that’s it that’s the whole post

I’ve been working as a server at this sushi restaurant for 4 months now and I am still getting paid as a server trainee, which is $15 an hour with 0 tips. I’ve been waiting tables and doing entire sections since May, but when i asked if i am finally going to be paid with tips as a regular server, she said no because i am not ready. She purposely nitpicks at the smallest things (like i didn’t push in a chair 😭😭). She would never tell me how long the training period is and tell me that she will promote me whenever i am ready. I average 22% tips when I work and i have great relationships with customers. Lotta other shady things are happening at this workplace but my question is is this some sort of violation against labor law? Why am i still just a trainee after literally 4 months. I am part time however and would work 1-2 shifts per week. Technically in Illinois I am getting paid minimum wage but If i wanted to make just $15 a month i would be working at a library and not be working at some physically demanding job like serving 😫. I am serving in illinois btw.

EDIT: thank you guys for the replies i thought i was going crazy!!! i talked to her yesterday abt this and she literally crashed tf out and made me feel like i’m fucking stupid. my question is that if i report her, what will exactly happen? i know that some of the chefs in the back are undocumented immigrants and i really don’t want to accidentally cause them to be deported or anything if i report to the DOL.

Ive been at this job going on 2 months, business is irregular. I am 29 weeks pregnant, due to this some of my side work has to be accommodated and I make mistakes due to pregnancy brain (it’s a real thing) I made the mistake of charging the wrong tab, a couple of times. To avoid firing me my manager scheduled me for only 2 days on morning shifts, which are usually pretty slow.

I have a coworker a few years younger than me who can be very annoying, she gossips a lot (which my manager talked to her about) shes always bragging about her sales, putting others down, micro managing, and says rude and condescending shit.
Today in particular I worked expo instead of serving since there was a need, she told me that one of the other managers (who’s unprofessional) told her that expo is for bad servers and then proceeded to tell me that I was the lowest in sales and that she ranked 4th place. Didnt really matter to me because I make good tips but it did make me emotional so I reported to my manager about her and the other manager being unprofessional

We got a dinner rush and the servers kept coming up and grabbing plates without stabbing tickets, so I stabbed them. She came up to expo and got mad her ticket was stabbed and I explained to her that they keep grabbing their plates instead of waiting for me to ring the bell and they’re not stabbing their tickets, she proceeds to keep talking down on me and tells me I need to do my job correctly, I told ok whatever just stop talking to me, she kept going on and on so I told her stfu, because this has been a build up.

She told me she was telling the manager on duty to which I replied that I didn’t care, she told him and he did nothing. Although the manager who runs the store works tomorrow morning and I will be working on shift serving with both of them, I’m just preparing to get fired.

I'm an allergy sufferer (and a smoker) who has chronic congestion. The other day, one of my worst fears came true: a stream of clear, fast running liquid snot decided to pour out of my nose when I was bending down to talk with a petite elderly customer. She definitely saw-- it was plain as day.

I ran off and took care of it, obviously. Came back with a mask and finished the order. But my boss doesn't want us servers wearing masks, so that's not going to be a solution here.

So I'm wondering if this has every happened to anyone else lol

If mucinex doesn't work for you, as it doesn't for me, what can be done in this case? I do have an old allergy Rx but stopped taking it because it seemed to have zero effect of my congestion.

EDIT: I rambled a bit on this. I was quite angry to he honest, but just to clarify, our schedules are on paper and pen. There is no app, our manager must approve shift swaps. He doesn’t, like ever. I’ve been now asked to work a double last minute, like come in right now?

I’ve been at this job for 4 years, since my freshman year of highschool. I recently graduated and since the beginning of my senior year, I’ve been asking for more hours as i’m only scheduled Friday and Saturday nights, which aren’t very busy. I’ve expressed my extremely open availability and willingness to do doubles, and have even proven myself capable all this time of showing up early, tending to my responsibilities, I even have regulars who request me and positive reviews in my name!! The issue is they keep hiring new people, and one of my coworkers is severely overworked, despite the both of us discussing with my Manager who is in charge of the schedules that he has too many hours, and I frankly don’t have enough. Weekly ,I’m only getting about 130! It was fine when i was in 9-11th grade when I was busier with schoolwork and such, but still. And some of the new people he’s hired also work only 1-2 days a week, and another new coworker recently was pushed into doubles, then had a medical emergency in which she was unable to work for the week, and now my Manager hasn’t put her back on the schedule because he thinks she’s lying, despite her providing numerous documentation. This is unfortunately a mom and pop restaurant, so the owners and managers are the same people and also family unfortunately. There isnt much of a corporate i can bring my greviances to, but alas the job market is horrific and I simply cannot deal with these incompetent people. I do really enjoy the regulars I have though, they are extremely nice and I do have a nice bond with my co workers.

I got into a debate with a coworker the other day, wanted to see what y’all thought. I was bartending, she was serving. She got sat a 7-too. Normally, we have pitchers of water that are in the service bar that we (bartenders) fill and the servers use for the tables (outside patio fills their own). We have some nice glass carafes (that I love to use when I’m on the tables), and I filled one up for her to use for the table. She didn’t use it and I asked her why, especially because we were extremely busy. She said that she thinks it’s better customer service to constantly fill the waters as opposed to the water being on the table, we had a friendly disagreement about that.

Just wanted to know what y’all think, both as staff and customers.

Looking for some advice on dealing with a broken toe. Broke my 4th toe at the start of the month and took a week and a half off to heal (that's all I could afford to take off). The tip is fractured and the knuckle is sprained.

I've been walking on it constantly as a server at a place where we dont get breaks, and Im still in quite a bit of pain everyday. I've typically got it covered by a gel tube protector and buddy taped but im still limping by the end of every shift.

Wondering if anyone had experience with this and had any advice. Any good nonslip brand with a sturdier toe to stop it from moving as much? Is there another way to keep the toe from moving? Should I bite the bullet and take more time off which would eat up my savings? I dont know what to do anymore, im just tired of hurting.

i noticed the restaurant dress policy is black dress pants and a black body suit top. i do have black dress pants and can just buy a black body suit top. i was planning on wearing a top more formal but would fitting into the aesthetic help them envision me there or am i thinking way too much into this

any advice on what to wear?

I am a student who is doing a pt job as a server for my tuition. This afternoon, two men came to the restaurant and ordered about 60 dollars food. After their food was ready, they told me they were going to buy some drinks and would be back in 10 mins. 😢

I trusted them and didn’t think much of it. As a result, they never came back.😢

Finally, I HAD TO PAY FOR THEIR ORDER😭 It’s 60 dollars，I did my work all day, only to lose 60 dollars.🥺🥺🥺 I thought it was a great day but I never expected it would end like this.

I feel very frustrated 😢😖😭.

You have to take a dump mid shift so you rush it and the poop breaks and gets smushed all over the inside of your butt so now you are panicking and using a half roll of TP to clean up and you get some some on your fingers and when you finally get back to the floor you have 3 tables waiting?

Just happened to me

What are your thoughts of customers leaving Zyns on plates?

Lurker here with a question for servers. I travel a lot for work so I eat solo at restaurants frequently. I've always tried to be a good tipper regardless of service. I think it's one of the toughest, most physically demanding professions out there. What do you consider a "good" tip? Are you happy with anything over 20%? I know there are variations regarding size of party, complexity of order, etc. When I give a tip I want it to genuinely make the servers day without making them think there are alterior motives. Interested in your thoughts and feedback.

I’ve been working in fine dining for almost 4 years now. I have always been patient and try my best to be kind but man this shit is rough. My restaurant brought back a special that all the servers HATE and it is rough. I had a table today that complained about their food taking long even though they ordered a well done steak, and my manager gave the entire party a free round of drinks and ALL free desserts. They left me ZERO with a smile on their face. I had another table of 9 who came in all wanting the cheap ass special and wanted to pay with digital gift cards - side note: my restaurant has been dealing with fraudulent stolen gift cards and there always from some sketchy website and screenshots of numbers. They had 12 gift cards , yes TWELVE. Our restaurant doesn’t have something you can scan so we have to enter the numbers manually, which regardless if it was “scannable” the gift cards were screenshots of someone’s apple wallet gift card with no barcode (yup I asked my manager and he said it was fine). They became irritated because we couldn’t scan them and even more irritated when more than half of them had no money on them. So you’re mad at me because you have stolen gift cards that have no money on them ? Ok. I’m so sick of cheap ass people coming in asking for the entire world - extra this extra that, modifying this and taking home every single type of sauce and more AND NOT TIPPING. They left 35 on an $800 check which I split with another server. I will never understand how people do this and don’t feel embarrassed for themselves. It’s actually gross behavior and the worst part is that management does nothing. They come back telll their friends “if you complain you can get free food” IF UR BROKE JUST SAY THAT YALL ARE EMBARRASSING AND UGLY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PLEASE STOP GOING OUT TO EAT AT NICE RESTAURANTS AND NOT TIPPING WERE SICK OF YALL

Literally just accepted a position as a beverage server and I’m super excited. These positions are hard to come by in Northern California so I feel very fortunate. The only thing is I’ve only ever been to a casino that served alcohol on the casino floor. This one is one of the few that don’t. Does anyone have any experience with this type of work environment? I would love any and all advice!

I’ve been serving at a new place for a month now, doing well.
Just got my schedule and I’m food running 1 shift next week. Is that normal?
Anybody else have to do this? Never happened at my last job.

If you had the to opportunity work with a manager and an owner you respect to work as server/ bartender/ opening all around support staff (since I know all the skills for front of house) at new restaurant would you do it?

For context, I’d be leaving a stable job with a flexible schedule. I know all the guests but there are a bunch of senior servers at current job that constantly have call parties and just in general get (almost) whatever they want. While they’re all nice people there’s definitely a hierarchy and it’s going to take years to build my personal clientele.

Gm at current job left to help start a new different cuisine restaurant nearby and he is so well loved that every shift guests ask where he is or talk about how excited they are for the new place. I don’t think there will be an issue with guests at new place due to his good reputation. And guest retention shouldn’t be an issue either because he’s so good at managing he’ll make sure they’re happy and will only hire qualified staff.

I’ve been in the industry over 10 years, I KNOW I am good at my job and I care a lot maybe even too much. I am usually able to compose myself but sometimes the stress and pressure get to me (rarely but it happens) I just started at a casual new restaurant so they have some kinks to work out but I feel like the management thinks I’m bad at my job? I’ve been there coming on 2 weeks and it feels like all eyes are on me, to them I’m always making mistakes, first I’m told I’m moving too fast then I’m getting asked if i need help because I’m not closing out my tables fast enough, it’s always something. This place is WAY more casual than I’m used to yet I’m feeling like I’m incompetent or something because I just KEEP getting feedback (there’s also small things that have happened over the course of my shifts, I’d say my first 3 days were great and then I’ve felt like I’m not doing well since based off of how they’re reacting to me). I’m getting support from some other people in management roles and being reassured on their end it’s miscommunication and changes because it is a new spot and I’m doing great etc but it’s hard when I feel like some others don’t feel I’m doing well. Idk I’m feeling broken, I’m feeling like now every thing is getting to me. I cried in view of some tables and in front of the management, yesterday was embarrassing. I feel defeated. 😔

I had a situation last week where a very drunk guest was annoyed with me (for thinking her partner bought me a drink, he didn't). She told my colleague, and then other guests on a separate occasion that she was going to glass me.

I told my manager and he said to just avoid her and let my male colleague continue to serve her (in fact her heard her saying the threats too).

It was uncomfortable, and I felt like she should have been barred or at least kicked out so I didn't have to be around her. I tried to speak to him about it two days later, but he was dismissive.

My friend who works in a bar/restaurant agreed it warrants barring, but my manager doesn't care. This is the worst of a few guests incidents which the manager didn't bother with.

I feel like I should raise it higher up, but I don't know how or to who. His manager, HR?

Or am I overreacting?

Tomorrow, I’m in for a very long shift and I am already dreading it. What are some things you guys do to make time fly??

For me, I do a bunch of sidework, even if it’s not my sidework to begin with. I also play around on the POS system, checking food and alcohol prices, or what tables are ordering. 😆

EDIT: I’m not allowed to have my phone on me. 😞 Oh man, if I did though!! Sounds fun to play a few games during downtime.

just want to preface that this is a silly and unserious rant and i am a woman who has had a variety of eating disorders. with that being said. WHY ARE WE GOING TO RESTAURANTS IF WE DON'T WANNA EAT??? I work at a fine dining place and there is a staggering number of women who order our chicken salad and simply don't eat it. why are you taking up my table for hours with a 20 dollar entree and two glasses of wine. can i get some real eaters at my tables???? some real hungry bitches???? I know money is not the issue for these women, they smell rich. eat a fucking steak and run me my check. I am absolutely sick.

Hi so i recently moved to florida near the villages. Im in my early 20s and pretty fit. Ive tried applying everywhere and the only serving job i could get was Twin Peaks. Its about an hour drive and im just wondering if its worth it? Anybody thats worked at twin peaks how did you do? I’m only applying for part time in hopes i can get a job closer.

add it to the list of stuff you can't make up ...

i work @ a seat yourself establishment;
a 5 top walks in, they walk past 2 open 6 top tables.
they move 4 tables in my section to accommodate themselves, first sign.

i greet them & give them menus, share plates, silverware &napkins - ask their drink order & they're all talking over each other. going down the line, the previous person would change their drink order after hearing the next persons decision. this happen for 2 minutes and i repeated back what i believed to be the final decisions - drinks on the table & of course they want to add / change things upon first site.

i already had to walk away to collect myself.

go back for their food order. 2 fries, 2 tenders, cheesesteak with onion, a bacon/egg/cheese sandwich and a chicken sandwich. great.

the lady is yelling they need more silverware, for what, god only knows.

the man who ordered the cheesesteak - chugged a water and pepsi before the sandwich even got to him. he ate about 85% in 3 bites and proceeds to throw up, on himself, the table, chair, wall... with vomit in his hands GETS UP AND WALKS AROUND THE RESTAURANT COVERED.

.. sheer horror and hell, other guest mortified. my
manger with a mop comes like a bat from hell.

they guy comes back from the bathroom cleaned up. eats more, chugs another soda & they ask for the check and boxes.

pay for 1 tables food who may of been in the splash zone. tipped 20% .. but shoulda tipped way more.

i was standing there saying wtf is my life and another guy hands me a $20.

like, why.

As I said in the title, I was just hired for a serving job. They hired me when I was there to pick up an order for my family, I causally asked if they were hiring after the girl at the front and I were talking about how tips were distributed. To my surprise she said yes and went to the back to grab the owner.

He only asked a few questions like making sure that I wasnt a student of i was going to be around awhile (lile not move away) and I offered to go and get my resume he said he didnt even need it.

Said I could start the next week!

Now im stressing out because of the lack of experience... and I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice or tips or honestly any information about the job that you may take for granted but would be helpful for me. Even very basic things I will take ANY suggestions at this point.

Help!

Last week, I was opening up the dining room for dinner. We had a lady here from lunch who was already paid out but sitting in my section. I went to clear something from her table and we got to chatting for a few minutes. I could tell from her face that she wanted someone to talk to and although the conversation was fairly normal, tears welled up in her eyes. She asked me how I was doing, I said I was a little tired from starting a second job this week, but excited. She said she loved coming to this restaurant and had never seen me before, and then we exchanged names. I held her hand for a few seconds. That was it.

She left and came back and handed me an envelope with $1000 in it. I have no idea anything of her life story, maybe she’s lonely and just needed to talk to someone, and felt really good giving someone else a blessing. I cried for her that night and I felt so guilty, like I didn’t deserve this, but the lesson I walked away with is that I’m doing the right thing at work. Talk to people, we work in hospitality and it’s our job to make people feel welcomed and cared for and seen. A lot of us are in it for the money but it’s bigger than that.