restaurant staff

shift leader

grill cook

assistant general manager

general manager

Freebirds World Burrito

Worked as a GM for this company for a few years and while it started off amazing, it rapidly faded. Certain metrics are incredibly unrealistic and upper management is completely out of touch with daily operations on the front lines. I see the restaurant industry as a whole going this way everywhere though. Do more with less but don’t sacrifice service or cleanliness. I would have 5 people on shift and hit labor goals but not a sales/labor hour metric so was told to take another person off the shift. All the while, if you’re down in comp sales, you better have someone out marketing but make sure it’s within your labor budget. The restaurant manages you here, not the other way around.

Freebirds used to have fresh food made in house but slowly they are phasing more and more of the in house prep out and buying premade items. I understand this will save on cost but you shouldn’t continue to promote yourself as a fresh made in house restaurant when several items are not. I won’t even go into the “grass fed beef” and “all natural chicken”. 

In the beginning feedback was encouraged from the bottom up so it felt as if you had a voice. As time went on, feedback was criticized as being challenging and difficult by middle management. You did have quarterly conference calls with the CEO which did show a little progress but when your middle management doesn’t have the same values you end up spinning your wheels. Suggestions were praised but never enacted. Even when fraud was discovered during a gift card contest, it was swept under the rug because “we’re selling gift cards so just leave it alone”. 

It’s hard to be objective about the corporate office but I will try. IT was amazing. Pretty much got whatever was needed when it was needed or without long delays. Catering Department baffled me sometimes. I feel like several of them have never worked in a restaurant much less managed one. There is definite disconnect between catering and the restaurants at times. Such as how they request that ALL catering go through them. I was told by my manager that it’s because it helps their numbers and bonuses. Unfortunately if I have a hot lead on the phone, it would not be beneficial to refer them to call someone 3 hours away then to have them email me the order 30 minutes later. This process was very frustrating at times. Marketing think tanks in the corporate office was extremely supportive but in the field was a joke. There was one marketing rep for the entire Houston market and I believe he had other regions as well so there wasn’t a lot of support coming from there. Marketing heavily fell on individual restaurants but it was tricky because you had to fit it within your labor. I didn’t deal with HR much so I can’t speak to them however I expected an exit interview when I left to share these concerns of why I left. Never received one. I was told it was because I left without notice however if someone is so upset that they left without notice, don’t you think that’s someone you would really want to understand the circumstances of their exit to prevent it? 

Benefits are there but also kind of a joke. They tout a $20/month plan however you’re deductible is so high there’s no point in even having it. I know this is not necessarily their fault but it was pushed on our hourlies as such a great deal. I know they have 401k but don’t think they matched. 10 days vacation but you better use it because they won’t pay it out when you leave. They changed that while I was there and kept it quiet. In my opinion, they should have grandfathered the people who signed their handbook prior to the change. Bonus program was based on comp sales so if you had a stellar year, good luck the next year. Also this really ticked me off. Before Harvey, my restaurant was one of the top performing. We shut down for several days when Harvey hit so I ended up losing several thousand in bonus money for that quarter. I thought “well that sucks but at least I’ll make it up next year’. Nope! The corporate office decided to adjust what sales we’d go up against because “it wouldn’t be fair to go up against zero when you were closed”. Well you didn’t adjust it the year Harvey hit so why adjust it then. To save money on their bottom line. Simple as that. It would be fair to adjust both. Not just the year that made you money. 

Lastly, advancement opportunities are few and far between. The same middle management has been in place for several years in our market with very little change and it was evident when you visit the different restaurants. Things go unresolved for years in certain regions because the same people are in place. Upper management usually announces their tours so it’s easy for the problem restaurants to fake a good visit. The middle management with a few restaurants encourage that behavior. 

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Freebirds for a while but it is rapidly fading. I really enjoyed the friends and colleagues I had while working there. However, the demanding environment to run a restaurant with ridiculous metrics and low wages compared to competitors has created high turnover, resentment and even tolerated theft to achieve goals. I hope that Mr. Eagle takes a closer look at what is really happening on the front lines. Not just what his regionals and DO’s are telling him. Truly listen to the operators of these places. Encourage them to speak freely without fear of retaliation and open dialogue to better the outlook. I wish Freebirds the best however I caution those interested.

A typical day at my location requires a lot of patience and the ability to stay calm in chaotic situations. Rolling burritos, cleaning and running the register are the main jobs here, not too difficult of course. When I got hired over a year ago, the job was extremely enjoyable. Management was wonderfully organized and on top of every employee to make sure daily tasks were carried out the way they should be. However only a few short months later our GM left and a new one came in and basically turned everything upside-down (and not in a good way). And with new management came a new environment not too far off from that of a frat house. Guest service was no longer a priority and neither was cleanliness or taking care of employee's needs either. Basically, employee's got fed up with being overworked, under-payed, and walking in everyday to a horrible shift. One by one employee's began walking out, breaking down under the stress meanwhile MANAGEMENT continued to act like nothing was happening. Working a lunch rush with only 2 rollers on a Friday afternoon is not fun, trust me. Even though a large amount of employee's were lost, no one was getting hired to replace them meaning all the work not being done was thrown to the few of us who actually stuck it out. A little over a month ago that GM left the company to be replaced by our former AGM. Still in desperate need of LOTS of employees, and more tribe leaders considering I've been the only one for about 6 months now. Employee relationships have gotten a little bit better now, on it's way hopefully to be back to how it should be and we recently got a new AGM who I'm hoping will bring back old school Freebirds vibes with her! Since I've been employed here I've seen 3 GMs and 3 AGMs come and go so stability is not something that you should expect from Freebirds. But when everything is going well, it's a wonderful job. We really do get the freedom to be ourselves and our regulars are almost like an extension of the Freebirds family.

First thing first, the interview process was sloppy. Once hired on the training process was terrible. None of the upper management knows what they are doing. No training plan in place, management and area leaders are just winging it with no type of check up or support. They hold all these expectations but the training, culture and follow up is terrible. The rollouts are terrible, nothing is ever stable and no one at the company is on the same page. So many mix up’s, it’s so confusing. Area leaders higher and promote these poorly General Managers and then bring onboard a new General Manager and expect these poorly performing General Managers to coach with no roadmap. I was hired and told to help out locations without a main homesite and the managers the Area Leader had me working with were pure lazy, no leadership whatsoever. I felt that I was a new General Manager trying to maintain a location that was sinking and that wasn’t my homesite nor was I in the process of receiving any bonus for metrics etc. The General Manager and AGM was pure lazy and could care less about the operations and cleaniness. The store was filthy with a bad odor. What made it even worse was when the Area Leader would do their store check ins and make their way to the location I was at. Instead of her coaching her veteran General Manager and fixing the main issue which was the leader she had in place. She tried to put the blame on me when the store wasn’t in order. Literally just got out of training and high key still is training because the Leader at the other location didn’t teach any Freebirds management things. The worse company to ever work for. I didn’t take attendance seriously because they don’t even take their own company seriously. Work ethic is phenomenal but I will not be ran over by a company that can’t manage right. It’s a hot mess! Do some firing maybe the company can be more and actually grow. 

To be brief, long ago (about 4 years) Freebirds was said to be a pretty cool place to work. Wear whatever, chill vibes, cool people coming to eat, and what many considered the best Burrito. 
But then the worst thing that can happen to a smallish, grass roots business happened and they were bought out by some multinational conglomerate who also happens to own Vans and Puma and other high visibility brands. Anyway, Big Evil Conglomerate brought in the director of operations from chipotle and said "Make Freebirds Chipotle". The thing is, people went to Freebirds because it was different. Chipotle's aesthetic is so sanitized in nature, and slowly Freebirds followed suit. Freebirds has always had some very loyal fans, and they have not been happy. Finally they canned Chipotle dude a few months ago and things are slowly but surely improving, it seems. when I first started 2 years ago pay was horrible. I already had many years experience with food but they started me at $7.50. After the one year mark came and went and I still made only $8.50 but worked the hardest shift five nights a week and getting snubbed the single time I asked for a raise, I went to Torchys. Much Better.
But that GM left and I went back after demanding and receiving $12.50 + tips. Much better. And they whole company seems to be chilling out and paying their people more. 

I have to mention one last thing, which is the culture of like a laziness tenure or something. People who have been there awhile and most management I've worked with are unbelievably lazy. I've never seen such lazy upper managers. The little guys managaing the line, the shift leaders, most of them try their hearts out and they get chewed out constantly by GMs and AMs and especially corporates lazy lillies.

+ typical day at work includes:
set up for the day then try to find work to do so you don't get in trouble for standing around while you're waiting for customers
+ I learned what its like to work for a "tribe" where there are too many chiefs and not enough indians
+ management is very approachable, at least at my location but there were favorites. Considering I was one of them I can't really complain. They are also pretty fair in regards to the hard workers. I.E. the harder you work, and the more weight you pull, the more forgiving they are when and if you mess up
+ coworkers: again, too many chiefs, not enough indians, I pretty much listened to the actual employees that held a title and ignored everyone else.
+the hardest part about the job was that to be a "good" employee you have to work your tail off all day for minimum wage, and that pay does not reflect any difference between the hard workers and the college students that only keep a job to keep mommy and daddy happy. You can always spot those workers, they're the ones standing around visiting while you run around trying to get everything done that needs to be finished before a manager comes out and tells you off.

Great people working in the restaurants. Pretty satisfying work, keeps you always occupied. GMs are all really cool and lead by example. Extremely flexible when there's enough staff. Though I personally don't feel any of us get paid enough, GMs included, especially since covid-19. We lost quite a bit in tips to delivery orders after the pandemic started, hours got cut and never quite went back to what they were, and business has picked up like crazy yet were not seeing any of the extra money or getting the proper staffing to handle the amount of business. Corporate makes strange decisions and changes that make no sense and inconvenience the crew. They make these decisions company-wide without thinking about the fact that every restaurant has a different layout and what works for one location is seriously wonky and frustrating for another location. They don't seem to place any value on requesting input from the people that actually work in their restaurants about what works and makes sense to them. But overall, genuinely good place to work, good people, good food, and ideal for flexibility. 

I was very excited when i first got this job. Freebirds as a company is amazing, their food is delicious, and they pay a good wage. The people are incredibly nice and both assistant managers at my store are very accommodative and kind

However, at the store I worked at almost exclusively if you want more then 18 hours a week you have to be willing to drop everything to get hours. The hour management is absolutely a struggle. When I interviewed, I talked heavily about needing to pay rent and buy a car and how willing I was to work hours given to me, in the 3 months I've been there i have gotten poor hours when I have been reliable to every shift I've been given; my life is very busy I can't drop everything to pick up extra shifts especially at night. (Which also is awful when your wages are apparently performance based but the people who are constantly ditching shifts get more hours than you.) 

Currently I am sitting on a week out with no hours still. The GM has been very nice in trying to help be accommodative but it all just feels like empty words now when I can work anywhere else and get so much more. I'm tired of being overlooked for not breaking my back and dedicating my life to a job that would even give back equally. (I would 30mins to an hour late a lot of days to finish work before i go to not leave people hanging despite how busy we get but still I'm robbed hours) 

If you can break your back for a job this is the place that will reward you for it. If you need stability it's not.

Extremely laid back but professional.
I've been with this company for over 3 years now and I've learned every aspect of restaurant management, from food handling to payroll to Point of sales systems. I started as a "Crew" member and worked my way forward up to salary manager within 3 years hitting every position the restaurant had to offer, all food prep, all leadership rolls, opening restaurants, training new members, preparing and delivering small and full service caterings, I've done it all. The environment is fun, and the people are amazing, such diversity and equal opportunity, the more tattoos the better! I've been extremely passionate about this company since my first foot through the door, and have faced all challenges, from being short a few staff members, running out of food, last minute caterings, to electrical outages and equipment failure. Everyday is like a fun get together with great people serving amazing food. You can be open and free with your personality. I love that your not judged by your tattoos, they don't care what color your hair is, how covered you are in tattoos, they care about what you have to offer. I would've never gotten as far in the restaurant industry as I have if it wasn't for Freebirds.

Working for Freebirds is never boring! You are always working on improving and making Freebirds better than it was the day before. You should be ready for some really fast paced days, but also you will make some really really good connections! Freebirds is change, and you will change in  ways that you could never have expected. The best part of the job is the the ability to grow. The hardest part is to keep up some days with all the changes, but it is worth it! Freebirds is very inclusive and very friendly! Management is dynamic, and they will not leave you without direction.  
The only downside really is the Health Insurance, it is ok, but could be so much better and should be peer reviewed and not sent down to us by our parent company. I feel that if this changed that this would be a lot better and you would see a lot more people rave about working for Freebirds. 
It is not that they want to do what is best for you, it is just a disconnection from the parent company to what the real needs of the Cooperate staff and the staff in the restaurants are and what they need to be their best. I would say this is not a mere inconvenience but it is a big stumbling block and when premiums go up yearly and the coverage stays the same that is like taking away money from the staff. 

- A typical day at work for me would be, finding out who my team is for my shift, choosing who fits each position the best. Rockin and Rolin burritos with amazing and unique people just having a load of fun.
- fortunately I'm grateful to have learned things that I can use in many work fields for example I have learned how to give thorough direction and manage a staff and making sure they are all on task. I've learned how to think on my toes and outside of the box in unexpected situations.
- Management is very supportrive and willing to help develop those who want to grow which I admire a lot. and they are very consistent in the way the restaurant is ran which shows in our high percentage of customer satisfaction.
- Love how all of my co-workers have unique styles but can come together to deliver the quality service that Freebirds represents.
- The hardest part of my job is dealing with late food produce orders, running out of product, and being short staffed on a busy day.
- I enjoy the people I work with and the interesting people I meet simply just rolling burritos, though we get very very very busy and it can be stresfull in the end it always turns out to be a rockin day at Freebirds World Burritos.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Restaurant staff 8 salaries reported	$14.13 per hour
Shift leader 14 salaries reported	$15.57 per hour
Grill cook 68 salaries reported	$15.26 per hour
Assistant general manager 6 salaries reported	$47,500 per year
General manager 74 salaries reported	$55,000 per year

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