I recently visited Chinatown in Chicago and ate at a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was very good, but I found the service to be okay. No one was outwardly rude, but anytime I asked for anything such as a to-go container for my leftovers, I was met with an eyeroll and a heavy sigh. For more context, I am not white and didn't grow up knowing that tipping was such a huge expectation in America but I still tip almost any time I go out. I am also from Iowa, where tipping is often expected but not forced or demanded.

I was with a group of friends and we asked to split the bill (which was met by a heavy sigh and some confusion from the waitress) and when my friend was paying the cashier kept telling him to circle a tip percentage. We have already agreed that only one person would tip and we would later split the tip, so we let her know that he wouldn't be tipping. She got agitated and kept repeating that he needed to circle a tip percentage and even pulled out an old receipt to show us that other people tipped 20%. We tried to explain that he wasn't going to tip but she continued to argue and wouldn't take his card to pay.

When it was my turn to pay after my friend paid, I handed her my card and she chose the gratuity percent on her computer and tried to charge me 20% gratuity. I told her to remove that and that I would only be paying for my food, to which she kept arguing. I thought maybe tipping was expected in this area, so I asked if tipping was optional, to which she replied no. I obviously know that tipping is optional, and none of us ended up tipping because we were upset with her attitude. I am starting to wonder if I am in the wrong here. Is tipping something that is required or expected in Chicago?

I'm not really after the official guidelines since those are pretty easy to look up. I'm more curious about what people who've actually been through inspections around Northern Virginia have noticed lately. did inspectors seem extra picky about anything? anything caught you off guard? If you had to give another restaurant owner one last-minute thing to double-check before inspection day, what would it be?

Okay I realize there's practical and monetary constraints to this but I think it would be amazing if most restaurants could have a couple showers for the staff members to use after their shift is over. Working in a restaurant means there's grease and smoke going all over your skin and hair and that transfers to your car seat when you go and sit on it (and needless to say most people never give their car sets a deep clean). Wouldn't it be nice if you could just shower at work, then get into your car and drive home?

Hood system went down last weekend and the repair quote came in way higher than expected. Need a quick business loan that can move this week at the latest, we can't run without it. Almost all revenue is card. Banks are useless for anything this fast. Anyone who's gotten funded quick for a restaurant emergency, what worked for you?

my shoes (nonslip ones) are really gross and kinda STINK. is there anything that gets the oil/old food smell out of shoes and clothes? if it helps, i work with fried chicken mostly. i know dish soap can get the oily stains out, and i do that, but its sort of a waste of dish soap to douse my clothes in it so much.

I’m looking for some feedback on a situation that happened at a family friend’s wedding this past weekend in South Western Ontario.

I attended the wedding as a guest and was helping with bartending. As the evening unfolded, i stepped in and acted as an intermediary with the caterer because I wasn’t emotionally involved and have experience dealing with difficult conversations professionally

Here’s what I personally observed:
The caterer was contracted to arrive at 4:00 PM.
Dinner was scheduled for 5:15 PM.
At 3:55 PM, the wedding planner received a text from the caterer stating they were running behind, all of the food was ready, and they were leaving Komoka for the venue in Innerkip.
The drive is normally about 45–50 minutes.
At approximately 5:45 PM, the wedding planner called again and was told they were “super close.”
The caterer didn’t arrive until approximately 6:20 PM.

When they arrived, I observed cooked ribs, wings and flank steak being unloaded in aluminum trays from the bed of a pickup truck. Vegetables were still being cooked on site and meat was being reheated on a small barbecue.

Over the next 90+ minutes I observed cooked food remaining in aluminum trays and cooked flank steak remaining on cutting boards while preparation continued. I never observed food temperatures being taken or recorded.
Before speaking with the owner, I asked the two catering employees whether they had been monitoring food temperatures or could provide temperature logs. They told me they couldn’t verify temperatures and couldn’t provide any logs.

Later, when the owner arrived, I requested the temperature logs directly. He declined and told me they “can be shared in court.” During that same conversation, both he and his brother acknowledged they couldn’t guarantee that safe food temperatures had been maintained.

At approximately 8:15 PM, the bride and groom decided to reject the remaining catered food because of the delay and concerns regarding food handling. They ordered pizza instead for approximately 100 guests.

Before the owner left, I confirmed the remaining inventory with both the employees and then again with the owner:
approximately 50% of the ribs remained
approximately 35% of the wings remained
100% of the pork shoulder remained
100% of the flank steak remained
I advised the owner that the bride and groom were rejecting the remaining food and requested that he remove it from the property. He refused, maintained that they had accepted it, and left the food behind.

I’m genuinely interested in hearing from people with experience in catering, food safety, hospitality, or Ontario small claims.
Based on these facts:
Do the food handling concerns seem objectively reasonable?
Does this sound like a situation where a partial or full refund would be reasonable to pursue?
If you were in the bride and groom’s position, how would you proceed from here?

(M20) Just got my first job in food service as a dishwasher and I genuinely have no clue what to expect. It's a restaurant with a smaller footprint than most but still a good amount of tables; the vibes seem pretty cool in front of house, but I don't know what goes on in the back much.

Any tips from veteran food service workers?

I hate being confrontational. I’m normally the bigger person. Yesterdsy pushed my limits. My coworker now feels comfortable enough to make comments about what i’m eating, saying “i don’t need no bacon” to my manager when i left. i’m 120 pounds im not stressed about gaining a few, im at an ideal weight, especially as someone who used to be underweight and weighed 92 pounds. My manager has it in her head there’s nothing wrong with what my co worker said to me, the thing is she’s made nasty comments like that that i don’t always hear very clearly for a few months now. I confronted said co worker about it yesterday. and told her she should say it to my face instead of waiting till i leave the corner. I can only be the bigger person for so long before I start playing into her passive aggressive bullshit. I’m tired of this job, they miss paydays a lot and play favorites. This girl is getting promoted while she’s late to every single one of her shifts, constantly chimes in when no one needs her opinion. she always comments on people’s bodies, while being shaped like a billboard. i shouldn’t have to tolerate workplace harassment. I’m looking for a new job,
however, im Upset because This co worker managed to get all the girls at work in on it too, so they’re basically all being catty in the group chat and saying a bunch of weird shit to the point my boss had to delete their group texts. My co worker also claims i called her a slut?? lol i’ve known her for two months and have no clue about her sexual history and have no reason to call her that. And it’s my shifts being re-arranged and I got sent home early that day, told I “instigated it” by being confrontational. Even though she wasn’t punished or talked to about what she said or what she’s been doing for the last few months. It’s clear the managers don’t like me, and even if I stay, there’s a place right across the street with way better pay. I just wish I knew if they’re gonna fire me over this or not. and btw, this is my first ever time confronting someone like that at work instead of just usually ignoring them. but i’m tired of ignoring people. people should be held accountable. As I left that day, I saw her smirking and slurping down her dab pen in the work parking lot as i left. No cameras to catch it. This gal also got her best friend hired who has been late to three out of five shifts in her first week. I’m pretty stuck.

I’ve been working a line cook/ prep cook at food chains and restaurants for about 5 years now. I am thinking about applying to be a server/bartender elsewhere, anything that pays more (I assume tips will help, all of the places I’ve worked at BOH doesn’t make tips).

I want a job that tips well, what are some recommendations? And is it difficult to get hired since I don’t have much FOH experience?

If you got out, how did you do it?

This industry is breaking my body and mind, if cant do it anymore. I have no means to get a better job, my family was too poor to send me to college as a kid and its not like being a waiter and barista and shit was ever going to allow me to afford that on my own, I cant handle that kind of debt so school has never been an option and never will be.

I know there are trade schools, im trying to find something that doesnt sound miserably boring but at this point maybe I should settle for something mind numbingly dull that I have no interest in because even if I end up unhappy with that I'll at least be able to pay my rent. As long as it doesnt end me right back up in a position of getting yelled at by entitled office grunts like I have to deal with now.

I dont even know where to apply or get started

I genuinely dont know where my skills transfer

Honestly how the actual fuck do I get out this. I feel like im actually stuck here for life like am I just supposed to bounce between different locations with toxic managers and owners who dont know what the fuck theyre doing, working with shitty highschoolers, talking to entitled assholes who dont even tip, letting peoeple treat me like shit and make my life hell and then going to the next place to do it all over again until my body is so broken that I cant anymore or I just get so tired that I kms in front of a customer (god I wish)

I am a host at a restaurant and i am a host anchor or seater/busser. But i am required to run food and drinks. When the restaurant gets busy I get absolutely destroyed in the front with all the line up. And since the inside and the patio is also full of manager and the servers always complain to me cause im not running food and drinks cause the kitchen and the bar is getting full with undelivered orders. Meanwhile I’m trying to get reservations and waitlists in check. Moreover the servers barely buss there tables meanwhile I’m bussing and seating people on that table and constant repeat. And they expect me to seat people and while those people are stay i should be going around the restaurant and pick up used menu’s (which i have to clean) or even buss or serve drink and food. And go back to my host station and repeat . Very inefficient and tiring for me. Cause they expect me to put my MAIN priority (hosting) away for their lack of incompetence of doing their job in an efficient matter. And I get no help in the front as I’m getting huge pushback on my duties. Customers getting upset for the wait being too long, severs complaining i’m not sending food and whining for double seating them when there is a long line outside. I’m doing all this and getting only 50% of the tips servers get.

What do you guys think of this restaurant

I used to think food quality was the only thing that really mattered. Like, if it tastes good, people will be happy, right?

But lately, we’ve been running into the same issues over and over. Soups leaking during delivery. Sandwiches arriving squished. Cupcakes that look beautiful when they leave our kitchen showing up looking like they went through a war zone. It’s been frustrating because no matter how good the food is, it doesn’t seem to matter if it arrives in rough shape

I'm starting to realize that I may have underestimated the importance of packaging

Are they thinking of the quality of the product in relation to the quality of the packaging that it is coming in? Will their opinion of the food be compromised because of a flimsy box or poor lid seal?

My research on alternative packaging companies basically has led me to a company called WF Wholesale. It appears it meets our needs like sturdiness of materials and even size of the boxes. But I'm still not sure about it because I have had previous experience with packaging suppliers that looked good on paper, but did not live up to expectations

To be honest I don’t know whether changing my packaging is going to solve my problems, or whether this entire issue isn’t simply me overthinking everything. Perhaps there is more to this problem than just packages. Perhaps there is something about my delivery, perhaps there is something about the way that

Has anyone else had this experience? Did changing your packaging actually help with your customers' satisfaction and return business? Am I overthinking this one aspect of my business, or is this really an issue?

I'm looking to connect with current or former employees who have worked for Lucas Bradbury at any of his businesses (such as Project Pollo, Side Chicks, EVO/Sol Fresh, Mudslingers, Tommy John's, or others).

If you have, I'd really appreciate hearing about your experience. Feel free to comment below or send me a private message if you'd prefer to talk privately.

Thanks in advance!

so i’m a busser at a moderately fancy, family-owned restaurant where we make 30% of tips and waiters make 70%. there’s always 3 bussers so i make 10% of tips each night.

the way the work is split up just doesn’t really seem fair to me but i’ve only worked fast food before this so lmk yalls experiences. i wont be offended LOL. also pmo that we only get paid hourly for when the kitchen is open, so i miss out on like 8 hours of hourly a week. hourly is very little but it adds up. i want to know your opinions so i can figure out if i’ll work at a different restaurant next summer since im only working here for about another month bc i start law school in aug. i don’t really mind for now bc i make $550-750/week after taxes, working 4 days/week, 30ish hours (can’t wait for that no tax on tip to hit next year😻) and i get slipped a lot of personal tips.

heres how the work is split up:

WAITERS

(only work for their section)
- take orders
- help customers select and taste wines
make fancy coffees
- take out trash at end of night

* things they’re supposed to do that we do bc they don’t do them: *
- stock refrigerated drinks
- bring sodas and teas to the tables and do refills
- stabilize tables with rubber stoppers before opening and throughout the night because theyre all old and rickety

BUSSERS

(work for all sections)
- one does food running, one does water, and one does bread
- clean tables between courses
- pack up to-go’s
- clean and reset tables after ppl leave, move them around for different party sizes
- clean everything except floors, kitchen, and bathroom at the end of the night
- prep rollups, triangles, and tablecloths
- refill and clean oils, vinegars, salts, peppers
- bring stuff to and fro dish
- do dishes after dishwashers leave
- all the extra grunt work like cleaning spills, cleaning bathroom during shift, running across the street to pick up stuff we’ve run out of, taking 70+lb dirty linen bags out, etc. (bro not to ariana grande but i’m a 100lb girl like these big ahh male waiters can’t carry the linens out when they’re just standing around 80% of the time???)

• we’re also expected to socialize with customers just as much as the waiters do bc the owners like the restaurant to have a warm, friendly, family-oriented atmosphere so it’s not even like you can just buckle down and get stuff done
• they also switch us a lot without warning so you might arrive in uniform just to be told you’re going to host (no tips) or work to-go’s (only get to-go tips which are very little)
• and tbh we very very often end up doing the waiters jobs like taking orders, helping with wines, making coffee etc. they’re lowkey so lazy bc the waiters are all part of the family or close family friends

lmk if this sounds normal tysmmmm sorry 4 word vomiting. also trust me bc i’ve been working here since november so i’m not missing/forgetting any of the things waiters do