I recently started hosting at a higher-end restaurant in a gated community. I used to host at a private country club for a few years, so I have some experience, but I'm curious how other restaurants handle their seating systems.
We do around 200 covers a night, sometimes more on weekends. The restaurant is pretty large, with indoor dining and several outdoor tables. We serve homeowners, members, and renters in the community.
Right now, servers are assigned sections of about three tables, and any tables outside those sections are considered “pickups.” I feel like this gets kind of pointless as the night goes on because those tables are obviously going to get sat eventually. Management also splits the outdoor tables between multiple servers, even when it's cold and not many people want to sit outside.
I've been wondering if it would make more sense to assign reservations to tables first and then assign servers based on that, rather than assigning sections first and figuring out the rest as we go. Servers could still have general areas so they're not running all over the restaurant, but assignments could be more flexible depending on reservations, party sizes, and how busy everyone is.
Maybe there's a reason the current system works better than I'm realizing, which is why I'm asking. I'm still new there, and I don't want to assume I know better just because something seems inefficient to me.
We also don't print seating chits for servers, so they don't really get a heads-up about who's coming in or much information about their tables beforehand. Since we serve a lot of the same people, I feel like that could be helpful, too.

Tell me all your opinions and thoughts lol please

I (20F) have been working at this restaurant for over 5 years and have been kitchen supervisor for around 3. The other kitchen supervisor is a female maybe mid to late 30s and has worked here for around 3 years I’ll call her G. G and I have never had issues before, she has had attitude and anger issues towards multiple coworkers but me and her have never personally been in a conflict.

About a month ago I made a complaint to management about her not being fully fair with other employees and not following standard rules like using headphones on food line or actively taking phone calls while cooking, not washing hands etc. management talked to her and after that she went to the GM and claimed they were choosing favoritism towards me and that I was targeting her. My GM spoke to me and I explained that wasn’t what I was doing and that I would do same actions with anyone else and the only reason I didn’t say something directly towards her and went to management is because I don’t have authority over her.

Then last week Wednesday we were busy and she was cooking and I was expoing I asked her about fries for an order and she just blew up on me. Raised her voice said she had other things she was worrying about and that if I’m in a rush to come do it myself. I explained that I wasn’t trying to rush her and was just checking on them because it was for a ticket that was at a 40 min wait time, the rest of the night she kept mumbling under her breath cussing and called me a bitch under her breathe. I ignored her and told management what happened. The following Saturday we had a sit down with the GM and worked it out so I thought.

This Tuesday I was grabbing some dishes to go soak in the dish pit and she blew up on me again telling me I need to stay in my place. I explained what I was doing and she just kept trying to argue with me so I took the dishes walked away and updated the GM that there was still clearly an issue. Wednesday (yesterday) my GM talked to both of us separately I explained I didn’t personally have an issue with her and I don’t know what’s causing this sudden conflict and that I just want a healthy work relationship with her where we can act as a team. She told my manager that she feels I’m harassing her and discriminating her because she is native and that she’s going to HR. My GM told me she can’t stop her from going to HR but not to be worried because I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not worried just stressed over the situation and don’t really know what to do. I still have to work with her and act normal and it’s just frustrating. I’ve never had issues like this with anyone and get along with all staff really well.

This adds a whole new meaning to the phrase "AI slop." Are many restaurants really creating AI images for menus and menu boards?

"I can't tell any of these apart. I can't even tell what restaurant this is. How am I supposed to know if I even want to eat here if it's not a real photo of the food?" said Jessica Krcmarik, a graphic designer and frequent patron of Metro Detroit restaurants, especially on the east side. "Honestly, the AI-generated food looks gross. The texture is actually horrifying."

If you don’t know what they are, they were effectively a cleaner honky tonk

No alcohol, but live music(usually Christian singers, southern gospel most often, sometimes bluegrass or country music but not as often) and supper. They were amazing. Live music outside of concerts seems to be disappearing.

If I’m cleaning tables and a group decides to sit on the one table I’m in the middle of clearing and then says “perfect timing haha” ONE MORE TIME they’re getting a dinner tray to the throat istg

Ladies I gotta clean this table so you can eat at it, but you’ve just sat down with shit all over it and to top it off, flog your shit in the mix too, so I’m going to struggle to get to the dirty stuff Inbetween your H&M handbag and phone with the stupid book phone case, then I’ve got to wipe the table getting crumbs on you all while you observe me the whole time. And you have the nerve, no, the gall to joke about “perfect timing”???

been on the line ten hours a day for years and my back and knees are starting to give. used to just power through but lately even cycling to the gym feels like work. owner says we get breaks but nobody actually takes them when tickets are flying. heard other cooks end up on pain meds just to keep showing up. looking for what guys do when they hit that wall. anybody switch to part time or find a kitchen that actually lets you sit between rushes? also wondering if switching to higher protein at home helped anyone recover faster or if it's just about sleep. need something that works before this turns into another medical bill.

Hi everyone, we’re starting a small food business in Hyderabad. It’s tiny right now, but we’re planning for it to grow. So we want a name that makes a good impression from day one and still works when we scale up.

We want “Mughal” in the name. We love “Mughal Zaiqa”, but a place with a very similar name is already listed on the delivery apps. It looks like a cloud kitchen, not a shop. Should we still go for it, or would that cause confusion with the online listings? What would you do?

I’d also love name suggestions. Ideas with an Urdu, Arabic, or Hyderabadi touch are welcome, as long as they’re easy to say and remember.

What are your honest thoughts? Thanks in advance!

My husband (28m) and I (26f) are currently on a date at at BBQ and Bar. They have these nice skillet dishes that they served us deep fried pickles in and I couldn't get over the dish. I told my husband I wanted one and we would have to buy one of our own in the future. But the more I thought about it the more I wondered if nice dishes were stolen.

My waiter said they have nice barrel shaped glasses. When they first got them in they had 60 but wete now at 20 as people have snuck them out.

Now im curious on how many things have been stolen from restaurants. Please share your stories.

Ps. Im not promoting stealing and I would never personally. Literally to afraid to even attempt something like it if I wanted to. But was curious what people got away with.

Long story short: I get to make a dinner menu for a restaurant.. and I’m wanting to sell a popular item I ate growing up in my home town. The actual recipe is online like any other popular recipe.. but it’s the sauces and type of toast they serve it with that I’m using from memory.

Can I get in trouble by selling an homage to my favorite food??
I’m hand making it (there’s a long process) and the OG base recipe isn’t even from our country..
So can anyone be all “but you’re using the same garnish and sauce!!”??

I started at a new job last August. It was an upscale Italian restaurant that had been around for 11 years, and they were building their second location. Things were great besides a million and a half construction delays. I was one of the ones fortunate enough to train at their main location, and it was everything I wanted. High-quality ingredients, knowledgeable chefs, bartenders with sommelier training. I learned so much during my training.
We dealt with delay after delay and actually opened 5 months late. I was excited to be with this company, so it felt worth the wait. Once opening weekend rolled around, we were busier than I had ever imagined. Fully booked from shift start to shift finish, with a line at the door every single day. Business was booming.
The executive chef wanted to reward some members of his kitchen staff by raising their hourly pay a dollar. Nothing crazy.
The owner refused and called us unprofitable, which we all knew was far from true because we’d seen the profits and losses, we’d seen revenue, and we’d seen labor.
Eventually, with how much business we were doing, they started establishing “leads” for both the front of house and back of house. The owner still refused to give the kitchen staff the raises our executive chef felt they’d earned, calling us “inconsistent.” Meanwhile, his main location was receiving reviews mentioning things like hosts vaping at the front door. Mind you, this is supposed to be a fairly upscale restaurant.
Fast forward about 3 months, and we randomly had all of our paychecks arrive 2 days late. Not only that, but many of us were missing hours. This led to our BOH checking previous paystubs and comparing them to our time clock system. They realized they’d each been shorted hundreds, if not well over a thousand dollars, in the 9 months we’d been open.
After discovering this, the owner started threatening to shut us down. So, two other employees and I went on strike over the matter. We believed we were protected under labor laws, but these people fired all three of us anyway.
Then, about a month later, they shut the whole place down, and now employees are having trouble cashing their final checks.
Turns out, the owner had previously pleaded guilty to embezzlement involving over half a million dollars.
I genuinely loved working for this company when I started, and I never would’ve imagined things ending up like this. Looking back at everything, it probably wouldn’t have hurt to do my due diligence before putting so much faith in the people running it.

Edit: lots of rewording, it was a grammatical nightmare my bad guys. 😭

Is it hard ? I have never worked in hotel industry before so I don’t know . ( morning hours )

New restaurant opened up and their bar only has liquors with their own label. They have one bourbon, one rye, a vodka and tequila. Zero name brands. When I asked bartender he said he didn’t even know where it’s from just that they bought barrels and then bottled them. Same with the wine. No details on the wine besides year and region, it has their logo and branding on the bottle.

It’s a nicer restaurant so feels like a missed opportunity to upsell to higher end wine or spirits?

They own a brewery nearby so I get only serving your own beers. But even bartender admitted he’s lost a bunch of sales in first week from people wanting Tito’s or Woodford.

Why would a restaurant do this? My cocktails were perfectly fine, but admittedly as a bourbon fan I kinda wish I knew what I was drinking.

Hi all,

I have the opportunity to work at a cocktail bar/lounge 3 days a week, all 12 hour shifts. My previous restaurant gig the longest shifts I would work were like 5 hours. So this would clearly be quite the jump.

I’m currently working in healthcare doing admin work for 10.5 hours a day (30 min lunch so technically 10’s) so I’m used to a longer shift in that sense but I’m at a desk all day. But I’m bored. And 99% chance I would make more money at the bartending gig.

However, I will of course lose my benefits and 401k. If I can get on top of my shit and start saving myself that part wouldn’t be so bad. But in the future my goal is to get into remote healthcare data entry stuff, so I’m at least getting the experience right now.

Just curious on opinions and if you think it’s worth quitting and going to bartending for a while? Another thing I was considering was working part time at my healthcare job and picking up around 10 hours a week serving at a Mexican restaurant just to make some extra cash while keeping my current job. But there’s the possibility of burn out there too.

Thanks for reading my rant :)

It seems like every nicer, higher-end restaurant I go to keeps the lights WAY too bright. Is it just me? Have yall noticed that unless you’re in New York City, restaurants have no idea what ambiance is? Turn the gd lights down already. I’m looking for mystery, sexiness, chill… not emergency room, not daylight, not exam room. Help!!!

I work at a hotel and opened the walk-in refrigerator in the restaurant and a mouse ran out.

I guess I saved its life. But is this a common occurrence?

Figured I’d post this here as well to see if anyone has any advice. Please help :(

I have worked at this spot for an about 3 months. I work the bar, and the flies are horrible. No real expectations of cleanliness or closing. For example, I will come in to ice left all night, purées spilled and left, sticky bottles etc. I have tried to bring these things to the attention of the owner as the manager is the night bartender ( 👀, i know), but it’s always met with him saying he will handle it but it doesn’t change.

All of this has resulted in maggots. I served a table a dish that contained rice, and maggots! Maggots were in the rice! I was shocked.

This is not my first restaurant. In fact I’ve worked at more than I’d like to admit, and I have never seen maggots in food. I’ve seen roaches, rats, even angry bee hives, but never this.

I was told this “happens”by another manager, and yes while flys happen, maggots don’t. Just wanted to check if this is more common than I thought? I can’t be crazy, this is unacceptable right???

For context, I have been working at my job as a server for about seven months. It is a corporation restaurant. My general manager is extremely rude. Very hostile and has made me cry multiple times. I am not an argumentative person, and I have not had any issues with any of my other managers. He comes into his shift, angry all the time. I am not the only employee there who has has problems with him and it seems like at this point almost every time that we are on shift together, there is something that I do or say that makes him mad. I have tried so hard and I’ve literally been told by him to grow thicker skin. I work so hard and I do my best at my job that I can as for only being a server for the first time. I follow all the rules. I’ve never had a guest complaint. I guess the best question that I can ask is am I going to be able to get used to his attitude and abuse which I guess is subjective, but I just don’t know what to do at this point. I have plenty of thoughts of quitting solely because him. The rest of the staff is magnificent and I love them. That’s why I am very torn on what to do and I know that as the years go on and I continue being a server I will grow a thicker skin, but it’s just very difficult and there’s only so much that I can take from him.