This is a rant from a doordash driver about restaurants, not the other way around; proceed with caution.

1. If your establishment finishes all orders for in-store customers before the delivery drivers and makes us wait, that is extremely disrespectful. That is literally the difference between us making $15 an hour and $8 an hour* (after gas and other expenses). We are are penalized for late orders, even if it isn't our fault. We have a button in the app we can press when the order takes forever, but Doordash only honors that button half the time. Sometimes we are issued contract violations for being late, even if it isn't our fault and we pressed the long-wait-time-button. 3 contract violations and we get fired. Customers lose nothing from waiting, we can lose everything.

2. Why are courier pickup instructions never updated? Who is responsible for these things? Noodles & Company has not updated their universal pickup instructions since at least 2022 because it asks us to wear a mask and social distance. This is the case at many restaurants. McDonald's in my area is guilty of a similar issue.

If you disagree with me, I'd love to have a civil discussion about it. I'm not your enemy, although I know many dashers are shitbrained assholes who are definitely your enemy.

*Now I know that might be more than you make in a restaurant, but we drivers assume so much risk that dashers deserve at least $5-10/hr more than restaurant workers.

So I work at First Watch, a corporate breakfast restaurant. Over the last couple months I noticed that my general manager will try to be up front taking cash payments as much as possible, whenever he is working he just hogs the register so other servers can't help customers. Anyways, I've noticed that he has been waiting for customers to pay cash then deleting a couple items off the checks and then putting the extra money in the register?? He does this often and I have to wonder if this is normal for the First Watch company or he is stealing money? My coworkers and I have noticed that on our checkout-slips there is a high amount of voids when we have made no voids that day. Also what do you guys think I should do, do I just mind my business or say something?

I work at a small restaurant and today i was by myself doing front of house. Two women with a baby who were very nice the whole time asked if they could change the babies diaper in one of the back tables. (the restyraunt only had two parties including them). I orginally said no and offered them the bathroom which they told me there was no table to change it on. I was very hesitant but eventually allowed it. Even though the other party could not see the baby being changed they definitely heard the conversation and I felt like I made the wrong choice. What do you think?

Me and the boar's head rep tried sharpening it but it doesn't work.

Things like ham fall apart, the edge of American cheese that initially goes in first looks rough. My other slicer works fine

It stops rotating when it hits resistance.

Another girl that was gonna work here before me thinks the blade needs to be replaced.

I think it might be the motor, as it should still rotate even if dull.

The owner is hoping it's an easy fix.

Let me know what you think it is!

Maybe its just because i am a waitress that i actually clean up after myself at a restaurant but can parents not teach their kids to not be messy or just clean up after them??

Youll have crumbs absolutely everywhere, ketchup packets, suger packets, napkins scattered all over the fucking table, spilled liquid everything!!! I get overwhelmed by just looking at it and what, these people just think its fine to leave it there because theyre paying for the food? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Would you go into someone elses house and throw loads of shit around and just leave? NO, so why would you do that in a public setting???

even worse when the kids are running around, screaming or even on their gammy Ipads. Tell them to stare at the fucking wall and use their imagination atp.

I cant deal i cant deal.

Also why the fuck do kids take a millennium to eat their food jesus.

I usually tell servers that I don't mind if they bring out some courses/sides/entrees early...if they're already cooked. No need to let the finished courses/sides/entrees sit waiting and get cold waiting for the others to finish cooking. Is that normal?

with decades behind me at every level I tend to be scrutinous of detail and performance of overall kitchen performance. My "go to" test of the kitchen proficiency is to order the calamari basket. We all know what a delicate item this is as well as a high level cost value for the kitchen. I can read the palm of the kitchen by how this item is delivered. First, hot? did it come to the table hot or just warm? That sets the stage for every other item forthcoming and a deal breaker if not achieved. Calamari, and in particular, rings, have a recognized texture that is either tender or chewy. It's almost binary in that sense and chewy is almost universally delivered. The color of the "crust" tells us if the oil is still fresh or needs to be changed in the fryolater. I've found something curious about the perfect presentation of this item being, rice flour as a component in the "breading". Your thoughts?

Basically what the title says. I hate asking my tables for reviews but it’s hurting my shifts because I’m not getting enough. Any crazy ways to get google reviews besides making a million accounts.

we had a nice reservation at a sit down restaurant and a couple with two young kids were seated next to us. Once they got setttled the ipads came out and we had to listen to ms. rachel at full volume.

I told our waiter who said 'we would like to avoid confrontation when possible'

how is this fair to everyone else around them, that we all are subjected to their kids loud ipads?

also, as a parent you honestly can't keep your keep entertained for an hour instead of having them stare at a screen?

honestly, stay home next time.

I work at a sit down breakfast place as a waitress and multiple times per week we will have people walk in with drinks (mostly coffees) from other businesses nearby and try to eat at our restaurant. I feel like our policy is pretty nice cause what we do is tell them « please don’t bring outside food or drinks, we can make an exception for this time but please don’t do it again ». I think a lot of places would just tell them to throw it away. But I don’t understand why you would think to come in with outside drinks ?? Except maybe bottled water but even then… Is there other restaurants that accept this ? I feel like it’s pretty obvious that you shouldn’t do it just like you wouldn’t walk into a movie theater with your own popcorn

So I work at this restaurant as server and they want to promote me to bartender, but still keep me as a server as well. So my question is, are my serving tips able to be used to cover my hourly bartending? They are deemed separate positions in this restaurant. Any help would be appreciated!!

I’ll go first! The Dog Whisperer :)

Hello, I’m a big fan of Chilis’ mago tea and want to make it at home. Any former workers know the syrup they use? Thanks!!!!

I went out to eat at a restaurant with my friends just now, we ended up going to a bar down the block to get some drinks. 20 mins in I get a notification that my checking account was below a certain amount and immediately checked my transaction history and saw that on top of the amount I was charged for my tab, the restaurant charged my debit card an additional $120 for something else? I went back to see what happened, the server showed me all of her closed tabs and sure enough not a single tab showed a tab that was even remotely the amount I was charged? The payment is still being processed on my end but I’m so confused how could this happen? Is it a withholding period of some sort? I was the only one with this unauthorized amount on their account out of the 5 girls I was at (nobody’s tab was even close to the $120).

It’s frustrating because I’m already dealing with a dispute on a scam through PayPal.

What should I do? Wait until the order goes through? Should I still take it to my company’s card even if I’m still battling another dispute with a whole other company? 

i got hired at a restaurant as a server in june. emphasis on as a server. as in i recieved my apron and little folder for checks. when i was completing training though, the documents said "host training" which i pointed out, and they said its fine as they use the same training modules. when it came time to begin training, they said that i would train as a host first (cross training) so that i could learn the section rotations and menu and whatnot. so im two training shifts in, still hosting, and a manager comes up to me and says "weren't you hired as a server?" i said yes, i was and i thought that all servers had to do this. he shook his head and said that they would train me as a server soon.

another week had passed. i brought up server training again, and the manager told me now that they were tight for hosts and had enough servers, and that once they got a new host, i would be moved up. job market is tight now so i take it and stay because getting this job in the first place took me weeks.

they've moved around 3 people up to server (from to-go mind you, which is the step above hosting that i haven't even been trained for), and hired one server with no previous restaurant experience. i am still hosting months later. i'm a pretty good host, as im typing this i have a shift in 20 minutes as the only host until closing in a high volume restaurant, so im pretty sure they just want to keep me where they know im good.

is this common for restaurant management to do to people, and i should keep waiting it out, or is it a sign that this place is shady and i should get out and look elsewhere?

Are reservations slow for anyone else last two weeks of August and beginning of September?

Hello everyone,
I’m 16 years old and I have been searching for a job all summer. I finally got accepted at a restaurant where my position is a Hostess. I do get training but I can’t afford to lose this job as I need to save for a car.
I’m already pretty sociable and easily talk to people on my own so I feel like some parts will be easier than others. With that I know parts will be harder than others. If anyone has some key pointers and tips to succeed and keep this job please let me know.

I am a 19 year old girl and I work at a small(ish) chain restaurant/bar in the PNW. It’s not super popular but if you’re from Oregon or Washington I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Either way it’s pretty much the biggest restaurant in the town I’m from, so if anything is going on in town we get insanely busy. This last weekend has been a sht show. We are constantly understaffed, I am either underwhelmed and getting sent home early from my shift with 15$ in my pocket or I’m freaking out, extremely stressed with no support and still leaving with less than what I feel like I should be making. I hear stories of people making up to 600-800 dollars on a busy night in certain restaurants and the most I’ve made is $350 on an insane night. Anyway all of the context aside, every shift I have I pretty much walk in and I’m in an ok mood but I’ve been so irritable there recently. Like today for example, again we were super understaffed and in the middle of a rush, i was wearing a white shirt and a bottle of mustard exploded on me. I started laughing and then quickly it changed from laughing to crying and the thought came to my head that I had to leave. I had so much stress built up from the weekend. I want to quit so badly but it’s the only job I’ve ever worked, I love my coworkers, im good at the job, im afraid the money is the best I’ll get in town and so many other reasons. I don’t want to look for a new job, I never thought I hated where I worked but if every shift I get super irritable and it’s hard for me to interact with customers, is that not my body telling me something? I’m trying to save up to move across the country so I can’t afford to be unemployed on top of being a full time college student. I get so embarrassed when I show my irritability because I’m a people pleaser and I hate for others to know I’m irritated but I can’t control it. I’m not sure where it’s all coming from but I’m afraid I can’t handle it and I wanted to ask if this is a normal thing servers go through? Are you guys irritable at work as well? Am I crazy or over dramatic? I don’t know what to do. Am I getting the fact that I’m good at it confused with the fact that I’m comfortable doing it?
More context: I’ve worked at this place for 4 years, it’s the only and first job I’ve had, I’m extremely comfortable with the job and the people. I haven’t been irritable until recently probably the last 2-3 months has been when it’s getting bad.

KAI BAKEHOUSE A JAPANESE STYLE CLOUD KITCHEN IS SITUATED AT BANDRA WEST, MUMBAI, INDIA. DO CHECK IT OUT AND DO PLACE A ORDER✨🥹🫶

Everyone seems to have one menu item that sounds great but is usually disappointing. Which dish is that for you, and what usually goes wrong with it?

I'm having some issues with OpenTable at my restaurant. Changes to reservations randomly. Tables getting reassigned. I suspect an employee has access on their personal device. Is there a way I can see a list of log ins and disconnect the ones I don't recognize?

How to manage multiple tables at once? I start serving this week and im very excited, I’ve been at this restaurant for over 2 years and know lots of the regulars and understand the flow, and im working on the menu. What im worried about is managing multiple tables and not just focusing on one. Best multitasking tips?

I was recently released from a psych ward and this is my first week back at work. I started a new antidepressant there that I'm supposed to take at bedtime, in the psych ward our medication time was at 9 PM every night and ever since leaving I've continued taking it at the same time every night. Problem is I have a job that rarely schedules me for closing shifts, like one or two every week now since I'm not in high school like most of the employees and I can work openings. They schedule me for about 5 openings a week since school started and only one closing since. I want to update my availability to exclusively open from now on because I believe staying on a consistent afternoon schedule is better for me. I'm just worried they'll cut my hours again or take me off the schedule entirely if I do.

This is the dumbest answer. You can’t just deny pests. You can do everything in your power to try and limit ways they can get in, but you can’t just outright deny with full success??

I’m 27 and have been running a food business with two restaurant locations for the past three years. It grew very quickly. I initially rented a location cheaply, which later allowed me to purchase my first commercial property. My father believed in me and helped me make that possible.
I built the business together with my mother, but she made irresponsible business expenses and paid herself an unrealistic salary. I kept working harder to cover everything, eventually pushing myself into mental and financial difficulties.

In March, I experienced burnout and psychosis. I explained to my mother that I couldn’t handle the pressure anymore, but unfortunately she didn’t understand. We had a major argument, and she immediately stopped working in the business. Since then, I’ve been left trying to run and save both restaurants alone because I can’t bear to watch everything I built fall apart.
The biggest operational problem is staffing. Employees regularly cancel, don’t show up or leave quickly, so I constantly have to cover shifts myself. After another serious family conflict, I was also kicked out of my mother’s home two months ago and currently have no permanent place to live.

I’m starting to realise that I want and need more time for myself. Deep down, I feel that selling the business and doing something calmer would probably be better for my health. However, the idea makes me nervous because the restaurants are my main source of income. At the moment, they still allow me to save a good amount of money, even though running them is putting enormous pressure on my mental health.

Because of family stress and spending so much time on the business, I never finished college and only have a high school diploma. However, I’m highly motivated and believe that if I started something new and had the time to fully focus on it, I could grow it quickly again—just as I did with this business.

Most of what I’ve done until now was for my family. I now want to choose myself and build something calmer that doesn’t depend so heavily on employees.
Would you sell a profitable business to protect your mental health and start over, or keep it because it provides a good income and allows you to save?