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The Restaurant Industry

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GANDALF
Posts: 6302 - Karma: 6,567
Im sure there are plenty of people on here who work in restaurants. Its the perfect job for the winter time. For example, last season, i managed to work 35-40 hours a week, while skiing 6 days a week.
But as we all know, working in food service can be really stressful, crazy, and sometimes overwhelming. This combination makes for a lot of good stories. So post them.

Im also curious what everyone else does. Front of house? Back of house? SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES.


Aug 22 2013 3:06PM
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GANDALF
Posts: 6302 - Karma: 6,567
I guess I forgot to share a story.

Currently, I am a line/prep cook at a bistro in town. But I used to work the line at a fish and chips joint a few blocks away.

I had to open one morning, and in the morning is when we would clean the deep fryers (fucking pain in the ass.) So im goin about my business getting these fryers cleaned yaddayaddayadda. (So when we clean the fryers, i have to drain all the oil into buckets, and run water through the fryer and scrub all the crap off, and then pour the oil back into the fryer and its good to go).

I get to the point where I am pouring the oil back in, and about 3 seconds after I started pouring the oil in, my coworker just starts shouting, "DUDE DUDE DUDE DUDE DUDE!" and is pointing at my feet, and I look down, and I had forgot to shut the valve where the oil drains out of. So ALL the oil I am pouring in, is going straight onto the floor. Probably made for the worst cleanup I have ever had to deal with.

It was the great oil spill of 2010.
Aug 22 2013 3:15PM
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Willard
Posts: 5117 - Karma: 429
Not gonna get into it very deep. Long story short i had a knive thrown at me while i was prepping a few years back. He doesn't work there anymore.
Aug 22 2013 3:17PM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,805
I worked at a really nice fancy joint near me. I was a server and my boss had very high expectations. Know your food/ingredients, know your wine, know your beer, know your liquor. Know your shit. She taught me that I earned my own paycheck, I chose my hourly rate. And that idle hands are the devil's playground. I made good money. Damn good money.

The worst is fucking up. And fucking up food was hell. When you had to face the chef and tell him what you did, and he had to fix it for you? Oof.

Worst/best thing I ever saw tho, was not on myself. But his line cook, who was a cocky mother fucker - stood there one night white in the face. And finally owned up to having 12 orders of steak on the board, and no steak left to grill. I've never seen someone so angry before.

You did not want to be in that kitchen. NO no no.

It was a good schedule when I was young, but the older I got the worse the schedule was. It was hard only being able to be friends with your coworkers, not that I totally minded cause they were some of the best friends I ever had. But it still ended up wearing thin.
Aug 22 2013 3:23PM
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KillaSteeze
Posts: 3329 - Karma: 351
I work in a kitchen and we had an oil spill exactly like that. One of the chefs poured the oil straight through onto her feet and burnt both of them. We had to throw her feet into a huge sink full of cold water, and then she went to the hosptial and hasn't returned since. I had to clean up the oil spill hahah
Aug 22 2013 3:57PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37380 - Karma: 119,964
Dishwashing wasn't too bad. My boss was a cunt though. And the place I worked at had shit pizza.
Aug 22 2013 5:02PM
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SFB
Posts: 8895 - Karma: 26,352
i worked in a pools snack bar and made like burgers and quesidillas and shit and this bitch who was babysitting these kids ordered a vegetarian burger which is nasty anyways then after she ate it she claims she threw up and it tasted like "chemicals". she would not go away but my boss knew the crazy lady was a cunt so it was all good.
Aug 22 2013 5:09PM
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howlongcanausern
Posts: 4982 - Karma: 1,737
>first job at fancy shamncy restaurant in newport RI
>last week of work
>rachael ray comes in and films for US airways in-flight movie
>boss e-mails me video months later
>im in the back, you can see me for a split second


yup, thousands of people on domestic flights on us airways saw me on a rachael ray show. /claim
Aug 22 2013 5:20PM
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KravtZ
Posts: 6637 - Karma: 2,629
Knew a couple kids who worked the snackbar at this local country club day camp.

They went fishing and caught a small sunny. Some kid ordered a chicken sandwhich so they deepfried the sunny so it looked the same and put it on a bun. Was so hilarious.
Aug 22 2013 5:24PM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591
You mean like the entire fish?
Aug 22 2013 8:02PM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37380 - Karma: 119,964
I'm gonna toy with the kitchen stuff though. Its good pay, especially in a ski town where I am. I'm used to long hours and I got my ProStart Certification (for those of you who are somewhat cooking-savy) so we'll see how it goes.
Aug 22 2013 8:07PM
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last_tango
Posts: 2635 - Karma: 2,665
I worked one day at as a dishwasher at a brew pub. The actual dish washing its self wasn't bad but what I didn't agree with was at the end of the night picking up everyone's shit once we stopped serving food. You are a team in a kitchen and you should leave as a team instead of leaving one guy to pick up shit for 3 hours after close.

The next week they called me and said they couldn't afford a extra dish washer.

After that one day of work I have a whole new appreciation for when I go out to eat.
Aug 22 2013 8:25PM
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DubV134
Posts: 1541 - Karma: 690
Had a very similar experience to the great oil spill except mine happened a couple years earlier and the cook and I were both drunk as fuck. Closing time going through the motions and next thing you know hot oil is literally everywhere. Realized there were splatter burns up my legs but before I could even be pissed I see the cook slip and summersault through the death puddle throwing a tray of food he was carrying into the air. Next thing you know we are both on the ground laughing and crying simultaneously.

Worked a wedding last weekend. During dinner the MOG gave a long toast, the entire time referring to the the bride by the name of the grooms ex-wife. At the end of the speech everyone applauded except the bride, she stood up and called the lady a stupid bitch. Great start to a marriage
Aug 22 2013 8:28PM
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mowglii
Posts: 545 - Karma: 339
was a line cook at the keg for a bit. Tips were fucking sick i got minimum 100$ a week in cash plus like 30-40 hours a week. The job itself was mostly stressful as fuck and shitty but the ladies who worked there were foxy as hell, plus free food all the time. We used to cover our hands in batter and deep fry them until they were all hard and crusty.
Aug 22 2013 9:32PM
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Spicy.Cat
Posts: 479 - Karma: 706
I work at a nice restaurant in my home town. I am a dishwasher for the most part, working along side a 69 year old Chinese man who doesnt speak a lick of english. Got to learn some Mandarin on the side which is pretty cool. I bus, prep food, cook, and even help with the advertising. I can say i learned to hate the restaurant business for working 15 hour shifts, working till 1AM, and getting 40+ hours a week. But im glad i have the opportunity and experience.
Aug 22 2013 11:36PM
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FuckAllOfYou
Posts: 3864 - Karma: 2,518
I work at a pizza place. Sucks.
Aug 23 2013 12:50AM
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JeremyClarkson
Posts: 1599 - Karma: 1,934

Fuck the food industry in general. Never before have I felt more stressed, degraded, faceless and nameless than working in a kitchen.

Aug 23 2013 1:15AM
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GANDALF
Posts: 6302 - Karma: 6,567
To anyone who comes in to eat 10 minutes before close: FUCK YOU.
Aug 23 2013 1:32AM
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razors-chaz
Posts: 2255 - Karma: 1,250
The oil spill is such a common rookie error but hilarious nonethe less unless its 200 degree oil going everywhere.
For cleaning the fryers I found it really helps if you fill them with water and then boil it to boil off/soften the crap thats on the element/tank.
My story to add is kind of amusing. I was working the kitchen alone in a small, city cocktail bar. An order came through for 2 burgers with 3 diferent toppings each. Its nearing the end of my shift, I'm pretty tired and so I dont read the check properly and read it as one burger with all six burger toppings. I think hey fat man wants a solid burger ok. Stick it all on the grill, 10 or so mins later as I was putting it all together I get a call down on the intercom calling for the order and I'm like yeah its just coming. Go check the check and its for two just after I've stacked this burger a mile high. Call back up the intercom that I've made a mistake and its going to be another 10 or so mins. Manager was not happy. The two burgers eventually went out and I got a solid burger to eat for the end of my shift.
I got made redundant then fired the day before my last shift. It was a joke. The head chef treated like a part time job and commanded no respect over any of the staff. He was a two faced dick. I learned after I left the other chefs and KPs quit within a couple of weeks leaving him with no team. That made me happy.
Aug 23 2013 7:38AM
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SFB
Posts: 8895 - Karma: 26,352
pretty much this. those idiots who come in minutes before closing then you end up staying 30 minutes late because they are fat as fuck.
Aug 23 2013 11:04AM
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theBearJew
Posts: 10951 - Karma: 15,633
I'm always cautious of this.. if I don't know the closing time I usually ask and if its any more than 25 minutes, I just leave. You usually tell without asking tho by looking at the faces of the employees when the door opens.

After reading this thread I am happy I dodged the restaurant industry, retail sucked though. Most annoying thing for me was the same, people coming in 2 minutes before I locked the doors and staying for 30, then buying nothing and leaving.
Aug 23 2013 11:14AM
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J-T
Posts: 269 - Karma: 697
Today I start for the first time as a busboy at the town's golf course, and wow, I'm nervous right now. Just hoping I don't spill water on someone or some crap like that.
Aug 23 2013 11:48AM
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snwbrdmilf
Posts: 22441 - Karma: 2,805
Restaurant industry > Retail


I freaking haaaaaaated retail.
Aug 23 2013 11:53AM
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Algebra
Posts: 5215 - Karma: 1,677
i hate working in restaraunt. last summer it wasnt so bad because the place i worked was always busy as fuck, i would come home on average $100+ every night. but the new place i work has a maxof 10 tables a night.
Aug 23 2013 12:23PM
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KJacks
Posts: 440 - Karma: 2,329
I serve/bartend at Moxies. super relaxed and the girls are super hot.

moxies staff parties are always the best.
Also the deals on food is awsome
Aug 23 2013 12:53PM
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Deezy
Posts: 4580 - Karma: 1,004
The whole industry is run by children and idiots.

Last night i went to a local pub. (Im living in muskoka, ON so there are not many local pubs and the ones that exist dont make much business)
Its wing night, $0.87 wings. I order two pounds of their special wings and 2 pints of pabst. When the bill comes the two pounds of wings come to $29.98. Uhhh what? this should cost about HALF of whats on the bill.
So i talk to the waitress and she doesnt have an answer for me so she brings out the manager. I know the guy, ive been to the pub before. He tries to tell me that I dont get the wing night deal because I ordered these special wings and because i got two different flavours i get charged for two single pounds and not two pounds together. So on top of expecting to pay the ridiculous $24 for two pounds im paying $30. They tried to tell me that im paying more because i get extra veggies and sauce. I didnt get extra anything. the manager told me that it costs a lot more to cook the wings because of the extra cleanup and how it ruins the oil, bla, bla, bullshit.
I work as a server/bartender/cook down the road (the place is really small, 5 staff all together). So what hes saying is 90% bullshit. I know it doesnt cost an $6 dollars to make two different flavours instead of one and throw in two more carrots slices.
I didnt want to argue, i felt bad for the guy. im getting an engineering degree and hes running a pub named after the british slang term for condoms.

Oh and dont stiff the server because of poor food or prices. If you cant afford to tip then dont go out. Servers live off tips and 90% of the time the problem isnt their fault.

Aug 23 2013 1:00PM
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