Employee & Customer Warning: Toxic Workplace, Favoritism, and Sabotage
I delayed writing this review for months, but I feel an obligation to warn other industry professionals--especially women--about the reality of working at Char Bar No. 7. While the hiring team puts on an excellent front, the actual work environment is an incredibly toxic, unprofessional environment driven by severe failure from leadership.
Grossly Unprofessional Behavior
The leadership here requires a complete overhaul. Managers regularly participate in workplace gossip, undermine each other's authority, and bring their personal lives into operations. Jessica, in particular, was an incredibly toxic and incompetent manager who made the workplace miserable before her departure. The sole exception to this chaos was Michelle, who remained professional and tried her best to support staff under impossible conditions.
Calculated Workplace Sabotage
If Jessica decides she does not like you for standing up for yourself, she will actively sabotage your livelihood--regardless of how hard you work. In the exact same month that I received an official corporate write-up, I also received a five-star customer review highlighting my excellent service. This proof of my work ethic didn't matter because Jessica preferred favoritism over performance. I experienced direct retaliation designed to cut my income:
* Host Stand Manipulation: I would clean my tables, but Jessica would instruct the host to leave them marked as dirty on the host stand so I wouldn't get sat.
* Income Suppression: I was deliberately restricted to a 3-table section while favored servers were handed 4+ tables and the highest-earning sections every single shift.
* Targeted Rule Enforcement: Corporate rules were weaponized. A restriction on ordering food after being cut was enforced exclusively against me, while the "favorites" ordered freely.
Mishandling of Medical Leave & Retaliation
The internal communication here is non-existent. I contracted COVID-19 and, immediately after, suffered a severe hand injury requiring eight stitches. Despite providing formal doctor's notes and notifying a manager directly, the information was never communicated to the rest of leadership. I was wrongfully terminated despite having full medical documentation. When I called them out on it, they tried to cover their tracks by placing me back on the schedule for a measly two days, telling me to "pick up shifts" if I wanted real hours.
The Bottom Line
The only reason I made money at this establishment was because of my own work ethic and ability to flip tables quickly. Most of the staff is completely miserable but too intimidated by the hostile work environment to speak up.
Leaving was the best thing that ever happened to me. I am now at an establishment where I am respected and making three times what I made here. Save yourself the stress and the hit to your wallet. Do not apply here! read more