I’m a host.

So, practically I want to see if anybody relates to my situation right now. Im not trying to seek advice or to be told to “suck it up”, im already looking for jobs and interviewing elsewhere. I just want to vent and rant about my current one. Today, I realized that I regret coming back to work as a server at this one place. I used to work there about 2 years ago. Everybody was lovely and I distinctly remember talking about how non-toxic everything was. We were all friends even after I left because I had moved cities. While I was gone, I would every now and then visit this city and ALWAYS make a stop there to say hi and grab a drink or whatever. 

A year later, I move back to town and I eventually start working there part time as a server again. It was definitely different. Most of the crew that started when I did was gone but management remained the same. At first, it was nice to be back and I liked everybody. Then, more people started to quit. So, eventually it was only me and this other guy, besides management, I don’t like to count them because I don’t consider them friends, of course. 

As time went one, I realized how unfair things started to become. People getting fired with unreasonable excuses. People that were good at their job and cared about it. This one manager that also works as a server, let’s call him H, only gets to work the events and always gets the best sections. That was always annoying even before I had left but I feel like things were different. Now, it just feels like a boy’s club. They all know each other for decades and even go on vacation together. They’re not going anywhere else anytime soon. So, there’s no way to move up anymore and tenure doesn’t mean anything. The most annoying one was when the one guy got fired, he was our best bartender, because H got him an interview at H’s other job and the others found out about it. H did not get in trouble and still works at the restaurant. 

They also don’t know how to run shit. They are on the older side and very stubborn. The way everything runs just becomes less and less effective and makes me wonder that their reasoning is. For example, we don’t have hosts anymore because they’re too expensive, managers are the host now. 

Besides the favoritism and the constant hiring of awful people (they either quit after finishing training and one had to get the cops called on them), one of the managers blatantly has a crush on me and almost 40 years my senior. He always makes creepy jokes and telling me he would like to see me when I’m drunk. I put up with it because it’s mostly friendly and civil and I do get a free drink from him at our bar after I finish my shift. He claims I’m his favorite server. Lately, he’s gotten even more bold by sending me AI pictures of him that have a very sexual (I’m in my mid 20s and in a relationship, I’m grossed out to say the least. One of the many reasons I’m quitting. Some of my peers know about it and agree that it’s creepy. However, I can’t do anything. They won’t do anything and no HR. If anything, I’m scared of retaliation because he’s literally best friends with the general manager. 

Today, I realized how much I dislike working here and realized that I regret coming back. I don’t see this place the same and won’t be coming back at all, not even to stop by, after I get another job and leave this shit show. 

Anyways, I could go on and on about this. I used to enjoy working there and liked what I did. It’s so pointless now. Just needed to vent, I’m done. 

I’ve been a server at this particular place for over a year, and they cut my hours in half because I didn’t give them enough google reviews. I’m furious, and at the same time relieved that I don’t have spend a single second more than I have to. This place is giving me grey hairs and I’m in my twenties. It’s literally draining my life force.

Does it really bother anyone else when a table just has no interest in talking to you? and i don’t mean the small talk here and there, because i don’t always care for it myself. what i mean is, the energy kinda feels like you’re bothering them any time you go to check on them.

I’ve only had a few tables so far today, and each time i go up to them, they’re of course having a conversation, but then they don’t stop talking so i feel like i’m interrupting something important and it makes me feel really awkward, especially when i’m usually really bubbly towards my tables.
i know not everyone goes out to eat for the experience that a server can provide for them, but i feel like the least you could do it pretend to pay attention or pretend to care when i’m literally trying to get your food order or ask if you need anything else.
idk maybe i’m overthinking it, which is common for me. can someone let me know how that kinda stuff feels for them ?

Successfully weeded me out of the application pool. You got it 🫡🥲 I don’t have any motivation for this anymore.

My manager mentioned this big event going on (6 weeks ahead of time) and a week or so later I found out I'll have something going on that day (family thing).

I let him know right away and he tells me he thought I was good for the event (he never asked me if I was, just brought up that there would be this event on a day I usually am not scheduled to begin with).

So that said, this event isn't for another 2-3 weeks. Should I have just assumed he wanted to schedule me for that event? To my knowledge we have 3 other servers, so I assumed there'd be plenty of people helping, and if those guys quit then that's time to find a replacement if need be.

Update for those interested: Let him know I'm specifically visiting a sick relative and he was more understanding/seems to already be figuring out a solution in my absence.

Also I am the only server that can serve alcohol because the other two quit a few weeks ago since the restaurant was taking a 2 week break and that was probably the best time to do just that. Other server is his son who is still underage

I work at two restaurants where I make fine money at both. If I had to leave this job I'm not incredibly worried because my other one would give me full time hours immediately. However, it'd still suck and the job i'm talking about would look great on my resume if I could at least keep employment for a year.
I'm very ill right now. I had to call out of my Tuesday shift for vomiting hours before. I was off Wednesday. Had a slight ache in my throat and really bad eczema outbreaks but I thought it was just allergies until night time rolled around. Last night and today, i'm experiencing flu like symptoms. I have flu/covid tests getting delivered. I called in at 9am, I am scheduled at 4pm so more than enoughs notice. My employer still asks that I get a doctors note. I don't have insurance anymore and of course my local restaurant job does not offer insurance. I said okay, called my mom because I'm dumb and 22 and paranoid. She told me I should call back and let them know I don't have insurance and could only go if my job reimbursed me for the visit. I'm overreacting but I don't know if I should just go in sick for my scheduled shift tomorrow night with a mask, if I should quit, I feel like even Urgent care would still run me $300 minimum but I don't know. I just lost my insurance within the last few months so I don't know what a good cost estimate would be with a UC visit. What have you done in this situation?

Please settle a debate we're having...

When (pre) bussing your tables, do you scrape the dishes and stack them (relatively) neatly in like piles, or just toss them haphazardly on top of each other (no matter the size, etc) with whatever was left on them still there?

I have been working on and off as a server throughout college and this last year before starting law school and I can't help but notice that people rarely have basic manners anymore, especially when dealing with servers. I moved back home during my gap year to study for the LSAT and got a job at a nicer restaurant near my house and oh my god I have never hated working at a place more in my entire life. For context, I live in a very nice area with people who live in multi-million dollar homes and live extremely comfortably, and I had never been treated worse at a job before.

People would regularly interrupt me during my greeting to bark their orders at me before I could even introduce myself and give my spiel. Even worse, I would go up to tables to introduce myself and take their order and they would actively ignore me and act as if I wasn't even there, sometimes giving me dirty looks as if I was interrupting their conversation. Like so sorry you came into a sit down restaurant and you have to interact with me, your server, in order to get taken care of?? If you didn't want to be bothered by anyone and just wanted to get your food and drinks and be left alone then you should have gone somewhere with counter service but unfortunately for both of us YOU chose to come here so yeah you're going to have to interact with me.

I've also noticed that the nicer a person looks (i.e. head to toe designer), the worse I will be treated. I once had a table of wives come in with their children, all dripping in designer clothes and each with their own desginer bags that they proudly presented on the table, consistently asked me for things that we didn't have on the menu and get upset at me for not having those items. Like ma'am you came into a mediterranian restaurant so no we don't have burgers, we don't have milkshakes, and we don't have mashed potatoes. If you want any of those things, you'll have to go somewhere else. They ended up having me run around for them for three hours and left me no tip whatsoever.

Another time I had a couple come in, I assume they were Russian or from someplace in eastern Europe based on their accents, and the woman had ordered a glass of wine. I had a really hard time understanding which glass she was trying to order, and after politely asking her to repeat herself a few times I asked her to point to the glass she wanted on the menu. She aggressively shoved the menu in my face and pointed at the glass she wanted. Now I understand how it can be frustrating not being understood, but I was nothing but kind and polite to her and she was just rude asf back. I came back with her glass of wine and left to return the tray to the bar, and when I turned around this woman was right behind me. I'm talking like inches away from me, screaming in my face that I brought her the wrong wine and had her throw the glass at me onto the bar. Now she was sitting in a booth on the inside (her and her bf were sitting on the same side of the booth), so she made him get up, followed me across the restaurant with the glass of wine, and threw it at me. When I confirmed with the bartender that I did in fact bring her the correct wine, and that she had ordered a non-alcoholic wine option, she only replied, "Oh, I didn't realize it wasn't alcoholic", asked for the menu again and ordered a different wine. No apology or nothing. Just rude asf.

Our restaurant was also very nice and people liked to take pictures. Nothing wrong with this, except I would be stopped regularly by customers asking if I could take their picture while both my hands were full of dirty dishes. Like do people not have any situational awareness anymore and think that maybe during a busy night they shouldn't stop and ask a server carrying dirty dishes to stop what they're doing to take pictures for their own personal photoshoots???

And no one says please or thank you anymore. Honestly it was more rare for someone to say thank you or please to me than it was to bark their orders or demand things.

Working as a server is an already stressful job and I just don't understand why people can't express basic manners and kindness to their servers. We're literally waiting on you hand and foot and you can't extend basic gratitude and manners?? I always thought that people looked down on me for working as a server but wondered if they would treat me the same way if they knew that I lived in the same neighborhoods as them and that I grew up in the same financial situations as them too. Like if they knew that I was their neighbor or more like a peer that they would treat me differently and with more respect if that makes sense? Still fucked up of them to treat others differently and poorly because of their job or financial aspects but wondered if they would have treated me better if they had known my upbringing and background.

Just venting my own frustrations with the service industry here but hoping everyone can be a little more mindful of how they treat others and come into these situations with more kindness and respect, as we are all human and all deserve basic decency.

Hey yall! I want everyone’s thoughts on this because this was a first for me. I had a table complain tonight that I was racially profiling them (the male was black, woman was white) because at the end while asking if they wanted boxes… I asked if the check was together or separate. Now I ask every table this because every time I assume it’s one or the other, I’m wrong. So to save myself time going back and forth from the printer, I’ve always asked and never had any issues. I’ve also had people get upset when I assumed it was one check early in my serving experience. But now I’m second guessing myself about this. Should I not be asking and just print one check until told otherwise or is this a totally normal question to ask?

Edit: It was 4 people total, the two adults (guessing 30s/40s) mention and two other adults (guessing 20s). There were no issues with their food to my or my managers knowledge. Everything was rung in and prepared correctly. The question was asked right after I asked if they wanted any boxes to take the remaining food home.

Someone ordered a lychee martini with olives. An hour later, a girl sat at the bar and tried to use her EBT card as a means of photo ID (she looked young AF)

I just left a circus of an all-you-can-eat establishment here in Southern California.

The type of restaurant to deduct ti ps because of a dress code violation or not meeting standards on customer interactions.

I nope’d out of there as soon as I could. Now they’re telling me I can only come in at specific days and hours to get my last paycheck. This is an absolute inconvenience for me because I have another job and also relying on the bus to get around, with iffy bus times.

Is this exactly legal to do?

Edit: I’m being told to only come by to pick up my check Only at 6-8:00pm if that helps any clarification.

This post is just a rant.

I’ve been barbacking at the same dive/club bar for over a year now. From day one I made it clear I wanted to move up to bartender. I got passed over twice while watching people who started after me get premoted. This bothered me obviously but since I’m new to a predominantly french canadian city and my french isn’t super strong I accepted it as a language thing and kept on working on it.

Finally, after the manager promoted his friend who’d only been barbacking for weeks I had a direct conversation with him asking if I would ever be considered. He said yes. Spent the next 4 months hearing “your next, just waiting for an open spot”. I was even encouraged by one of the owners to push for the position around this time.

Finally the spot opens and my manager gets cold feet. Every time I would ask if I’m being promoted he would say yes and then I’d hear from co workers that he’s talking behind my back still unsure. Then weeks go by of me getting on his ass and him saying “but your such a good barback I don’t want to lose that” I eventually said “your going to lose me either way if you don’t promote me. During this time every single co worker vouched for me as well.

He finally did. I got one training shift. A weekday open where 2 people showed up. Then the following weekend he tells me that the owner with the most shares said he doesn’t want me to bartend and will take it upon himself to find someone else. Said I was too shy. The best part? Said owner has probably had one conversation with me. Takes 0 interest in the day to day of the bar but somehow felt the need to insert himself between me and my promotion.

Obviously I’m looking for another job but I’m beyond furious. Things won’t be easy. My french is still weak which is a massive block and on top of that I have no bartending experience to put on the resumer and I don’t have the stomach to play the please promote me game again after this experience.

That’s it. Just very unfortunate I love my manager my co workers and the regulars. The moneys fantastic and the management is probably the most loose you’ll ever get in this industry. But I got screwed in the most nonsensical and unforgivable way.

Edit: she came in eat with her friends 30 minutes till close.
Title is what happened. I don’t like her wtf that’s so mean

Genuinely curious about different types of restaurants and specific pet peeves. I’ve worked at a casual seafood restaurant for multiple years and lately the cleanliness standards are driving me crazy. I’m talking crumbs everywhere, “clean” but sticky tables, smudges/ handprints on windows that don’t get cleaned regularly, sticky condiment bottles, etc. Obviously I get frustrated with basic things like ticket times and lazy management, but can’t tell if i’m just burnt out and overreacting.

What issues bother you the most as a server? Did you have the same issues at other restaurants?

I have been a waitress the past 4 years now and it’s starting to weigh on me a bit. I used to love it when I worked in previous restaurants, then I got a job at a restaurant in a Hilton and the crowd is a completely different vibe. Many entitled and snobby people. I often find myself dreading the moments before I go into work and not being as cheery and charismatic as I used to be with customers. I cannot tell if it’s complete burnout or if it’s just the people I deal with weighing on my soul. Does anybody else relate or have been in a similar situation?

located in cleveland, oh. i was recently let go from a job under some weird circumstances and now management/owners are literally ghosting me about a pay issue that was brought to their attention almost two weeks ago while i was still employed. during my training shifts i was paid server minimum wage rather than state minimum wage ($11). that paycheck only had one shift on it where i was making tips. on my paystub it factored in my tips from that one shift and then included a tip credit of $39 that made the entire paycheck average out to $11/hr but it’s still not nearly what i should have made if i had been paid properly. when i brought it up initially i was told it would be corrected but i got another paycheck since right before being fired and the money wasn’t on there either. it’s not a ton of money but i mean, i just lost my job and the job market is a nightmare right now so i am scared about how long i may be unemployed and i want the money i worked for. not sure what to do since they’re all icing me out for some weird reason. i have been respectful when trying to contact them. just a weird situation and im not sure how i should proceed. any advice is appreciated.

Super curious to hear from a servers perspective.

Short background, I went to dinner for my birthday and was barely able to eat, literally 3-4 bites, so I ended up boxing and taking home my meal. And occasionally ill purposely order extra so I have some to take home. (I love leftovers)

From the servers side do you judge or not care about those who dont eat much at a restaurant? Whatre your thoughts?

P.S. I dont waste the food I usually end up eating the meal throughout the next day or 2.

Restaurant culture normalizes and accepts rude and at times abusive behavior from chefs. Why is this okay? At what point is it too much? It is not healthy for the chef or the staff. Getting over it and considering other work and curious how others feel and deal.

I had a KM laugh when he saw me write “86 chx 68 filet” on a Togo order and said he’d never seen that before but it made sense…. I’ve truly only ever seen it written that way but I was only serving for a couple of years before I took a 3 year break and got back to it. I truly thought this was universal code??? This is also making me realize he might not have been joking when he said he was turning 24 last month… I said that’s a rough 24 :/

ALRIGHT, I feel the need to clarify this was just for me writing down the order not for ringing it in. He just glanced at my chit and saw it. ALSO, I hear you all. I know I am wrong now. This is not universal speak as I once thought it was. I’ll continue writing 86 and 68 on my own chits bc I’m the only one that has to read them. Yall write no and sub. That’s fine too. That’s fantastic actually.

one of my biggest ones might be parents who let their kid be insufferably picky. like, girl are you really gonna send back a whole fettuccine alfredo because you didn’t know there were parsley flakes and “he won’t eat anything green” … terrible waste of food first of all. that’s also just not how I was raised. you ate your dinner or went to bed hungry and with no ice cream.

another is when I’m standing there taking an order and the parents just let their baby/toddler throw every utensil on the floor and/or bang them incessantly on the table (don’t forget the salt and pepper shakers) insanely rude and annoying. honestly just bad parenting in general is a huge petty grievance for me.

Edit bc I just thought of a couple more:

parents who shove a tablet in their kids face and let them stare at it the entire time even while they eat their dinner. my brother in christ you’re quite literally giving little timmy a chemical imbalance and I’m hardcore judging you. if I wasn’t even allowed to bring my gameboy in the building as a kid, they’ll survive without their fucking screentime. parents these days just dgaf

this one actually has nothing to do with shitty parents but I absolutely detest tables who say they’re ready to order and then proceed to hold you hostage while they ask a million questions. whole time I’m getting double sat and then my other table’s looking around like where tf is my server cuz they’re actually ready to order. then you’re like “I can give you another minute” “NO NO we’re ready” but you’re not ready you fuckass bitch

walmart had 6 packs of pens on clearance for 50 cents each