cook/dishwasher

restaurant manager

assistant general manager

kitchen manager

service manager

Mi Cocina

Mi Cocina seemed like a great place to work. Well priced, good food, decent atmosphere, and a great area with high clientele traffic. Overall from the outside looking in this was a great place to serve at. That was until I actually started working there. All front of house managers including the general manager were very unprofessional. Managers were afraid to speak to guests if there was a problem such as other guests being too noisy. Something not quite right with seating, wait times on food ect. I had the wrong food go out to one of my tables and I obviously sent it back. I then asked my GM to go and talk to them to smooth things out. In this case a kids food was made incorrectly or didnt go out (I dont remember which). I told the GM what had happened and asked him to go talk to the table. He looked at me and said "Well I don't know what you want me to do about that". These types of interactions would happen all the time. With every server in the restaurant. You are on your own at MI Cocina. You will have no help serving with full sections of 8 tables with up to 30 guests. Front of house Managers don't to squat at this restaurant except stand around or deliver salsa. There were multiple other altercations with different servers and bartenders between management. At Mi Cocina there is no team, no family. It's you, yourself, and I verses management and guests. 

Every morning I would open the restaurant, get the money ready for the cash register. Also set up chips and salsa for the lunch and dinner rushes, make sure everything was nice and tidy. Through out the day I would greet and seat customers walking in, bring chips and salsa, have to memorize who ordered what to drink and what to eat. I learned what came with all the food plates for the most part, so therefore I'd try and advertise certain foods debating on what a customer would feel like eating on a certain day. Every night when it came to clean up I would sweep and mop, clean around the register, clean the area around the chips, do silver-ware for the next morning, always make sure we had enough chips and salsa ready to go for take out orders as well. Overall I would have to be prepared and clean for the next lunch and dinner rush. I learned how to think ahead, work fast and efficient as possible. The hardest thing about work was seeing a bad tip, even when you know you worked harder than most waiters at fancy restaurants giving rude and horrible service out. But what really made up for that was seeing your regulars and good friends you met working there!

As someone who has worked at multiple restaurants before I’m used to make 100+ dollars on a night shift. I been working here for some time now and if you make 100 on a shift trust me you’re gonna feel tired asffff they barely give you tables the most you get are 3 tables. They’re always gonna tell you that if you wait more they’re gonna give you better sections or more tables but that’s not really true they only do that with people that have worked for years here. Something that I don’t understand too is that we pay the bussers a good amount of money n they only take the cups and the napkins from ur tables like??
They’ll make you work full time and give you all the extra hrs since they always have like 15 servers working on one shift 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️
Only good thing is you get a free meal when you work on mornings n if you want a meal on the afternoon shift you gotta come in like 2 hrs early..

A typical work day at Mi Cocina consisted of myself opening the restaurant in the mornings. This consisted of putting signs outside with our products, opening the drive through window, and making sure we were ready to open on time at 7am. I learned a lot about responsibility as I usually had to be in at 6:45 or earlier every morning to make sure everything was ready by 7. The hardest part of the job was to stay calm under pressure. There were certain days that at certain times, we got slammed with cars and business and I had to get people their food and money quickly and correctly. But the best part of the job was that the pay was good for a high school student and the hours were flexible with my schedule.

I just started here about 2 months. Since I'm a new employee & haven't been here as long as others who have been here over 10 yrs, I don't get any of the good sections even though I am good at what I do as a service industry veteran. The management is garbage- they don't talk to eachother. And they advertise that you will make over $1k a week but that's only for the people who have been here the longest & benefit from favoritism. The money is decent- the standard server "salary." There is health/vision/dental but it's not good. There is no paid time off, there is no tuition reimbursement, & there aren't any other discounts/benefits that you get that are advertised in the job posting. It's an okay job but it absolutely is NOT all that it is advertised. 

As a Mi Cocina Pantry Cook, I am responsible for a variety of minor tasks. Tasks range from prepping necessities, chopping veggies, cleaning, putting away incoming supplies, following recipes to cook and more.
The usual shift starts at 7:30 am with produce arriving 4 days out of the week. At the start of the shift, I begin by prepping products for consumption with little to no room for error due to business opening at 11. From 11 to 3 or later, I finish any needed prep and prepare orders for customers.
The job is simple and fast paced at times with no real challenge other than the usual rush, lack of necessities, language barriers and other minor issues.

After about 6 months, I learned the ins and outs of serving and working at Mi Cocina, and was not impressed at all. While you can make decent money as a server, you will also not enjoy any benefits. The management was ok, but there was a huge gap in communication between the general manager and the two shift managers. The co-workers' attitudes varied from helpful to antagonistic, and I felt there was a large divide between races at this location. If you do end up working there, the best thing you can do is to get your job done, not trust anyone and watch your back.

I was a full-time dishwasher on-call. Something I had never heard of. The work load was very strenuous with very low pay. Not to mention that no matter who messed up you could be fired based on how the managers felt that day. 
Usually, my day consisted of dishes being stacked on the floor and all of the counters. While, I was constantly being yelled at that they need more things prepared. The instant I walked into work and that if the I didn't have it done quickly I could be fired everyday. By the head owner and not the chef.

My duties were:

washed dishes
took out trash
fried tortilla chips
What ever else they threw at me on the fly

It's the restaurant business. Not much to say other than it can be a fun work environment because the people there are carefree, although sometimes it gets stressful during peak times. Work/life balance can be rather tough since you work when many people are off and that includes weekends. The company does provide tools like pens, notepads and shirts for servers, so they do implement the tools you need and don't require you to purchase on your own. Overall, great place to work, and what you make depends on you, since salary is tip-based. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Shift meals. Really that's about it. An overall bad experience. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
If you are not Latino, do not apply. This location is extremely prejudice against non Latino hires. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The staff is awesome. The management is beyond inept. There's extreme bias and preferential treatment given to Latinos. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Constantly being watched to make a mistake. They're always cooking up a strategy to fire me. It always fails, though.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cook/dishwasher 3 salaries reported	$15.33 per hour
Restaurant manager 82 salaries reported	$63,561 per year
Assistant general manager 1 salary reported	$62,500 per year
Kitchen manager 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year
Service manager 2 salaries reported	$63,500 per year

Working at Mi Cocina: Company Overview and Reviews

Mi Cocina

Mi Cocina Ratings

Popular jobs at Mi Cocina

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected