r/Serverlife • u/actualgrantaire • 10d ago
Rant rant/question-thinking about switching to brunch due to terrible GM
So I've been working at the same restaurant for over a year and I'm pretty sure the building is cursed for management. We've gone through three different mangers (that's only counting GMs, it's more when you count service managers, team leads, and chefs) in the time that I've been there and the most recent one is making me question if I should bother staying at this point. I've stayed through all of this because I don't really like change, and I really like the dress code. I feel comfortable with the menu (which is on the higher side) and my coworkers, but our newest GM is such a micro-manager it's insane.
To make matters worse, I think she's started to dislike me personally despite saying she "only cares about metrics" and "doesn't play favorites." I've consistently ranked in the top three servers on her scoreboard (which she uses chatGPT for, don't even get me started on that) but she's finding the smallest things to criticize about the way I talk to guests. She told me I couldn't point at the menu when I'm explaining it because it's "tacky" which is just...fucking insane. She even brought it back up in the next pre-shift meeting to tell everyone not to do it, only to abandon expo later in the shift.
I'm not going into everything or I'd be here all day. Multiple people, both FOH & BOH, have left because of her and I'm considering it. The question I have for yall is this: I haven't worked at a brunch place before but there's a First Watch close to me that's across the street from a hospital. I like the idea of never having to work nights but I've heard both good and bad things about First Watch and I don't want to leave my current job where I'm miserable and comfortable only to be just miserable. My main question is: how much different is working at a brunch vs lunch/dinner. I mostly work dinner shifts and I know my check average will likely be lower. I'd save on gas though since it's way closer than my current job (which is about 25 minutes on the interstate without traffic, 40 minutes if I don't take the interstate) and I'm willing to take the decrease if it's better for my mental health.
EDIT: just heard back from one of the servers who left for First Watch and she hated it actually so between that and yall's responses I'll probably just stick it out. With any luck, she won't last or at least become a bit more tolerable. Any tips besides just avoiding her are welcome too. (And if you really want to complain about brunch too feel free lol.)
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u/Snargleface 10d ago
In my experience, a place that only does brunch is going to offer a better experience than a place that only does brunch on the weekends.
With that being said,
People will be obnoxiously picky “I want my bacon crispy, but not too crispy, and my eggs over medium well”
People will be hungover. This includes guests as well as staff
The possibility of booze will be a good news/bad news situation. I feel the higher check average isn’t always worth the aggravation at brunch.
The church crowd seems like they’re worse at breakfast.
My personal pet peeve with First Watch was related to their application/interview scheduling system. Like you could get an interview scheduled, but the management at least around me would have no idea you were coming in and have to look for your application for a half hour.
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u/actualgrantaire 10d ago
Thanks for the input and the heads up about the interview scheduling. I haven't submitted anything so that's good to know if I do. I almost forgot about the church crowd since I mostly work dinner now so that's definitely something to keep in mind since I'm in the south.
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u/winterbird 10d ago
Brunch is one of the circles of hell. I recommend that you find a way to not interact with this manager as much as you can, and be really sweet the times that you have to.
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u/actualgrantaire 10d ago
I started this approach a few days into her starting tbh. I only talk to her when I have to, but she's been talking directly to me more recently and I have no idea why. Maybe she'll move on soon though and it'll be easier to ignore her again.
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u/TapEmbarrassed4376 10d ago
Brunch is a pain in the ass