In Appreciation of my Co-Workers and Managers

Originally this post was going to be called "Bartenders are human too" as a thank you to a bartender at work who found my blog's name humorous. In all honesty, every single job in the restaurant business sucks. No matter how much you are being paid, you are still dealing with high stress and drama. Sure, people will say "you have that at every job" but they do not know what it is like until they've waited tables or have at least worked in food service.

Here I am going to break down the crucial parts of our restaurant.

Hosts: They deal with the people from the second they enter the door. The host can either make or break the guest's mood. The host's job is to seat the guest(s), talk to them along the way, and let them know any specials of the day/week/month. It may seem easy, but it is extremely stressful when you're in an hour and a half wait and have the same four people coming up every five minutes asking if you skipped their name. How about the people that come fifteen minutes after you called their name and then complain that they didn't hear it? The poor hosts also deal with the crowded waiting area and the fact that they aren't even able to sneak in a bite or a drink for hours at a time while trying to keep the waiting masses calm.

Servers: The servers take a majority of the impact of the restaurant. The server does literally everything for the guest. They are responsible for making that person's experience an enjoyable one. I could go on and on here, but there are plenty of other posts in regards to servers, so I'll spare you.

Bartenders: The bartenders in chain restaurants are responsible for making 95-100% of the non-fountain drinks. Bartenders are often unappreciated in chain restaurants. They do make the most money sometimes, but often have a lot of prep work and closing side work to do that most non-chain bars do. Bartenders have to take care of their own guests while also managing the service bar (tickets that servers ring in for their tables) and sometimes takeout. While this might not sound like a lot of work, imagine having 20-30 bar guests who need refills, 5 tickets of frozen drinks, 3 takeout pickups, and a whole list of people you have to call back to make sure their takeout order was good.

Cooks/Prep/Dishwashers: Another extremely unappreciated job! These are the people who make the restaurant function in the way it does. If the dishwasher stops washing dishes and silverware, your guests don't have plates or silverware. The cooks can also make or break a table. If they don't read the screen or tickets, sometimes things will come out wrong. Cooks are human too! We all make mistakes! It's normal to make a mistake here or there. I consider the ticket/expediter's screen system similar to highway hypnosis. Almost everything on that screen is a repeat of something you've done earlier, so while it is important to pay attention to details, it is natural to sometimes miss the slightest of details. Your cooks make sure your hungry guests are fed, and therefore make sure there is money being placed in your pockets.

Expediters: Expo's are a crucial part of the kitchen. Expo's control how the food is being presented when it leaves the line. The expo is yet another unappreciated job when it comes to food coming out wrong. It is the servers job to ring the order in correctly. It is the expo's job to make sure it comes out as it was rung in on the ticket, correcting the chefs on occasion, or letting a manager know of any potential problems. Once again, expo's are crucial, and like servers, they sometimes forget that you told them a modification after ringing in the food wrong!

Managers: Manager's are extremely underappreciated! They deal with every problem you can think of that nobody else on the staff wants to touch. Angry guests, angry employees, hiring people, terminating people, calling cabs, potentially harmful guests, food allergies, paperwork, ordering supplies, maintenance, inventory, you name it, they deal with it. Sure, the managers have the power, but how do you think they got there? They started in one of the jobs stated above and worked their way up whether it was through hard work or not. They still deal with the worst of the worst situations and often take over when any of the people above can no longer handle the situation.

So in appreciation, this is for all of my co-workers and managers for making my job easier than it could be.