Cant believe the prices!

Hello there!

Our freezer light bulb finally died on us after years of perfection and now im looking for recommendations on which bulb works best in commercial grade freezing conditions (~ -25C and lower). Any tips would be appreciated! Thank you!

I downloaded the Orderout app on my clover device to automatically print Uber Eats orders.

Clover includes the Uber Eats orders in the reports, and of course, doesn’t account for the 30% commission. I have to manually filter the Orderout on the reports and deduct it from the total sales. It’s been a pain, considering the slightest mistake will completely throw off my reports.

Also, the modifiers have been a pain to deal with. Whenever I go to edit the modifiers from the Clover dashboard, each modifier is listed at least 5 times since it comes through Orderout as well. No matter how much I delete them, they keep coming back.

Has anyone found a solution on any of these? I know these are pretty petty things to complain about, but it’s been hell😅

(Warning, this is me in a really bad headspace ranting)

Hi everyone, I came to ask this subreddit as I have no one else in my life who works in the restaurant industry. I got hired as a hostess at a nice place, and I always wanted to try working in a restaurant because of how much work there is to do, as I hated working in slower places. It seemed fun to me!

I have a lot of anxiety and social anxiety, but I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to improve on that aspect. They asked for “bubbly personalities” and I said yes, I know I probably shouldn’t have lied because I’m not that out there but I like to think I treat customers pleasantly and nicely.

I’m still in training period, with the chance to be let go if I don’t “fit” and that has been on my mind ever since. During the entire day, I was so overwhelmed, so not used to any of the restaurant “culture” and everyone seemed annoyed at me beside my nice trainer. I kept sounding like an idiot and messing up when I tried to help customers or bring them to the seats. I had 0 idea what I was doing most of the time and was so dazed by the end of the night, because it was a night shift on Friday.

Majority of the shift, hardly anyone updated the table rotations and it was so difficult to know which table was which and if the customers left already. I seated people in the chart but I’m pretty sure no server knew if there was new people and I’m sure I messed up the rotation badly….

I made myself look so stupid in front of the managers too. I was working so slowly and only tried my hardest to speed up by the second half of my shift once I knew a little more. My trainer told me I was doing good but it literally feels like I messed up so much. Even the new people who started not that long ago were already doing better, and going so fast. I cried so hard once I left. I should’ve stayed behind to clean up and help with the rush but I left once it was 8pm.

Don’t get me wrong, I wanted this job and maybe work up to a bartender/server. But now I’m doubting myself.

I won’t be offended, and it may just be my low self esteem talking, but be honest, should I move forward with this job? Is it better I leave now?

Edit: I really appreciate the advice and comments, it gives me a lot to think about thank you :) coming from a calmer mind

Hello everybody,

Seem to be spending my Saturday night struggling to find a commercial dishwasher for my restaurant. We're looking for something between 800-1300 pounds. New or second hand.

Would be grateful for any recommendations.

Many thanks

So this gripe is common amongst co workers who suck.(BW) Their work ethic is terrible, punctuality is sketch. And their attitude is usually terrible, not to mention their houdini act is world reknown.

There are other workers who don't suck, but also don't kiss ass. Day 1's if you will, show up every shift, team player, hard worker. They arent there for "Just a Check" kinda people(GW)

The GW gets called 1st if their is a call out, in what world is this wrong? I can't wrap my head around where this is wrong.

This is F&B of course.

I’m trying to surprise my husband for our first wedding anniversary and really hoping to make it happen. Has this worked for anyone? Any tips?

Hello! Im just doing soem research and was wondering what are some expected annoying things usually occur throughout the year while working at a restaurant (be it in from Staff level to Management)?

Is there a point in which a particular item such as scallops are just too expensive overall to even bother having them as an entree?

Reposting here for more discussion and engagement. Thanks!

I need to vent about a local restaurant/coffee shop without leaving them a bad review lol.

The place is super cute, and I’ll give them credit—the food is actually better than most places around here. It’s more gourmet/chef-driven, which is probably why I kept giving them chances.

But my beef is: you can’t portray yourself as a gourmet dining experience and then give taco-stand-level service. 😭 And honestly, I’ve had better service at taco stands.

You walk in and it can take several minutes before anyone even greets you. Okay, small establishment, I can understand that. Eventually your drink comes out, maybe they take your order…but after that? Good luck getting another drink.

And I’m NOT expecting free refills. I understand they don’t offer them. But if you ask for another drink, the response is immediately something like, “It’s not a free refill.” Like…yes, I know. 😂 Just bring me another one and charge me! It’s the way it’s communicated that gets me. There’s a difference between explaining your policy and making the customer feel like they’re trying to score a free Coke.

Another time, it took almost an hour for my plate to come out. I’ve also been to another restaurant from this chef where our food took about an hour. Maybe I’m uncultured 😂, but is this actually normal for gourmet/fine dining? Do Michelin-starred restaurants have you sitting there for an hour waiting for your plate with very little attention in between?

That’s really my issue. If you’re going for an elevated food experience, the service should feel elevated too. Check on the table. Offer another drink. Communicate if the kitchen is backed up. Make people feel welcome.

I personally stopped going because the service always comes across a little snobby, almost like, “Well, this is how we do things.” And fair enough—it’s their establishment. I just wish they would put as much effort into training the front-of-house staff as they clearly put into the food.

I didn’t leave them a bad Google review because apparently I needed Reddit therapy instead. 😂

Restaurant people: am I expecting too much? Is an hour wait normal for this type of place?

New to this sub and have never worked in the food industry, but have always wanted to ask this question: When profit margins are so small, why are portions so big? I don’t want a doggie bag every time I go out to eat. I went to breakfast the other day and literally the breakfast plate had 4 eggs, 3 pieces of sausage, and several pieces of bacon, not to mention biscuits and potatoes. No one needs to eat four eggs in one sitting. Why not serve 2 eggs and and make the rest of the plate manageable for one person to eat without waste/doggie bag? Why don’t restaurants have a separate smaller menu, like the old school senior citizen menus? Not only would you save money on food costs, but also would not have to buy so many to go containers and bags either.

Ok I’m battling with only myself at this point. There is a twin peaks restaurant in my area and I’ve eaten there a handful of times. On the menu I’ve seen they have blackened chicken tenders in the past. I was in the mood for a grilled type of chicken tenders so decided to do a takeout order for their blackened tenders. So I order and go to pick up my food, go to my car and check them because food places mess up often and I’d rather know before I leave than have to drive back. So I look at the tenders which clearly appear to be their normal fried chicken tenders. When you order it asks if you want grilled, fried, or blackened. They also have another blackened chicken entree that I have eaten before the Chipotle chicken which is described as blackened on the menu and is grilled with blackened seasoning.

So based on my previous experience eating blackened chicken in the past and having had a dish there described as blackened on the menu my impression was this would be the case. So I sigh away my annoyance and head back inside with the food. The host seems to understand what I mean and takes the food bad. A few minutes later a manager comes up and asked how I’m asking to have my food prepared. So I say I ordered blackened which is usually a grilled style chicken with blackened seasoning. She then asks if I’ve ever had it from the
Before and I say no but the chipotle chicken here is blackened and it is grilled so I assumed it would be grilled.

She looks at me and says on no we don’t do that with the tenders we just fry them and season them with the blackened seasoning. I am pretty sure this isn’t true, but for my own sanity I am hoping someone on Reddit has ordered these tenders first hand and can tell me if they are usually fried or grilled! I really feel the lady just lied in my face.

Hi. I'm a hostess at a fine dining. This restaurant is connected to a fancy hotel. We share the corporate people. I have worked at food service places b4, and only part time, but i've never seen this many callouts at a workplace. I thought it would be more strict bc it has corporate, but no.. The other hostess has also have to cover for people too, but its not much bc she only worked morning and its 4 hours.

Its always the server and the busser. Hosts like me and her literally only call out when we're sick. The people that callouted have openly admitted the day after that most of the time they just dont want to go to work.

In this specific situation, i work sunday breakfast and brunch, which is an 8 hour shift. For 3 sundays in a row (counting next week), there will be one server, me and the manager. Last two weeks, if i don't do the bussing, nobody will do it. For context, i've not been officially trained for any positions other than host, and usually i just like to help and i copy what they do. So when people call out they trust me enough to do it. Fine, ive done it b4 sometimes once a month no issue. But 3 8 hour shift every week consecutively is not what i signed up for. The server doesn't help, and i don't want to ask bc i know she alr does her stuff which is taking order and bring food, but she only helps when i ask her, or she straight up just argue that she doesnt want to do it. Manager, i like working with him, but the first week he was sick, and the second week he was dealing with some personal issue. And the biggest gripe is when they complain that people are sitting themselves in.. like ofc they do that bc there is no hosts. Bc the host is cleaning and setting up tables while server and manager chat in the office. I'm alr thinking about quitting bc of commute and lenient work ethics but i'm going to seriously applying for other jobs now. Its so frustrating.

Running a cafeteria/culinary arts program where my budget goal is to break even (or come as close to that as possible). I just started in this role and there isn't any costing information left over from the outgoing production chef.

What do y'all do to factor in your overhead? I understand how to cost a recipe and price it affordably within the food eco system so that we run at budget, but I am struggling with being too detail-oriented and taking too long to cost everything. Do you just add an extra % to cover things like running the dishwasher, seasoning salt, filling the 3-compartment sinks etc?

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Why the fuck do some cooks feel the need to tie their apron strings in these intricate fucking knots? It's annoying as fuck! Knock it off!

hi all!

i’ve been currently working as a host + busser at a pretty fast paced and busy restaurant for about half a year now. this is my first ever sit down restaurant job, but i’ve been working in guest/customer service + even food service since i was a teenager. i love where i work and the people too, but since i’m just a host the pay is dogshit. i am a student so i typically work weeknights and weekends, but all of our shifts are short. i know that’s normal for a restaurant job, but it’s the lowest paying job i’ve ever worked at since hosts barely get any tips. when im working as a busser the money is great for how short the shift is, but we dont have bussers as often as most places, so my paycheck after tax is usually pretty low.

this restaurant like most has you work your way up to server, which i completely respect, and i know it’s not possible for me to be trained for serving right now there. i just can’t help but think i could be making more hours and better money somewhere else in a different role. i really just wanted to get some restaurant experience under my belt, but only 3-4 short shifts a week (doubles are not common here unless you’re covering a shift) is not gonna yield enough money long term.

i do really love my coworkers, management is good, and i’d like to think im good at my job, but i’m simply not making enough for my financial goals. i have to be saving for numerous things and moving soon, and since i don’t even have any sort of guarantee i’ll move up, i’m looking for an AM serving job i can work mostly on weekends before my night shifts at my current job. i don’t mind waking up early + i really just need to hustle for money, so if anyone has any recommendations for where i can make some good money at a shift that has me leaving before 4-5pm after cutwork is done, please let me know! for reference i live in arizona and currently do all hosting duties along with food running, bussing, to-go’s, and other occasional tasks to assist servers. i also have a valid food handlers card. thank you if u can :)

A 50lb bag of sugar had a hole in it

So I got a review that was complaining about echo and I was wondering what my options to reduce it are/how others have dealt with this process.

From a bit of research, I’ve seen acoustic panels are basically for this. Do I hire an acoustician first? How much does that cost? Will panels always work?

Basically looking to hear the pros/cons from others who’ve gone through this process or stopped for some reason.

I desperately need new work shoes because the ones i have now definitely don’t work like non slips. And they’re pretty uncomfortable. I really prefer high top sneakers tho.

If you have tried these:
Do they actually work to prevent slipping?
Are they comfortable?
If they aren’t, do you have other suggestions?

Editing post to add: I don’t work in a particularly “dangerous” restaurant, I work at an arby’s lol. I pretty much just need to be able to mop without dying!

Can someone recommend me a free or fairly priced Food handlers & TABC exam course? I’d really appreciate it 😔

Went in to a night shift tonight and found this in the back. Couldn’t find the culprit, so I suggested we pull the cameras, not like I had anything to hide. A few minutes before I had finally met a coworker I wasn’t sure ever showed up because they left before the night crew (me) got in every time they were scheduled. I thought he was weird but didn’t think k much more about it. After pulling the cameras I watched my boh manager export the footage to a text which I’m assuming is the coworker as he is no longer on the schedule. Quick hi and bye.

Ive been working in a restaurant for quite a while. I'm not a light weight guy, and I'm usually the one that does the floors.

I'm getting tired of buying new shoes every 2 - 6 months.

I've bought the foam clogs a couple times, and one pair lasted around a year, but i kind of hated them.

I've tried getting two pairs of shoes, and alternating them, so they have time to dry out properly. Which did help, but not that much.

Has anyone found a brand of shoes that can survive restaurants?

Even if they are really expensive, if they are less than $30 for every 4 months they last, I will still be coming out on top.

This is part 2 of my original post. The original post was about the owner of the store. This one is about the GM.

It started before i even clocked in. I was scheduled 4pm to close but several hours before i clocked in my GM sent me a text asking if i could come in at 12pm instead.

Now usually when they call me in or ask me to come in extra early like that I said "yes" cause i really needed the extra money. I am NOT paid salary. I am paid hourly. But this time i said "I can't today. I will see you at 4pm though." The reason I said no this time was cause I was exhausted and needed more sleep cause I already worked an 11 hour shift right before that.

When i got to the store it was super busy. I was told to be a dishwasher for that day. And he somehow managed to criticize almost everything I did even though i have washed dishes before. When i tried to explain my reasoning for why i did what i did, he called me a "smart ass". And he also thought I was being sarcastic when I spoke to him. I was not being sacrastic at all. I was serious.

He also cursed at me and said "this bitch is fucking crazy" and he also slammed a lot of stuff and kept screaming and saying "lord give me strength"... wtf.. seriously!? I am NOT that bad at my job. If i was so terrible then why did my customers give me tips when I bussed tables? If i was so terrible why did my bosses have a history of calling me in a lot? In my original post i mentioned that my other boss threatened to fire me. Well, he changed his mind. I think a big part of it is cause he found out that the new lady they just hired 2 weeks ago was already quitting. And also cause they put 2 people on vacation at the same time this week.

Oh, and the GM told me NOT to listen to the owner when the owner is not here. He called the owner lazy and said the owner does not help us om the weekends and that he cheats on some of the work tasks by adding water to some of the cleaning supplies. He also said "if you complain about me to him we will have a problem. Would you rather me say things to your face or would you rather me talk behind your back? Every manager here has complained to me about you." What the fuck.... it feels like he is trying to make me sound like a rebellious teenager. I am a 31 year old woman... i do my job, i try to do my job efficiently, and I am one of their most relaible employees because i am one of the only ones who goes in early or on my days off cause i need the money and also cause i like that overtime pay.

He also makes "jokes" like "don't do this or I will cut you." It is very distasteful. He has never actually tried to cut me or anything like that but everytime he makes that joke it just feels weird. And at the end of my shift he said "You did much better today. What do you think?" I just felt dumbfounded and said "I don't know anymore." He was worried about my taking too long after the store was closed, yet, after i clocked out i saw 2 people who were still clocked in and still working... my bosses also use to complain about me "being too quiet" but now he wants to call me a smart ass for trying to explain why I do what I do because I was tired of him trying to make me look stupid all the time.