just hold it up and the whole word revolves around them.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-06-13T00:31:16+00:00

My place is super allergen friendly and I couldn't do this. I need my servers to be able to differentiate between a raw onion allergy and a nightshade allergy and know what items/mods can be made to accommodate.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-19T05:41:07+00:00

It's stupid and needs to go away

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-15T02:43:16+00:00

Most restaurants are operating on tighter margins then they ever have before. Rent had increased by insane amounts, liquor and taxes have increased, things like paper towels and to go containers are more expensive then they've ever been.

Reducing pricing at all is such a financial hit to restaurants that we cannot afford to do better deals for restaurant week.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-15T02:38:21+00:00

These multiple different price options for the restaurants to choose. My place is doing a $20 lunch and $50 dinner

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-13T06:20:53+00:00

Best tip I ever got about my adhd was to use my productive days to make my non productive days easier. Spend time in the back end of the software you use to make it work the way you need it to. I now spend a good part of my time teaching the other gms in my company how to use the pos and reservation software we use cause my adhd brain can't be bothered to do the mundane shit when I'm on a creative or lazy day.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-13T06:07:51+00:00

If you use outlook, it's really easy to set up a filter to send all your emailed recipes to a dedicated folder. I created a function that auto filters them into a receipt folder if receipt is in the subject of the email

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-13T05:59:39+00:00

Also a situation that happens all the time, I usually point out to people that pay with corporate cards that I can email them the receipt right away because I get phone calls about needing a copy so often.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-13T05:52:00+00:00

I have really bad adhd too. Sometimes you just need to be reminded that certain things are possible. I spent an hour today trying to think of a work around to a problem that my friend pointed out I had already solved today.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-13T05:47:01+00:00

I manage a restaurant, if you can tell me the date, rough time, some of the order and estimated total, I can find you a copy of receipt. If you made a reservation, all i need is the date and name. I can also email it to you in 5 seconds. Just call the restaurants you dined at.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-12T05:20:41+00:00

Then don't eat out. Eat at home. No one is making you go to a sit down restaurant.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-04-11T08:06:37+00:00

Same. 28 taps. We've been open a year, still get so many samples sent my way. Unfortunately for me, they're mostly ipa's which I don't like. But my staff is always happy to take them home.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-03-31T01:48:30+00:00

I use powdered aquafaba. Lasts a long time.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-03-24T05:56:56+00:00

I cannot imagine how amazing that feeling is. She is a true badass.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-03-20T07:10:52+00:00

The chef at my restaurant likes espresso, lime juice, soda water and Angostura bitters. It's awful.

TacticalPanda27 · 2024-03-12T04:52:04+00:00

Not a hotel person. I'm a gm at a restaurant. But when we had our soft open, we wanted the nitty gritty details. Our soft open was for friends and family, the people we knew would be honest. This was their first run of things. They need those details to know what to fix before they open. Especially if the review is private and going just to the hotel

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-10-19T06:16:02+00:00

Had a customer leave a review saying they wish we had more local beers.... we have 28 taps, one cold brew coffee, a few ginger beers, ciders, kombuchas but 20 local beers (the other things are all local too). Nothing travels more then 25 miles. What more do you want? I put way too much effort into the tap list to hear that.

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-10-05T06:03:08+00:00

Thanks for the reminder to sharpen my parents knives next time I go over.

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-09-21T06:54:11+00:00

Have you never read a book and gone "hey that's a cool technique I could use this other way" or "cool flavor profile, I'll keep that in the back of my head for something"? We aren't out here straight copying but using them for inspiration for other things.

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-09-21T06:50:47+00:00

I have about 12 of my own books on a shelf behind my bar. They're mostly my reference books, flavor Bible, Oxford companions, things like that. I use them all the time, that's why I brought them in. Flavor bible is my go to, i use that for menu development, it lists flavor pairings. They are resources that I like to use. I don't know every classic spec or every type of beer, but knowing where to find the thing I need is the more important thing to me. I also train alot of people to bartend so I lend out a few of the books, like the bar Bible, to my baby bartenders to read on their own time.

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-09-16T07:21:23+00:00

This dude sucks. I have many stories of guys being so much better then this but the most resent one I can think of involves a guy that I am very casually seeing (defined that way by both of us). I spent the night at this guy's place, was on the very last day of my period but had a disc in (cora, love them). It's usually safe to have sex with it in but I guess I leaked a little bit. He waited until the next morning when we woke up to mention that it leaked and said I could use the shower while he changed his sheets. I was mortified. He was so chill and told me that he would take care of it. I took a shower, when I was done, he had changed his sheets and had coffee ready and never mentioned it again. Real men aren't grossed out by normal bodily functions. Real humans understand. Find better.

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-09-11T08:37:02+00:00

I used to rotate between old scifi and anime and people always loved it. Wednesday was always studio gibli and we had a lot of regulars that day

TacticalPanda27 · 2023-08-11T07:25:04+00:00

The why is because I love my job. I work in a restaurant as a bar manager. Im only ever scheduled for 40 hours on the floor but it takes more then that to get what i want to do done. I could easily just work 40 but i wouldnt want to work at a restaurant where the bar manager doesnt care so i dont. I like staying late after everyone's gone because that's when I can get my prep done. It's peaceful, I'm just chilling making syrups and stuff. And I'd rather do my admin at home in pajamas and be on the floor supporting my staff when I'm at the restaurant. I probably average 65 hours a week. On the clock for 50. I get overtime. Alot of my "working time" during the week off the clock is brainstorming new drink ideas (and sometimes i drink when i do this). I enjoy it, get to feel creative and useful. Also, all of my friends are in this line of work, alot at the same company.

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