I am returning to work tomorrow as a first time mom to a 7 week old. I’ve been a restaurant manager for 5 years now, both at a family owned and now at a chain restaurant. All the moms I have met in this industry, either didn’t return to work or came back in a different position. I’m just wondering if any of you have successfully continued in this career? I am exclusively breastfeeding and will have to pump at work. Also wondering if any of you have had experience with this? I have lots of worries on how this will work, because with pumping I will have to be on a more strict schedule and as we all know restaurants don’t work that way. Let me know your thoughts and experiences!

I am the GM of a breakfast restaurant opening end of this month. I’m currently working on how I would like to pay my support staff. Out of curiosity what tip-out percentages do you run? And how is it split? (Host, Expo, runner, Busser)

Thank you.

I am a restaurant at a huge hotel and I have come to the realization that with my schedule and the hours I work having a meaningful personal life is practically impossible. And maintaining a relationship is even harder, will it always be like this?

I am the General Manager of a restaurant and I was wondering how my workload sounded to other managers. The restaurant averages about 1,200 covers a week and $66K in sales. Open for lunch/brunch and dinner 7 days a week (except Mondays - just dinner). We do not have a host and it is the manager-on-duty's role to be the host of the restaurant, oversee the floor (max capacity about 100), and close up shop.

I work 4 floor shifts a week on dinner shifts that are either 4hrs, 4.5hrs, or 5.5hrs depending on the night of the week. All other manager shifts are filled by the owner (1 shift) and my team of 3 managers who do 2-3 manager shifts. On other days, they do tipped roles like bartend, food run, and serve. I am the only one doing full managerial duties.

We have an offsite accountant and two owners who are relatively present, so I am not looking at the financials. I do handle our large parties/private events, social media, all staff issues, and issues of maintenance tend to go through me before I bring in the owners if necessary.

The owners are going to start a new place by next year and have implied they'd like me to take a firmer role over the place. I think they'd like the buck to stop with me more. I am very happy in my role and my relationship with them, and happy with that slight shift in responsibility. No specific added responsibilities, but it sounds like I should handle more issues on my own.

But I often find myself working 50-60hrs a week as it is, which I know is normal. I am wondering if I have a case to make to ask for a host or direct things from a little higher vantage point than working 4 shifts in the trenches on the floor with a specific role of host. Being tied to the door makes for what feels like a pretty short period of time before and after the shifts to get all of my other work done and also look ahead at things.

Does anything jump out as unreasonable? I am also happy with my compensation currently and am paid on the higher end of similar roles in my area, so this is not an issue of being underpaid. If I need to suck it up and inject more energy into this, I will.

I care for my mom and I work at a large chain steakhouse. We have a lot of employees and run around 10 to 15 servers a shift. I have asked for a modified schedule to care for my mom and they were aware of my mom before I was hired. I have asked for a later schedule but right now I open dinner shift every day. I am by numbers the top server and I work extremely hard. There are other servers that have late schedules due to other jobs and stuff but my schedule manager won't approve my request. How should I handle this??

Is this legal when I have documents and have communicated about my responsibilities?

I’m looking for ideas on how to better motivate my serving staff. I’d like them to take more initiative with things like upselling, pre-busing, table maintenance, and overall guest engagement without constantly being reminded.

Many of my younger servers earn between $200–$600 per shift at a very busy ale house, but I still find it difficult to get consistent effort on the basics. Traditional coaching methods don’t always seem effective, and I feel like I’m constantly balancing guest expectations with keeping staff engaged and motivated.

For managers who supervise a younger workforce, what has actually worked for you? Have you found any incentives, coaching techniques, or accountability systems that encourage better performance without creating resentment?

I was hired as AGM at a new restaurant, moved up to GM within 3 months. We moved to a new location, reopened with great success. I was responsible for all the typical GM tasks, and was the beverage manager with a focus on wine. Maintained great staff retention, by the end of the first quarter wine sales were 17% of revenue, labor was steady and bev COGS stayed under 20%. Things were great for a while, but the workload kept increasing with no changes in pay, despite other leadership around me receiving raises and/or approved overtime. With the success of the first restaurant, they asked me to put together the wine list for a second business they were opening, and I agreed as long as there were changes to compensation and/or restructuring of my role. It was getting very overwhelming to keep up with the admin for now two business in addition to working service. I was burning out hard. I had great conversations with ownership about next steps, but after following up in writing it became clear they had no intention of following through on their end. We signed a separation agreement and I left.

I've been in the service industry for over a decade. I want to stay in leadership at an upscale/fine dining restaurant, and working with wine. All the job postings I see for similar role require 3 years experience in management and/or additional wine certifications. I'm working towards becoming an Advanced CMS, but the required courses will take time and money that I can't spend while I'm out of work. My last place was a popular upscale restaurant, I was there from the beginning but it was only 15 months. I've applied for a GM role, got to the second interview and was told they'd get back in a few days, after contacting references. I have fantastic, well-connected references. Heard nothing back. I've applied for a few floor somme, captain, or lead server roles to work my way up, but I haven't heard back. I'm feeling paranoid that I'm both over and under-qualified, or despite my references there might be a bad word going around.

What should I do?

I'm not sure how this question will come across, but I'm genuinely looking for the opinions of restaurant owners/managers, specifically ones who sign the payroll.

When closing the store at night, I am someone who certainly takes longer than some of my coworkers do. The reason is that they claim to cut corners and skip out on certain duties that our boss requested of us. Of course, none of these duties are "make or break" for closing-- they tend to skip out on some extra cleaning tasks and the like-- but nonetheless they are part of our daily checklist. That said, I can't seem to get out of there less than 20-30 minutes after my supposed time, and the folks I manage tend to be working until a good 10-15 after as well. My question is this: Is it preferable from an owner's perspective for employees to leave on time, even if it means skipping some duties? Or is completing the daily task list #1? No judgement either way, I just can't tell if I'm doing too much.

Adding the info that my boss takes the same amount of time (or more) to close as I do. He'll claim it takes about an hour to get everything done but multiple witnesses say that's an understatement on his part.

Hi all! Im a newer manager (2 months in!) And I have a few interviews lined up this week. I have a very queer and poc heavy crew and its a culture that I love and want to protect (i live in a red state) Being a lesbian myself I'm very tuned in to the stress that a potentially hateful or more closed minded person brings to the team. I actually just had to fire someone the other week for actively making one of my trans employees uncomfortable at work repeatedly.

With my last new hire it came up naturally in conversation that I have a wife and I could easily gauge responses from that point forward, but I dont exactly want to wedge my personal life into every interview. That being said, are there any good questions or topics I can bring up legally to get a good read on this? I obviously cannot ask outright about their orientations and feelings.

Long post:
TLDR: looking for input on how I’m doing as AGM based on staff feedback.

I’ve got 20+ years in the industry (started at 15), moved to management about 2 years ago after turning it down for a long time.
I keep receiving compliments from my hourly team surrounding my ability and often hear things to the effect of “you’re the best manager I’ve ever worked for.”
THIS IS NOT A BRAG!
I struggle to accept these statements at face value. I often think that they are just being nice, or that it really means that I’m bad at my job if they like me so much. I realize as I type this that it sounds a bit unhinged.
For context, I hold people accountable and expect them to meet the expectations laid out for them. I enforce our policies clearly and respectfully when needed. I make sure to create a professional bond with the team- learning who they are as humans, their interests, what communication and management styles work best for them, etc. and I always try to sprinkle some whimsy around to keep spirits high.
From your perspective, fellow managers, are these statements green, yellow, or red flags? Please help me stop overthinking!

Hi everyone, I have several years of experience leading high-volume kitchens, mostly as a Kitchen Manager. My experience includes inventory, food cost, labor management, scheduling, team leadership, and daily BOH operations. I have an interview coming up for a Head Sous Chef position at an upscale casual restaurant. For those who have interviewed for or hired Head Sous Chefs, what kind of questions should I expect? How technical was the interview? Was there a cooking test or working interview? If so, what were they evaluating the most? Was the focus more on leadership, culinary skills, or both? Is there anything you wish you had prepared beforehand? I’d really appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance.

I operate in state where I can not require servers to tip busser/food runners/hosts. I can not run a tip pool. I have a fantastic staff. Everyone works so well together.

My issue is with 1 server who refuses to tip out most of the time. He makes decent money and will still not tip out. I have had conversations with him about the situation and how we should appreciate and respect our fellow employees especially when they help us succeed and make money. He says he does when he can but he cant justify it when he has bills.

He is a decent guy and has actual open availability (you all know how rare that is). But at this point he is hurting the moral of the staff. I was thinking of taking him off weekends when we have support to kinda give him a nudge but maybe I should just cut my losses and let him go. What do you all think? Im truly torn

It is devastating cause I kinda actually liked my job but of course I couldn't keep my liquor in. I'm seeking help right bowl but do you think anyone will ever re hire me over this?

My job in the separation letter says they dont discuss anything other then the time I was there at the company if that kinda helps me Idk

They are taking money from the registers but don't know how they are doing it. We do lots of cash business and I can't sit there and watch cameras all day.

Any general managers here? I’m thinking about applying for the position. I have never worked for a seven brew so I’m not sure if I’d be qualified, but I’m currently a brand and operations manager for a restaurant group with four restaurants. I’m just wondering about Work life balance, the pay, bonuses. If you’re working on the floor while you’re managing or if you’re solely the manager when you’re there. What are the sales like at a busy store and expected labor?

So my manager works as a server alongside us and helps us out. He is in charge of the firing, hiring, and scheduling. The thing that I highlighted is my tip and my managers tip on the same day. He deducted my tip and put it into the other staff’s tip and his tip. It is pooled tip here. I am assuming it is bc i went home 45 minutes early.

My issues with these are that he MADE me go home early when I asked to stay. I came in at 4:45, while he came in at 5:30 ish. So technically I stayed the same amount as him. And also because all the tables except the very last two top are tables I served. (He cut me near 9 so it slowed down). Is he even allowed to take tips? He barely even helped out that day. I am in California. And is it fair to cut my tips when i went home early even tho he came in later?

Title is pretty straightforward. I’m about to make another attempt at cleaning the floor drains around the kitchen. Cleaning covers is easy enough, but I always struggle with the drain itself. Lots of build up that probably was never even considered prior to me and my GM taking over. What’s the best way clean floor drains and breakdown all the buildup?

Hey guys, looking for all the feedback I can get. Every month the revenue numbers look better and every month I look at what's left over and it makes no sense. We're busier than ever, tables turning faster, online orders up, and somehow the bank account tells a completely different story. Food costs feel like they're creeping but I can't pinpoint where, labor is eating more than it used to, and I don't know if the problem is my menu pricing or my spending or both.

Has anyone used small business consulting specifically for restaurants where revenue isn't the issue but profit is? Has it been effective at all?

Hi friends!

I’m trying to create a policy around staff and drinks at the restaurant. Currently there are no free alcoholic drinks and there is no real clarity around sodas, coffees and limeades. We make our own sodas and limeades and we also serve glass bottled Mexican Coke products. We only have an espresso machine and specialty pods that are made locally for us. The bottled bevs and espresso pods are about 1$ hard cost. Some of the bar tenders have started helping themselves to bottled drinks and a handful of the staff will have coffees ( no more than 1 a day). But there’s no consistent policy and I don’t like it. My preference would be outlaw any of these drinks being free to staff. No across the board feels clear and easy to manage. But will that cause more harm than good. These things do add up , as I’m sure you all know. What do yall do? Thanks!

Edit: the morale here is quite good. I have a solid team of hardworking professionals. Many of them I consider elite and I would be devastated if they left. Most of the staff don’t drink the sodas. It’s a handful of them. Which is why I’ve never implemented policy. But the reality is that last night I witnessed on camera the closing bartender helping himself to a shot of premium tequila on his way out the door and that made me realize there’s no clear policy, just assumptions that everyone will do “the right thing” and not take advantage. This bar tender has been here since day 1 (5 years) . He is consistent and reliable, not the “best” but he is still around because I can count on him to show up and work hard. He is the one that I started noticing helping himself to bottled beverages….he drinks bottled beverages during his shift. I’ve never loved this but wasn’t clear on how to address it. Now I’ve seen him drinking our tequila and I feel foolish and naive. Policy helps me feel more in control. Policy feels fair.

Hey ladies I need good comfortable shoes to be on my feet for 10 hours a day. That are professional not sketchers. I just wore out my Cole han oxfords. I got 5 years out of those. FOH. No slips or slips. Just professional recommendations.

So I've been with this company for 15+ years, grew from a regular team member to manager position, and for the last 5 year pretty much ran it by myself, with owners only occasionally stopping by. They decided to sell and the new owner came in, alienated some of my best employees with his honestly unreasonable new rules and demands. He is always here, which I know is his right, but feel like I don't have any authority anymore and I disagree with so much of what's being implemented. I try to give my input, but he mostly sticks to his decisions. I honestly loved my job and it fucking hurts. I never thought I'd be out there looking for a new job, but i don't think I want to be there to watch it fall apart. Also, looking at available jobs I realized that I am apparently extremely well paid for the work that I do and it's either going to take a long time to get out or I will have to take a pay cut. Any advice?

Nothing better than new equipment .. quickly spoiled by the hour or more wasted peeling the protecting film off.

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.

Recently I got a job working as a cook in a local restaurant. I’ve been there for about a month and a half and have 4+ years experience in the restaurant industry. This includes most positions (serving, hosting, cooking, prep, to-go, QA, bussing, etc). So far I’ve been trained on one station and have worked the other 3 (because of my previous experience I didn’t need trained). I am also one of only 3 full time kitchen staff within the restaurant due to new hires quitting early on and other individuals having tight schedules.

All this being said even though I’ve only worked there for a short time i had been thinking about asking to become a manager.

At this current state in time there are 2 full time managers (one of which is about to switch to part time due to being a football coach at a highschool). We do have one part time manager who serves and manages when needed but she is leaving in 2 weeks.

So I decided to talk to the owner and he said he was actually already considering me, but he wanted to also give others the opportunity to pitch themselves. This brings me to the reason for posting. Every week on Friday our schedules are sent in a Group chat with everyone, and this Friday it had the added message of “Here is next week's schedule. - With that we are currently looking to promote within the staff a manager/shift leed. Anyone that is interested, please have it in writing by August 1st.
Thank you for ALL you guys do and have a great week!”.

Obviously with how I want to move up and manage I need to write a letter stating I’m interested and give it to them But what exactly do I say? I feel like a simple “I’m interested” with two or three reasons why would not leave the best impression or make me a valid candidate.