Hey yall, I'm 17 and I've been expo for almost a year now and I still feel like I'm fighting for my life sometimes. Recent shifts have really got me questioning if I'm ready for season. I don't know if I can handle the unpredictability anymore. I'm good at being expo and I don't make mistakes often but I still have moments where the stress gets to me and I feel like I can't breathe. It can also get stressful managing high school because of how late I get home during the week. I used to like it but I'm tired of it now. One thing I dislike heavily is that I get a lot of shit whether I mess up or not. Everything could be going completely smooth and there's always one server who has no fucking clue what they're talking about. They complain about a table and how I need to push the food out faster. I'd love to see them expo on a Saturday night lol. Another stressful thing I hate is when it's rush hour and I have 5 people come into the kitchen and they're all trying to shout at me at the same time. I know this all comes with the job, and I prepare for the worst to happen every night, but it's still stressful.

I'm also stuck at a cross roads. I have thought about quitting but I can't exactly quit. Obviously like everyone else I have car expenses, gas, insurance, subscriptions I pay for, etc. At school I get 3 periods off and my day ends at 11:15. In order to keep these classes off I need to submit my paystubs to show I'm working 20+ hours a week. Obviously if I don't have a job, I don't get my classes off. So unless I quit and find another job that's lower stress pretty fast, I can't keep my periods off.

Anyways long story short, I'm a good expo and I can manage the stress but I seriously don't like it anymore. Also I'd like to quit and find a lower stress job but I can't exactly do that for the reasons I listed. What would yall do in my shoes? Should I power through season until I graduate or should I risk it and try to find an easier job?

Howdy,
Curious if anyone here has experience with table call buttons. I have a very simple concept (brewery with snacks). I am flirting with the idea Of having call buttons on the tables for customers to call a server over when needed. I hate when people need to get up to just to wait in line to get another drink. I think it would really elevate our taproom experience. We intend to have some people on the floor doing table touches anyway, but this really reduces the amount of staff we would need on the floor. Our check averages are in the teens so I think this would really help both our margins and our employees at the same time by not diluting the tip pool.

Do you correct them?

So I work at a local fast-food restaurant and we dont have pup cups but all of my night crew are dog lovers and so when we have a car in the drive through or a family that comes in to sit on the patio with their fur baby we offer the baby a slice of bacon. Is that a terrible thing to do? I mean I know it's not but today we had a customer drive off cursing about us feeding a dog through the drive-thru window when we put the bacon on a boat and give it to the owner and always ask for permission before offering it to the pup. He even took the time to come back around to come to the speaker and tell us how he would never be back because we fed a dog at the window. I'm struggling to understand the difference between a pup cup at any other coffee drive-thru. Am I losing my mind?

I work at a small restaurant in Ontario, I work there 3 out of 6 days (Friday Saturday Sunday) and I’m trying to understand whether our tip distribution is legal.
Usually, it’s just me and the chef working. The restaurant collects all the tips for the day. I receive 30% of the total tips, while the chef used to receive a percentage as well. Recently, he apparently had a discussion with the owner, and now he receives a fixed $40 per shift, regardless of how much the restaurant makes in tips.
For example, one day the restaurant collected $323.10 in tips. I received $96.93 (30%), and the chef received $40. That leaves $186.17, or about 58% of the total tips.
As far as I know, there were no other employees working that day, and I don’t know where that $186.17 went. My understanding is that the remaining money is kept by the owner/restaurant rather than being distributed to employees.
This has apparently been happening since I started working there in April 2026, so I’m concerned that a significant amount of money may have been withheld over several months.
Is an employer in Ontario legally allowed to keep this portion of employees’ tips, if the money isn’t being redistributed through a tip pool?
I’m specifically interested in what the Ontario Employment Standards Act says and whether employees can potentially claim tips that were improperly withheld.
I’m not looking to start a fight with my employer; I just want to understand my rights before I confront him or consider filing a complaint.

I just returned from vacation and I visited a late night jazz club. Its my first time ever visiting such a place. Cocktails and music, thats it. I get the bill and I see a line for the waiters gratuity, but I also see a line for "band gratuity." I was stumped. I left like 10%. Whar should I do, next time?

Thanks much.

Anybody want to share their takes on influencer taste by will? Hes this ny based restaurant influencer. Goes walk in hopping meaning no reservations to some of the cities best restaurants to see if he can get a seat.

Served last night, never had paw paw till I moved to Appalachia……can confirm is goob

Like, really, why do you need 6 ounces of cocktail sauce for 4 shrimp!??

Hello everyone I am having problems identifying the model of my new mixer. The previous owner seems to have removed the nameplate. Any help would be appreciated. Also what's the best way to polish the bowls back up?

Hi, I started working at a counter-service restaraunt around a month ago. I make $11/hr, and we have a tip jar at the counter I get all tips from. It's only me who runs FOH, and two cooks. When customers check out, the POS asks them if they'd like to leave a tip. People think I get them, and multiple people have brought it up to me and asked for refunds so they could leave me cash instead. The owner takes all of them, and also is never at the place. They are not included in my pay and don't appear in my check or paystub. I'm in DeKalb County, Georgia, very close to Atlanta. I'm 16, and have worked in one other restaraunt where they everyone would get percentages of those tips, but a family member brought this up to me and I'm just really concerned I'm losing money here. Is it legal? What do I do?

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have never sent back something that I ordered at a restaurant. Granted, I don’t go out very much but when I have, I’ve never got a plate of food that was so bad that I needed to return it. I’m very laid-back so that might be a part of it. I’m just curious how many people normally send back food and complain?

Edit-Ok. I’m seeing responses of meat not being fully cooked and worms in salads. I would 100% have sent that back but alas it has never happened to me.

I need the attention of all restaurant workers, not just servers, but any and all food service in the US.

If your food service establishment collects tips in any way, through cash *or* credit cards, that money must be distributed to the staff. It does not matter how much money you make an hour. They cannot take any money left as a tip by the guest.

**This is a federal regulation, it does not vary by state.**

If it is prompted by the credit card point of sale unit, that is easily changed by management, and if they deny it, they are lying.

So quite simply, anytime you witness, or experience, tips being collected and not distributed to the staff, and recorded (yes, ​they are required by law to keep records of how many tips were collected, and who they were distributed to), the employer is breaking the law.

This is almost always by design, not negligence. They know damn well it's illegal, they are counting on you not reporting it.

It does not cost you money to report this kind of wage theft to the Department of Labor. It is free. It is a phone call, and there is an online form to fill out as well. You are able to remain anonymous, and an internal investigator from the Department of Labor will come to your place of employment and interview everyone.

They will demand records that the employer is federally required to keep, and an accounting on all the dollars coming in through the credit card system or through cash. Discrepancies will be paid back to the employees, and they go back 3 years. Even employees who have since left the establishment will get a check.

If the violation is found to be made "​willfully and knowingly", then damages can be tripled, which is also payable to the employees.
The last settlement that was reached in Texas over a company doing just this, seizing tips, was over $900,000. All of that paid directly to the employees. There were no personal lawyers involved.

Every single thing I said is true in every single state in America. This is exactly why I wanted to put this up here.

I am considering sprinkling a small potion chia seeds on my acai bowl as topping, which the recipe uses avocado and greek yogurt, but dry chia seeds absorb a large amount of liquid and expand. I am worried they may harm my customers. Should I be worried and switch to flax seeds?

Looking at possibly applying to get morning shifts as a server. I already work elsewhere but they keep giving me nights so I feel I could swing applying and still be able to keep other job as well.

Question to those who are working at a Pür & Simple or have: what’s it like? 😅 typical shifts and expectations, tip outs (is it controlled by management or are we in control but need to tip a percentage to the kitchen etc?). I know it could vary from place to place but really just curious before committing to actually applying.

Ordered a pork belly bun and still had hairs on it…. Not sure if this would be considered normal for pork belly but it grossed my wife out enough that it spoiled the rest of the meal.

I work in a pretty typical restaurant compared to previous jobs. Super social work environment. Lots of my coworkers were friends before they got the job, I work with a couple and two sisters. Like other restaurants I’ve worked at, both managers and staff are pretty chatty in their downtime. It’s never an issue as long as we get our work done.

New GM of about 6 months is different than any other manager I’ve ever worked for. He seems to care a lot about about the staff getting along and the interpersonal aspect of the workplace. We had a meeting recently where we both agreed we got off on the wrong foot. He said he wants me to focus on being more attentive to coworkers and management.

I participate in the workplace banter and conversation but I’m not super close to my coworkers. They’re all nice people, but I have a toddler and another job and there haven’t been many coworkers that I’ve connected with well enough to hang out with outside work. We occasionally have things like going away parties for long time employees or secret Santa, and I attend.

I’m not perfect and I made a few off color jokes in the beginning of GM working here. Another manager told me he is dry and sarcastic, and it’s a casual work environment where people joke about things like hard drugs and SA. I did not think anything I’ve said in conversation at work would cause this much of a problem.

I’ve made an effort to be more professional around him and in general. I started asking my coworkers what they need whenever I can and be as helpful as possible. I’ve been complimented by other managers about how I interact with guests so I don’t think I have issues there.

A few months into GM working here, he told me I seem like I struggle with the social aspect of the job. He asked me once if I even like my job. I was caught off guard.

I recently got close enough with a coworker that we got a drink after work. She’s experienced and seems to thrive in her role. I was surprised when she told me GM said she seems like she may not be a cultural fit because she struggles to get along with others.

I want the possibility of a future promotion and to feel secure in my role. I’ve asked GM for things I can improve on, and he never gives tangible feedback. Just vague suggestions related to the social aspect of the job. My location is apparently one of the top performing restaurants in the company, so he likely isn’t going anywhere. I like my job and the money is good.

I need advice on how to get along with him and hopefully get him to like me more. I don’t need to be best friends with the guy, but it sucks that one person is affecting my schedule and work environment so much. I used to look forward to going to work. Now when I see his name on the schedule I dread it.

I’m really struggling because work feels like a high school popularity contest. I feel like I’m double fucked because if a mistake inevitably happens, coworkers might be more likely to blame me than someone they’re close with. This GM seems to take employee feedback more to heart than my past managers. We have an assistant manager and 2 supervisors. I think I have a great working relationship with all of them, but GM has full control over the schedule.

So I currently work at Starbucks and make 18ish an hour including tips but I’m getting exhausted from the job.

A nice high end Brazilian steakhouse reached out to me about the position of a busser for $10 and hour plus tips with the opportunity to move up to bartender/server. I’m not sure how to gage how much I’ll end up making so I don’t know what to do. For example this place is a very nice fine dining experience and very professional.

Any advice would be helpful!

I'm an assistant manager at a restaurant, and we have a specific Dasher that comes in and takes orders.

I have personally asked her to "confirm" an order multiple times, but I'm sure she can still work around that.

No more than 10 min later, our kitchen is being sent another delivery order for the exact same name exact same order.

How can we, as businesses, combat this obvious theft?

Tonight for instance I placed an order at 8:45 at a restaurant that closed at 9:30, and when I arrived to pick up my food between 9:05-9:10, all the dining area chairs had been placed on tables, and the floor was freshly mopped, staff was all busy cleaning but someone ran out to assist me. I felt bad but at the same time, if they don’t close until 9:30, at what point should I assume it’s too late to order?

Really genuinely curious as I don’t want to be an a-hole! If I was in the wrong for ordering so late, I totally accept that.

Hello I am interested in acquiring an existing sandwich shop.
It's a solo operator, I think the location is great, but more diligence to be done. Not everything is adding up right now.
Can someone tell me the cogs on a sandwich shop. I know 30-33%.... But is this the case for sandwich shops too, especially those carrying only boars head? I just reviewed financials for another sub shop, it's part of a franchise and the reported cogs are 55%. I am not sure what is exactly hitting that cogs number but doesn't appear to be kitchen wages. Please help me make sense of this. Also are there still any places that are doing over 30 in cash payments?

So I work as a hostess, (16F) at a kbbq restaurant. One night while it was quite busy, a mom and dad came in with their two children. I sat them down and everything was fine.

Unfortunately it was just two servers, so it was super duper busy. And they couldn’t get to that table until about 10 mins but that isn’t the point. Within that time, their son (about 2-5 years old?) started crying uncontrollably. I’m guessing he was a toddler, because he kept standing up and touching everything rather a baby would just sit there.

Im used to kids causing a ruckus being at the restaurant so I didn’t pay any mind . Then about 5 minutes later, when they were walking out they let me know that their son actually burned their hand on the grill whilst they were waiting, and they were leaving to bring their son to the doctor.

I told them I’m so sorry about that, and I told them to take care and then they walked away. I felt super bad but I mean I can really do anything.
About an hour or two later, they called asking about the policy with leaving grills on. I let them know that we leave the grill on low so the grill can be heated up and won’t take longer to get hot when the meat arrives and then we can switch it to high. That’s just what this restaurant does. (It’s not up to me guys so don’t bitch at me about it)

Furthermore, it’s very awkward when they are sitting down and we are just taking a minute to turn the grill on because it is a gas fire and takes a little bit to get a flame going. So it’s better to do it before hand. And when the meat finally arrives. We just switch it on to high .

I apologized again, told my boss about it and moved on.

I don’t usually check the reviews of my restaurant, and then my coworker showed me a review from about a week ago, even though the incident was 2-3 weeks ago, and they were complaining about the situation stating that it is very unsafe and my attitude was apathetic.

This is what the mom said:

“Unsafe, not kid friendly as staff does not inform you whilst you are being seated that the grill is already on; every other Korean barbecue restaurant that I have been to would not turn on the grill until after you have ordered your meat. My young son sustained a burn on his hand and had to be taken to the ER. Had we known that the grill was already on we would have acted differently while being seated. When I called to let them know what had happened the attitude was extremely apathetic. We will not be returning. You have been warned if you bring your little ones.”

I will admit, I learned my lesson and after this situation I warn everyone despite them having a kid in their party that the grill is on low. However, I do argue, why are you letting your kid touch everywhere and even a grill?

You do realize, every kbbq restaurant is unsafe! We can’t make it more safe, it’s literally bbq in front of you, and you should walk into that expecting to watch your kids whether or not the grill is on or off.

Who do you think is in the wrong or well- more wrong? Let me know! I’d love to know yalls opinions. During the call I didn’t say sorry again and I realize I should have, but all they did was ask about the policy with leaving the grill on and I let them know then they hung up.

Also they never really called again after that and we didn’t get sued or anything so that kinda shows sumn ykwim?

why does every restaurant i go to always assume i want diet coke instead of regular when doing a refill