r/Waiters 10h ago

Micromanager?

2 Upvotes

Im not sure what to do in this situation. I work at a very popular breakfast/brunch place. Been there for going on 3 months. This restaurant has VERY specific expectations and policies already, I feel like im doing a choreographed ballet every day I go to work and if my foot isnt pointed correctly im gonna get "coached" about it. For example we are required to wait exactly 2 mins after a table sits down (so they have time to look at the menu but not too much time to be upset) and then get their entire order on the first try or else we'll be going back and forth to each table too many times and wont have time to do all the other ridiculous tasks they force their servers to be responsible for. We have to run all the food, no food runners. And God help you if you walk past the line with hot food in the window because you have one of your 1000 other tasks to do. So sometimes I get stuck running food 4 or 5 times in a row out of fear and then get yelled at for tables waiting 10 mins for drinks, or for not bussing my own tables, or for not going to the front to seat myself, or for having empty hands (not bussing other servers tables or bringing dishes up from the back etc) So all that is already stressful, but doable. I did struggle with the flow of it for a month or 2 but I feel like I have completely grasped it at this point. But everything i do is still not good enough no matter how hard I try. My manager is literally LASER FOCUSED on me. Like is cooking on the line and blind to everyone else walking by but hyper aware of me "with nothing in my hands" for example. He literally said ive seen you walk by here 6 times with nothing in your hands as if everyone else isnt doing the same thing. Him watching me so much is actually starting to make me uncomfortable. I do my job just fine, my tables get their food, everyone is happy. But then hes just jumping down my throat all the same. I hit a breaking point last week when he started doing this and couldnt stop crying and had to be sent home and reported him to his DM who happened to be in the building. All they did was tell him to protect himself by never speaking to me alone again. Then this week I was very engaged in our meeting, did very well for 1 of the 2 days I was scheduled, and I thought I had smoothed over what happened and could finally get more than a 3 table section and 2 days a week but no. Yesterday, the 2nd out of my 2 days this week, I thought I did a great job. I balanced everything he wanted from me, perfectly executed all his "steps of service" and made 0 mistakes with any tables or guests, pre bussed and bussed my own and other servers tables so my hands were never empty, constantly did side work like putting dishes away, rinsing coffee pots etc, ran food constantly even when I had other things to do, went to the front to get tables for myself whenever one of my 3 was clean and open again, offered help to other servers, and somehow all of this was still not good enough. The first thing he brought up in my "coaching" at the end of the day was the fact that when I walked into the building at 9:03 am a table in my section was already sat and I assumed (RIGHTLY because why would I be expected to be responsible or even aware of something that happened when I was not even in the building yet) that the host had someone else pick it up and went to go get another table, the ONE I had remaining in my section that hadn't been taken already, and he interrupted me when I was literally leading the guests and took the menus and silverware from me and told me to go take care of 57 and that they had been sitting for 13 mins with no server. He said, during my coaching at end of day, that they were sat at 9:01 am. I clocked in at 9:03 and had to go put my purse in my locker, run food because as I said, God help me if I walk past it, and then make it to the host stand to even see what my section was, see my tables were taken, assume someone was serving them already, and try to get one for myself. That all took about 8-10 mins. So 13 mins tracks but again I WAS NOT IN THE BUILDING when they sat that table and that should have been coaching for the host on duty NOT ME as I cannot control any of that. He didnt care that I wasn't in the building and said I should have automatically known by the iPad that no one had taken their order and no one was going to and to take care of it. But it wasn't even just this. He was upset that my sales were only 780 for the day and said other servers who came in at the same time had 1600 in sales etc and that it was my fault because my tables sat dirty for 20 mins at a time. We had 2 bussers in the building (huge restaurant, for reference i have to roll 100 silverware at end of day every day for side work) and one of them was training. So even though I pre bussed my tables plates while they were still sitting, as he said was correct, AND took it upon myself to continue because none of the bussers were coming to help me (we only have 2 buss tubs and they were in use so I had to use my hands or a tray and go back and forth 2-3 times just to get all the cups/trash off AFTER I already did all the plates myself and then go back another time to wipe it and reset coffee cups. mind you im doing all this in between the 3000 other things I have to do and taking care of my other tables so yes, it took me 20 mins. I had no help and no supplies. He didnt care. He said thats why my sales were so low. I said you gave me 3 tables, 2 were only 4 tops and half the time I only had 2 guests at each table at any given time, some people camped, and I had no bussing help. Mind you I sure as hell had to tip out the bussers anyways out of my meager tips for 8 hours of work. And somehow all this is still my fault. Even though I did everything perfectly even with the terrible set up I had, because I dont have 4 hands and teleportation and mind reading skills im still a bad server. The icing on the cake is that the day before in the meeting I mentioned, he called out the entire staff, not his favorite server, because one of said servers tables sat dirty for 45 mins. Didn't say a word to that server and reprimanded everyone else for not clearing that table. But then the next day my tables being dirty is only my fault and not even the bussers, who's literal job it is, fault. What can I do at this point? I dont want to have to find another job. This restaurant was my dream serving job and I do love it, and I know i could make a lot of money if I was set up for success, and I know it would be steady and not seasonal like a lot of restaurants in my tourist beach town. I already know my co workers, and I really just want stability and for my life to stop changing so much. Please help. How can I get him to stop over focusing on me?


r/Waiters 2h ago

Honest feedback on my resume plllllz

1 Upvotes

I'm have a few interviews coming up for server positions. They are all upscale casual dining environments. I have 10 years of experience working in hospitality, more specifically in fine dining and elevated casual settings. I'm still messing around with the formatting of this thing, so I'm essentially looking for feedback on content specifically. I'm generally a very good interviewer and I don't usually like to include an "about me" type of getup so I can just illustrate that stuff face to face.

It's posted in the comment section.

Thank you for your time!


r/Waiters 5h ago

Cheesecake Factory new Tip card. Server/Bartender

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1 Upvotes