TBers who work/have worked in bars/restaurants

[bassrique]

Inspired by the "TBers who work/have worked in retail" thread, I'd like to do something similar with regard to the hospitality business.

In another life, I used to sling drinks and meals, and have the scars to show for it. I can tell funny stories, and most likely will, but in a nutshell, my biggest gripe was rude people with ridiculous expectations.

[Araillac]

Mine was with the other workers at McDonald's. I mean honestly, how hard is it to pick up the correct sandwich and put it in the correct bag? All you people on frontline just stand there and take orders and hand out food. After that all you do is stand around watching us make it all. I mean, you see it even being made. Then you get mad at us because the customer got mad at you because you gave them the wrong food. I came so close to fighting with one guy multiple times. I swear, anyone who works front line get the hell out of the grill area. You're not making the food, don't stand there looking over our shoulders getting in the way. And stop getting mad when the cooks run into you because you won't move. I use to just want to smack the crap out of everyone who wasn't a cook there. Now I'm unemployed but not due to hitting anyone. So if anyone is around the Harrisonburg - Staunton VA area, can you hook me up with a job?

[ADbassman]

I work in a gourmet restaurant in Columbia as a line cook. Its hard work, but I enjoy the challenge. I work hard for the money and got the scars to prove it.

[JQ1986]

Originally Posted by Araillac

Mine was with the other workers at McDonald's. I mean honestly, how hard is it to pick up the correct sandwich and put it in the correct bag? All you people on frontline just stand there and take orders and hand out food. After that all you do is stand around watching us make it all. I mean, you see it even being made. Then you get mad at us because the customer got mad at you because you gave them the wrong food. I came so close to fighting with one guy multiple times. I swear, anyone who works front line get the hell out of the grill area. You're not making the food, don't stand there looking over our shoulders getting in the way. And stop getting mad when the cooks run into you because you won't move. I use to just want to smack the crap out of everyone who wasn't a cook there. Now I'm unemployed but not due to hitting anyone. So if anyone is around the Harrisonburg - Staunton VA area, can you hook me up with a job?

Oh I can relate to your McDonalds story ALL too well. I worked backline too and had the same problems. I worked counter a couple times here and there and honestly didn't get why the other frontline people got so worked up. The worst was when the frontline people would come back and attempt to make the food quick. There were a few shoving matches in the back because of it.

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by ADbassman

I work in a gourmet restaurant in Columbia as a line cook. Its hard work, but I enjoy the challenge. I work hard for the money and got the scars to prove it.

Yeah, but has anyone ever come at you with a broken bottle?

Originally Posted by Araillac

Mine was with the other workers at McDonald's. I mean honestly, how hard is it to pick up the correct sandwich and put it in the correct bag? All you people on frontline just stand there and take orders and hand out food. After that all you do is stand around watching us make it all. I mean, you see it even being made. Then you get mad at us because the customer got mad at you because you gave them the wrong food. I came so close to fighting with one guy multiple times. I swear, anyone who works front line get the hell out of the grill area. You're not making the food, don't stand there looking over our shoulders getting in the way. And stop getting mad when the cooks run into you because you won't move. I use to just want to smack the crap out of everyone who wasn't a cook there. Now I'm unemployed but not due to hitting anyone. So if anyone is around the Harrisonburg - Staunton VA area, can you hook me up with a job?

Good stuff.

--------------------

And I'd like to say something important:

Be careful how you complain! State your case in a rational and respectable way. 99 times out of 100 you won't get a luggie in your drink, but I have seen even the best people lose control at times.

[ADbassman]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Yeah, but has anyone ever come at you with a broken bottle?

Does a 500 degree spoon count?

[EyeH8†]

We used to have a guy come in McDonalds and ask us to make all of his food fresh on the grill and would watch us from the front to make sure it went from grill to bun.

I mean for a dollar what do you want?

Finally the manager told him that we were regulated by food codes that the food is safe and he take what we offered.

The manager got fired.

[Baryonyx]

I worked in a hotel that was supposedly high class but was a bit of a joke behind the scenes. I can't think of the amount of times that food was dropped on the floor only to be put back on the plate and served. Luckily, dirt and grit off the floor looked a lot like the rough black pepper which was always applied to the meat.

The same washing machines were used to wash the restaurant napkins as the bedclothes. This meant napkins always had pubes in them. Most people just folded around them, leaving a nice surprise for whoever opened the napkin later.

My biggest gripe on the job was the drunken head "chef". Now I say that because really, there were only cooks in the kitchen, no chefs. Nearly all of the food was merely reheated from frozen ready made stuff bought in. But the head chef was a real loser, barely in control of his shabby kitchen. It made working there a joke. I can't remember the amount of complaints I received from customers who were paying over £30 a meal. The food was ridiculously poor. Of course, I cared little for the customers as they were usually rude, ignorant and foul mouthed anyway.

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by ADbassman

Does a 500 degree spoon count?

Man, things sure do get hot in the back of the house.

[iamlowsound]

I used to work at a McDonalds. Enough said.

lowsound

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

I used to work at a McDonalds. Enough said.

lowsound

Does McDees really throw out large amounts of "good" food every day rather than give it to a charity?

[capnsandwich]

Let's see, I started out at 14 at Burger King for the summer, then Baskin Robbins, then a place called Mr. Coney in Fort Wayne, Indiana, then Donatos Pizza here in Columbus, Ohio, and then Pizza Hut. After that I had all grown up jobs like concrete and construction.

[bassrique]

Oh yeah, I have a question for my bartender friends:

How many of you drink on the job? If you do, is it hidden? In some bars, doing shots and having a good time with the patrons is almost encouraged, but that seems more of a thing of the past.

[Araillac]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Does McDees really throw out large amounts of "good" food every day rather than give it to a charity?

yeah. I don't work there anymore but I got friends that still do. I'm unemployed so I go there every night they work and they give me the food and a free soda.

[EyeH8†]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Does McDees really throw out large amounts of "good" food every day rather than give it to a charity?

Misconception. They have almost gotten it down to a science of only keeping enough cooked food in the warmers to anticipate demand.

You MIGHT have a cheeseburger or filet o fish sitting around possibly a few chicken nuggets.

I am not sure any charity wants a piece of meat that's been cooked and sitting in a warmer for over an hour.

[Baryonyx]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Does McDees really throw out large amounts of "good" food every day rather than give it to a charity?

Oh yes they do, but so does pretty much every place that cooks on a large scale. Again, at this un-named hotel, the banqueting department would sometimes throw out upwards of 80 cooked starters, dinners and desserts at a time if they got their numbers wrong for whatever reason. Boxing it up and taking it a homeless shelter? That would be too much trouble.

Originally Posted by bassrique

Oh yeah, I have a question for my bartender friends:

How many of you drink on the job? If you do, is it hidden? In some bars, doing shots and having a good time with the patrons is almost encouraged, but that seems more of a thing of the past.

Where I worked, drinking on the job front of house was forbidden. A couple of people got the sack for sneaking drinks and stealing from the till.

[Joe Gress]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Does McDees really throw out large amounts of "good" food every day rather than give it to a charity?

Well, I will say one thing about MickeyDs. We have a little program that goes on here for the returning troops from Iraq to fort carson. When they fly in to the springs airport at six am , there are a bunch of volunteers who hand them a burger and coke as they walk past to get on the bus. MD always donates enough big macs and cokes for all of the troops and the volunteers.

[bassrique]

Originally Posted by joeinsprings

Well, I will say one thing about MickeyDs. We have a little program that goes on here for the returning troops from Iraq to fort carson. When they fly in to the springs airport at six am , there are a bunch of volunteers who hand them a burger and coke as they walk past to get on the bus. MD always donates enough big macs and cokes for all of the troops and the volunteers.

That is very cool.

[Araillac]

They were just incorporating that at the mcdonalds i worked before i left due to a situation but it still isnt working as well as theyd like there lol

[warwick.hoy]

If you refer to my 1st post in the aforementioned retail thread that is about the gist of my frustrations at work.

I've managed to keep the front people out of my way on the sandwich lines. My biggest gripe with coworkers are my drivers. It makes me look bad to get a big order out on time just to have the drivers show up late, forget a side or a drink and then wonder why they are having to put all their tip money in the gas tank. Well when you have to go to one place twice what do you expect. Consider yourself lucky you even got a tip.

The in house people are actually a good team.

Like I said in that post I really pride myself on efficiency. A lot of people want to throw a wrench in those spokes though. I get orders for things OTS (on the side) where I'm like...if your going to put on the sandwich anyway just let me do it. It saves me time and I don't get thrown off my groove buy have to slather mayonnaise into a souffle cup.

Oh the other thing I hate....making the same thing for the same group of people over and over again. Say someone orders a certain sandwich, pays for it and the ticket gets hung up. No sooner than I'm done making it another ticket from their friend for the exact same thing gets hung up. You realize that is way easier for me to make two at a time than it is to make one and then another one followed by another one. I understand you want to pay separately but let the front girl know that you are ordering the exact same thing and I guarantee that both sandwiches will be done before the last person has even finished paying for it.

I love the people that rearrange our dining room any way they see fit and don't put it back the way they found it. That's okay will take care of it, not only do we feed you but we will clean your mess up too.

We do sandwich trays for events. Basically catering for anywhere up to 50 people or more. I love it when someone calls the morning of and expects lunch for that many people by noon. Give me a least a day to prep for that at least mentally and you better tip generously.

/rant

I will say that I'm glad to have never had to work fast food.