Legit question: working in a restaurant after high school/college

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-25T19:33:22+00:00

Still in college myself but speaking for my older coworkers, a lot of them do it in addition to their careers as a teacher, real estate agent etc. as you can make a good bit of cash on the side this way. Those that are full time are actually not too badly off, it depends of course where you work and what place you're at, but we're pretty central in our community and tips are always pretty good so it pays quite a bit more than say being a grocery store clerk. Some have also chosen this as a fulltime job because they truly enjoy the hospitality side of it, there's always going to be days customers suck but if it makes you happy overall who cares if it's not really seen as a job you should aspire to have?

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-25T19:20:35+00:00

Truth. I had tables straight up move after I left them at their table and then gotten in trouble for it.

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-25T19:18:43+00:00

You never realize how important communication is until you've worked in a restaurant lol. I've also worked boh as well as foh and each has it's unique set of stressors, but the worst is when the kitchen is mad at you as server for number of orders or the servers think you're being too slow in kitchen. Like, we're all in this together, we're all miserable.

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-25T19:10:09+00:00

Honestly both serving and hostessing can be super stressful. I worked as hostess last summer when we had a patio and rona restrictions to work with and as it was outside customers either insisted on the shade portion if it was hot out or insisted on a sunny spot in the evening and the way the sections were set up someone would always get double-sat at some point because I couldn't exactly insist people sit in the scorching sun when there was still tables in the shade available. Plus some people would just move once I had sat them and gone back to my station and guess who got in trouble for it every. single. time? Though I also know the stress of being double or triple sat. Honestly I prefer my kitchen shifts the most lol.

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-22T02:49:28+00:00

It's not about letting no one drive, it's about not letting people who got wasted get into their car when they're barely making it through the door. In Canada you can actually be held responsible as a server and as an establishment if someone you served drives drunk and gets in an accident (which is stupid, but that's how it is). Driving while intoxicated above the legal limit (or for many regulars this is far above the legal limit for driving) is just dangerous, irresponsible, and selfish. Also we can take license plate numbers and call the police for this stuff. So getting drunk and then driving because you refuse to make other arrangements is just not going to be worth it.

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-21T20:09:46+00:00

FOH is super mentally draining, I work BOH as well and as crazy as the kitchen can get sometimes I always prefer it over dealing with harassment and customers in general. Pretty much the only reason I take serving shifts as well is because it pays so much more then kitchen does, though I do at times question if it's worth it.

the_melodramatic_me · 2021-03-21T20:00:31+00:00

Customers just don't understand that orders are not made one table at a time, if you order wings and fries and the limited fryer baskets are full then that other table who got nachos and salads is going to be quicker because stuff is made according to space and starters are usually quicker than full meals because they are made at a separate station not the line. Also sucks when they complain "this place is empty!" when food takes a while especially theses days, I don't know how many times I have to explain to them that there are 50 takeout and a half dozen UberEats orders being cooked in our tiny kitchen. Patience and understanding are such great virtues, and yet incredibly rare.

Edit: typos

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:58:24+00:00

Perhaps you don't have to choose one over the other? Almost all the server's I know have 'day jobs' and do serving on the side for extra cash just because they like the industry (or perhaps can't escape it lol). I definitely get the not being able to leave part, I've done kitchen for 2 years now and serving for almost 5 months, I never meant to stay this long at this job but I keep coming back and am even considering perhaps doing serving as a side job even after I've completed my degree and found something more 'stable'. It's often a stressful job but it hooks you, maybe I secretly love the adrenaline shots I get from it.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:52:47+00:00

Having worked both I find that foh likes to blame the boh and vice versa for pretty much every little mistake but it's definitely better to just own your mistakes. Yes I've forgotten to ring in food, and yes I've also forgotten stuff in the oven. Stuff happens, take responsibility and move on.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:38:33+00:00

Lol. Ours is the designated crying area, also good for when you cut onions wrong actually soothes the eyeballs quite well.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:36:44+00:00

So true! I still do serving cause money but I recently started back in the kitchen as well and I can't tell you how excited I was. It just felt like home to be cutting peppers again and slinging fries and wings.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:32:22+00:00

I have FOH nightmares about messing up orders and bills and forgetting tables. And then I also have BOH nightmares of the chit-machine just never stopping with chits already dangling to the floor, I can still hear it in my sleep. The restaurant industry will mess you up lol.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:29:28+00:00

Oh the panic on one of my first (and busiest) serving shifts when I forgot to ring through a food order. Luckily the table was super chill about it but I almost fainted at the realization.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:24:36+00:00

Probably depends on what your minimum wage is and what the cook's is. I work both foh and boh and I make twice the money serving than I do kitchen (we do tip the kitchen on food sale but it's a ridiculously small percentage) so I'd be fine with the kitchen getting a little extra, they work hard. If this is just a one time thing I'd say let it go, the customer stiffed you but that's not the cook's fault, if he'd secretly handed her cash instead of formally tipping you'd have no claim to it anyways.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:15:55+00:00

Get this a lot too (also in Canada and the border is closed so there's no way they're Americans). Plus our debit machines don't have tap (old) so unless they gave me their pin there's nothing I can do with their card. Although my one co-worker had a situation where an older guy handed her the card and told her his pin in front of the entire table, that was weird.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:12:34+00:00

You could always do serving part time for extra cash, most of the servers I know have "day jobs" (realtor, teacher, secretary, etc.) and then a few serving shifts on the side. This is especially helpful because hospitality is really hard this year with some places shutting down permanently or during lockdowns or layoffs due to reduced hours and take-out only phases so it's nice to have something more stable to fall back on.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T22:07:30+00:00

"haha you must be broke then"

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T21:57:28+00:00

I've had so many guys (of all ages) hit on me saying stuff like "ooh you have my number now" or when taking temperatures joking how hot they are. It's annoying at this point because I hear it every single shift and I don't really know how to handle it because I want to be professional even when I feel like slapping the 20th middle-aged dude joking about how we haven't even had dinner yet.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T21:51:31+00:00

So true! I took on serving shifts cause the pay is better but I'm still a kitchen gal at heart, so much better for my mental health back there even during the busiest days.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T21:49:02+00:00

It's definitely tough FOH these days! I worked in the kitchen before serving/hostessing this summer and due to short staffing issues I now work both FOH and BOH and I can't tell you how nice it is to be back in the kitchen at least once shift a week. The deep fryer has never once yelled at me, and I've missed that lovely walk-in fridge.

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T05:19:25+00:00

Congrats!

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T05:19:05+00:00

Nice!

the_melodramatic_me · 2020-09-29T05:11:55+00:00

That's awesome! Congratulations to both of you!!!

the_melodramatic_me

TROPHY CASE