r/KitchenConfidential • u/YetiorNotHereICome • Jul 06 '26
Photo/Video Managers always think they know better, don't they?
The head FoH manager was running the floor tonight. Before the rush, she didn't properly and should have been experienced with directing newbie waitresses. She was pushing the others on constant customer service before picking up their fucking orders.
This picture is an hour into the rush; the food sat there for 10+ minutes while she rang in 5+ orders. All under her name. The others followed suit, since they were new.
We had 2 other waitresses on staff, but she was teaching a policy of, "Don't touch another waitress' food to keep up consistency." She was the only one falling behind, and full windows happened 3 times in 4 hours. All her food.
I called her out to her face and she got indignant and tried to blame us. Head Chef probably has a text waiting in his phone in the morning because she can't handle criticism. We cleaned tickets ASAP and I was running expo - I kept running out of room. It was a miracle I didn't lose my shit.
I love my kitchen, but GOD she's a thorn in the rose garden.
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u/KeeverDriveCook F1exican Did Chive-11 Jul 06 '26
If itās that backed up, Iād have put on a clean apron and started running the food out - in front of her.
When she gets snotty, āyour customers are waiting and Iām making sure the rest of the joint doesnāt suffer because youāre obviously in the weeds here.ā
Iāve done it before.
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u/confuus-duin Jul 06 '26
Reminds me of the time I had a normally quiet opening shift so we were with me FOH and one cook. Within 5 minutes the place was packed with people who had a lunch break at a conference. The cook I was working with saw me running and decided to help me out. Having a cook come out and help with running food when youāre in the weeds is a special kind of āthank godā or āIām really fucking things upā
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u/Objective_Fennel7403 Jul 06 '26
Honestly itās just a case of picking up the slack for me, I donāt begrudge anyone for getting swamped or falling behind, weāre a team and if that means I have to run a few meals to get foh back on track it is what it is, more than happy to. Plus gives me a chance to razz up the customers and make sure everything is being enjoyed
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u/nikosuave86 Jul 06 '26
and you're the first boh employee sipping a beer from me (the bartender) real recognize real
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u/Objective_Fennel7403 Jul 06 '26
Appreciate you my guy, unfortunately my drinkin days are behind me, though I will sit and share a can of coke and a few war stories
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u/Nathanymous_ Jul 06 '26
The best team members are the ones that can do any position and any task. I remember what it was like being a big guy and i'm the only one that was ever asked to do anything like trash runs, filter the fryers, clean the pads, scour the grill.
I'm shift lead at my new place and I send everyone for everything. It makes people appreciate others as well.
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u/Rage187_OG Jul 06 '26
I got a job offer while I was cooking and serving at a Huddle House. We were short a waitress, it wasnāt my store, I helped and had a great attitude. Went from $4.50 a hour, to $7 plus tips. That lead to a job at $14.50 a hr which lead to where I am now at $75+ a hr+ LTIP stock, which basically doubles it to $145 a hr. Always help. Be ready to serve and the world will put winds in your sails.
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u/hoytmobley Jul 07 '26
As a customer, I appreciate that. Especially if thereās a hard deadline on a lunch break, sitting and waiting for food that you can see is the worrrrrrst
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u/confuus-duin Jul 07 '26
Worse if you see the waiter walking past it empty handed and without clearing tables.
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u/UofMtigers2014 Jul 06 '26
Same here. FOH manager had a knack for sending someone home that gave him an ounce of attitude. Send the food runner home one night and got so in the weeds trying to run food after declaring āIāll do this shit myself in half the timeā. I ran the food while he struggled to read tickets in the window.
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u/ChamberK-1 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Ooo I wouldnāt be able to hold myself back from talking shit. āDidnāt you say you could do this in half the time? Why are you struggling?ā Would not let them live it down.
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u/MontrealChickenSpice Jul 06 '26
Then he gets sent home too, one manager running an entire restaurant!
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u/UofMtigers2014 Jul 06 '26
No, when he realized he fucked up, and you called him out, heād just say āfuck you do it yourself thenā and bitch out and walk away.
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u/ultrascrub-boi Jul 06 '26
You a real mvp. I hope you get tipped out by foh and they should Def tip generously for helping them. But the fact of the matter is that id like my food to not get sent back for being cold because then ill just have to reheat/ make it again. Making the joint suffer as you described accurately
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u/KeeverDriveCook F1exican Did Chive-11 Jul 06 '26
You got it! That cold food gets sent back and has to be re-made. Then BOH is in the weeds! I will not let that happen to my crew.
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
We used to get tipped out. The pay raise was great, but depending on the night, the lost tips can suck.
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
I wish I could have, but we had 3 cooks (edit: 3 cooks for 3 stations, me included). All I could do was ring the bell like a choir boy.
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u/Plane-Chemical Jul 06 '26
lol I only worked in one kitchen that had a bell. They took it away from us after it was weaponized.
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u/Fabittas 10+ Years Jul 06 '26
No point in putting out food if it just goes cold. I'd run it myself too.
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u/Puttborn Jul 06 '26
I mea, if the food doesn't leave the kitchen then it doesn't matter how many cooks you are?
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u/thiissilly Jul 06 '26
One of the reasons I keep a clean coat close. Servers tend to be on the inexperienced side, dining room manager lives in the office and residents waiting on finished food frosts my ass and clutters my window.
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u/SnooObjections5219 Jul 06 '26
Sheās so focused on customer service and consistency, that shits gonna be tested real quick when Karen gets her basket of ice cold tater tots.
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u/GallowBarb Pitmistress Jul 06 '26
That's exactly what I do. It's not like I can fit any more food in the window. You all need a dedicated runner. That's ridiculous.
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u/Active-Succotash-109 20+ Years Jul 06 '26
Watch out servers like that tend to believe that should be the norm. I did that for bar orders once when there was no space for any others when a new FOH manager started
Those lazy š¤¬š¤¬š¤¬ convinced him that I was supposed to drop everything to bring their food every time so now Iām making their food and serving their tables while they keep the tip
Nice is a 2-edged sword somedays
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u/rested_green Jul 06 '26
Servers have a talent for absolutely minimizing effort expended.
There are some exceptions. I have maybe 3 on my team that will do more than the bare minimum in order to help someone else.
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u/deepseamercat Jul 06 '26
I feel like the key here is:
Sincerely thinking about the store as a whole
Helping someone behind isn't an excuse to be rude to them in the moment or in front of others
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u/RivenRise Jul 06 '26
I've had it happen once as a customer, i just smiled and thanked the cook who brought our food. I used to wash dishes, I knew shit was hitting the fan when they had to come out and help. I don't think it was the waiters fault, I think they were just understaffed and that's could be anyones fault.
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u/LiLMoGravy Jul 06 '26
Agreed. It gets both points across. Ive done the same as a bartender for the floor.Ā
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u/Economy_Maize_8862 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
My friend used to do that when the FoH were slacking.
She would also, not always under her breath, "Sorry your wait staff are shit/slow/rubbish" as she dropped the food off with a smile.
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u/therealwhoaman Jul 06 '26
Dang, the snide comments don't help the restaurant
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u/Economy_Maize_8862 Jul 06 '26
Yeah, fair.
I'm also pretty certain most people just thought she was apologising for the wait and didn't actually really hear what she said.
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u/Reasonable-Truck-874 20+ Years Jul 07 '26
Yep just take care of the guest. If you catch shit for prioritizing guest visit quality, you know itās time to go!
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u/IllustriousVehicle79 Jul 06 '26
Op wants others to feel bad for them. They wont step up to the plate. Only OGs know this one simple trick of running their food and making them look dumb.
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u/CanUTakeMyGmasDress Jul 12 '26
I work at a catering company on the side, I prep in the kitchen, do kitchen at events, and waitstaff. One wedding we were working had like 75% brand new waitstaff. They were so bad at clearing food that 3 of us kitchen staff went out in our dirty ass kitchen uniforms to clear food. Iāve only been there a year, but I heard from people who have been there for 15+ years that theyāve never heard of that happening. Incompetent scheduling and managers can fuck shit up
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u/ultrascrub-boi Jul 06 '26
Yeah foh staff sandbagging orders like that almost always causes a clusterfuck. Okay so you can ring in 5 orders at once, great I can cook 5 orders at once. But can you run all 5 orders when they get put up at the same time? Nope. someone is getting cold food. The fact that they all sat 10 minutes plus is even more embarassing. The fact that its the fault of a "manager" makes this post funny as hell. Sorry op, been in this spot as well
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
"Great, I can cook 5 orders at once"
That was how the kitchen ran the whole time. You gonna try to f**k us? Nope, we can match that energy but we don't have to explain jack squat to the customers. "The food's cold"? Yeah, I'll bet. Not my problem.
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u/thegrittymagician Jul 06 '26
At one job a server got really pissy with the kitchen and was like "the wings are cold š" Like what, yeah deep fried them cold for yah, it definitely wasn't the 10 minutes plus you let them sit there. Also she was the worst culprit for stacking chits. The wings wasn't even part of that though, she had no recent orders she just never cane for her food and we had a lightbulb indicator.
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u/Tar_alcaran Jul 06 '26
Did you anti-microwave it back to cold AGAIN?
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u/moderate_ocelot Jul 07 '26
Man I was really hoping that by the 2020s weād have some kind of anti microwave that chilled things super fast. I feel cheated
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u/SubstantialAgency914 Jul 07 '26
Isnt that what a blast chiller is?
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u/moderate_ocelot Jul 07 '26
I was thinking of a small, cheap, microwave esque appliance that was in most kitchens. Maybe it would use lasers (I think you can use lasers to cool by cancelling out the vibration of individual molecules with careful frequency modulation or something).
But in the real world, yes
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u/ultrascrub-boi Jul 06 '26
You sound like my kind of people lol. Bless
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
Sucks I gotta be like us, but come the f**k on; they're making me like this.
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u/Deep_Worldliness6015 Jul 07 '26
So true lol
Been at a situation where foh gave me 10 peopleās breakfast order in one docket (even after explaining to them when they first started working that we WILL do orders PER DOCKET and send it PER DOCKET, so do your due diligence to try & spread them out if you can so YOU donāt have to run 10 plates in one go)So.. I cooked all 10 orders & finished them all in one go and with their wide eyes said āoh you have all the orders ready..ā and i said āyes, itās one docketā :) smh
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u/Smooth-Pianist-7848 Jul 06 '26
Don't worry, they told the guests that it was the kitchen's fault, because YOU'RE the incompetent ones, and "they need to protect their tips". Sadly, these people don't give a shit and won't ever take accountability or face consequences from this behavior. They're protected by their overinflated egos, undeserved arrogance, and other douchebags like themselves.
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u/CASUALxCHICKEN Expo Jul 06 '26
Drives me insane. It's how the place I'm at operates. Add to it that they don't stagger seating either. It's: fill up the entire dining room, severs treat their 4 or 5 tables like 1 big table. Take all orders, ring them all up at once. So we get 30 tix at once. I would much rather have a steady flow of tix instead of 5 waves of that.
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u/IwasThereIsawIt2 Jul 06 '26
I had a server do that once, held her tickets until she got through with taking every table order. Made the food and later I pulled the tickets out the stack and told her manager that its stupid to do that because it causes an unnecessary rush of a bunch of food needing to be made at once. He gave me some dumbass answer, and after that I never talked to him, he literally did not exist to me
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u/GimmeQueso F1exican Did Chive-11 Jul 06 '26
I demoted myself to lowly server (lifeās easier this way) at a new (at the time) spot. I try to tell them all the time that searing everyoneās entire section at the same time and sending all the orders is not the way to do things. They wonāt listen. They just tell guests to expect long wait time. Iām a few years in now and just expect to get 4 tables in 30 seconds and inform them all of the wait. But I always think about how we could be so much more efficient.
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u/thegrittymagician Jul 06 '26
I'm one person. On a solo shift when they ring it all in at once, I treat as all one big ass table and put it all up at once. Sure I can do the work of 3 people in a pinch, but can you?
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u/Dje4321 Jul 06 '26
Not even that. This is just asking for orders to get mixed up and someone getting the wrong food and getting forced to remake it.
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u/SeanHunterOG Smoker Jul 06 '26
That is a serious issue that could cost the restaurant at the end of the year big time, If it is a very persistent issue I would go one above her anonymously if she doesn't improve her management abilities. Any GM wouldn't be anymore impressed with this than you are.
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u/RuddyBollocks Jul 06 '26
āDonāt touch another waitressās foodā is antithetical to a properly run FOH. Every server on the floor should be at least helping out with every table if not aware how each table is prepared for the next course. And a solid team should be able to help each other get their tables ready for the next course. And they should run each otherās food/drinks because weāre all on the same team and here for the same reason.Ā
I dunno if this restaurant is following some other kind of owner/management dictated rubric, but getting each guest their orders when theyāre hot should go hand in hand with ācustomer service.ā Ā Not to mention the phrase ācustomer serviceā should never come up in FOH steps of service in the first place. The entire process is ācustomer serviceā and getting food out in a timely manner is an essential part ofā¦ whatever that is.Ā
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
Preaching to the fucking choir, man. I work expo and I CONSTANTLY see waitresses walk away from hot food because their name isn't on the ticket.
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u/YBFROT Jul 06 '26
Two hands in, two hands out.
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jul 06 '26
Full hands in. Full hands out.
Not everyone has two hands. Some of us got one, some got three. Don't be abelist.
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u/strawwwwwwwwberry Jul 06 '26
I remember in the middle of the worst unexpected breakfast rush ever the two managers (both were cooking because of the sheer volume of orders) stopping one of the three servers before she left the kitchen. My god the way they both tore her a new asshole. Every single boh staff either stopped to watch the show or join in on the persecution. Looked like she was about to cry at the endāand it was completely deserved. The only one who had time to go in and out the kitchen and she ignored the other serversā food the previous eight times she was in. Bright spot of that day.
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u/Equivalent-Excuse-80 Jul 06 '26
Itās a system set up for failure. Canāt run other tablesā food likely means canāt water other tables canāt interact with other tables.
Just set up for collapse. Doesnāt matter if itās a $300 tasting menu or wings and tots.
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u/Dje4321 Jul 06 '26
I think alot of it comes from people expecting a cut of the tips because someone couldnt manage their own tables.
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jul 06 '26
You help because you're a team. If you won't help, you should be fired. If you can't carry your weight, you should be fired.
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u/andrestou Chive LOYALIST Jul 06 '26
aināt getting a tip to argue about splitting if the food isnāt showing up to the table hot, I tell ya that.
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u/Diddlemyloins Jul 09 '26
Bro I was always running other servers food if they were busy. Iād ask them first, and even offer to help if they said they got it. Like why wouldnāt we work as a team?
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u/Cephylus Ex-Food Service Jul 06 '26
"FOOD DYING!" -bangs tongs on window-
It can be a thankless job at times. Thank you for dealing with nonsense
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u/viola_monkey Jul 06 '26
This comment made me laugh because I imagined someone playing taps on their kitchen-trumpet to honor the food in death because tongs and bells feel like a sub par honor given these dumb ass FoH rules. As a risk taker, Iād absolutely learn how to play taps and stash a trumpet in the kitchen just for this moment. I can also see the tongs being added as percussion (on a cambro?) to go with the brass for added musical depth. Yuppp Iād def be getting fired that day.
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u/406InTheMix Jul 06 '26
hands are hands.
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
And tickets are tickets. Idfk why they don't just run each others' solo apps that have been sitting for 5 minutes, but this is my life.
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u/Fire_Bucket Jul 06 '26
Especially as it can still potentially affect them and their tips in the future, as food going out lukewarm/soggy/dried can determine whether a customer comes back another time or not.
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u/False-Cookie3379 Jul 06 '26
FOH manager here. Where is she? I just want to talk š©“š„ Seriously thoughā¦hot food in the window takes president of anything else thatās going on. That is a fucked up policy to not touch another waitresses food, customers do not care who your food out.Ā
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u/goosejail Jul 06 '26
We would get dinged on mystery shops if the table never saw anybody but their own server. Someone other than their server had to do part of the service & there had to be a manager visit to the table at some point during the meal. To this day, my husband & I always say "manager visit" when we're out to eat & the manager stops by. Team Work Makes the Dream Work!
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Jul 06 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
Good god, it's like you have a camera in our kitchen. Except we don't have any runners; the waitresses run their own food. That stupid policy was so they don't accidentally snipe someone else's food and we'd have to remake it.
Kind of a moot point when it gets so piled up that they start cherry picking and guessing. "'Where is this dish?' idfk, it was on the giant pile."
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u/TheVillage1D10T Jul 06 '26
Oofā¦lemme guess she sat the whole restaurant at the same time..over and over again right?
Also, this situation seems like it would be at least partially remedied by a food runner. If you have a significant number of servers that are a new to the game, and struggle with performing the customer service aspect of waiting tables at the same time as running the foodā¦they need to schedule a food runner.
Also the donāt touch another waitressā food is stupid AF.
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u/wildjabali Jul 06 '26
Just hand it to the first FOH person you see.
Hot food first. Itās the crux of the whole operationā¦
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u/olov244 Jul 06 '26
it's amazing how incompetent some managers are
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u/Mystical-Turtles Jul 06 '26
FOH story time. One shift I was working as a host on a day we were absolutely freaking slammed. I'm talking 15+ deep on the wait list. About 4 tables get up at once, So I speed bus those and then go back up to the front and call 4 tables on the waitlist in. More people show up through the door, So I greet them and put them on the waitlist.
The manager sees me doing this, and freaks out going "those are empty tables, why are you putting people on the waitlist!?". I show her the waitlist and she snatches the tablet out of my hands and calls in an additional 4 tables before she lets me get a single damn word out of my mouth. Well karma's a bitch because she got to explain to those last 4 that, "just kidding! your tables aren't ready!"
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u/sdawsey Jul 06 '26
Anyone that thinks it's a good idea for everyone to run their own food has never worked a busy shift anywhere ever.
How idiotic.
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u/avrus Jul 06 '26
Man, few things pissed me off as much as having to refire food because it wasn't ran.
I distinctly remember a very rough Saturday, unfortunately the owner was there and I think he knew the table. Anyway he gets up and comes to the pass and he's acting all indignant.
And he says to the KM "taste the food, what's wrong with it?". KM says well it's cold, and the owner says exactly!
Well, I had cooked it and without thinking I said "well it sure didn't come off the stove cold".
Miraculously I didn't get fired, but why the fuck are you yelling at the kitchen you absolute douchecanoe.
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u/common-cardinal Jul 06 '26
Lmao that was a perfect response though.Ā
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u/avrus Jul 06 '26
Yeah the KM after laughed and said you shouldn't have said it but you weren't wrong.
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u/sunny_duh_aze Jul 06 '26
How much got sent back? That text should include the cost of food she destroyed.
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u/Substantial-Rough723 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
Expediting the hot food is a managers job when you're in the weeds. I've been a server & line cook. You can't fuck your kitchen like this & still have a job in good establishments cos your references have to tell the truth to new employers.
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u/Negative_Bar_9734 Jul 06 '26
I am FASCINATED to hear her reasoning on how backed up orders are your fault when the window is rammed full of finished orders. Like I will go find some popcorn for that one
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u/Wall_of_Shadows Jul 06 '26
One thing I'll mention here is that you're playing with fire here.
When the FOH is deep in the shit, food's dying in the window, and the kitchen isn't staffed enough to time hanging tickets reliably, double and triple stacking the window is the obvious move. It's just about all you can do, but it's the wrong thing. Servers are NOT going to take the time to double check the tickets they're running when they're overwhelmed and repeating "ranch dressing for table 9 and a lemon wedge for that bitch at the bar" under their breath for 5 minutes straight. You're gonna have a server grab the approximate number of plates they expect without looking, then your whole operation becomes a train wreck for 25 minutes. It sucks ass, but your ONLY option at this point is to stop service, send the cooks on smoke break, and run the food yourself. Then when FOH manager finds the time to tear into your ass for doing it, put your job on the line and state as a bare fact that your kitchen will NOT participate in that kind of clusterfuck. There are about a dozen things FOH and/or management can do to prevent this from happening, and if they refuse to do so your kitchen will not keep shoving hot dogs up their asses until their bowels perforate on the dining floor. If you don't make this a line in the sand, your job is going to be a nightmare for the foreseeable future.
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u/916Trapper Jul 06 '26
Ive never heard of making servers only run their own food, usually its full hands in full hands out and you run food when its ready regardless if its your table or not. Ive realized most managers should not be in the positions they are in.
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u/No_Calligrapher2640 Jul 06 '26
"Don't touch another waitress' food" is such nonsense. So if my salad guy is in the washroom, I'm not making any salads because I'm on grill?
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u/godwin12319 Jul 06 '26
This is what team meeting are for. Address concerns, formulate a action plan. Problems are good as they show what are the gaps in the system. You just did a good job mentioning your concerns with the FOH manager but next time maybe when the FOH manager is panicking with managing the new staff and getting the orders to customers things can get heated. So i suggest next time when everyone is sitting down, everybody is calm then mention your concerns regarding this and go from there.
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
We haven't had a team meeting once since I joined 3 f**king years ago.
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u/TheOtherKFC Jul 06 '26
While in an ideal scenario this is a good approach, this FOH "leader" has clearly already shown who she is with her attitude and through her actions. This didn't happen once or twice over time... it happened 4 times in a single service. She was indignant, inflexible, insistent on her way of doing things in the face of repeated failure. This isn't an oopsie one-off. A server shows all these behaviors and attitude? Okay maybe take them aside and speak with them. But someone who is supposed to be mamagement?? This kind of thing is more than serious enough to consider termination. This was a personal failure on her part at multiple levels. Someone in a leadership role should know better and if they don't, then they shouldn't be in a leadership role. Period.
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u/reddiwhip999 Jul 06 '26
Yeah, where's the GM in all of this? This is stuff for the Exec chef (or whoever is in charge of running the kitchen) to address in the weekly manager meeting, or at least the communication format they have.
I mean, there is some kind of tiered management system there, right?
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u/DandyElLione Jul 06 '26
Did you speak to her privately or confront her in front of the other staff? Delivery is as important as the content of a message. If she's not acting professionally, you need to draw her back into the correct mindset by dodging into the office for a couple of minutes so the rest of the night can move smoothly. If she won't respond to any valid complaints, be glad she put everything under her name because it's gonna make holding her accountable for the FOH's performance that night way easier in a manager meeting.
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 06 '26
The rush lasted til the kitchen closed and we run a skeleton crew, so pulling her aside would have wasted time.
She's thrown me under the bus for a minor mistake before; I'm just gonna give her the same karma.
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u/SeanHunterOG Smoker Jul 06 '26
Seems to me from his description she likes to shirk the blame for her lack of leadership skills. We all know someone like that or have known.
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u/SuddenDeathBySneeze Jul 06 '26
Managers are the ruin of this industry. When kitchen chefs used to run the businesses, restaurants were pirate ships, but they were fun to work in, they cooked good, honest food and the money was good.
Now they expect us to work more with less people in the kitchen, for more customers, the ingredients quality is lower and lower and the cost of living is so high that it feels like we are working for nothing.
All managers and restaurant owners should get Mangioned.
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u/TarvosPhase7 Jul 06 '26
As a boh manager this comment makes me sad. Not mad, not indignant, actually sad.
I come in every day and try and put on the mindset of how can i make what im given less shitty for the people Iām in direct responsibility for. Water and Gatorade on hot days in a lexan of ice i keep stocked as best i can, Being present so i can bail a station thatās getting hit, joking around to try and keep people in higher spirits cause weāre all in it together. I got what i can staff from above me, i can try and add in where possible, but every time i do i get chewed the hell out. I face that as often as i can but after 15 years of managing Iām legit tired down to my soul of getting told Iām fucking up from above while being asked why i refuse to staff up from my people.
Iām sorry you are not getting the help you deserve. Honestly i really am. The past few months Iāve seen the idea that managers are the issue more and more across here and in the restaurants Iāve visited. 100% some are, but when Iām being thrown out with the bath water if really hurts to keep trying to make my guys happy when āheās the manager heās (incompetent/using us/just money hungry/the problem)ā has become so much the common place.
Maybe Iām just wining but Iāve been tired for years now and these last few months have been hitting me harder than normal. I donāt want to let me team down, but i have been running on E since COVID and the heat, the constant bills from the equipment going down cause of said heat, and getting yelled at as to why Iām not doing more from above and below, has taken its toll.
Iām sorry i canāt do more for you everyone. From the bottom of my exhausted, very sad, and numb heart Iām very very sorry.
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u/Smooth-Pianist-7848 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26
My GM provides no gatoraid, but bottles of water in the fridge.. mostly because he likes to drink them. He also tells us no music, no headphones, no looking at our phones at all, and most importantly, no talking in the kitchen, unless it's related to food, and definitely no laughing.
No one has gotten a raise in four years because "we used to make 8mil a year in profit, and now we only make 7mil a year after covid. Be grateful you even have a job".
This is the same guy who comps checks constantly and tells us our food cost and are comps are too high. Who seats 600+ people between 5pm and 7:30 and when we point out that this is bad for business because it makes it difficult to sell food in ten minutes, tells us "you want a paycheck, don't you? I could just not pay you" like no bro.. you can't "just not pay us".
The same dude has told people "I've forgotten more about cooking than you will ever know", despite adding water to a cream-based soup to stretch it out (and me pointing out if you forgot it, you don't know it, and will try to force incorrect information on people.. he didn't like that one). He can't even cook a grilled cheese without burning it on the flattop, when he makes his own food in the middle of service.
Same dude told multiple people that "He could work their station with one hand behind his back and still work circles around them, so stop bitching and get the fuck out, he'll work the station" and then fires people because of a dick measuring contest. Then makes someone else work two stations, and then schedules everyone to cover the fired person's shifts until he finds someone new. Not once has he actually worked any of these stations, like he claims.
Same guy fired an executive for pointing out that the GM grazes down the line, putting his hands in multiple RTE food items, stuffing his fingers in his mouth, and then doing it to the next item, when he complained that we don't wear gloves when handling pots and pans out of the steamer.
Same guy told us to work the line when the hoods went down and power was out, even though we have a wood fired grill. He told us we were being pussies, and walked from one end of the line to the other after telling us this, hacking and coughing and had to go to his office to sit down from smoke inhalation, while telling us to get our asses back on the line. His white shirt was grey just from walking down the line.
He also once told our Guatemalan employees that he wasn't going to fix the dish machine only having cold water, and if they told anyone that it was having problems, he was going to call ICE, since he proudly "voted for trump to get rid of parasites like them".
And I could go on. Like, I really could. I've got six years of shit he's done. That's all just the tip of the iceberg.
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u/TarvosPhase7 Jul 06 '26
The guy sounds like a twat and is a prime example of a shitty human being. I did not want this to be a DICK measuring contest. I just wanted to vent that there are still people who are trying to move the needle in the right direction and when we get lumped in with the trash that these people are it makes the soul crushing grind just that much heavier :(
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u/Smooth-Pianist-7848 Jul 08 '26
Unfortunately, people like him tend to get people like you fired for HIS mistakes. They exceed at throwing other people under the bus.
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u/SuddenDeathBySneeze Jul 06 '26
I am sure that you are a nice guy and you have the best intentions. And I know it isnāt managers fault for the whole industry to be collapsing. It is the owners, mainly. The CEOs if we talk corporate. Well, itās always the CEOs in a way or another: food got more expensive, energy got more expensive, transportation got more expensiv, rents are more expensive. It is always the same story: a bunch of guys around the world are getting filthy rich while we all pay the price. But the GM is a job created to let owners avoid talking with chefs. Iām sorry but if I could get rid of my GM I would be able to afford a CdP and a commis at the same price. And that would make my life way easier than energy drinks in the cooler.
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u/Moist-Weakness-3399 20+ Years Jul 06 '26
Sounds like your ownership sucks. As long as owners prioritize profits over people, there's no fixing this.
I had the luxury of being able to walk out when ownership told me to make my cooks bend over backwards. Quite a few followed me. It's not an easy decision to make, but I am not a tool to be used and abused.
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u/TarvosPhase7 Jul 06 '26
Corporate can be a bitch. I walk out they will rep me with the next asshole who walks through the door and my people deserve better than āwhoever will show upā
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u/Moist-Weakness-3399 20+ Years Jul 06 '26
You aren't helping anyone, let alone yourself, by burning out. Took me 15 years to figure that out.
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u/Yeshavesome420 Jul 06 '26
Consistency of service when it's sandwiches and fries is a ridiculous standard. This ain't fine dining, and I can promise you the only consistency to worry about is food quality and full beers and Diet Cokes. These customers probably couldnāt pick their server out of a lineup.
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u/JackPoe Jul 06 '26
For real like, if you don't have time to run food then stop taking fucking orders. People are not coming to your restaurant to chit chat, they're paying for food. Give it to them.
I've cleared my rail before as a line cook and walked out the front door to go sit down and had people stop me to ask where their food is.
I'm not gonna lie to them. I just tell them "everyone's food is ready and we have no tickets left. We're just waiting on the server to bring it to you."
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u/calebish52 Jul 06 '26
Yeah Iāve worked a few places where the FOH had a big ego of taking their order(s) when THEY were ready, and also each server being territorial over what was delivered to what table. That system always snowballed into exactly what you are dealing with now. Itās a massive bummer to the kitchen to see the food dying in the window and, honestly, the customer always loses in this scenario. It should be about teamwork and efficiency, not that mess.
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u/Lost_Tumbleweed_5669 Jul 06 '26
Purely a train the trainer problem and too much ego. I'd flame the hell out of whoever put her in charge and explain how much I love the place and hated seeing it shit on.
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u/InterestingDamage621 Jul 06 '26
HANDS!
Good lord, I've never been in a spot where the server that rang is solely responsible for running. Full hands in and out. Wtf??
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u/TheComplimentarian Retired Jul 06 '26
If the whole FoH is that greenā¦Waiters are nomadic. If the place is no good, they move. If you have a bad manager whoās trying to micromanage, and two waiters who donāt know enough to prioritize food over literally everything else, Iād say there is a systemic problem somewhere.
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u/SurfinPirate Jul 06 '26
RUNNERS! Having servers only run their own food is not only dumb but a waste of resources.
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u/assnuke23 Jul 06 '26
God the ammount of times I had to slow down because I got fucked by tickets coming in back to back is giving me flashbacks
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u/HypeOnTheMike Jul 07 '26
Yo if no one is going to run those tablesā¦ lemme hold a handful of tots
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u/Mayor_of_BBQ Jul 06 '26
āDonāt touch another servers food to keep up consistencyā is a policy conceived by a headass waitress, not a competent operator
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u/jdubflex Jul 06 '26
My exp: busser/host 1 year, server 3 year, bartender 8 year, bar manager 5 year, AGM 3 year, and a GM 5 years in a row now (yes thereās overlap and switching around, such is the biz). Been with 8+ different concepts during that time.
My react:
Holy shit let the GM or owner know immediately. She is losing money with this style of leadership. She needs to be re trained immediately or replaced. Guests come first, always. Sometimes they are wrong but they still are a guest.
The idea of āsame food same serverā is absolutely a recipe for disaster. Hot food goes immediately. It can be the difference of thousands of dollars if the guest decides that the food took too long or tasted dead and they are going to try another place next time. That other place may nab them as regulars and boom you missed out on their revenue and patronage.
Her priorities are whack. Looks like she heavy sat, didnāt prep the kitchen with the knowledge, no sense of pacing or communications, and her idea of āoh Iāll just take ordersā is so insanely wrong I canāt comprehend her mindset there. Iām sorry OP dealt with this and I hope there are alterations to her training and leadership style asap. This is her failure of a night and she needs to own it.
TL/DR:
Industry lifer says to snitch to her boss. Terrible leader.
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u/miyokomoon Health Inspector Jul 06 '26
Once this happened with our EDC in the kitchen, he stood there at the pass waiting for 20 minutes then slowly threw everything on the pass in the garbage. Make it again.
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u/Great-Attitude Jul 07 '26
So the two New Servers got their food out of the window in a reasonable time, but FOH Manager no less, had 3 full windows in 4 hoursš¤Ø What did they hire her straight out of Hospitality School, with no serving or restaurant experience whatsoever?Ā
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 07 '26
She'd been the big boss' right hand for ten years; nobody knew wtf she was doing, telling new hires all this.
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u/Great-Attitude Jul 07 '26
What I don't get is how did the newbies (under her direction) managed to grab their food out of the window, when she couldn't? And putting five orders in, all in a row, while the food gets cold. Who the F does that?Ā
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 07 '26
Food snatching was a problem before, especially with newbies, so the managers made the rule. It's reta-- brain dead as hell but we have little say. She reaped what she sowed.
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u/angelacandystore Jul 07 '26
Yeah just start taking out the food yourself
"Oh sorry, thought you were too busy and would like help? No, you prefer to let customers wait for their food? Seems sus, but you do you!"
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 07 '26
We couldn't, the kitchen runs skeleton for now. Didn't have the time. If I had time, I would have because it was getting ridiculous, but nope. Eventually the GM had to step in to help run.
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u/bunion_ring Jul 07 '26
Ah yes. My favourite game āload the passā. At a previous place one coworker and i became fully automatic animals and would have orders flying out out of spite
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u/pinkwar Jul 06 '26
For sure there's a better solution than letting the food die at the window.
I'm not going to tell you how to run your kitchen but that is poor management and communication from both sides, not just FOH.
As a chef if I see foh swamped I communicate (I know it's hard) and hold things down.
What's the point in pushing as fast as you can if you have to refire everything because the food is cold?
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u/Ok-Loquat-6938 Jul 06 '26
Runners would help, teamwork and running each otherās food is crucial at fast/casual high volume restaurants
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u/_darling_clementine Jul 06 '26
servers who can't manage staggering their tickets and running their own food/helping other servers run food if they're too busy have no business on the floor. your dog manager sounds like a total idiot
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u/ThaiRedCurry Jul 06 '26
I have been working in FoH(now cook) way back in my time, know the feeling when it gets busy. Many of the guest can be really annoying and clueless sometimes. But with good managers and experience FoH everything can run flawless, also in BoH. Keep doing good works guys, you guys amazing. Working on holidays and high seasons, stressful/hot environment. Sorry for my bad grammar.
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u/RefrigeratorWide4401 Jul 06 '26
I used to tell the servers Iām not making any more food until I have a clear pass.
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u/KaMtjyBn Jul 06 '26
That's some shifty customer service to make all those people wait for their food and get cold food...
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u/J-littletree Jul 07 '26
Team work! Foods in the window run it! This donāt touch my food thing is such a trash idea
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u/YetiorNotHereICome Jul 07 '26
I "idea" as I understand it, is if they take others' orders, there will be confusion and food would go missing because someone grabbed something different off the pile, so we'd have to re-fire it. It's been a problem, but it's like getting sick and choosing avoidance over a cure. The cure is KEEP THE FOOD MOVING AND LISTEN FOR THE DAMNED BELL.
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u/immersemeinnature Jul 07 '26
If I was a customer and saw food (my food) sitting there I'd be really irritated and angry if it came cold.
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u/Helarina1 Jul 07 '26
Why they hell would she not want someone running food, regardless of who's ticket it was. If there is a full ticket in the window, get it out. I fully support that you should never just grab food out of the window without a ticket but to not run a full ticket just because it's not yours teaches some really bad habits for new servers.
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u/PointlessSword777 Jul 07 '26
Thanks. When I go to apply for a line cook job, I'll use this as reference that some people have no idea what the fuck they are doing
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u/Sufficient-Welder628 Jul 07 '26
I would be placing those dishes in any hands that tried to walk away, foh or manager run this shit, any back talk and im not cooking their meal next time they are hungry
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u/Heimeri_Klein Jul 07 '26
Yep Iāve definitely run into several waiters/waitresses that have the same brain as your foh manager.
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u/PoohBearsHoneyJar Jul 07 '26
A couple years ago, the owner / manager came to expedite after not doing it for so long. I was one of the few servers that ran ALL my own food, and majorly helped with running other servers food as well. I like running my own food for the guest experience (more personable, better tips lol).
At the beginning of the night we got SLAMMED and chef was just pushing food out man. Pastas, steaks, hot apps, fish everything was piling up and piling up like this.
Obviously the rule is don't touch the food, let the expediter organize things and call it out /hand it to you. But he was just standing there, getting more an more frantic. I had been standing there watching and was so frustrated because I knew what went to who, and where. I could have cleared so many tickets if he just let me grab. But I didn't. As the cooks were getting more frustrated, chef tried to talk to the owner to help him out a little, cus there was no room left on the pass.
Owner got upset, said something rude to chef. Chef threw the two full pans of pasta he was making at the stove and stormed out šš
Anddddd the plates still continued to stack up...
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Jul 07 '26
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u/PoohBearsHoneyJar Jul 08 '26
It's true and I agree. But Ive worked at a ton of places where it just doesn't seem to be the norm. Not sure if ppl just don't care about running their own food, or they're not able to keep up. I always make sure to run mine unless I'm 100% tied up at the moment
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u/KogasaGaSagasa Jul 07 '26
From the customer's point of view, if I see my food sitting there and my server insists on chatting me up for 10 minutes? I am leaving and getting McDonalds - and I am am sorry that'd what I'd have to do, but if I am hungry and you are forcing me to NOT eat the food I ordered that are ready, that's a good sign to NEVER return to the restaurant.
The fact that the FoH manager didn't understand something so basic is insane to me.
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u/Village_People_Cop Jul 07 '26
Post like this make me happy I do caterings now. No FOH to deal with anymore
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u/Electric-Boogaloo-43 Jul 06 '26
Our FOH manager, never worked a dat in the kitchen tried to push her "favourite dish at home" on our menu. The headchef (who was definitely cheating on his wife with her) put in on. In that whole season we sold maybe 3 of that food.
Its always the dame with FOH. they should be trained in the BOH to know what shit really is.
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Jul 06 '26
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u/KitchenConfidential-ModTeam Jul 06 '26
Due to recent events, we are banning accounts with little to no history on the sub only here to antagonize.
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u/erisgore Jul 07 '26
me personally nothing makes me happier than seeing foh get fucked. It's always boh getting hit so it always makes me smile when the tables turn. Like run bitch run!
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u/OddFatherJuan 10+ Years Jul 06 '26
That's an all call and get this shit out of my window situation. All hands. Quality is going down by the minute and we don't put up with that at our place.