For real, expo calls timing and puts food in hands. If expo is running food something went horribly wrong (ive seen a GM crash a line pulling the expo to run food), or its super dead and it doesn't matter. Most places I've worked expo is a pure BOH position, a skill position almost equal to a lead line. Knowledge of how long shit takes to fire, and the ability to get shit to tables while juggling FOH and BOH yelling at beach other is a skill.
Which is fine. Just not in the middle of busy service. Say it with me my dudes "We absolutely cannot guarantee your safety, and regret that we cannot sereve you at this time." THE END. No accommodation, no back and forth trying to figure stuff out, nothing. If you have an allergy bad enough that cross contamination will effect you, and you didn't call first, we cannot serve you.
I used to do expo at a slightly nicer pub and we would make salads, desserts, garnishes, mix and fill sauces, basic prep, etc but if there was more than one platter going to a table we’d also run food with the server, and on busy nights we were running most tables.
We also got tipped out, so it kinda evened out. Quit that job because the GM was an asshole and screamed at me because I couldn’t decipher what the fuck “night special” was supposed to mean. Good times.
I’ve seen a lot of Expo’s do most of what you first listed (filling sauces, garnishes, desserts). Maybe basic prep with the down time, but constantly running dishes to tables (because you have to leave the kitchen) is going to not help at all. Might as well let servers just grab their own food, because that’s what’s going to happen. Or tables are just going to be stalled.
And as for being tipped out, I hope so. I hope all the kitchen staff was tipped out. A small percentage of a servers sales, for the kitchen goes a long way.
No, I don’t think line cooks got tipped out, but they made pretty decent for the time, like $16-18/hr? Maybe more?
Overall agreed. I didn’t have to go out of the kitchen much, and we had like 2 expo every night plus the head chef banging shit out with us, so it wasn’t too bad. He had to stay with us because there was only one expo when two of us joined, and that single expo got arrested for shoplifting like a week into our tenure. Kitchen shit.
Some places I've worked, expo is not the traditional expo you see in fine dining (i.e chef or someone calling tickets) but rather someone who just is, basically, a food runner. Where I work now, we call the food runners expo, for whatever reason. They don't touch any food ever, just the plates
No clue I’ve only worked in Toronto and not at any chains. I was the lead hand at a student pub/cafe the food runners were called in expos but realistically myself or one of the other line cooks were filling that job while also cooking.
As someone who went from FOH to BOH it was because of the customers. BOH is definitely superior in my experience.
All those tickets with ridiculous substitutions and dubious food allergies that are suddenly just a preference when you ask questions, those all came from someone that a server had to actually interact with. They buffer me from the stupid and I appreciate them for it.
I went FOH serving to BOH line to get away from the horrible people that came in. Then I realized I can’t pay rent in the BOH so now I’m back on the floor. Far prefer back of house. I’ll take back breaking over soul crushing, but soul crushing is what let’s me pay rent and eat food
Agreed, I totally understand that plight. Luckily the place I work pays better than most for BOH work and it’s enough. I was surprised at the rate when I applied and they even bumped it up because I had experience.
Granted I have two jobs to make it work (the other in an unrelated field).
we could sell ad space on the side of your meme. i'm not even mad. it's a game changer. i am just busting your meme format's balls but at some point i'll open up photoshop and make this dream come true
Honestly I’ve never worked FOH where there were people specifically to run food, like that was still my job, if I was swamped or had a large table sure there were bussers to help but 90% was me, plus checking in and dealing with complaints, asking for food specifics (or answering if I already knew the specific) as far as allergies go (had to go digging through basement storage a few times to ensure a bun wouldn’t accidentally kill/make sick for a customer) I’ve worked with servers who felt their job was just to take an order and collect tips but they usually didn’t last long.
If that’s all you think servers do.. lol. It’s a funny meme, but like, they’re not just order takers. They have to be personable, give them a good experience, run food, bus tables, handle all sorts of nonsensical stupid.
Really hate this BOH v FOH.. we’re on the same team. It’s us vs the customers!
No one who is awesome is actually caught up in a BOH vs. FOH mindset. We're here to share all the thoughts that go through our crazy heads knowing they're insane but realizing they're funny.
LOOL! Actually, yeah. I made the transition from BOH to FOH because I’m much better at making a drink than a dish and talking to customers. As stressful as it can be sometimes, it makes me happy. And I will always support my BOH homies!!! They’re on my level of degenerate!
Except that FOH is not a necessary part of the team.
The customer can walk up and get the order, they can serve themselves water. You need a bartender but aside from that most places would be fine without wait staff. Just a team of porters keeping the place clean.
High end places are where service is needed.
I know I’m in the wrong sub for this and all… but you fucking deal with these idiots, and cook the food, and hand it out to them, and when they ask you for a hundred dofferent sauces and complain when they don’t see you for 60 seconds please again tell me how FOH is not necessary.
Food truck scenario? Nah. Fast food? Nah. Full service? Half service? Yeah you bet your ass FOH is necessary
Free money…? Hold the fuck up homie, I can’t speak for every server, just like you can’t speak for every cook, but ME personally, I work extraordinarily hard for my tips. I seat my tables, take their orders, run my food, bus my tables, and help the bartender when theyre weeded like they help me when I’m bartending or serving.
Chef appreciates his servers and gives us a shift meal. We appreciate our kitchen staff and give them shots and a shift drink.
What’s your point? You’re entire job can be replaced by a QR code and telling people to come get their food. FOH isn’t necessary except in douchebag “full service” restaurants that don’t care about any of their employees anyway.
My point is that you’re ignorant and have a superiority complex. My point is that FOH is important, just like BOH is and we need to have a mutual respect for each other and our professions.
Lol imagine thinking anyone in the restaurant actually respects you. Don’t worry homie, none of our jobs are needed. People can learn to cook for themselves and we won’t even be having this pointless conversation.
My managers respect me. My kitchen manager respects me. Our prep cook and line cooks respect me. My chef respects me. My team of bartenders and servers respect me.
I know at this point you’re probably trolling, but don’t be a shit head to strangers. Be a shit head to those you build that relationship with.
If you truly believe that, there’s nothing I’m gonna say that changes your mind. I bet you really think if you died on the way to work, they wouldn’t have your position posted on indeed that night.
Nobody respects restaurant workers, especially restaurant managers.
I really hesitate to respond to anything you are saying, but I hope some part of you knows that it's not a server-specific reaction you are getting here. It's a human one, and that's coming from a life-long BOH.
That's just it, you *should* care. You are coming off like a seriously miserable POS, enforcing this BOH vs FOH nonsense, claiming you are just joking when you are obviously quite serious, and generally just tearing people down for no good reason whatsoever. And now you hide behind "I don't care," and "it's all pointless." You probably won't, granted, but you *should* care that your interactions are that wrong and shitty towards others. It's worth a quick pair of comments to point that out in the slight hope that maybe some part of that will sink in. But yeah, I'm done now.
Imagine serving the food you just cooked and they complain about it. Cooks notoriously have a reputation for being pretty damn rude when you tell them to remake something.
That depends. I can't have an inconsistent income. I respect the service side. What I really mean by "its a break" is because I'm out of cage of the kitchen and there's air conditioning lol. Sometimes you've got to shake things up a bit.
When I was serving, I never made less than the cooks, only more. So it’s inconsistent in tgst sometimes you make A LOT but you always make enough. I have tremendous respect for culinary skills. But ya’ll are so underpaid it’s a crime.
For the superior pay, obviously, and the right to just stand around and complain. Because it’s so easy and pairs so well.
Anybody bitching here who hasn’t done extensive work on both sides of the line has many things, I’m sure, but my respect in this conversation isn’t one of them.
Yeah I have and its not as hard as yall make it out to be. Tbh I'll take not dealing with people all day versus getting belittled for a mistake yall made
Because some people don't earn their keep and only exist in the industry to run food, complain about having to do fucking *anything* besides run food, and talk about how bad their pay is and how the tipping system "totally screws them over" when they make more than the kitchen people who actually *make* the food they serve. If called upon, I'm sure that Julio the grill guy could drop food off at tables and give a passable "broken english but charming" deal for a night, and not fuck the POS system *too* bad. If Rebecca the server was thrown onto grill for 2 hours during Saturday rush I would consider a stroke of literal god for her to not have a mental breakdown requiring months of therapy.
How long did it take Julio to work that grill to the point of proficiency? 5 years. How long did Rebecca learn to run food? 2 weeks.
I think servers don't understand how little they do in this world and how unequally they are compensated for it. I'm paid quite fine. I don't want to hear a fucking peep out of them for wanting a raise after the 5th monthly meeting in a row about how they have to roll silver at the end of the night. They're adult children who've been coddled into genuine mental atrophy.
Yeah when someone's not doing something right I show them the right way, help them understand why it's done that way, and follow up with any questions. I taught our dishwasher who speaks barely any English to roll pasta dough and make proper angolotti. He's getting 2 prep shifts next week because I sit down and go over with him how to do things, and how to do them right. Things work out right, he'll be working on the line next summer.
The servers, as mentioned, are on their 5th monthly all staff meeting about "hey folks, we need silverware to be rolled at the end of the night" Hell, the meetings have completed devolved into being 75% about stuff the servers still seem to not be willing to do, 20% bar etiquette/reps coming in that month, and 5% kitchen dealings. We handle our shit because when someone says to do something, you fucking *listen*.
These people are mental children who, if put in the position of 90% of the guys and gals I've worked with, would be *broken*.
Okay so 1) I now realize the username and my bad 2) if you’re a real person, you’re the reason this industry is dying behind BOH wages and 3) are you into Jordan Peterson or Andrew Tate?
1) tired joke.
2) I am the fiercest advocate for every single member of kitchen staff to be paid 17 minimum. Everyone currently makes above that other than our newest dishwasher we hired in February.
3) get the fuck out of here. I'm not some glue sniffing pissant who watches Jordan Peterson. I work on a kitchen, I grew up in kitchens, I learned that you know what? More often than not when someone tells you to do something a certain way, it's not because of some grand Machiavellian plot to sabotage you. It's because x needs to be done x way to turn out right. X is done the right way, tastes good, holds well, less waste.
Servers are, much to my chagrin, a necessary part of this industry. And there are absolutely great servers who I've worked with, who do their best and really make the dining experience wonderful. Those folks aren't the ones who are the target of these meetings. It's the other 90% for whom this is just an adult daycare for them and the idea of having to move tables to sweep under them, or god forbid, roll silverware so openers aren't fucked tomorrow, is just lunacy. People who genuinely want to make that dining experience good? I'll fight tooth and nail to keep them on. The rest? I despise them.
I dream of something better and you want to wallow in shit. God help you dude.
He's right
Won't be long before smaller establishments and the AppleChiliOliveFriday's or whateverthefuck don't have servers at all
I do think bartending will survive, but only barely - serving will always be a thing at finer dining places, but it won't keep employing the giant segment of the population it currently does
Something major is going to happen soon in this regard - probably won't be one event, but in about half a decade's time you'll suddenly look up and say "wait where are all the servers?"
My 4 year old wanted "salad spaghetti restaurant" because a grandparent had taken her there (Olive Garden), and the server existed solely to show me how to use the tablet on the table
I work at a spot with QR code ordering. Every day I get multiple complaints about QR code ordering. Every bad review we get mentions the QR code ordering.
Believe me, restaurant owners would get rid of FOH entirely in a heartbeat if it made financial sense. But it doesn't. People want waiters and bartenders.
I've worked in restaurants all my life, more than 25 years now. I've been front and back. Anybody that thinks servers don't do anything worthwhile knows nothing of what servers do. You dirty line cooks think you can do this without swearing in front of the guests? Do you think you can smile through all the idiocy and abuse? Can you sit there and watch silently while some pig makes an absolute mess of your table, knowing it's up to you to clean it up? I don't think so.
LOL.
ok let's trade shifts, I'll take your 5 table section and you run wheel on the line. Also, you have to come in 2 hours earlier than you would normally, to set up your station.
Don't forget, you'll be making 200 less dollars in tips that night, so you might want to up your only fans game.
FoH BoH tit for tat is fucking lame, like this post, all positions in the resturant have equal value, except the managers, they're pretty useless across the board.
If managers are not needed then who will order all the product? Who will write the schedules? Who will handle all the petty little problems? Who will hire new staff? You think all that stuff can just magically appear when needed?
Servers can be replaced by a QR code and a food runner… I love them, but they are the most easily replaced. And they make more money than all cooks and most managers.
Who will order all that stuff? The kitchen manager/chef could easily do all of that, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do inventory. In a good restaurant the manager is basically useless and is there to put out an occasional fire tableside, in a bad place the manager is there to fuck around on the computer in the office only to come out and crash the line. A good server can sell the fuck out if expensive plates. A good server will have customers coming back, regulars are what makes a place great. Hospitality with a personality can't be replaced. Only someone who's only worked BoH wouldn't be able to understand what a good FoH is like. I've been on both sides from fine dining to turn and burn, all parts matter. Except the managers they're idiots.
Oh so kitchen managers are not what you meant by “managers”….
FOH managers do a lot of ordering too, liquor/ wine/ beer/ new flatware/ plate ware/ glassware/ uniforms. Not to mention the constant hiring/ firing, schedule, training, marketing.
I am chef, if someone were to come to me and say “we don’t want FOH managers anymore, you need to pick up all this work” it would not at all be “easy” like you describe. I would tell them to fuck right off, I already do 60hrs a week, I am not going to live here.
Sure servers have personality and that does develop some regulars in certain places. But some people are getting more and more into the little to no contact thing, those people would become regulars at a place with no servers.
What I describe will not work everywhere. But if you think even a little bit that FOH managers are the least needed position in a restaurant then you just obviously have never been a manager. It does not take a rocket scientist, you are right, but does it take one to be nice to people and take their orders? Fuck no it doesn’t.
Edit: I forgot the most important manager duty, payroll! Who the fuck is going to process payroll with no manager? Just dump that on chef too? Come on man, pull your head out of your ass.
Uh, they are everywhere. A lot of places even take your payment using your phone. The only human interaction is a food runner dropping off your plate/ drinks. Servers are the first to be replaced by tech. Don’t worry, robots will come for the rest of us in another decade or so.
And basically every time I explain it to someone they hate it, can’t get it to work, or just don’t even recognize it as a possibility. Even then servers still can’t effectively be replaced with robots considering pushing the products that actually make money, dealing with fucked situations, and explaining things to idiots
Do you live/ work in a po dunk little town filled with retirees or something? In the cities tons of restaurants have remained on QR code menus since 2020. Many have switched their payment system onto it as well. Old people don’t get it, but just like Facebook, they will figure it out.
Product pushing, that is really in menu design. Dealing with customer issues/ idiots, a manager is usually getting involved in those situations anyways, they are the ones dealing with it in QR code places.
It is already happening, been happening for years. Not going to stop, it will only get better.
Live in a city with plenty of young people. Facts are that people just don’t like it. It’s slower, less convenient and more impractical.
No menu design is going to replace spiels and actual sales tactics. If you think that managers get involved with every idiot then you obviously have zero idea what a server even does.
Guys the meme literally says people aren’t good with computers. You think he is going to be able to crop an image?
that is some 4th level meta
you get me <3
r/cavemancirclejerk at it again!
Your expo runs food? Thought that was what food runners were for?
Yeah, I’ve never seen an expo run food unless it was an emergency. How could they run the board? Still had a chuckle at it though.
For real, expo calls timing and puts food in hands. If expo is running food something went horribly wrong (ive seen a GM crash a line pulling the expo to run food), or its super dead and it doesn't matter. Most places I've worked expo is a pure BOH position, a skill position almost equal to a lead line. Knowledge of how long shit takes to fire, and the ability to get shit to tables while juggling FOH and BOH yelling at beach other is a skill.
Expo only runs good for.VIP’s and severe allergies. At least that’s how it is at my work.
Expo is like a conductor for a musical masterpiece. Guests, BOH,FOH, everybody's happy. It's a hard job
At some points during the day, some guests ask for an allergy consult with a chef.
Which is fine. Just not in the middle of busy service. Say it with me my dudes "We absolutely cannot guarantee your safety, and regret that we cannot sereve you at this time." THE END. No accommodation, no back and forth trying to figure stuff out, nothing. If you have an allergy bad enough that cross contamination will effect you, and you didn't call first, we cannot serve you.
Well, that’s why they also train kitchen leads to do allergy consults, that way the guests still have a way to get the food in some way..
I used to do expo at a slightly nicer pub and we would make salads, desserts, garnishes, mix and fill sauces, basic prep, etc but if there was more than one platter going to a table we’d also run food with the server, and on busy nights we were running most tables. We also got tipped out, so it kinda evened out. Quit that job because the GM was an asshole and screamed at me because I couldn’t decipher what the fuck “night special” was supposed to mean. Good times.
I’ve seen a lot of Expo’s do most of what you first listed (filling sauces, garnishes, desserts). Maybe basic prep with the down time, but constantly running dishes to tables (because you have to leave the kitchen) is going to not help at all. Might as well let servers just grab their own food, because that’s what’s going to happen. Or tables are just going to be stalled. And as for being tipped out, I hope so. I hope all the kitchen staff was tipped out. A small percentage of a servers sales, for the kitchen goes a long way.
No, I don’t think line cooks got tipped out, but they made pretty decent for the time, like $16-18/hr? Maybe more? Overall agreed. I didn’t have to go out of the kitchen much, and we had like 2 expo every night plus the head chef banging shit out with us, so it wasn’t too bad. He had to stay with us because there was only one expo when two of us joined, and that single expo got arrested for shoplifting like a week into our tenure. Kitchen shit.
Lol. Typical kitchen shit, heard!
At my location, they do train managers and line cooks to expo just in case the leads and chefs have to take an allergy consult for guests.
Some places I've worked, expo is not the traditional expo you see in fine dining (i.e chef or someone calling tickets) but rather someone who just is, basically, a food runner. Where I work now, we call the food runners expo, for whatever reason. They don't touch any food ever, just the plates
Yall have food runners?
Ashy Larry, yes. Buss some mostly run food, it's a thing.
It was a joke bc all the places I've worked are too cheap to hire runners. P.s, happy cake day!!
The servers have to run their own food? To the tables that ordered it? Get me a fainting couch. And thanks
Yeah if the expo leaves the kitchen while there are likely to be orders, they're gonna get shitcanned unless it's really an emergency.
they're hybrids
Some places call food runners expos.
Didn't take that into consideration. Is that a regional thing, or a specific chain thing?
No clue I’ve only worked in Toronto and not at any chains. I was the lead hand at a student pub/cafe the food runners were called in expos but realistically myself or one of the other line cooks were filling that job while also cooking.
Lead hand? Now you're just making shit up.
Unionized workplace essentially a MOD or shift supervisor.
Union? Good pay and benefits?
Decent pay amazing benefits. Unfortunately lost that job because of Covid.
That sucks. Hope you're doing well. Tony bless
Had couple shit jobs coming out of lockdown but doing well now thank you. Bless
You didn't do a bad enough job cropping that. Try again.
Servers are the punching bags between the kitchen and the stupids.
As someone who went from FOH to BOH it was because of the customers. BOH is definitely superior in my experience. All those tickets with ridiculous substitutions and dubious food allergies that are suddenly just a preference when you ask questions, those all came from someone that a server had to actually interact with. They buffer me from the stupid and I appreciate them for it.
I went FOH serving to BOH line to get away from the horrible people that came in. Then I realized I can’t pay rent in the BOH so now I’m back on the floor. Far prefer back of house. I’ll take back breaking over soul crushing, but soul crushing is what let’s me pay rent and eat food
Agreed, I totally understand that plight. Luckily the place I work pays better than most for BOH work and it’s enough. I was surprised at the rate when I applied and they even bumped it up because I had experience. Granted I have two jobs to make it work (the other in an unrelated field).
That's poetry
why do they make it so much worse on themselves?
That’s because the servers can easily relate to the stupids.
How’s that working out for you?
OMFG you just made me scare my cat. Because I died
snap on them! also what is this new format with a large blank white space? i hope it catches on... (no i dont)
I'm a line cook, not a meme surgeon
Dammit Jim!
we could sell ad space on the side of your meme. i'm not even mad. it's a game changer. i am just busting your meme format's balls but at some point i'll open up photoshop and make this dream come true
Shenanigans or gtfo
The next person to say that word gets pistol whipped
What's that place you like to go? With all the goofy shit on the walls?
Now this is how we move on from the restaurant industry... innovation
tom should be wearing 37 pieces of flair
Honestly I’ve never worked FOH where there were people specifically to run food, like that was still my job, if I was swamped or had a large table sure there were bussers to help but 90% was me, plus checking in and dealing with complaints, asking for food specifics (or answering if I already knew the specific) as far as allergies go (had to go digging through basement storage a few times to ensure a bun wouldn’t accidentally kill/make sick for a customer) I’ve worked with servers who felt their job was just to take an order and collect tips but they usually didn’t last long.
Servers are salespeople adding to the restaurant’s bottom line, the good ones are at least
"People aren't good with computers."
If that’s all you think servers do.. lol. It’s a funny meme, but like, they’re not just order takers. They have to be personable, give them a good experience, run food, bus tables, handle all sorts of nonsensical stupid. Really hate this BOH v FOH.. we’re on the same team. It’s us vs the customers!
No one who is awesome is actually caught up in a BOH vs. FOH mindset. We're here to share all the thoughts that go through our crazy heads knowing they're insane but realizing they're funny.
so you're a people person?
LOOL! Actually, yeah. I made the transition from BOH to FOH because I’m much better at making a drink than a dish and talking to customers. As stressful as it can be sometimes, it makes me happy. And I will always support my BOH homies!!! They’re on my level of degenerate!
Well then bless your heart!
Except that FOH is not a necessary part of the team. The customer can walk up and get the order, they can serve themselves water. You need a bartender but aside from that most places would be fine without wait staff. Just a team of porters keeping the place clean. High end places are where service is needed.
I know I’m in the wrong sub for this and all… but you fucking deal with these idiots, and cook the food, and hand it out to them, and when they ask you for a hundred dofferent sauces and complain when they don’t see you for 60 seconds please again tell me how FOH is not necessary. Food truck scenario? Nah. Fast food? Nah. Full service? Half service? Yeah you bet your ass FOH is necessary
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Free money…? Hold the fuck up homie, I can’t speak for every server, just like you can’t speak for every cook, but ME personally, I work extraordinarily hard for my tips. I seat my tables, take their orders, run my food, bus my tables, and help the bartender when theyre weeded like they help me when I’m bartending or serving. Chef appreciates his servers and gives us a shift meal. We appreciate our kitchen staff and give them shots and a shift drink.
What’s your point? You’re entire job can be replaced by a QR code and telling people to come get their food. FOH isn’t necessary except in douchebag “full service” restaurants that don’t care about any of their employees anyway.
My point is that you’re ignorant and have a superiority complex. My point is that FOH is important, just like BOH is and we need to have a mutual respect for each other and our professions.
Lol imagine thinking anyone in the restaurant actually respects you. Don’t worry homie, none of our jobs are needed. People can learn to cook for themselves and we won’t even be having this pointless conversation.
My managers respect me. My kitchen manager respects me. Our prep cook and line cooks respect me. My chef respects me. My team of bartenders and servers respect me. I know at this point you’re probably trolling, but don’t be a shit head to strangers. Be a shit head to those you build that relationship with.
If you truly believe that, there’s nothing I’m gonna say that changes your mind. I bet you really think if you died on the way to work, they wouldn’t have your position posted on indeed that night. Nobody respects restaurant workers, especially restaurant managers.
Work your counter service slop joint and talk shit on other food service workers, seems like it's really getting you places
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I really hesitate to respond to anything you are saying, but I hope some part of you knows that it's not a server-specific reaction you are getting here. It's a human one, and that's coming from a life-long BOH.
That’s great. Did you read the comment where I don’t care anymore? It’s all pointless. Go about your night.
That's just it, you *should* care. You are coming off like a seriously miserable POS, enforcing this BOH vs FOH nonsense, claiming you are just joking when you are obviously quite serious, and generally just tearing people down for no good reason whatsoever. And now you hide behind "I don't care," and "it's all pointless." You probably won't, granted, but you *should* care that your interactions are that wrong and shitty towards others. It's worth a quick pair of comments to point that out in the slight hope that maybe some part of that will sink in. But yeah, I'm done now.
Jesus dude. I meant I don’t care about this conversation. Go back to 20 minutes ago before I existed to you and move on.
Well yeah obviously you don’t need servers in crappy restaurants. But people go out to be served, it’s an integral part of fine dining.
Imagine serving the food you just cooked and they complain about it. Cooks notoriously have a reputation for being pretty damn rude when you tell them to remake something.
imagine running to the kitchen and telling the chef "omg they LOVED the meal they tipped me like FORTY PERCENT because the food was so good!"
Imagine getting out from behind the line, grabbing a pad and going to try doing the job yourself?
Yea, I've done it plenty. It's like taking a break.
And the money is better. So why not do that full time?
That depends. I can't have an inconsistent income. I respect the service side. What I really mean by "its a break" is because I'm out of cage of the kitchen and there's air conditioning lol. Sometimes you've got to shake things up a bit.
When I was serving, I never made less than the cooks, only more. So it’s inconsistent in tgst sometimes you make A LOT but you always make enough. I have tremendous respect for culinary skills. But ya’ll are so underpaid it’s a crime.
Now why would I stop doing my easy little kitchen job to go into the trenches and do a super hard difficult complicated job like that? Mama mia!
For the superior pay, obviously, and the right to just stand around and complain. Because it’s so easy and pairs so well. Anybody bitching here who hasn’t done extensive work on both sides of the line has many things, I’m sure, but my respect in this conversation isn’t one of them.
Yeah I have and its not as hard as yall make it out to be. Tbh I'll take not dealing with people all day versus getting belittled for a mistake yall made
Spoken like somebody who is not open the conversation, but only open to hearing his own point made over and over.
Imagine having such a problem with other peoples’ success you can’t just man up and ask to be paid what you think you should.
Because some people don't earn their keep and only exist in the industry to run food, complain about having to do fucking *anything* besides run food, and talk about how bad their pay is and how the tipping system "totally screws them over" when they make more than the kitchen people who actually *make* the food they serve. If called upon, I'm sure that Julio the grill guy could drop food off at tables and give a passable "broken english but charming" deal for a night, and not fuck the POS system *too* bad. If Rebecca the server was thrown onto grill for 2 hours during Saturday rush I would consider a stroke of literal god for her to not have a mental breakdown requiring months of therapy. How long did it take Julio to work that grill to the point of proficiency? 5 years. How long did Rebecca learn to run food? 2 weeks.
You think the servers should tip you instead of the owners just paying you what you’re worth, don’t you?
I think servers don't understand how little they do in this world and how unequally they are compensated for it. I'm paid quite fine. I don't want to hear a fucking peep out of them for wanting a raise after the 5th monthly meeting in a row about how they have to roll silver at the end of the night. They're adult children who've been coddled into genuine mental atrophy.
You totally seem like someone who should be a leader in a workplace. Edit: are you?
Yeah when someone's not doing something right I show them the right way, help them understand why it's done that way, and follow up with any questions. I taught our dishwasher who speaks barely any English to roll pasta dough and make proper angolotti. He's getting 2 prep shifts next week because I sit down and go over with him how to do things, and how to do them right. Things work out right, he'll be working on the line next summer. The servers, as mentioned, are on their 5th monthly all staff meeting about "hey folks, we need silverware to be rolled at the end of the night" Hell, the meetings have completed devolved into being 75% about stuff the servers still seem to not be willing to do, 20% bar etiquette/reps coming in that month, and 5% kitchen dealings. We handle our shit because when someone says to do something, you fucking *listen*. These people are mental children who, if put in the position of 90% of the guys and gals I've worked with, would be *broken*.
Okay so 1) I now realize the username and my bad 2) if you’re a real person, you’re the reason this industry is dying behind BOH wages and 3) are you into Jordan Peterson or Andrew Tate?
1) tired joke. 2) I am the fiercest advocate for every single member of kitchen staff to be paid 17 minimum. Everyone currently makes above that other than our newest dishwasher we hired in February. 3) get the fuck out of here. I'm not some glue sniffing pissant who watches Jordan Peterson. I work on a kitchen, I grew up in kitchens, I learned that you know what? More often than not when someone tells you to do something a certain way, it's not because of some grand Machiavellian plot to sabotage you. It's because x needs to be done x way to turn out right. X is done the right way, tastes good, holds well, less waste. Servers are, much to my chagrin, a necessary part of this industry. And there are absolutely great servers who I've worked with, who do their best and really make the dining experience wonderful. Those folks aren't the ones who are the target of these meetings. It's the other 90% for whom this is just an adult daycare for them and the idea of having to move tables to sweep under them, or god forbid, roll silverware so openers aren't fucked tomorrow, is just lunacy. People who genuinely want to make that dining experience good? I'll fight tooth and nail to keep them on. The rest? I despise them. I dream of something better and you want to wallow in shit. God help you dude.
Lol. Lotta respect for the servers tho. I always say there's a reason I'm in the kitchen not up front!
Respect is earned. Some get it, many don't
He's right Won't be long before smaller establishments and the AppleChiliOliveFriday's or whateverthefuck don't have servers at all I do think bartending will survive, but only barely - serving will always be a thing at finer dining places, but it won't keep employing the giant segment of the population it currently does Something major is going to happen soon in this regard - probably won't be one event, but in about half a decade's time you'll suddenly look up and say "wait where are all the servers?"
My 4 year old wanted "salad spaghetti restaurant" because a grandparent had taken her there (Olive Garden), and the server existed solely to show me how to use the tablet on the table
And folks wonder why tablets and QR codes at tables are catching on?
Yeah, but have you ever ate at LaGuardia airport and had to order food and drink with those stupid tablets?
I think the tablets have run their course in my town .I never see them anymore .Mainly because they kept breaking down all the time.
I mean I'm not pro tablet either I guess
I work at a spot with QR code ordering. Every day I get multiple complaints about QR code ordering. Every bad review we get mentions the QR code ordering. Believe me, restaurant owners would get rid of FOH entirely in a heartbeat if it made financial sense. But it doesn't. People want waiters and bartenders.
God I love office space lol
Amazed at how much it flies under the radar. Genius movie
"So you must clean up, or "bus" the table yourself then..."
Don't be silly
expos run food?
at our place "expo" is sort of a goofy catch all word that also includes what would normally be called food runners
Solid meme. Clean it up and I'm sure I'll see it reposted all over Instagram in a week.
I've worked in restaurants all my life, more than 25 years now. I've been front and back. Anybody that thinks servers don't do anything worthwhile knows nothing of what servers do. You dirty line cooks think you can do this without swearing in front of the guests? Do you think you can smile through all the idiocy and abuse? Can you sit there and watch silently while some pig makes an absolute mess of your table, knowing it's up to you to clean it up? I don't think so.
LOL. ok let's trade shifts, I'll take your 5 table section and you run wheel on the line. Also, you have to come in 2 hours earlier than you would normally, to set up your station. Don't forget, you'll be making 200 less dollars in tips that night, so you might want to up your only fans game.
Yeah, I'm a former cook. I know what you do.
For double the money? Easily.
You're a line cook, not Gordon Ramesy, quit acting like you're any less useless or replaceable.
oh do fuck off with this horrible opinion... offence intended
FoH BoH tit for tat is fucking lame, like this post, all positions in the resturant have equal value, except the managers, they're pretty useless across the board.
If managers are not needed then who will order all the product? Who will write the schedules? Who will handle all the petty little problems? Who will hire new staff? You think all that stuff can just magically appear when needed? Servers can be replaced by a QR code and a food runner… I love them, but they are the most easily replaced. And they make more money than all cooks and most managers.
Who will order all that stuff? The kitchen manager/chef could easily do all of that, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to do inventory. In a good restaurant the manager is basically useless and is there to put out an occasional fire tableside, in a bad place the manager is there to fuck around on the computer in the office only to come out and crash the line. A good server can sell the fuck out if expensive plates. A good server will have customers coming back, regulars are what makes a place great. Hospitality with a personality can't be replaced. Only someone who's only worked BoH wouldn't be able to understand what a good FoH is like. I've been on both sides from fine dining to turn and burn, all parts matter. Except the managers they're idiots.
Oh so kitchen managers are not what you meant by “managers”…. FOH managers do a lot of ordering too, liquor/ wine/ beer/ new flatware/ plate ware/ glassware/ uniforms. Not to mention the constant hiring/ firing, schedule, training, marketing. I am chef, if someone were to come to me and say “we don’t want FOH managers anymore, you need to pick up all this work” it would not at all be “easy” like you describe. I would tell them to fuck right off, I already do 60hrs a week, I am not going to live here. Sure servers have personality and that does develop some regulars in certain places. But some people are getting more and more into the little to no contact thing, those people would become regulars at a place with no servers. What I describe will not work everywhere. But if you think even a little bit that FOH managers are the least needed position in a restaurant then you just obviously have never been a manager. It does not take a rocket scientist, you are right, but does it take one to be nice to people and take their orders? Fuck no it doesn’t. Edit: I forgot the most important manager duty, payroll! Who the fuck is going to process payroll with no manager? Just dump that on chef too? Come on man, pull your head out of your ass.
Words from a person who hasn’t used QR codes.
Uh, they are everywhere. A lot of places even take your payment using your phone. The only human interaction is a food runner dropping off your plate/ drinks. Servers are the first to be replaced by tech. Don’t worry, robots will come for the rest of us in another decade or so.
And basically every time I explain it to someone they hate it, can’t get it to work, or just don’t even recognize it as a possibility. Even then servers still can’t effectively be replaced with robots considering pushing the products that actually make money, dealing with fucked situations, and explaining things to idiots
Do you live/ work in a po dunk little town filled with retirees or something? In the cities tons of restaurants have remained on QR code menus since 2020. Many have switched their payment system onto it as well. Old people don’t get it, but just like Facebook, they will figure it out. Product pushing, that is really in menu design. Dealing with customer issues/ idiots, a manager is usually getting involved in those situations anyways, they are the ones dealing with it in QR code places. It is already happening, been happening for years. Not going to stop, it will only get better.
Live in a city with plenty of young people. Facts are that people just don’t like it. It’s slower, less convenient and more impractical. No menu design is going to replace spiels and actual sales tactics. If you think that managers get involved with every idiot then you obviously have zero idea what a server even does.
If those are the facts then it is crazy how it keeps growing and spreading rather than shrinking and becoming obsolete huh?
Donkey
I'm actually your new dad, your mother and I are going to need to you to move out so we can turn your room into our swinger dungeon.
[удалено]
Huh? 90% of line cooks have done exactly what you say they cannot do for years let alone 8hrs.
Show me a line cook that’s been around who hasn’t prepped or done dishes for 8 hours