line cook

host/hostess

dishwasher

restaurant manager

food runner

Din-Tai-Fung

I’ve been waiting to write this review for a long time. I hope my peers will feel empowered to share their experiences, too, especially for a company that surprisingly won “Great Place to Work” (they offered a DTF water bottle if you filled out the survey).

Management
This is an area that needs a lot of improvement. In my opinion, staff confidence in management is really low. They keep hiring new managers, which adds to the high turnover. Some managers communicate well but don’t always meet staff expectations, which can be frustrating. Feedback, especially about pay and support, seems to get ignored, particularly in the bartender department. Support for servers is hit or miss, depending on the section. It feels like making meaningful relationships with management is difficult, as they seem to prioritize their own needs. Lastly, creating a feedback loop for certain managers so that they can be held accountable for future employees would benefit the company significantly.

Supplies
Three months into opening the new Bellevue flagship store, we’re still often short on supplies, which hurts our ability to provide good service. Things like carafes, spoons, and plates are frequently missing. This could be due to supply chain issues, but they had plenty of time to prepare.

Bartender Issues
Before moving to the new building, bartenders made around $500-$600 a night. Now it’s dropped to about $300-$400 a night, even though we have more responsibilities than servers. The smaller section sizes to better meet guest needs have also cut into our earnings. Support depends on the manager on duty, and there’s no bar seating waitlist, which could help improve efficiency.

New Store Design
The new store design seems more focused on profit than on making things convenient for employees. Working in the far back sections is tough, with expectations for quick table turnover and insufficient support during busy times.

Scheduling
While you can request days off, there are blackout days when everyone has to work. The store tends to avoid giving overtime unless it suits them, leading to scheduling conflicts. For example, if someone covers your shift, they might get assigned a house shift instead, leaving you to find another cover.

Meetings
Meetings are treated as regular shifts and are mandatory, with no option to attend remotely. They often cover topics we’ve already discussed during orientation, which could be streamlined to save time.

Attendance Point System
The point system for attendance doesn’t really encourage staff to cover for each other. This could be improved to promote better cooperation among the team. Sometimes, depending on who you are in the organization, it is not even fully enforced.

Doubling or Full Day Shifts
Morning shifts usually don’t pay well, and doubles can mean long breaks and less desirable sections at night. This could be re-evaluated to make section assignments fairer.

Expeditor Department
The team support is great, but management support can be inconsistent. More hands-on help from management would be beneficial.

Greeter Department
Promotions from the greeter department take a long time, sometimes 6-12 months or more.

VIP Tables
Holding tables for VIPs can limit earning opportunities for other staff, and the tips from VIPs vary a lot. For example, holding a table for 30+ minutes while most guests are only allowed a grace period of 15-20 minutes. This practice might need to be reconsidered to balance earnings more fairly.

Terminating
Terminations can happen at the start or end of a shift, which is disruptive and stressful. A more respectful approach to timing would be better for employee morale.

Conclusion
I hope this review helps people understand what it’s like working here. While the pay can be decent if you focus only on the money, management struggles with understanding and meeting employee needs and prioritizes profits. Despite the challenges, there are opportunities to make good money and build relationships with coworkers who navigate management’s policies. The one-star rating reflects issues with management, feedback, scheduling, and upholding core values. Given these problems, it’s surprising that it won any awards.

First off, they do NOT hire servers. Ever. Period. Any time they post that they are hiring servers/waiters/watresses, that is a LIE you will find out during the interview. It doesn't matter how many years of experience of what kind. You can only be hired as a food runner or lower, and they tell you that you have to wait at least 3 months before being considered for promotion. (This excludes managers as you can be hired as one)

Now sure, the money is good for a food runner position, but most serving jobs in the area will actually net you a similar amount of money for less work. See, here's the thing, food running is a hard and thankless job. Due to restaurant volume, you're literally gonna be running around your whole shift, even less than the servers. And it's incredibly mindless, pick up, check table chit, drop off, go back, and do it all over again. If that's your thing, then all the more power to you and I recommend it for a school job.

Here's the fun part, you know how they only hire food runners and below? That means almost the entire food runner force doesn't want to be there and are mostly there for the money if anything. Additionally, there's not much keeping them there, except for the vague promise of one day becoming a server, so the food runner team is often understaffed.

Promotions, to put it bluntly, are rarely done on merit and are almost always done due to restaurant necessity. It doesn't matter how well you learn the menu, it doesn't matter how well you follow their guidelines, it doesn't matter WHAT you do, they will find something wrong to mark you down in the review until they need to staff the upper levels of service. Even if you do get promoted, becoming a server has GOT to be the slowest process. They tell you you can be promoted, it's still like two weeks until you begin training, and THEN it's like 10 days spread over a month+ before you get to actually make money serving. 

Workplace culture is probably the WILDEST thing to me. When you join, they tell you they are ALL about respect. Which is fine and dandy, but they don't tell you that it all depends on whether the person on the receiving end likes you or not. You can treat two people with the same amount of respect and one person will see it as disrespectful just because they don't like you or think you don't like them. So sometimes, you can find out you got reported when you were literally going about business as usual. Speaking of reports, whoever reports first gets in the least amount of trouble. Most times, you don't get to defend yourself if you get taken aside and talked to. And even if you do, it still is "well they took it this way so you need to make sure you don't act this way to them". The responsibility is ALL on the accused. It's not hey it's a two way street and I spoke to them with the same respect they gave to me, it's all your fault they didn't take it the right way. 

In addition, it often feels like the cameras are there to watch the workers instead of security. I've often heard the phrase, "do we need to check the cameras?" in response to no one owning up to a mistake. Which would ALWAYS rile me up. It doesn't matter whose fault it is so you can blame them, just solve the problem and tell everyone not to make that mistake. At the end of the day, it makes everyone try to not do the wrong thing, instead of doing the right thing. Which sounds the same, but in reality is much much different. After all, you make less mistakes as long as you stay within your strict bounds.

Overall, the culture really does feel like everyone being fake happy. After all, you ARE required to smile the entire time you are there. (which many people don't or can't do and yet aren't called out on. If the managers have it out for you they absolutely will call you out for it) Which leads me to the opinion I heard voiced the most, albeit the most quietly...

                           "You can't trust anyone here"

The person who wrote, “Its a proactive and fun place to work at. If you can serve at din tai fung you can serve at any restaurant.” Is a load of LIES and wanted to up the reviews and most likely works in management. And all the values they say they follow they DONT. People would see din tai fung on resumes and shy away from them or are compassionate because they’ve heard all the horror stories. It’s a one sided relationship either you go their way or no way (86ed) or seen as negative to the team. Though they are the one promoting negativity and everyone is discussing it which is prohibited. It’s like a totalitarian company. No talking must act happy and do everything as told no questions asked. That’s why there are so many unhappy employees they only stay for the money and their coworkers makes it bearable. They require a lot from you and expect more and more, it’s never good enough. 

They want you to live breath din tai fung their goals. They seem to forget that everyone working part time have career advancement in plan and are students or actors/ musicians/ artists and they don’t compromise with your schedule and if you miss you get a write up. Get 2 you’re out. They want you to help them succeed but not willing to help you. One way relationship = toxic relationship. They changed the system where everyone gets tipped the same (runners, greeters, bussers, cashiers) which promotes synergy (communism)hurting those who have been there longer and worked hard for their money. Their paycheck have decreased by couple of hundreds of dollars. When you mess with people’s money they aren’t happy. If you want to be more like “Taiwan” maybe go back there and run your business. 

A successful business is having good relationships with your employees. Having a conversation with them get to know them be on their level. Not having a fine line of management and FOH and BOH be segregated. Still an employee of the company. 

Managers would belittled and berate you in front of everyone. It’s rude and disrespectful we are grown adults and can have an adult conversation about things. If you want help people improve HELP them not bash them. Learn people skills and know how to talk to a room and relate to them. No matter how busy you are they will want to you do what they want and not help you out. If the owners don’t like you or you defy them anyways by saying no they tell uppers to find a way to get rid of you. 

Getting time off is difficult. If you request more than 4 days you need to do “leave of absence” and you’re not guaranteed getting it and if you have to plan to go out of town they don’t care if you’ve already gotten your ticket. They take forever to approve your request and if it was for family emergency or family reunion or what nots they’ll still deny you. If you book another job or have clinicals that’s not allowed either which many have quit because they can have 7 available shifts open. 

 Not a compassionate or understanding company. 

Beware company is toxic. 

If you’re a student this is definitely not going to work with your schedule.

I would like to preface everything with a reminder that work sucks anywhere. DTF at the mall in Torrance is alright. The pay is good, but that's about it.

DTF is a Michelin star restaurant, so the standards for food presentation and employee attitudes are high. That also means it gets busy sometimes, which can be stressful to the point you're rushing for most of your shift and you can't catch a 10 minute break and you kind of want to die. 

I can't speak for other positions, but I'm only responsible for two stations in my job description and I share the responsibility of one of those two stations with the runners. But the managers have me doing other runners jobs and now the runners think they can leave their work for me to do and then get cut early. 

You get a 10 minute break for any length of shift. 30min break for 6 hour shifts. 1hr break for 8+ hour shifts. All breaks are unpaid breaks. 

Managers seem unapproachable and they play favorites. Front of house staff gets all the love. 

Schedules for the week are made the Friday before. Even if you request days off months before, they're not guaranteed off, and you won't know if it's approved until they make the schedule.

You can't call in sick without providing a doctor's note or else you'll get written up. In my station, you have to find someone to cover your shift as well because literally no one else is trained to work that station. Other positions have enough people working that you don't necessarily HAVE to have your shift covered, but it would be nice to the rest if you did. 

You can use your PTO/PSL hours (paid time off/paid sick leave) after 90 days of working there. I think PTO also doesn't work without a doctor's note either. I'm not sure if they changed the rule on that though. 

You get penalized on a point system. If you're even one minute late to your shift, you get penalized. Enough points, and you get written up. And after three write-ups, you get terminated. There isn't anywhere you can check to see how many points you've accumulated before a write-up, but it's easy to calculate yourself.

The people there are nice to work with. The pay rate is good. It just feels like you're being worked more than they pay you for. I personally feel very unappreciated and the only thing that is keeping me here is the pay. There's no love for the station I work at and as a result the employee turnover rate is high for my station.

If you don't mind a high-stress environment that's physically taxing, and if you are good at working in a rush then go ahead and apply.
 
You can only move up to Server when you're a Front of House team member. I'm unsure about this, but it feels like if you're boba barista or a dumpling person, there's no moving up from those position.

I’ve been working at the Glendale location for about  1.5 years now... insane how many changes there’s been since I started. Things are constantly changing, policies are switched around back and forth. Change is “implemented” in order to improve but many changes are minuscule and do nothing to improve the performance or welfare of its employees.  The training process is long and arduous but nothing impossible. 

The upper management are very quick to point out employee mistakes but don’t provide support to back up their staff. Here’s an example... you are getting quadruple sat because it’s the beginning of the dinner rush. Your relief hasn’t arrived and will not be arriving for another five minutes. You are scrambling to find a manager, you have fifteen minutes left to clock out. The surrounding servers don’t arrive till a later time and your closest coworker is on the other side of the restaurant. Your relief arrives finally and you transfer all your tables to your coworker. You scramble to clock out. You notice you have hit your sixth hour. You are penalized by going over your sixth hour even by a minute. It’s been a busy shift, you end up staying after your clock out to complete your side work. Alternatively, if the scheduling manager makes a mistake on the schedule and you have no choice to work over your six cause the overlap was timed poorly ... this “blunder” can be overlooked and forgiven. The irony. 

In comparison to most restaurants, DTF is very inflexible in terms of scheduling especially if you already have another day job or are a student. They require 7 shifts so three full open days and one half day. With that being said, there are also mandatory black out dates scheduled around holidays or festival events. It’s extremely difficult to go anywhere during any holiday season or even to visit family outside of the state/country. Holidays are pretty understandable but sometimes there are several weekends blocked out consecutively. If you decide to take days off for longer than four days, you are required to take a leave of absence...imagine getting approved for a vacation and taking it... and then wondering if the company may decide to continue your employment with them. 

DTF is busy, busy, busy. Be prepared to handle loads of stress and angry clientele due to excessive wait times. Be prepared to be quadruple sat. Seating rotations are more of a soft suggestion because of the hangry mob standing angrily in the lobby. 

The only pro is that the money is decent for the time you put in. 

Coworkers are great and very tight knit group. Management changes constantly like musical chairs.

If i could give this company zero stars i would. The pay is good as you get part of tips but you never work more than 4 hours. If you can not deal with high stress and being busy do not work here. The managers are terrible and they put on a front infront of the regional manager making it seem like they care about you. I was a greeter which is like a hostess and during my first week i was called into a meeting with managers and i had never felt more disrespected in my life by another human being the manager talked to me like i was a piece of gum on the sidewalk. The managers would find things wrong with you and instead of trying to better you as an employee by giving you advice they just make you feel dumb. On top of that the managers would have favorites and if they dont like you the first week in they will makeup things about you so they can write reports to get rid of you. I was told that i was a slow learner which was completely false because i was doing positions that it took other coworkers 4 months to do such as they would be stuck walking guests to tables for months before getting the chance to be a hostess, where i was doing it within the first month. I was a hard worker and a team player where i would pick up peoples shifts and worked 5/6 days out of the week. You are trained by employees which is common because managers don’t usually have time to train but you will have to learn each position five different ways since there is no consistency and it would make it difficult to learn. They are all about smiling but the managers dont smile and also most of the staff would say multiple times how they hated guests and hated working with people which is outrageous because you work in a customer service job. I was let go out of the blue and was told i was a hard worker and was improving but was not a good fit for the company. I don’t understand how you can tell a person that they work hard and are improving but you are letting them go for no real reason? Also if you are not asian dont apply because you will not last long (i am white and was the only white greeter). When i let some of my former coworkers know i will no longer be working with them they were absolutely shocked because i was a great worker and was great with guests because customers would get upset about the long wait time or the rule that we dont seat partial parties but i would be able to explain things in a way that would calm them down and would show i understand their frustrations and i wouldn’t sound like i was reciting the handbook i made the guests feel heard and respected.

This company's corporate office is good for people with little to no experience, straight out of college and wants to get started in the degree field. The pay is decent, $18-19 per hour to start but keep in mind that you will NOT get good health insurance or much benefits. You will need to pay around $36 out of your paycheck per month on health insurance. The plan is the cheapest out there in the insurance market: Salud HMO y Más. The copay's are $65 per regular doctor visit and $85 for specialist. If you want better health insurance you will need to buy it on your own through Covered CA. There is no dental or vision or life insurance so you would need to buy on your own as well. You're pretty much making minimum wage if you do the math. Don't be fooled at during the interview where the HR manager, regional manager and CEO's son's wife says there are benefits. You only get real benefits (i.e 401k, paid health, dental, vision, life) when you become a manager or receive salary pay. Additionally, there is no opportunities to move up unless your manager leaves. 
The other only benefit is the health reimbursement where you can get up to $50 reimbursed for going to the gym or taking a health class. 
There is also no parking at the company lot for your probation period of 3 months. You will be forced to park at the rental lot which is half a mile away. When it rains, the streets are often FLOODED and you will be soaked walking to and from the parking lot. After the probation period, parking will be based on attendance. You can only have excused absences if you use sick leave or other law protected leaves. Other than that, being late or missing work will result in you not getting parking the next couple of months and you will end up parking at the rental lot.
Your raise after probation will be a dollar more or less. There will be no raises after that. 
Management is also stingy about overtime so don't do it often or else they will get suspicious. 
Almost everyone getting paid hourly here is not happy. Many have left and found better jobs with benefits elsewhere. There is a ridiculously HIGH turnover rate. Employees also gossip and talk about each other in a rude way. There is a lot of company politics.
Management always changes the rules. Before we had 10 non paid holidays, now it is only 4 non paid holidays. Management is really stingy!! BEWARE. Go elsewhere!

My review is long but hope this helps! 
I've been working here for a few months, and I thought I'd share some insights based on my experience. Starting off with the front of house role, this place definitely offers more in terms of compensation compared to others. And FOH roles stretch from hosting to running. yes running is not a promotion, being a lead or server etc is. 

In terms of skill-building, this spot is a goldmine for honing top-notch customer service and mastering multitasking. I'm genuinely enjoying my time here. The front of house duties are fairly straightforward to begin with. The real pressure kicks in when the high volume crowds start rolling in, but that's par for the course.

The HR policies here are clear-cut and stringent, which I appreciate. In my opinion, if you're looking for a place to build a career, not just clock in and out, this company offers solid prospects. The majority of the crew tends to be on the younger side, so you might encounter some minor hiccups and witness some laid-back attitudes. But as long as you can maintain a clear boundary between personal and professional matters, put in the effort, maintain a friendly demeanor to everyone and focus on your work. 

The team here is hardworking and cooperative, always ready to lend a hand. There are days when it feels like you’re pulling the weight of a few, given the sheer volume of staff on a single shift. But like I mentioned earlier, if you’re truly passionate about customer service, this is a minor inconvenience - time flies when you’re in the zone.

Now, let’s talk management. They’re a great bunch. Some may lean towards a stricter approach, but they’re all aligned in ensuring each shift runs smoothly. Personally, I’d appreciate a bit more consistency in terms of pace and effort with FOH staff, but given the staff-to-shift ratio, I understand.

As for promotions, they’ve got clear criteria in place. However, this company is fertile ground for professional growth. Demonstrate your dedication, steer clear of any workplace drama, and maintain a steady performance, and you’ll find yourself climbing the ladder with certainty.

My experience at Din Tai Fung was simply one of the best aspects of my life. It was my first job as a fresh adult, and fueled my life with purpose. 
I clocked in happy and clocked out even happier. The only negativity that I ended a work day with was disappointment that my shift wasn't longer and frustration that I didn't improve as much from the previous day as I wanted to. The work was challenging as it demanded precision and high quality while maintaining efficiency (e.g. rolling dough quicker and in fewer rolls) but it was always fun. The preparation team put in great effort to encourage growth while also comforting me if they noticed that I was nervous or too tense, and they always made me feel welcome and accepted even if I was nowhere near the level of expertise that they were at. 
The management at Din Tai Fung are incredible. Even managers outside of my department make a clear effort to welcome me and present themselves as people that you can trust, not fear. The manager of my department was incredibly kind and patient, and communicated with the team to ensure that their best interests were heard and considered. He, alongside many of my former coworkers with varying degrees of experience, all put their best effort forward to ensure that I was getting the best training as quickly as possible without overwhelming me. 
If I were to speak extensively about the work environment of Tukwila's Din Tai Fung, you'd be right to expect that it would follow the same general pattern of positivity that I have to offer in regards to my experience. Everyone is kind. Everyone is welcoming. It feels like a home.
I cannot state specifically what my favorite part of the job was, because my answer cannot be narrowed down from "absolutely everything." However, if I were to speak about the hardest part of the job? The worst part of the job?
The hardest part was leaving. Clocking out. Quitting. The worst part? Is that everything about the Tukwila location was so perfect for a first job experience that I'll forever miss it.

Typical day at work:
Get there at least 20 min early for opening shifts in case there is a "team chat." Clock in EXACTLY at your scheduled time, no matter who else is waiting to clock in, and basically run to your post. There's a 99% chance that there's a bunch of hangry customers waiting at the door.

DTF is popular and always busy, expect people to be upset about the 45+ min wait time (you'll get lots of practice on your customer service demeanor).

You'll need to be able to stand for most of the shift, so invest in some super comfortable shoes.

Customers who sit and chat for 15 min after their meal will be the bane of your existence.

Other than that, the job itself is pretty straightforward-- check people in, be nice, hold doors, help the overworked setters, etc.

Workplace culture revolved around the managers and the servers, as they were the ones who usually had rapport and had their own little smoking clique before and after shifts. People who were accepted into this clique were more likely to hold onto their job, and people who did not smoke or attempt to ingratiate themselves were given the boot (hint hint: there's a high turnover rate; the 8-9 other hosts/servers they hired with me were fired right before the probation period ended).

Good parts of the job are the tip to work ratio; you'll make more here working 20 hrs a week here than you would in 30+ hours a week at other places. No comped lunches, but food/drinks are 50% off while you're working.

Hardest part would probably be keeping your job. My family goes pretty regularly and they always have new faces.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 40 salaries reported	$24.04 per hour
Host/hostess 4 salaries reported	$21.07 per hour
Dishwasher 16 salaries reported	$20.42 per hour
Restaurant manager 62 salaries reported	$93,871 per year
Food runner 1 salary reported	$12.15 per hour

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