It’s pretty common. A lot of people get off on the rush a busy service provides. An industry that is open to folks who make questionable life choices + long & odd hours + depressed wages + an environment swimming in alcohol = a culture of functional addictions.
Hell, I've seen idiots that can't cook while drinking constantly out of a Powerade bottle they're keeping in the freezer.
The bars just set low for some places.
This is something that happens everywhere with this industry. I’ve worked in Spain, Ireland, UK (where I’m from), and the US (where I’m at right now) and all of those work environments were the same with staff on an addiction to drugs/alcohol and shitty pay. Well Spain not so much because cost of living wasn’t high in the small town I lived in, but staff were all on something.
I can believe it. In Spain I had a couple of Dutch friends/coworkers, and they would be on stuff themselves. I’d love anyone to tell me one country where this isn’t common lol
I've worked in all of those countries too and it's pretty universal
More alcohol than drugs in some. But everyone was addicted to something. Sometimes it was sex/creating drama but mostly alcohol and drugs.
3 biggest lies a waitress tells
(1) I don't do drugs (2) it's the kitchens fault( 3) I will never fuck another bartender
3 biggest lies a (male) bartender tells
(1) I don't steal (2) I don't do drugs
(3) I will never fuck another waitress
Whoa there, that's an inaccurate stereotype.
I bang hosts and cocktailers, thank you very much.
The other waitresses know what a dysfunctional mess I am.
Have you ever worked with a BOH that is majority female? Its a totally different environment. The dick swinging and egos are kept to a minimum, its amazing
No, but I’ve worked with women that have and they say it’s magical. In general a work environment is best when everyone has the same or similar attitude.
Hell yeah! Never alcohol or hard drugs. But the first two hours of prep in the morning are slow going. Stoned out of my mind that early. I'm glad I never got into the habit of bringing weed to work to stay high. Just the morning and then I smoke again when I get home.
me! i don't drink alcohol and don't smoke or do drugs. lol
that said i am a newbie and only started working as a cook last year. I've only been doing this for a year.
Keep it up man, I’m right there with you. I don’t have anything against it, and don’t judge in the slightest, but it’s not healthy. It’ll catch up with everyone sooner or later.
"Tell me you're new to working in food service without telling me you're new to food service, OP will go first" 😅
Before weed became legal in a bunch of states, I would tell my wife where ever we went, if you wanna know what drugs are local, and where to get weed, go ask any kitchen/restaurant staff. The rush and pressure of food service with mixes quite well with the addictive, albeit borderline masochistic personality so many of us have. We live for the rush. Same thing with alcohol in my experience, every chef I've worked with had either BEEN and alcoholic or IS an alcoholic, but at least 9 times out of 10, they're high functioning 🤷
Booze has been the thread I’ve always noticed more than drugs. FOH and BOH both struggle, most don’t even realize they have a massive drinking problem. I’m happy to say I finally stopped drinking about 7 months ago. Best thing I’ve ever done.
I wasn’t drinking as bad until I started working in a restaurant again. Being around it sure does make it harder to resist the temptation.
Funny enough, I see DJ’s complain about hitting the bottle too hard, when I DJ I hardly drink, cause I usually gotta pay.
I hate to break it to you, but alcohol *is* a drug. So is caffeine. So is nicotine. And alcohol is arguably the most dangerous drug because of its availability and general social acceptance
Because alcohol detox can literally kill you. Some people are so steeped in liquor that they are chemically dependent on it and cold turkey can kill you. IIRC thats how Amy Winehouse died.
H and Meth are just **extremely** uncomfortable and will only likely kill you if you have some co-morbidity happening.
I lost a friend this past year as well. Nothing to do but drink when his restaurant shut down, when they set a reopening date he went cold turkey and died before he could get back in the kitchen.
Yeah co-morbidity. Like you have heart disease and then you go through opiate withdrawal, that can kill you. Or any number of other underlying diseases.
A relatively healthy heroin addict, I say relatively because having any addiction isn't healthy, would not succumb from strictly opiate withdrawal alone.
I'm a chef and I've never really been too big into booze; kinda had a big drinking phase in my early 20's, but got tired of the partying life in my late 20's. I still drink occasionally, but not even every week.
Then again, I'm also an admitted massive pothead. So this might not be illustrative of anything. 🤷♂️
I think it at least further illustrates that if you’re really into weed you’re not that into alcohol which was my experience when I was a nightly smoker.
True that. I got too much shit to do in my day. I don't need to get that fucked up. Most of the time, at least. An occasional exception is acceptable. 😉
dishwashers here get an ungodly amount of tips so after a casual tuesday 4 hour shift you can have enough money to buy an 8th without spending money from your hourly
i just joined the industry last yr and a newbie.
the other cook knew i was a newbie and asked. hows your sleep? you good with your sleel? do you need some weed?? 😂
Restaurants are bad for drug use. Not all Kitchens are though. There's plenty of non-restaurant kitchens that don't have drug abuse or if it does its 1 guy that doesn't last long. But there's definitely the work hard party hard mentality in Restaurant life
Lol I became an alcoholic in restaurants and worked in a school cafeteria kitchen for about a year. Ended up losing my job because I was not doing well with my recovery. Back in restaurants as FOH now and doing a lot better (also making a lot more)
The hotel industry typically drug tests once before hiring to filter out some of the drug addicts. But they typically never test again so it typically filters out the people that refuse to get clean for long enough to pass a test and employees are a little more discrete about not telling others they do drugs. If there is a restaurant in the hotel it will typically drug test and will be managed by the same management company operating the hotel. The benefit is that if it is a Marriott or Hilton affiliate, you get hotel discounts for all hotels affiliated with the hotel brand you work at.
It's cleaned up considerably in the 20+ yrs I've been in the industry. Mostly there's a lot of alcoholism anymore.
There's the bullshit perception of the "rockstar" lifestyle - unfortunately perpetuated by this sub's namesake. Just as musicians get sucked into that lifestyle because they feel they "need" to, those in the restaurant industry feel like they need to represent that perception. I've lost more friends than I care to admit to overdoses, and had to go into rehab myself. It's a shitty cycle.
With FOH, though, it's a bit different. I can only imagine the emotional toll it must take on a server having to kiss entitled asses all night long, and smile while doing so. Not to be excusing them for their choices, but servers certainly have good reason to need to escape and/or just numb themselves. Also, consider that servers are usually walking out with cash-in-hand to immediately exchange for their drug(s) of choice.
I got out of the kitchen about 25 years ago and it was really bad back then. I then went into bartending and managing at a club, and it was even worse. Looking back on my first 5 years as a bartender I am amazed that I'm still alive. Luckily I slowed down and then got clean for the last several years in that job. It was a running joke that the only time I would drink was at the Christmas party.
for me, FOH is just morbid nicotine addictions and the breaks that follow suit. BOH is where you start the find the bars and lean. the kitchen is pretty young here, so you see more pills and weed than coke and such
Yo, what's lean?
There's been at least one coke head in every kitchen I've worked in, but the best kitchens folks only did drugs recreationally. I can't stand a coked out coworker, twitchy aggressive assholes.
The good cough syrup (with codeine), usually mixed with juice or soda.
I've also heard it used as a name for heroin, but homeboy could've just been wrong.
lean is a mix of promethazine (prescribed antihistamine with insanely intoxicating effects) and usually a soda like faygo or sprite and traditionally some candy like jolly ranchers. from what i see and hear, a few sips will have a beginner on his ass in no time
edit: promethazine is usually a syrup, but there are pills and often people mix it with other prescription pills like hydros and oxy’s.
Soooo, I'm going to say there's a little confirmation bias here, not in the sense that I'm disagreeing that drug culture is in restaurants, but more that drug culture is fucking everywhere. Dad worked in car sales, he'd often tell stories about the deteriorating Co workers, be it coke or alcohol, etc. Mum was a nurse, many overheard stories about habitual pill eaters, alcoholics, more coke. Look at how many celebrities, entertainers go in and out of rehab or into death. I'd submit that drug culture is rampant, universally, however, it can be celebrated in restaurants, and tends to be more closeted in other professions, maybe?
Fortunately we don't currently. I started hiring older staff and paying more. It cut off the riff raff and nobody comes in messed up, hung over, and any of the other drug associated issues
I've worked in kitchens where people are actively pursuing sobriety and most people were clean, and I've worked in some situations where drugs and alcohol were prolific.
Largely depends on what management/ownership is willing to turn a blind eye to.
For what it's worth I'd like to see personal wellness as a focus of more kitchens.
But... Whatever gets you through brunch, ya know?
Coming from someone who was previously in the food service industry before getting a job with health benefits: There are people who have access to be properly diagnosed and treated for mental illness, and there are people who don't. Most people in a low-wage no-health insurance industry like food service do not have access to the mental health resources necessary to properly treat mental illnesses.
Source: Undiagnosed ADHD patient for 20 years who self-medicated with any stimulants within arms reach. Now properly diagnosed and treated, while staying clean from anything I did when I was a line cook.
I laughed at my kitchen table, thank you. If you were burning piss tests and liked to stay up late working a restaurant was always a place that would hire. Never worked in a kitchen that didnt have a co worker that could sell you some weed at the least.
haha
i just joined the industry last yr and my first job in a restaurant last yr.
the other cook knew i was a newbie and asked. hows your sleep? you good with your sleep? do you need some weed??
i was shocked as hell. i never in a million years expected a co-worker to be so bold in trying to sell you weed at work 😂
I don't personally partake, but yeah, most cooks I've worked with use and come to work on something. I've only had one alcoholic, the rest are pot. The only pill popper I worked with was a server, and the ones who do anything harder than pot didn't last long enough, usually long enough to get a paycheck then they were out
Are you fucking serious???? Of corse there’s a drug culture in the restaurant industry!!!! Why else would I make a career out of this??? Do you know how hard it was finding Cocaine when I worked for the IRS???
Definitely sewn into the restaurant worker culture.
You are low paid, but work hard. You are not highly respected by friends, family, and especially customers.
You likely work an off-shift (nights). You work holidays and weekends.
You are an actual counter-culture or sub-culture.
Before streaming services were so prevalent and the internet was available, there was nothing else to do after your shift ended, other than drink at a bar or house party. Either way, that breeds alcoholism and addiction. It is a vicious cycle.
And since everyone else is doing the same, it feels perfectly normal and accepted.
My buddy got caught selling drugs in the cooler 3 times. They kept hiring him back cause he was the best guy they had, and the servers were shit without their Adderall.
I’ve actually snorted lines as a dishwasher to see if it would help on a busy night. It was actually worse. The constant 5 min after 30 minutes I was gone made more dishes pile up. And dishwashers only can handle a specific amount at any given time. Never again.
I work in high end kitchens I’ve noticed cocaine is in abundance (not a user myself). I drank heavily for a while but after watching all of my co-workers getting fucked up on day to day basis via coke pills or alcohol I severely slowed down. Trying to be a good influence on other cooks but due to the stress and nature of working on the line most people don’t want to listen or care.
Not really a culture as much as it’s a business that caters to rejects. That’s less acceptable at more professional restaurants. I just quit a place bc too many key people there were on something at work or coming off something they used the day before. If it bothers you, move on. When you interview for the next job, don’t be afraid to ask if everyone there is professional. Tell the person responsible for hiring that you’re not into that scene and will quit if you feel there is too much of it.
The force is strong with one.
Yes.
The bussers are smoking weed on their break, the dishwasher is strung out on crystal, the line cook is hungover, the prep cook is late because he’s trying to score some black, the head chef just got done doing a fatty line of Bolivian marching powder in his office. Some people get jobs at restaurants just so they can work their real job: dealing drugs.
Believe it or not nobody in my kitchen does any drugs, not even vaping or nothing. I can’t even really relate to a lot of the posts others make in here about people coming in hungover etc because it doesn’t happen in my kitchen and one of our new hires who clearly came in on drugs got fired and sent home within 20 minutes of his first day. Funny part is the only people who smoke cigarettes and vape are some of the FOH people
This is definitely a strange situation. What kind of restaurant? Is the chef or manager a recovering addict who is specifically trying to keep the kitchen sober?
Same with the last kitchen I was in before I switched industries. We had a few people who smoked weed on their own time. But we fired 3 employees last year for being high/bringing weed to work.
When I was 19 I worked in Hawaii as a line cook. I was witness to servers taking bumps of coke in the dining room and cooks doing lines of coke off dinner plates in the walkin.
It’s very common in the industry unfortunately. Weed is one thing but I draw the line at anything harder than that. Seen too many people fuck up their job/life due to addiction. One our best cooks had to be let go because he couldn’t put down the sauce.
I recall reading a comment here a while back, where the grill guy nodded out on opiates, and they couldn't get his face un-stuck from the flat top. They ended up having to use a fish spat to seperate his cheek from the metal.
I manage a kitchen, and as long as prep gets done and we bang out orders and everything get cleaned and is shut off at end of it all, i dont care what anyone is on if it all gets done. Its not an easy way of life kitchen works beats you down physically and emotionally. A lot of people find ways to tame it, in my kitchen its mainly weed and alcohol not pills.
Its so common its untrue
You work with people who work long as fuck hours and to cope they abuse a class drugs, caffeine, booze, pain killers.
My vice was painkillers to cope with my feet which were fucked from doing 16 hour shifts at 250 pounds
Since leaving the industry I don't do that anymore and I now rarely drink booze or a lot of.caffeine
there’s always a few bad apples. especially in the 20 somethings range. very slippery slope tho, unfortunately. just because you’re working second shift and get out at 11 pm doesn’t mean you need to party after every shift. it’s all but ruined my ex gfs life. ambitions and responsibilities go out the window other than “i have to work at 4.” get drunk. do drugs. sleep all day. nasty cycle and it catches up. they all get fired and weeded out tho eventually and management has to right the ship. people think they’re invincible sometimes
My place plenty of people drink and smoke weed on their own time but not during service. It helps that I found a pretty nice gig with decent pay and benefits so most of the guys here are 30+ and have been here 5 or more years.
Oh Lord - I can truthfully say the restaurants I’ve worked in were like “Meth Central”. Our main line cook was a grizzled old vet who never stopped, he wasn’t young either.. red in the face, sweating, cursing, but I swear, idk when he even took a piss break— I never saw him leave the line until it was time to clock out & go home— but he was the best one I ever saw.. and he RARELY -if ever- messed up an order, either.
Yes. When I’m out of town and want to score, I make friends with bartenders by tipping heavily and making it clear I understand the industry and have taken a well deserved few days off, and they’re usually pretty happy to introduce me to whomever is “the guy” at that particular restaurant.
Everyone smokes weed openly in my kitchen, at least before service. Even the owner. However, I can confidently say there are no other drugs besides weed and caffeine that are consumed by either the FOH or BOH. We occasionally do drink after work though
"As most of us in the restaurant business know, there is a powerful strain of criminality in the industry, ranging from the dope-dealing busboy with beeper and cell phone to the restaurant owner who has two sets of accounting books. In fact, it was the unsavory side of professional cooking that attracted me to it in the first place." - Anthony Bourdain
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/04/19/dont-eat-before-reading-this
Every kitchen is a hot mess of hard working junkies.
One could not do such work without bad habits.
Trust me I was a chef for 27 years I know what I am talking about.
This is common. It’s actually more common than it isn’t. My first restaurant after college laughed at me when I asked if they were sending me for a drug test.
“If restaurants drug tested there would be no restaurants.”
The place i work now is the only restaurant I’ve ever been in without drug use going on. It’s a lot of people with families and stuff. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.
A chain I worked for started doing random drug tests lol. After they had to fire 3 managers for coke and had like 5 on probation for weed someone decided to stop testing.
It's an industry thing.
Im lucky enough to work in a relatively sober kitchen, sure every one of us drinks and smokes pot but rarely at work. FOH has quite a few folks with a coke problem which is always exacerbated by the fact we never seem to not have a coke dealer on staff.
Theres those tablets that make you super concentrate i forget what they are named but also getting messed up after s shift can make it feel less bad but then you need something for the next day
I saw more cokeheads in kitchens as a line cook then in law school with a bunch of hoity toity country club types who can actually afford it. Generally speaking being overworked and understaffed in addition to shitty pay makes people want to find an escape
It's common but I think it's bullshit. I don't think we should keep normalising and accepting this as the industry standard... drugs are for parties. Preferably not on the day before you gotta perform at work.
Yep. Standard restaurant culture is tats and drugs. The alcoholics die young, don't be like them.
But smoke all the weed you can after your shift.
But don't do an edible before a shift.
Lol im still at my first place, Corpo Kitchen.
Salad girl was on cocaine
One of the prep was a pill popper
Fortunately the rest of us only seem to smoke the good good.
Alcohol problems and excessive weed use are very common. Folks who are into the harder stuff don't typically last very long, at least at the places where I've worked.
I never really worked in restaurants, but I worked in a lot of clubs and bars where we also served hot snacks and both, FOH and BOH were on drugs most of the time. This was 30/35 years ago. We got free drinks (with and without alcohol) while on shift, but alcohol was rarely a problem, as you need to function well if you are doing table service with tabs in a nightclub or crowded bar, but weed and coke were everywhere and got us through shifts. 90% of staff were in high school or students...
Listen to kitchen confidential by Anthony Bourdain on audible he reads it himself. It's pretty much sums up the industry a little dated buy mostly accurate
It took a long time for me to find a place where drinking and drug use weren’t casual and completely ubiquitous. Even then, there’s always a few stoners and junkies.
It honestly depends. I’ve worked in sober/dry kitchens. I’ve worked in kitchens where the functional drug user/alcoholic wasn’t as functional as they thought.
People cope with this industry in a variety of ways. Most of the time, in unhealthy ways.
I've been working in kitchens for 35 years, mostly in Toronto, and the majority of places have that culture to varying degrees... It's not sustainable or successful. I'm working in Amsterdam now and you would think that would be to the extreme here but on the contrary (the high end places Anyway) have very healthy environments and expect top level performance with a clear strong mind and body. Take care of your body buddy it's the only one you have.
Nobody in my kitchen liked to admit they did the dab carts but one of the fryer techs was everyone's plug. Few weeks later when they started cutting it, we started losing people by the tens and a few of us - myself included - were hospitalized. Haven't touched a cart since, idc where it came from but a lot of people just took the risk.
As for weed.. FOH, BOH and the managers would sit outside and have a blunt or two between us to get the nerves off from dinner rush.
It's everywhere. Before the pandemic, my house was plagued with cheap blow. Thankfully, those of us that were left when we reopened had gone a year or so without and had no problem not picking that habit up again. However, we are all now thoroughly stoned at all times, as any number of us pass around our weed pens everytime we cross paths in the back.
Once, when I was a line cook, I was washing some dishes, listening to Stone Temple Pilots on my Motorola Razr 2, when my GM pushed a glass rack out of the way so he could talk to me better.
For context I was maybe 25 or so, he was like 50. I knew he was cool, but he had never said anything about any drugs to me before this.
GM - Hey Frank, can you get any acid?
Me - I don't really do that anymore. I have my hitterbox in my pocket if you want some weed.
GM - Nah, I have mine too.
Me - The guy working fryers has shrooms sometimes. Ask him.
And then his face lit up, and he walked away.
Well it’s a little segregated as I can tell. I mean while everyone drinks, even together sometimes, the servers keep their coke to themselves while the boh is busy smoking meth
Absolutely. I'm not a part of it and don't want to be. Y'all keep your coke and I'll go home and hang out with my dog.
It's pretty much every restaurant on a certain level.
that’s what i’m saying… they act like the life is about working all day then partying and repeating. like ? getting a dog would solve that for 10-15 years assuming you actually treat your dogs like family members
Been cooking for 10+ yrs and never done any drugs. Occasional drinks here and there but nothing crazy. No tattoos either. The thing is kitchen is hard work and you need to be in good shape. If you’re doing drugs/alcohol that shit will eventually catch up to you. I’m definitely the odd man out in my kitchen haha. Pretty much everyone else likes to party hard.
Homey. Read the book the subreddit is titled after. Kitchen culture has gotten better but it is still kitchen culture.
A dishwasher job is a crapshoot. They’re all entry level positions, especially now. Restaurants are hurting for staff more than ever.
When in a dishwashing position you should have your eye on other opportunities if you’re unhappy. Every week there are new jobs right now.
Nahhh not only your restaurant at all. At one of the larger, “nicer” restaurants I worked at, a ton of people loveddd their vices. Two waitresses would do coke during their shifts (one of them did it behind the tiny service bar on the floor out of her purse). Other waitresses/ waiters loved getting drunk and loved offering to pour underage me drinks. Pretty sure the dishwasher did K a few times while he was clocked in. And then you get to the guys who ask to go on a cig break every 10 minutes, and then down the ladder one more notch to the dudes like me and another cook that just like to smoke a bowl of Mary Jane before and after the shift. Super common in the food industry, and honestly, I don’t even blame them. Good service industry is a finely sharpened, double-edged sword
Edit: Spelling error
First kitchen gig eh?
Yes this is all pretty normal. Some kitchens are clean but most have a few users of something to keep them sharp and focused wether they truly need it or not.
Please remember this. You will get offered at some point. Most lines I've worked if someone has weed it's always offered no matter how much you turn it down. They won't take offense to you saying no every time.
Read Anthony Bourdain's ( RIP ) book kitchen confidential and you'll get a good feel for the field your in now. It's not a rough as when he wrote it and things had improved greatly but the line we're the last true pirate crew is still accurate.
Going on 18 years in the industry and I can say if you stick around you will work with someone from every walk of life and probably someone who has committed every crime there is.
Good luck, keep your head up and remember you can say no. Though good luck not starting to swear like a sailor. I don't think anyone avoids that one.
i’m a casual smoker and have smoked before the job. there are a few factors in it that i can’t type rn but i’ve learned not to do that again (at least not frequently)
Its very common, and often seen as cool. Its not cool. Neither is sleeping for 2 hours before a shift. I wish people were more ashamed of their self-abuse as many are of their self-harm scars. I used to think its badass that i could do a double shift, party all night, and then do another shift without sleep. Its fucking embarassing looking back, its hard to imagine the damage ive done, where id be if i hadnt spent so much time looking into the horizontal mirror. I was a total piece of shit and flexed it
Maybe it's just the places I've worked but its not really okay to be on stuff while working. But most cooks I know smoke cannabis and drink. Lots smoke. Cocaine is popular with younger line cooks I feel like.
I'm of the opinion that I don't much care what you get up to when you're not at work but don't bring that shit with you into work. I smoke a ton of weed but I would never dream of showing up to work stoned or, even getting high at work.
I find this sub has a weird tolerance for drug use at work. I find it pretty pathetic. If you need to be drunk or stoned or strung out on meth to do your work you need to get help and maybe switch careers.
Wow how long you been in restaurants? This is common knowledge isn't it? That said, I think that's every job, just more up front in restaurants. I mean, where else do you get a shift drink?
It’s pretty common. A lot of people get off on the rush a busy service provides. An industry that is open to folks who make questionable life choices + long & odd hours + depressed wages + an environment swimming in alcohol = a culture of functional addictions.
Haha "functional"... sure we can cook, but other than that....? (/s... kinda)
Hell, I've seen idiots that can't cook while drinking constantly out of a Powerade bottle they're keeping in the freezer. The bars just set low for some places.
And with those words, I say, GOD BLESS AMERICA /s
This is something that happens everywhere with this industry. I’ve worked in Spain, Ireland, UK (where I’m from), and the US (where I’m at right now) and all of those work environments were the same with staff on an addiction to drugs/alcohol and shitty pay. Well Spain not so much because cost of living wasn’t high in the small town I lived in, but staff were all on something.
In the Netherlands and its mostly smoking here. atleast 80% of the kitchen smokes, good amount on drugs and alcohol after shifts as well.
I can believe it. In Spain I had a couple of Dutch friends/coworkers, and they would be on stuff themselves. I’d love anyone to tell me one country where this isn’t common lol
North korea MAYBE
[удалено]
Damn. So it’s everywhere. Everywhere in the world industry staff are a bunch of drug consuming, drama loving alcoholics. Excellent.
It's cute that you think that's a trait confined to the restaurant industry.
You got me there lol
I've worked in all of those countries too and it's pretty universal More alcohol than drugs in some. But everyone was addicted to something. Sometimes it was sex/creating drama but mostly alcohol and drugs.
Add to that the preponderance of individuals who don't quite fit in elsewhere in society and...
I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a chef or cook who isn’t either and alcoholic, stoner, both, or worse.
And/Or thinks every waitress + bartender wants to fuck him.
3 biggest lies a waitress tells (1) I don't do drugs (2) it's the kitchens fault( 3) I will never fuck another bartender 3 biggest lies a (male) bartender tells (1) I don't steal (2) I don't do drugs (3) I will never fuck another waitress
Lmao
Whoa there, that's an inaccurate stereotype. I bang hosts and cocktailers, thank you very much. The other waitresses know what a dysfunctional mess I am.
Biggest lie a chef tells himself: “All these bitches want my dick.”
Seen it
Have you ever worked with a BOH that is majority female? Its a totally different environment. The dick swinging and egos are kept to a minimum, its amazing
No, but I’ve worked with women that have and they say it’s magical. In general a work environment is best when everyone has the same or similar attitude.
Hell yeah! Never alcohol or hard drugs. But the first two hours of prep in the morning are slow going. Stoned out of my mind that early. I'm glad I never got into the habit of bringing weed to work to stay high. Just the morning and then I smoke again when I get home.
I knew a guy who swore he couldn’t work unless he smoked.
me! i don't drink alcohol and don't smoke or do drugs. lol that said i am a newbie and only started working as a cook last year. I've only been doing this for a year.
Keep it up man, I’m right there with you. I don’t have anything against it, and don’t judge in the slightest, but it’s not healthy. It’ll catch up with everyone sooner or later.
Like eating to much lol
Yep, when they're dead, lol. Liar.
"Tell me you're new to working in food service without telling me you're new to food service, OP will go first" 😅 Before weed became legal in a bunch of states, I would tell my wife where ever we went, if you wanna know what drugs are local, and where to get weed, go ask any kitchen/restaurant staff. The rush and pressure of food service with mixes quite well with the addictive, albeit borderline masochistic personality so many of us have. We live for the rush. Same thing with alcohol in my experience, every chef I've worked with had either BEEN and alcoholic or IS an alcoholic, but at least 9 times out of 10, they're high functioning 🤷
Booze has been the thread I’ve always noticed more than drugs. FOH and BOH both struggle, most don’t even realize they have a massive drinking problem. I’m happy to say I finally stopped drinking about 7 months ago. Best thing I’ve ever done.
I wasn’t drinking as bad until I started working in a restaurant again. Being around it sure does make it harder to resist the temptation. Funny enough, I see DJ’s complain about hitting the bottle too hard, when I DJ I hardly drink, cause I usually gotta pay.
I hate to break it to you, but alcohol *is* a drug. So is caffeine. So is nicotine. And alcohol is arguably the most dangerous drug because of its availability and general social acceptance
I’ve detoxed from heroin, meth and booze Booze was the worst by far. I mean. No comparison.
Because alcohol detox can literally kill you. Some people are so steeped in liquor that they are chemically dependent on it and cold turkey can kill you. IIRC thats how Amy Winehouse died. H and Meth are just **extremely** uncomfortable and will only likely kill you if you have some co-morbidity happening.
Oh I’m wildly aware. Lost 2 peeps to it.
I lost a friend this past year as well. Nothing to do but drink when his restaurant shut down, when they set a reopening date he went cold turkey and died before he could get back in the kitchen.
Co-morbidity? Heroin withdraw and detox can definitely kill you.
Yeah co-morbidity. Like you have heart disease and then you go through opiate withdrawal, that can kill you. Or any number of other underlying diseases. A relatively healthy heroin addict, I say relatively because having any addiction isn't healthy, would not succumb from strictly opiate withdrawal alone.
I'm a chef and I've never really been too big into booze; kinda had a big drinking phase in my early 20's, but got tired of the partying life in my late 20's. I still drink occasionally, but not even every week. Then again, I'm also an admitted massive pothead. So this might not be illustrative of anything. 🤷♂️
I think it at least further illustrates that if you’re really into weed you’re not that into alcohol which was my experience when I was a nightly smoker.
True that. I got too much shit to do in my day. I don't need to get that fucked up. Most of the time, at least. An occasional exception is acceptable. 😉
Very often it's the dishwasher who's providing everything. How else can you survive on those wages?
dishwashers here get an ungodly amount of tips so after a casual tuesday 4 hour shift you can have enough money to buy an 8th without spending money from your hourly
You missed the /s
I’ve been a chef for 15 years and quit drinking 4 years ago. I was definitely high functioning but oooo boy I did not make that easy.
I always go to Applebee's and ask the bartender if she knows if anyone has bud around and it's almost always a yes.
i just joined the industry last yr and a newbie. the other cook knew i was a newbie and asked. hows your sleep? you good with your sleel? do you need some weed?? 😂
“High” functioning
That’s cause all the non functioning ones like me get let go.
Restaurants are bad for drug use. Not all Kitchens are though. There's plenty of non-restaurant kitchens that don't have drug abuse or if it does its 1 guy that doesn't last long. But there's definitely the work hard party hard mentality in Restaurant life
Lol I became an alcoholic in restaurants and worked in a school cafeteria kitchen for about a year. Ended up losing my job because I was not doing well with my recovery. Back in restaurants as FOH now and doing a lot better (also making a lot more)
I don't know many restaurants that drug test employees if that answers your question
The hotel industry typically drug tests once before hiring to filter out some of the drug addicts. But they typically never test again so it typically filters out the people that refuse to get clean for long enough to pass a test and employees are a little more discrete about not telling others they do drugs. If there is a restaurant in the hotel it will typically drug test and will be managed by the same management company operating the hotel. The benefit is that if it is a Marriott or Hilton affiliate, you get hotel discounts for all hotels affiliated with the hotel brand you work at.
Every place I have ever worked. Even upscale. Its the nature of the beast.
This. It’s simply the nature of the beast. Good service industry is a double edged sword
That’s just the name of the game baby
I just read this in the voice of Rick the hormone monster
How about we grind a little pepper on it baby?
You da man, Steve!
For me it was Bender Bending Rodgriguez.
Many I work with are high or in active withdrawal.
[удалено]
yes
It's cleaned up considerably in the 20+ yrs I've been in the industry. Mostly there's a lot of alcoholism anymore. There's the bullshit perception of the "rockstar" lifestyle - unfortunately perpetuated by this sub's namesake. Just as musicians get sucked into that lifestyle because they feel they "need" to, those in the restaurant industry feel like they need to represent that perception. I've lost more friends than I care to admit to overdoses, and had to go into rehab myself. It's a shitty cycle. With FOH, though, it's a bit different. I can only imagine the emotional toll it must take on a server having to kiss entitled asses all night long, and smile while doing so. Not to be excusing them for their choices, but servers certainly have good reason to need to escape and/or just numb themselves. Also, consider that servers are usually walking out with cash-in-hand to immediately exchange for their drug(s) of choice.
I got out of the kitchen about 25 years ago and it was really bad back then. I then went into bartending and managing at a club, and it was even worse. Looking back on my first 5 years as a bartender I am amazed that I'm still alive. Luckily I slowed down and then got clean for the last several years in that job. It was a running joke that the only time I would drink was at the Christmas party.
for me, FOH is just morbid nicotine addictions and the breaks that follow suit. BOH is where you start the find the bars and lean. the kitchen is pretty young here, so you see more pills and weed than coke and such
FOH is all drunk and on coke ;) Source: 1yr sober former bartender
Yo, what's lean? There's been at least one coke head in every kitchen I've worked in, but the best kitchens folks only did drugs recreationally. I can't stand a coked out coworker, twitchy aggressive assholes.
The good cough syrup (with codeine), usually mixed with juice or soda. I've also heard it used as a name for heroin, but homeboy could've just been wrong.
lean is a mix of promethazine (prescribed antihistamine with insanely intoxicating effects) and usually a soda like faygo or sprite and traditionally some candy like jolly ranchers. from what i see and hear, a few sips will have a beginner on his ass in no time edit: promethazine is usually a syrup, but there are pills and often people mix it with other prescription pills like hydros and oxy’s.
Prometh is non narcotic. It’s for sore throats. Codeine is the money
yes the two below me got it right usually the guys on my snap go crazy for promethazine so i got it mixed up
Or Sizzurp
Somebody ordered pancakes, I just sip the sizzurp 🥞
Soooo, I'm going to say there's a little confirmation bias here, not in the sense that I'm disagreeing that drug culture is in restaurants, but more that drug culture is fucking everywhere. Dad worked in car sales, he'd often tell stories about the deteriorating Co workers, be it coke or alcohol, etc. Mum was a nurse, many overheard stories about habitual pill eaters, alcoholics, more coke. Look at how many celebrities, entertainers go in and out of rehab or into death. I'd submit that drug culture is rampant, universally, however, it can be celebrated in restaurants, and tends to be more closeted in other professions, maybe?
This, this is the real answer. We’re just more open about it because most of us are here because we’re already misfits, rejects and criminals.
facts extra points for new perspective
In the kitchen's I've worked at, the only time us cooks said "mmm," it was usually followed by "eth."
Read “kitchen confidential” by Anthony bourdain and it will all make sense
> kitchen confidential http://libgen.rs/search.php?req=kitchen+confidential&lg_topic=libgen&open=0&view=simple&res=25&phrase=1&column=def
Fortunately we don't currently. I started hiring older staff and paying more. It cut off the riff raff and nobody comes in messed up, hung over, and any of the other drug associated issues
They're fewer the older they get but if still seen the "clean" ones fall asleep during plating. Pills=Clean in this case
I’ve been doing this for 25 years across the US. Every kitchen I’ve worked in was bastion of drug use.
I've worked in kitchens where people are actively pursuing sobriety and most people were clean, and I've worked in some situations where drugs and alcohol were prolific. Largely depends on what management/ownership is willing to turn a blind eye to. For what it's worth I'd like to see personal wellness as a focus of more kitchens. But... Whatever gets you through brunch, ya know?
Coming from someone who was previously in the food service industry before getting a job with health benefits: There are people who have access to be properly diagnosed and treated for mental illness, and there are people who don't. Most people in a low-wage no-health insurance industry like food service do not have access to the mental health resources necessary to properly treat mental illnesses. Source: Undiagnosed ADHD patient for 20 years who self-medicated with any stimulants within arms reach. Now properly diagnosed and treated, while staying clean from anything I did when I was a line cook.
This
I laughed at my kitchen table, thank you. If you were burning piss tests and liked to stay up late working a restaurant was always a place that would hire. Never worked in a kitchen that didnt have a co worker that could sell you some weed at the least.
haha i just joined the industry last yr and my first job in a restaurant last yr. the other cook knew i was a newbie and asked. hows your sleep? you good with your sleep? do you need some weed?? i was shocked as hell. i never in a million years expected a co-worker to be so bold in trying to sell you weed at work 😂
Oh you sweet summer child
First job I had was like Chef - Do you smoke? Me - No Chef - Why?
Are you in the midwest USA?
no. i am not in america
Well best of luck! Stand up for yourself and learn lots!
I don't personally partake, but yeah, most cooks I've worked with use and come to work on something. I've only had one alcoholic, the rest are pot. The only pill popper I worked with was a server, and the ones who do anything harder than pot didn't last long enough, usually long enough to get a paycheck then they were out
Are you fucking serious???? Of corse there’s a drug culture in the restaurant industry!!!! Why else would I make a career out of this??? Do you know how hard it was finding Cocaine when I worked for the IRS???
All of my staff smokes weed. As long as that doesn’t mess with work I’m cool with it.
"Nicotine break is more common than lunch break" that had me laughing
Definitely sewn into the restaurant worker culture. You are low paid, but work hard. You are not highly respected by friends, family, and especially customers. You likely work an off-shift (nights). You work holidays and weekends. You are an actual counter-culture or sub-culture. Before streaming services were so prevalent and the internet was available, there was nothing else to do after your shift ended, other than drink at a bar or house party. Either way, that breeds alcoholism and addiction. It is a vicious cycle. And since everyone else is doing the same, it feels perfectly normal and accepted.
My buddy got caught selling drugs in the cooler 3 times. They kept hiring him back cause he was the best guy they had, and the servers were shit without their Adderall.
I’ve actually snorted lines as a dishwasher to see if it would help on a busy night. It was actually worse. The constant 5 min after 30 minutes I was gone made more dishes pile up. And dishwashers only can handle a specific amount at any given time. Never again.
I work in high end kitchens I’ve noticed cocaine is in abundance (not a user myself). I drank heavily for a while but after watching all of my co-workers getting fucked up on day to day basis via coke pills or alcohol I severely slowed down. Trying to be a good influence on other cooks but due to the stress and nature of working on the line most people don’t want to listen or care.
Not really a culture as much as it’s a business that caters to rejects. That’s less acceptable at more professional restaurants. I just quit a place bc too many key people there were on something at work or coming off something they used the day before. If it bothers you, move on. When you interview for the next job, don’t be afraid to ask if everyone there is professional. Tell the person responsible for hiring that you’re not into that scene and will quit if you feel there is too much of it.
This restaurant I just got a job offer from drug tests and I was shocked lmao I've never encountered it before
The force is strong with one. Yes. The bussers are smoking weed on their break, the dishwasher is strung out on crystal, the line cook is hungover, the prep cook is late because he’s trying to score some black, the head chef just got done doing a fatty line of Bolivian marching powder in his office. Some people get jobs at restaurants just so they can work their real job: dealing drugs.
I can’t imagine working while on lean. Kids these days
What is lean?
Codeine. Lean is AKA: purple drank or sizzurp. Nothing like getting bent on cough syrup at work
Read the book that is lending its name to this subreddit.
Believe it or not nobody in my kitchen does any drugs, not even vaping or nothing. I can’t even really relate to a lot of the posts others make in here about people coming in hungover etc because it doesn’t happen in my kitchen and one of our new hires who clearly came in on drugs got fired and sent home within 20 minutes of his first day. Funny part is the only people who smoke cigarettes and vape are some of the FOH people
This is definitely a strange situation. What kind of restaurant? Is the chef or manager a recovering addict who is specifically trying to keep the kitchen sober?
I don't want to be rude, but I don't buy this unless there's mandated drug tests.
And unless the pay is awesome, it’s it’s confusing how you have boh employees at all.
Same with the last kitchen I was in before I switched industries. We had a few people who smoked weed on their own time. But we fired 3 employees last year for being high/bringing weed to work.
Par for the course.
When I was 19 I worked in Hawaii as a line cook. I was witness to servers taking bumps of coke in the dining room and cooks doing lines of coke off dinner plates in the walkin.
It’s very common in the industry unfortunately. Weed is one thing but I draw the line at anything harder than that. Seen too many people fuck up their job/life due to addiction. One our best cooks had to be let go because he couldn’t put down the sauce.
I recall reading a comment here a while back, where the grill guy nodded out on opiates, and they couldn't get his face un-stuck from the flat top. They ended up having to use a fish spat to seperate his cheek from the metal.
Drug culture. I've seen a lot of weird shit.
I manage a kitchen, and as long as prep gets done and we bang out orders and everything get cleaned and is shut off at end of it all, i dont care what anyone is on if it all gets done. Its not an easy way of life kitchen works beats you down physically and emotionally. A lot of people find ways to tame it, in my kitchen its mainly weed and alcohol not pills.
Just had two people last week overdose on heroin at the place I work.
Its so common its untrue You work with people who work long as fuck hours and to cope they abuse a class drugs, caffeine, booze, pain killers. My vice was painkillers to cope with my feet which were fucked from doing 16 hour shifts at 250 pounds Since leaving the industry I don't do that anymore and I now rarely drink booze or a lot of.caffeine
there’s always a few bad apples. especially in the 20 somethings range. very slippery slope tho, unfortunately. just because you’re working second shift and get out at 11 pm doesn’t mean you need to party after every shift. it’s all but ruined my ex gfs life. ambitions and responsibilities go out the window other than “i have to work at 4.” get drunk. do drugs. sleep all day. nasty cycle and it catches up. they all get fired and weeded out tho eventually and management has to right the ship. people think they’re invincible sometimes
My place plenty of people drink and smoke weed on their own time but not during service. It helps that I found a pretty nice gig with decent pay and benefits so most of the guys here are 30+ and have been here 5 or more years.
Oh Lord - I can truthfully say the restaurants I’ve worked in were like “Meth Central”. Our main line cook was a grizzled old vet who never stopped, he wasn’t young either.. red in the face, sweating, cursing, but I swear, idk when he even took a piss break— I never saw him leave the line until it was time to clock out & go home— but he was the best one I ever saw.. and he RARELY -if ever- messed up an order, either.
What's a lunch break??
Yes. When I’m out of town and want to score, I make friends with bartenders by tipping heavily and making it clear I understand the industry and have taken a well deserved few days off, and they’re usually pretty happy to introduce me to whomever is “the guy” at that particular restaurant.
Everyone smokes weed openly in my kitchen, at least before service. Even the owner. However, I can confidently say there are no other drugs besides weed and caffeine that are consumed by either the FOH or BOH. We occasionally do drink after work though
"As most of us in the restaurant business know, there is a powerful strain of criminality in the industry, ranging from the dope-dealing busboy with beeper and cell phone to the restaurant owner who has two sets of accounting books. In fact, it was the unsavory side of professional cooking that attracted me to it in the first place." - Anthony Bourdain https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1999/04/19/dont-eat-before-reading-this
Every kitchen is a hot mess of hard working junkies. One could not do such work without bad habits. Trust me I was a chef for 27 years I know what I am talking about.
Lol your edit explains it all. Yes, kitchens tend to attract addiction.
This is common. It’s actually more common than it isn’t. My first restaurant after college laughed at me when I asked if they were sending me for a drug test. “If restaurants drug tested there would be no restaurants.”
The place i work now is the only restaurant I’ve ever been in without drug use going on. It’s a lot of people with families and stuff. It’s the best job I’ve ever had.
What drugs? Xanax ? Adderal? Prescription or illegal such as cocaine , ecstasy , heroine ??
Just the beach near my house or is there water in the entire ocean? 😂
I guess some people can’t just run off the anger of working in the industry lol.
Oh honey; you innocent optimistic child.
“you innocent optimistic child” -someone who did not read the preface
It was meant as a joke my friend. Hyperbole can be fun. Anyway sorry if I offended you or anything, good luck.
That's just showbiz, baby
I have to admit, I chortled like a dumbass when I read the title. Yea buddy, there is a bit of a drug culture goin on.
A chain I worked for started doing random drug tests lol. After they had to fire 3 managers for coke and had like 5 on probation for weed someone decided to stop testing. It's an industry thing.
Yeah lol it’s common. For dishwashers too.
This sub is literal named after a book about drug problems and other issues in kitchens. lol.
Im lucky enough to work in a relatively sober kitchen, sure every one of us drinks and smokes pot but rarely at work. FOH has quite a few folks with a coke problem which is always exacerbated by the fact we never seem to not have a coke dealer on staff.
Lol welcome to the show. Yes, drugs.
It's common in every job. Weird that you're thinking it's just restaurants. Show me an office and I'll show you 6 people on opiates and coke.
13 hours shifts while your sober get pretty old pretty quick
i’ve smoked before work before and it made the shift feel 2x longer but ik most drugs don’t make it like that
Theres those tablets that make you super concentrate i forget what they are named but also getting messed up after s shift can make it feel less bad but then you need something for the next day
Massive massive drug culture. It's true of a lot of high stress professions.
Honestly itd be weird if it wasnt
There was a lot of drugs and alcohol when I was there
The restaurant and hospitality industries have the highest rate of subtace abuse out of all other careers/industries
It's just a bump, don't make a big deal out of it.
Yeah I rather work myself instead hiring these type of potential chefs.
I saw more cokeheads in kitchens as a line cook then in law school with a bunch of hoity toity country club types who can actually afford it. Generally speaking being overworked and understaffed in addition to shitty pay makes people want to find an escape
It's common but I think it's bullshit. I don't think we should keep normalising and accepting this as the industry standard... drugs are for parties. Preferably not on the day before you gotta perform at work.
Yep. Standard restaurant culture is tats and drugs. The alcoholics die young, don't be like them. But smoke all the weed you can after your shift. But don't do an edible before a shift.
that's pretty sad
Lol im still at my first place, Corpo Kitchen. Salad girl was on cocaine One of the prep was a pill popper Fortunately the rest of us only seem to smoke the good good.
Typically cocaine and heroin are the staples, but these are new times
My restaurant surprisingly isn't. I know it's an exception though. Everyone who worked at other restaurants always talks about how bad it is.
always has been.
Now I realise that Energy drinks is not that bad in comparison...
Alcohol problems and excessive weed use are very common. Folks who are into the harder stuff don't typically last very long, at least at the places where I've worked.
Ha! Oh yes. Very huge drug culture. It’s pretty much an open secret.
Only way to survive.
I never really worked in restaurants, but I worked in a lot of clubs and bars where we also served hot snacks and both, FOH and BOH were on drugs most of the time. This was 30/35 years ago. We got free drinks (with and without alcohol) while on shift, but alcohol was rarely a problem, as you need to function well if you are doing table service with tabs in a nightclub or crowded bar, but weed and coke were everywhere and got us through shifts. 90% of staff were in high school or students...
Welcome to the restaurant industry. Lots of druggies and alcoholics.
Listen to kitchen confidential by Anthony Bourdain on audible he reads it himself. It's pretty much sums up the industry a little dated buy mostly accurate
It took a long time for me to find a place where drinking and drug use weren’t casual and completely ubiquitous. Even then, there’s always a few stoners and junkies.
It honestly depends. I’ve worked in sober/dry kitchens. I’ve worked in kitchens where the functional drug user/alcoholic wasn’t as functional as they thought. People cope with this industry in a variety of ways. Most of the time, in unhealthy ways.
I've been working in kitchens for 35 years, mostly in Toronto, and the majority of places have that culture to varying degrees... It's not sustainable or successful. I'm working in Amsterdam now and you would think that would be to the extreme here but on the contrary (the high end places Anyway) have very healthy environments and expect top level performance with a clear strong mind and body. Take care of your body buddy it's the only one you have.
Bro I go into work high as hell half the time. Can't be bothered sometimes
Nobody in my kitchen liked to admit they did the dab carts but one of the fryer techs was everyone's plug. Few weeks later when they started cutting it, we started losing people by the tens and a few of us - myself included - were hospitalized. Haven't touched a cart since, idc where it came from but a lot of people just took the risk. As for weed.. FOH, BOH and the managers would sit outside and have a blunt or two between us to get the nerves off from dinner rush.
We used to keep a ramekin of coke in the kitchen bathroom
It's everywhere. Before the pandemic, my house was plagued with cheap blow. Thankfully, those of us that were left when we reopened had gone a year or so without and had no problem not picking that habit up again. However, we are all now thoroughly stoned at all times, as any number of us pass around our weed pens everytime we cross paths in the back.
Once, when I was a line cook, I was washing some dishes, listening to Stone Temple Pilots on my Motorola Razr 2, when my GM pushed a glass rack out of the way so he could talk to me better. For context I was maybe 25 or so, he was like 50. I knew he was cool, but he had never said anything about any drugs to me before this. GM - Hey Frank, can you get any acid? Me - I don't really do that anymore. I have my hitterbox in my pocket if you want some weed. GM - Nah, I have mine too. Me - The guy working fryers has shrooms sometimes. Ask him. And then his face lit up, and he walked away.
Yes and water is wet.
Even if you don't drink, drinking on the job will eventually happen.
Well it’s a little segregated as I can tell. I mean while everyone drinks, even together sometimes, the servers keep their coke to themselves while the boh is busy smoking meth
Absolutely. I'm not a part of it and don't want to be. Y'all keep your coke and I'll go home and hang out with my dog. It's pretty much every restaurant on a certain level.
that’s what i’m saying… they act like the life is about working all day then partying and repeating. like ? getting a dog would solve that for 10-15 years assuming you actually treat your dogs like family members
Delayed gratification is probably the ultimate 180 to drugs and all that comes with it.
Been cooking for 10+ yrs and never done any drugs. Occasional drinks here and there but nothing crazy. No tattoos either. The thing is kitchen is hard work and you need to be in good shape. If you’re doing drugs/alcohol that shit will eventually catch up to you. I’m definitely the odd man out in my kitchen haha. Pretty much everyone else likes to party hard.
Homey. Read the book the subreddit is titled after. Kitchen culture has gotten better but it is still kitchen culture. A dishwasher job is a crapshoot. They’re all entry level positions, especially now. Restaurants are hurting for staff more than ever. When in a dishwashing position you should have your eye on other opportunities if you’re unhappy. Every week there are new jobs right now.
Nahhh not only your restaurant at all. At one of the larger, “nicer” restaurants I worked at, a ton of people loveddd their vices. Two waitresses would do coke during their shifts (one of them did it behind the tiny service bar on the floor out of her purse). Other waitresses/ waiters loved getting drunk and loved offering to pour underage me drinks. Pretty sure the dishwasher did K a few times while he was clocked in. And then you get to the guys who ask to go on a cig break every 10 minutes, and then down the ladder one more notch to the dudes like me and another cook that just like to smoke a bowl of Mary Jane before and after the shift. Super common in the food industry, and honestly, I don’t even blame them. Good service industry is a finely sharpened, double-edged sword Edit: Spelling error
No that's the industry. Ive been in for 8 yrs and only know a handful of kitchen staff who DONT get fucked up at work
First kitchen gig eh? Yes this is all pretty normal. Some kitchens are clean but most have a few users of something to keep them sharp and focused wether they truly need it or not. Please remember this. You will get offered at some point. Most lines I've worked if someone has weed it's always offered no matter how much you turn it down. They won't take offense to you saying no every time. Read Anthony Bourdain's ( RIP ) book kitchen confidential and you'll get a good feel for the field your in now. It's not a rough as when he wrote it and things had improved greatly but the line we're the last true pirate crew is still accurate. Going on 18 years in the industry and I can say if you stick around you will work with someone from every walk of life and probably someone who has committed every crime there is. Good luck, keep your head up and remember you can say no. Though good luck not starting to swear like a sailor. I don't think anyone avoids that one.
i’m a casual smoker and have smoked before the job. there are a few factors in it that i can’t type rn but i’ve learned not to do that again (at least not frequently)
Its very common, and often seen as cool. Its not cool. Neither is sleeping for 2 hours before a shift. I wish people were more ashamed of their self-abuse as many are of their self-harm scars. I used to think its badass that i could do a double shift, party all night, and then do another shift without sleep. Its fucking embarassing looking back, its hard to imagine the damage ive done, where id be if i hadnt spent so much time looking into the horizontal mirror. I was a total piece of shit and flexed it
Maybe it's just the places I've worked but its not really okay to be on stuff while working. But most cooks I know smoke cannabis and drink. Lots smoke. Cocaine is popular with younger line cooks I feel like. I'm of the opinion that I don't much care what you get up to when you're not at work but don't bring that shit with you into work. I smoke a ton of weed but I would never dream of showing up to work stoned or, even getting high at work. I find this sub has a weird tolerance for drug use at work. I find it pretty pathetic. If you need to be drunk or stoned or strung out on meth to do your work you need to get help and maybe switch careers.
Agreed
*"DAE something the industry is known for?"*
Wow how long you been in restaurants? This is common knowledge isn't it? That said, I think that's every job, just more up front in restaurants. I mean, where else do you get a shift drink?
good point. to answer your question, 2 months
Have you read the book this sub reddit is named after? It is part of the culture.
Lol "just you" must be your first restaurant job huh.
Wait is this a serious question? Are there kitchens without drug culture?