r/restaurant

I am a manager at a local restaurant interested in how others would’ve handled this situation. We have a decent bottled wine menu of 65+ bottles. All the wines on this list are arranged by varietal, vineyard, vintage. The other night I had a 2-top order a bottle of Conundrum from Caymus by asking for a bottle of Caymus and pointing to the bottle requested on the menu. The server mistakenly brought them a bottle of Caymus Cabernet . The guests pointed out the error when the wine was presented to them, but said they’d actually go with the cab presented to them instead. When the check was presented they expressed remorse in not realizing the price difference of $126 for the bottle served vs the $37 price on the bottle they had ordered. How would you handle this?

Helly everybody, I saw an infinite number of complains about tips and everyone are roasting waiters.

I'm actually a waiter in France and I can't understand why everyone is toxic against waiters.

If you're a waiter or similar to a waiter (barman, sommelier, busser, etc) can you tell me what's your job ? When do you arrive in the restaurant, what do you do ? When do you leave ? How much is your salary without tips/with tips ?

I'm researching how small businesses spend their time and I'm trying to understand the biggest day-to-day frustrations. If you could instantly hand one repetitive task to someone else (or an AI employee), what would it be? Examples: Responding to customer messages Following up with leads Scheduling appointments Invoices Email Social media I'm not selling anything—I'm just trying to learn from real business owners. Thanks!

I'm researching how small businesses spend their time and I'm trying to understand the biggest day-to-day frustrations. If you could instantly hand one repetitive task to someone else (or an AI employee), what would it be? Examples: Responding to customer messages Following up with leads Scheduling appointments Invoices Email Social media I'm not selling anything—I'm just trying to learn from real business owners. Thanks!

I feel bad for employees that have to deal with people. My brother agreed that if I ever worked with the public, my career would be measured in minutes and not hours or days since I have very little patience :)

Last week we went to Texas Roadhouse around 330pm. It was fairly empty and we sat at a fairly empty bar. Behind us was a row of booths.

I was tired and just wanted to get some food and relax but some older guy sat in a booth behind us and had an issue with his steak. I couldn't catch all of the details but unfortunately could hear some stuff which just kinds of ruin the experience.

A young manager was talking to him and it sounded like he wasn't happy with the size or maybe thickness of the steak and the manager kept trying to tell him they could give him another one but it would be the same size and he would complain and say stuff like the last time this didn't happen, etc.

I just get uncomfortable in being near those situations despite not being involved. After a while I guess the resolution was for the guy to leave who had to ask someone to get his walker. He was pretty rude about it.

Then a guy who was seated with his family at the next booth turned around and let the older guy have it, telling him that was rude and not a way to talk to someone just doing their job.

I did hear one person say I hope he isn't driving so maybe he had some alcohol prior to coming in to the restaurant because he wasn't there that long.

No real point to this point except it is rough dealing with the public and even if you aren't involved in a situation it can still ruin a night out.

I (23F) started this seasonal waitress job a couple months ago. The team is amazing, the manager is incompetent. At first we (the team) were patient with him but it’s been 3 months he’s here and it still feels like his first week. We’re sick of it. He has a victim complex and is resorting to rumors and lies to cover up his mistakes and try to split us apart. Our waiter with the most seniority (4years) is an absolute sweetheart and is now out sick for and undefined period of time because of a burn out. He just couldn’t handle the amount of work he had between his job and fixing all the constant mistakes the manager was making. He also couldn’t handle the psychological pressure of always trying to find out what’s a lie and what’s a truth. My manager knows I don’t like him. For the past week he has stopped entirely talking to me, even to say hello. He keeps doing stuff in my section that I have to fix and asks other employees to keep tabs on me, saying I’m the worst on the team so I « need surveillance ». We talked about it in the team. I make the most tips (shared within the team) and the less mistakes. They hate that he asks them this. Few colleagues have already lost it on him, telling him that if he was half the good person he says he is, he’d quit because he’s hurting all of us. Even the kitchen wants him out asap.

Now, my manager not speaking to me is a good thing in a way because I can’t stand him but should I try to fix it? Three months left before the end of my contract so idk if it’s worth it. What do you think?

I (22m) have been working at this shithole for 7 months. I applied to this place as a server/bartender, but they were only hiring food runners and I needed money. For 7 months they teased me with a serving/bartending position. the minute one of the servers was promoted to manager, they already hired another server, completely looking past me. I have bartending experience, and serving experience and I feel this was only done to me as I am a male (so is my GM, shocker huh?) I put my 2 weeks in last Friday, but had enough and just clocked out and left mid dinner rush. Will this negatively affect my reputation in the future?

Is anyone seeing Saturday reservations as much more volatile than Fridays? We’re seeing people book much more last minute and we have way less people coming on Saturdays than Fridays during the summer. Anyone else experiencing the same?

Why do most restaurants insist on providing an online menu as a PDF file that’s hard to read on a cell phone? A real question for restaurant owners? And why do almost none of them have QR codes on the table to make it easier for customers to use? At most of the restaurants I go to in Spain, they leave the menu on the table, I take a look, place my order, then they take it away, and I don’t get to see other items—and the server rarely comes back to the table.

I work in a small restaurant in North Carolina. The heat is only getting started. Our AC cannot keep up with the heat, and the owner/head chef refuses to fix it because it’s too expensive. He also thinks the temperature is fine?? Even though we’ve had a multitude of customers complain, and the entirety of the staff is complaining. Currently, as I am writing this, it’s 88 degrees in the dining room and 98 degrees in the kitchen. We have ceiling fans and box fans going all day, but they do nothing. Our walk in cooler is also broken, and isn’t getting fixed. We just use coolers and freezers. There is no way to get relief from the heat in here except from drinking ice water.
Are there rules regarding conditions like this?

(yes I am going to quit, not just because of this but because of other things regarding the owner)

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I have noticed through tiktok and conversations with friends & students there is a disdain towards purchasing from sysco. My friends will refuse to eat at restaurants if they see a sysco truck pulled up. My students are hesitant to use/eat ingredients if they have the sysco logo on them.

I try to educate students that Sysco is a bulk grocery store. You need to go to the store to buy ingredients for a homemade meal. Restaurants need to do the same but on a larger scale. I do explain that Sysco sells frozen/pre-made foods which would be similar to buying a frozen pizza. I understand the rage at restaurants that are buying pre-made foods to reheat and sell but is that really the majority?? It doesn't seem like it in my area.

Any insight on why this discourse is happening or tips to help explain why we purchase from sysco to students would be very helpful! TIA

EDIT: I am a culinary instructor so everything we make is from scratch. We purchase bulk ingredients to fit within a budget and provide cheaper classes to our students.

Hey everyone,

We’re setting up a small restaurant with limited seating, and I’m trying to figure out a free or very low-cost way to handle table reservations.

Right now, I’m thinking of keeping it simple with Google Business Profile, WhatsApp, and Google Sheets.

But I’m not sure if this will become messy once bookings increase.

For small restaurant owners:

Are there any free reservation systems that actually work well?

Is Google + WhatsApp enough in the beginning?

How do you handle no-shows, advance bookings, waiting lists, and customer reminders without paying for software?

At what point did you feel the need to move from a free/manual setup to a proper paid reservation platform?

Would appreciate real experience from people running small restaurants or cafes.

I run the kitchen at a busy spot in Scheveningen (NL). Every service, same thing: a server walks in mid-rush asking what's in a dish, whether we can do it without nuts, whether the fryer is shared. Nobody can memorize 60 dishes × 14 allergens × what's swappable.

So I spent the last months building a thing where the whole menu is mapped once — every dish shows guests: safe / adaptable (with the actual swap, like "we leave out the breadcrumbs") / not possible. Guest scans a QR at the table, picks their allergens, sees instantly what they can order. No more kitchen runs.

We run it live in my own restaurant now. Honest question for people actually on the line: would this help your service, or is it another iPad-on-the-pass gimmick? What would make it actually useful for BOH?

Full disclosure: I built this (allergent.app). And since this community is exactly who it's for — if you run a kitchen and want to try it, use code WELCOME10 at signup for 2 months free. No card tricks, no catch — I want feedback from real kitchens more than I want money right now. Roast away.

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Same story every year: hours die in May, rent doesn't. But the restaurants I've talked to are simultaneously struggling to keep summer shifts covered. Workers and open shifts exist blocks apart and can't find each other.

I got frustrated enough to build an app around it (Putora — I'll drop details in comments only if anyone asks, not trying to spam the sub). Mostly I want to hear how you all actually bridge the summer — second jobs? Bonita? Savings? What would actually help?

I currently work in an historical building that just celebrated its 200th birthday. I’ve been working here for the last 4 years, there isn’t much information on it other than it used to be a grocery story/ pharmacy.
We have a ghost. A mimic. Nothing malevolent. But for the last four years i’ve worked here, every single day I hear my name being said right in my ear but in random coworkers voices. It happens when i’m alone and when i’m not. and I’m not the only one it’s happening to. Only once have a seen anything, it was a child sized white mist that I caught out of the corner of my eye dart past the bar.

I have worked in other haunted places and I am not a stranger to the paranormal, i’m fascinated by it.

Just curious if anyone else is currently or has in the past worked in a haunted restaurant and what your experiences were.

Right now my employer isn't telling us *how* tips are being distributed. I can see that my tips are being pooled and I can see how much I'm getting back, but I have no way of know how that's being calculated.

For context, I make my own tips but also get tipped out from others. I don't know if it's a percentage of sales or if it's a percentage of total tips. It's automated but again, they haven't disclosed the method.

So I close at a chipotle style shop, and I count the drawer every night I close. Every so often the drawer is pretty short like $15, and I don’t like to read too much into things so I just tell my boss it’s short and do my job but tonight the drawer was $30 short and my coworker came back to drive home cause her car was in our parking garage. She was super drunk and she told me they had gone to the bar but I mentioned how the drawer was short and she totally brushed it off. She didn’t even pretend to seem concerned. She kept saying our boss is super understanding blah blah. And she kept asking me if I need help closing, it was weird.

I’m really disappointed and kinda hurt that they basically stole money and left me with the fallout. It’s shitty to my boss and to me and I told my boss it was $30 short but I put $30 in there so it’s even. So uh do y’all have any advice on how I should handle this moving forward?

Last Saturday night, i decided to dine in at a Nando’s location in Brisbane. I attempted to order food off the table QR code. Once the order was put through I waited about 20 minutes before checking the status of the order. I then noticed it had changed to a store in Melbourne (I had previously used this exact same QR code with no issues and got my drink).

Once I decided to take it up with customer care that evening, the attendant told me it had been escalated. After I heard nothing and decided to follow up, I was stonewalled for the first three days. Excuses we used such as can you repeat the orders email, store, table it were to (I had provided all this information to them three days prior). They then informed me today that they have a policy that once the food starts cooking, they can’t refund the order. I’ve been mucked around for almost a week now and they refused me my money back after all that hassle+BLATANTLY LIED about escalation. I escalated the situation with my bank, hopefully they can help me out.

Just don’t bother people.