A great hangout spot, but behind the scenes is really sketchy and raised a lot of red flags…read more
I went here about three weeks ago looking for a job. The manager (or, I'm assuming he was a manager, because he never said he was or was not) named Chef was the person I spoke to about being hired. He told me to come back for a shadowing session on Monday to see if I was a good fit. He told me to text him to confirm the date the weekend before, and when I texted him on Saturday, as we had talked about, I received no response. I texted him again several times on Sunday, and got nothing back until late that evening, less than 24 hours from the shift we had talked about, asking if we could do it Tuesday instead. I agreed and returned the following day. Right off the bat, it was weird; he never took down any information from me aside from my name and phone number, and showed me how to clock in and then told me to go right to the woman at the bar to look over the menu. He didn't tell me anything about pay, hours, a resume, experience, tasks, or even offer me a tour of the place, which I thought was odd. For reference, my boyfriend and I have both had a lot of experience managing and owning businesses, so we understand the process, and he backed me up on this when I brought it up to him.
About 30 minutes into my shift, they ended up mentioning that their host never showed up, and I told them that I had experience and if they gave me a quick training talk, I'd learn it quickly. They put me up front, but didn't give me any instructions or check in with me the entire time, while I sat up there. About halfway through my shift, the woman at the bar called me back and asked me to go to Walmart and pick up some ingredients for them with some cash she offered me. I thought it was a bit strange, especially since they didn't have any information on me yet, but I agreed.
I returned and continued my shift, and still nobody checked in with me the entire four hours. Well, eventually 10 o'clock rolled around (the time we'd agreed I would stop), and yet nobody showed any signs of coming up to tap me out. And then 10:30 came, and I ended up walking up to Chef, and a gentleman I assumed was another manager, and later realized may have actually been the owner, and he was at the bar smoking a hookah and drinking while still on shift. I asked him if they were trying to get me to stay till 11 or something, or if I misunderstood the time, but before I could tell him that I needed to leave soon because I'm also a full-time medical student, he ended up telling me that I could stay, like he thought I was asking. I thought I maybe could've phrased it better, so I ended up biting my tongue and went back up to the front for another 30+ minutes.
While I was on shift, I noticed many more red flags that made me uncomfortable. For example, many of the on-clock staff were at the bar drinking and smoking the whole time with the owner. At some point during the jazz band, one of the employees ordered at least two mixed drinks and sat down with all the customers to watch, and apparently got wasted from what I heard. They also told us that we aren't allowed to say no if somebody orders us a shot because it's rude, even if it made us uncomfortable. (I looked it up with my boyfriend later, and we both confirmed that working while under the influence is against federal law.)
They also said that servers would need to carry your own cash around because they didn't carry cash in the register, which means that the waiters have to break their own bills and bring in at least $50 worth of cash in order to start their shift, and risk losing out on money if we can't break a bill or something. My shift finally ended at 11:20, another 20 minutes after our agreed time, only because I basically told them that I was leaving instead of asking. And that whole time, no one once said anything to me about hosting, when they wanted me to return, pay, or anything.
After I left around 11:30, I heard nothing back from Chef until two days later, after he completely ignored me until then, when he asked if I could come back in an hour after he messaged me. I told him I would not be returning because of how uncomfortable and inattentive it felt, and I asked about pay, since I had worked about a 5-hour shift for free thus far, and he never replied. I didn't push because, honestly, I just wanted to walk away from what had happened from how sketchy it was, even when I was encouraged not to. For bonus, the backroom was really gross. The whole area smelled like the dishpit hadn't been cleaned in days, and the towel room was basically just cloth thrown about. I've worked in a lot of restaurants, and this was by far the most unclean and untidy one I'd seen. I won't be going back, and honestly just want to leave this behind me, and warn anyone who may apply there in the future.