line cook

host/hostess

dishwasher

server

prep cook

Hawkers Asian Street Food

I’ve been in food service for 10 years and working at hawkers was the most physically and mentally taxing places I’ve worked. I got a great vibe from the chef and during orientation you watch a video about the CEO's background and mission and I was like “Wow! I hit the jackpot, they’re speaking directly to me." After a week, they started taking advantage of me and the other new cooks scheduling us 6-8 days in a row with one single day off each time, and had no dish washer. Management pick favorites unlike anywhere I’ve ever seen. The exec/sous chefs rarely cook, all 3 of them expo and food still always goes out to wrong tables somehow so you spend most your time remaking food "on the fly." They expect the wheel person to be able to keep up with 4 wok cooks, which is physically impossible with how fast paced it is. They changed the hours to an hour later without telling any of us and that was my last straw. I’m disappointed because I thought I was gonna learn more about Asian cuisine and grow with this company but I had to leave that environment asap.

It may reel you in with its nice location, good food and friendly faces, but once you get settled, you truly get to see how horribly mismanaged this place is. For the entirety of my time working there, and still to this day, people don't get paid properly, with a lot of money ending up missing, and most likely going to the owners. You'll notice all the managers are extremely lenient when it comes to attractive women, but nobody else. Often, one of our managers would flirt with customers and try to get their numbers. They pick favorites like nowhere I've ever seen before, to the point where customers comment on the difference in treatment of the employees to the employees. Customer service is a joke, the H.R. rep is almost always on vacation, and never able to help anybody. I would truly not recommend anybody to work here, restaurant positions aren't normal here. I've never ever seen such a horribly managed place of business.

This was my first job and needless to say, it was a very hard first job. The restaurant is always busy and customers sometimes can be unbearable leaving huge messes and sometimes just being straight up rude and entitled, but that’s just restaurant business. I had three managers at the time and I can say I only loved one of them. He did my interview process and he’s very fun to be around. He was very understanding and gave me days off when I needed them. The other managers... Not so much. They will sometimes guilt trip you or blame you for wanting days off if there was an emergency. One of my coworkers called in sick and the manger’s response was “really..?” in a very annoyed tone. They ended up coming in. But other than that I loved being around my coworkers because mostly everyone is friendly. You will get a lot of hours if you need them. It would be great for a college student as you get paid a decent amount. But if you’re looking for a chill part time job... Maybe not so much. Also, they didn’t perform a drug test on me.

I heard management in this place was bad and to stay away from it, but I still want it to try, mostly because their procedures are authentic and I wanted to learn them (and I did), and again management it’s bad and toxic and pretty much useless they’re gonna blame corporate to avoid fix any issues like being all the time understaffed due to they POOR SKILL MANAGING PEOPLE, nothing works properly in this place they’re gonna make you do 5 people job (pantry, wok, prep protein, dishes, prep sauces and yes they are high volume prep) and God forbids if one day you are tired of them and decide to stop trying because guess what.. they’re gonna write you up, they are a joke and not a funny one. This place is not serious at all and again if I have not being clear enough MANAGEMENT IS THE PROBLEM (exec chef and the other “chefs”). Just don’t work here unless you have no other choice at all.

Don't expect to get any compliments from managers! You'll have much better odds winning the lottery than hearing a "good job" or a "keep up the good work". But expect to hear "if it happens one more time you're gone" literally everyday. Managers will tell staff not to eat food on the floor even when you are on your break but will sit at the bar or booth EVERYDAY wolfing down Pad Thai and Roti's! Good luck trying to find them if they're not eating. I've seen the HOST working on EXPO because managers often disappear. 

Overall Hawkers would be a great place to work if Managers practice what they preach and come to work with a positive attitude. Many workers walked out because at the end of the day, you can go to an Outback or Applebees and get treated with more value than you'll ever get here.


Overall, pretty cool work environment with the decorations and really cool coworkers. The pay was nice ($15). The main issue was management. They played favourites and were extremely rude to those they didn't like, to the point of it being obvious to others. If you make a mistake, management will talk to you like a baby and give you such a hard time.  They advertise “cross-training opportunitites” but good luck getting onto a different position at this place. I went my entire employment of almost a year without being cross trained after requesting it and watched them give the position I wanted to new hires. If you arent trying to give your entire life to this job, dont apply. They will guilt trip and berate you endlessly if you have to call in sick or cant work upon request. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
My co workers.  They make coming to work a joy. And help in every step in my advancement.  From the Executive Chef to the dishwasher. We are a family with a small business feel. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Call outs.  We all have them. But at Hawkers we are more concerned that our coworkers are dealing with life as it comes and that the work life/Balance is respected 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Supportive. We are only as strong as our weakest link.  So we build on our failures and celebrate every win. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Start at 8 am and it’s all gas from there.  There are hilarious moments but there are times that we are struggling to keep up. But we laugh at every turn.

Work environment is fun, amazing coworkers, generous regulars and get to wear jeans and a Tshirt. Hawkers used to be a family oriented company but over the years it has turned into a corporate hellhole. Managers hated each other but I think they hated the employees more. If you think you have to worry about your coworkers gossiping, dont. The managers have that covered and will talk badly about employees, customers, upper management etc, to whoever will listen. Dehumanizing, will work you 10 doubles in a row but won’t show face in the restaurant for a whole week. HR here is a joke and don’t take complaints seriously so be prepared to put up with head chefs making you and everybody else around you uncomfortable. 

Evening shifts start out slow, but after 7pm a lot of people start coming in. It's important to be quick and help out your fellow servers as much as possible. As long as you put the food order in and get their drinks in a timely manner, your table will be set. Just anticipate their needs and check back with them after every dish and make sure they feel taken care of. The hardest part of the job is delegating to stay out of the weeds. Which is why helping your team members out and completing tasks as quickly as possible are a must. The most enjoyable part of the job is interacting with different kinds of people from all different kinds of places.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Nothing at all. Trash as far as management. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Parking, egotistical managers, floors kept flooding on line the whole time I was there. Terrible 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Culture and environment is non existent. They can't keep good cooks or managers to bring the right energy for what they are trying to accomplish. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Petty environment, not comfortable.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 47 salaries reported	$20.86 per hour
Host/hostess 28 salaries reported	$17.19 per hour
Dishwasher 2 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Server 2 salaries reported	$12.00 per hour
Prep cook 1 salary reported	$16.50 per hour

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