What it's REALLY like working in restaurants. The dark side.

I have worked in the restaurant industry for over 7 years...and only being 21 years old I'm sure you can do the math. I started working in restaurants as soon as I was able to get my worker's permit in NY at 14 years old. I've worked in diners, fine dining, banquet facilities, casual dining, and fast casual dining. My extensive experience in the industry has shaped me into who I am today and I am thankful for that. But I want to talk about the dark side of working in restaurants. Buckle up because let me tell you...I have seen some sh*t.

It's gross.

Let me just say that every restaurant is different, however, I will say that restaurants are a lot less clean than you think. The dining rooms are all a facade. Don't let them fool you. Even though the floors, tables, glasses, silverware, and walls area all clean...that doesn't mean it looks like that in the kitchen. And if you ever get handed dirty glasses or silverware let that be the first red flag because if what they are handing you is dirty then trust me you really don't want to see the back. I worked in a restaurant where this one cook got so riled up during a busy night and angry with the front of house staff that he started throwing spaghetti all over the kitchen...it was quite the scene. People were slipping on soggy spaghetti running in and out of the kitchen that night..including me. There was spaghetti everywhere, even sticking to the walls. YUCK.

If you've ever been in kitchen walk-in cooler you will know what I'm about to say. The walk-in's are probably one of the grossest things about a restaurant. People are shockingly lazy and don't properly wrap food. Or sometimes food will go bad in there and doesn't get thrown out, so you can imagine what a cooler of spoiled food smells like. There's raw meat and fish (often times not even wrapped) sitting on shelves neighboring produce. Talk about cross contamination!

If you take away 1 thing from this post let it be this: NEVER PUT LIMES OR LEMONS IN YOUR DRINK. Don't even get me started. My friends and family all know this about me but I am notorious for NEVER putting a lime or lemon wedge in my drink. The reason for that is because during my experience in the restaurant industry, I have seen countless lemons and limes rolling around the floor of the walk-in coolers. The floors don't get cleaned properly and there is all sorts of food crumbs, meat juices, and maybe even some critters running around. That is the same floor that the workers walk into with their gross shoes too. BLAHHH!!

Let's just say you probably don't want to see the kitchen at your favorite restaurant. I will say that often times corporate restaurants are usually better at cleaning procedures because they have to be. And I will emphasize again, every restaurant is different and there are some restaurants that do not operate in filth.

You meet really interesting people.

There are all walks of life working in restaurants. First up, you have your illegal workers. In my experience, they usually have jobs like dishwashing or food prepping. Dishwashing is not a pretty job. Restaurants have these industrial dishwasher's that wash, rinse, and sanitize dishes and glasses in less than 90 seconds. But the smell of the dish-pit is probably even grosser than the walk-in cooler. Just imagine food scraps of all kinds mixed together with water overfilling the drains. AHHH. There is also huge garbage cans that all the leftover food gets scraped into off of the plates before going into the machine. And let me tell you, you do not want to smell that. One sniff of that garbage and you can almost taste it. At the end of a busy night, depending how much money I made in tips, I would always give the dishwashers a little something. Their job was much harder than mine and I wanted them to know they were appreciated.

Next up you have your ex-convicts and addicts. Unknowingly, I worked in multiple restaurants with cooks who were previously in prison; 2 of which appeared on the sex offender list. Neither of them ever made me feel uncomfortable, and in fact I would have NEVER known unless I was told.

There is one co-worker in specific that was a huge role model in my life. At the time, it was my first job and I was only 14 years old. There were countless shifts where I would come into work with flashcards to study for a test or sad because I was missing out on a fun night with friends but this co-worker was always there for me. He was so proud of me and my accomplishments. I really looked up to him. He was never late, cleaned on his hands and knees scrubbing the cracks in the floors (which is VERY RARE in the industry), and incredibly kind hearted. He wouldn't hurt a fly. One day he didn't show up to work when we both were scheduled on double shifts. I knew something was wrong. Weeks went by and he never came back. Month after month he still never came back. I never saw him again. Years later, I found out that he had broken his parole because he was using a cell phone and was back in prison. I was so shocked. I didn't believe that he had committed the crimes he did. He had been in prison for several years for sexual assault on a young girl. Words can't even describe the devastation I felt after hearing this. I felt like I knew him better than anyone else, and yet he was hiding the biggest secret. Still to this day, it's hard for me to believe that it's true.

The hours suck.

The typical hours for a restaurant shift are "4-close" or "5-close" or "6-close". Notice how there is no end time? Yeah...that's on purpose. In the restaurant industry it's very hit or miss and inconsistent. You might have a Friday night where you usually do 300 covers and only 50 walk through the door. Or maybe 450 covers come in (covers are the number of people btw). When getting scheduled for your shift, your hours will appear just as I listed above. You have no clue what time you'll get out. At most places I have worked, whoever comes in first gets cut first. If it's a really slow night the manager might cut the servers who came in at 4:00pm and 5:00pm; this means that the person who came in at 6:00pm is responsible for closing duties. The closer usually has to do things like dump out the iced tea, cut lemons, wipe down counters, sweep, mop, shine and roll silverware, etc. Being the closer sucks. But you usually make more money since any tables that walk in are yours, so that's a plus.

The hardest part for me was never knowing when I'd get out of work. It made it nearly impossible to make plans on nights I was working, which ultimately resulted in rarely seeing friends. Also in the restaurant industry, weekends are the busiest nights and usually when you make the most money. I couldn't even tell you the amount of times I'd be stuck at work while all my friends were out having a fun weekend. After a long week of classes, everyone was going out and enjoying themselves. And then there was me.

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Now...while this blog has focused on the dark side of the restaurant industry, it provides you with an exceptional set of skills that set you apart from others. I have learned time management, communication, organization, interpersonal skills, teamwork, flexibility, working under pressure, attention to detail, customer service, multitasking skills, and SO MUCH MORE. Without my experience in the hospitality industry, I wouldn't be where I am today. Even though I do not want a future career in the industry I will always have a love for it. The skills I have gained from working in hospitality, is why I believe I will be successful in the business world. Financially speaking, I have been able to pay my way through college, buy my first car at 16 years old, pay for my new car, and everything in between! I wouldn't have the things I have, if I didn't work in restaurants, and for that I am thankful. I am beyond grateful for the experiences I had and the people that I have met, as they have all influenced my life in some way. All of the sacrifice was worth it.

Having this experience in the industry is why I wanted to start this blog and share my love for food and restaurants with the world. I have learned about why restaurants fail and why they succeed. My blog will have all things food. So if you share the same love for food that I do, follow me along and help me tell my story. I am so excited to share my experiences with you.