restaurant manager

line cook

pizza cook

prep cook

assistant restaurant manager

Old-Chicago-Pizza

I love working in kitchen prep. And I'm good for it. I would prepare the food items from scratch, so I would work up some goods smells in the kitchen. That was fun. Things like alfredo sauce, pizza sauce, toppings, dips, other sauces, dressings, salads, chili, various pickled foods, various caramelized foods, four different pizza doughs, to name a few I made all these from scratch. I would also occasionally help the cooks on the line during the rush. I enjoy the work. Old Chicago was profusely bleeding money. Customers would infrequently eat there. Management was hiring low caliber cooks who then would make low quality food dishes, which gets sent out to the dining area. Customers are already paying a bit more money for this food because it is made from scratch. Then customers eat food that looks like what a child would make and they are only reminded that they should never again eat at Old Chicago, hence their infrequency. Often the food was sent out on dirty plates because management insisted on paying the dish machine operator $12/hr to do literally nothing but make more work for the rest of BOH employees. Dont get me started on the dish machine operator's terrible attitude. Soon Old Chicago lost many customers and money. I believe I was denied the pay compensation that I deserve. Dealing with that was most difficult for me, though nobody noticed. The management was not good.  I believe Old Chicago died because of poor management. I worked there for 2.5 years until they went out if business. I started working there at $12/hr. I had to work hard to get up to $16/hr(60 hours per week and work through every break). I watched laughably less qualifed people get hired to the cook line at $15/hr. When I would ask for more than $16/hr, management always told me that my labor was too expensive. Yes I was working overtime, but I was doing the work of two people. Meanwhile Store Manager was incompetent and was literally doing nothing and getting paid $45,000 per year. Really that is terribly inefficient.  Because I was spending so much time there preping and cooking, I already knew everyday what I had to do. So I had some freedom working there insofar as the less oversite. Also the management trusts me. Every morning I would arrive one hour(somedays two hours)before the morning cook and I would take inventory of all food items and decide what the restaurant needed, then I would begin making everything they need for that day and the next day.  I enjoyed doing the work despite the poor management.

This was literally the most toxic work environment I’ve ever been in. Servers are constantly out to get each other and call corporate to get others fired. I worked there from October and I just quit and I probably saw at least 6 people fired and about 4 or 5 people quit. Servers talk behind your back, it’s like high school. Nobody likes to help each other, team work is not a thing here. 
Late night is the only shift you make money and it’s from 6pm-2/2:30am, sometimes later if it was busy, there were a few nights I didn’t leave until almost 4am. Money was great at first but management started hiring too many inexperienced servers so people stopped coming back because of bad experiences.
Management was AWFUL, managers would talk about employees they didn’t like to other employees. 
One time I was taking drinks to one of my tables and my manager was running food to another one of my tables two tables down from the one I was taking drinks to, instead of passing the food out since I was clearly preoccupied he set the tray down in front of the table and said, “here’s your food” and walked away. I was clearly busy and he couldn’t even simply pass out the food, so my table stared at their food on the tray while I finished setting the drinks down.
Another time my table had a complaint and my manager completely dismissed my table and was so rude and made it seem like it was their fault. That table went from mildly upset to angry and walked out. 
Another night a new server was, for whatever reason, taking a 30 top by herself, I got to work and my manager immediately asked me to help her finish up the table because she was clearly overwhelmed, so I helped her finish the table up. Well some mistakes were made on her end with the ticket separating and about $60 worth of stuff was left unpaid for, I ENDED UP HAVING TO PAY FOR HER MISTAKE, we had to split the leftover balance, I LITERALLY GOT THERE AND WAS TOLD TO HELP FINISH A TABLE THAT ALREADY HAD HALF OF THEIR FOOD PUT IN WHEN I GOT THERE.
Management is very, very, very childish. They DO NOT care about their employees at all. 
On top of all of that, they have hired WAY too many servers and there ended up being 10-12 servers on every night so everyone had 3 table sections, nobody made money, first cut servers left with $5 sometimes.
I COULD GO ON, but I think my point was made.
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT WORK HERE, YOU WILL REGRET IT!!!!

The managers & other employees are very disrespectful & unprofessional.  The general area of the kitchen appears clean but it is gross!! The way they clean their plates and cups is disgusting.  I won't eat their anymore ever. A typical day as a dishwasher starts with cleaning the dishes and pizza pans left over from the night before. Once that is done they have the dishwasher shred mozzarella for the restaurant's pizza for the day (*note the dishwasher shredding all the main cheese for the day I thought was kinda odd with dish juice on apron or shirt... when they could buy already shredded cheese and save the hassle as well as the money paying someone an hours wage to shred the most important cheese to a restaurant... $2 more to buy pre-shredded cheese or $12.75 for the hour & half it took me to shred it.... which is more sanitary and altogether smarter???). Then an hour plus later I have to catch up to the dishes made while I was shredding cheese. You also must empty garbage cans but the other employees are so rude, as you remove a full can's liner they will just throw more garbage in the liner-less can in the time it took me to walk the trash out to the dumpster grab a new liner and get back to can.  I also worked as a line cook here and they have absolutely no organization with customer's orders.  One person calls out orders as they come in and one of the several line cooks on duty will start making the various parts of the order but they try to call these orders out so fast the don't call the details of the order like if a burger is well done of medium rare or hold the sauce or whatever.... So many orders go out wrong and are remade due to the the request of the customer (who gets something they specifically did not ask for)... Servers stand around and talk until their order is up but bigger orders always got mixed up and servers would start yelling they need this and that but it was already in front of them or another server took it thinking it was theirs...

A typical day at work involves me going in and doing dishes, pots and pans, cleaning the drains and the dish washing machine, running the kitchen and bar mats through the machine, and sweeping and mopping the floors. I also am expected to bus the front line of items for the chefs as well and to wipe down the walls around the dish area and to make sure there isn't a massive stack of dishes waiting for the morning crew when they come in. I've learned how to clean pots and pans better, as well as dishes, and to handle hot items and move around the kitchen with a quick speed. The management is very astute and does their best to help me keep things going, they are always very willing to listen and are nice to work with. My coworkers are enjoyable to be around, most have a great sense of humor and I enjoy being around them. Unfortunately they tend to throw dishes at me so to speak, I have to reorganize things they place down. The hardest part about this job is that I do not really get breaks or even a lunch, from the moment I go in I'm doing dishes right up until I leave. I rarely get thank yous or anything else and I've been questioned by other coworkers who claim I'm not doing my job well and some seem to think that I'm lazy when I literally have gone evenings where I do not even stop to sit down I just keep going. The most enjoyable part of my job I suppose is that I like most of my coworkers, we get along, laugh and talk about things and can connect on a level.

This Corporation needs to take the time to re-evaluate their business. Not only do they put so much stress on their employees, they provide no structure to management and offer insane amounts of “freebies” and discounts to customers with Rewards and World Beer Tour accounts. This only heightens the stress because servers are mandated to get a manager for every single comp (which is extensive on busy nights). The lack of knowledge and care from management is evident that even regulars at our establishment notice. It’s become such a burden to be able to come to work and know that your night will always be stressful because of being short-staffed, lack of care of management and team members, and slow drink times from staff that cannot handle a high volume bar. The CEO of this Corporation needs to come in and see this... from back of house to front. I am ashamed that places like this exist and profit when they are so poorly ran. Our building should be condemned as well. The building is so old and is under health quality standards I’m scared to even have customers walk past our kitchen. When you bring up issues to management they don’t listen and are not helpful. This stems all from the higher ups and from a poorly built business model that profits off of those who want free beers and apps at the expense of an under-staffed and poorly managed restaurant. I would love to have this corporation change so many aspects that are negative about this job, as it seems to be a nation-wide issue. I’ve worked at other stores and this cannot be okay!

Working at Old Chicago was the most interesting job i've ever had. Walking in to work you normally start setting up the hostess stand. You were put the rugs out, set up the servers sections and tables. You were normally clean off every single table make sure that the restaurant was nice and clean. 
I've learned how to be calm during rush hour and be focused and organized when it came to escorting customers to their seat. Ive also learned how to help a customer order over the phone, some customers would want to know what our specials were, if we took reservations, where the building was; it was the host/hostess' job to inform the customers and help them with as much as possible and make sure they were very satisfied with our service. 
Management was outstanding. There was normally 2-4 managers on duty. 1 manager would be working in the kitchen making sure each and every order was correct and up to par on leaving the kitchen. Normally 2 managers were on the floor helping staff weather it was bussing tables, serving dishes to tables, helping seat customers especially on a very busy night,etc.. They were always there to count on. The last manager normally worked in the office. Logging important information, answering phone calls ;only after the host had talked to the customer and requested to speak to the manager. 
I believe the hardest part of the job was when we were super busy and customers sat their selves, it really threw off organization at the host stand as well with the servers, but after we got everything figured out and reorganized everything was on a steady pace.

I would take the extra second for a nice presentation,  proper portioning, this isnt Little Ceasars.  All the other pizza line cooks would slop the sauce, throw some cheese on, pile the toppings in the middle and send it through.  The kitchen mgr. would then accuse me telling me to watch my product, this was a constant thing.  I would point out to him which ones were mine, the great looking ones. 'Well tell the pizza line to watch their product', he's the manager that's his job. We would be slammed and have only 2 pizza cooks, pizza line included Stromboli's, calzones, pretzels, and a lot more than just pizza. Compared to the 7 or 8 front line cooks.  One front line cook left a hot pan purposely in my way burning my fingers and the manager did nothing when I reported it.  Another front line cook was brought into the office for the only purpose of the kitchen mgr. to tell me I had to do exactly what he says.  When I ask everyone or just me he responded 'Don't worry about everyone else.'  Another mgr. started yelling at me telling me to 'Pull my head otta my f*****a**'.  For trying to make a nice pizza they need to show better appreciation, very unprofessional.  And I did try to tell pizza line to watch their presentation, to no avail.  Was at the pizza line for 9 hrs straight a couple times, barely time to get a drink.  A lot of favoritism and horse play. Those who had a pleasant work experience had good management or was a brown noser.  As for me this was the worst job I've had.

A typical day for me at work starts out with going in earlier than my scheduled time just to make sure that things are ready and stocked for the night incase we get a rush just to make things run more smooth.  I have learned a lot from being a server, it has been a good experience.  I have learned that it's not about a personal gain.  Yes, even though I am working for tips it is more important that everyone in the restaurant who comes in as are guest are taken care of efficiently.  It is a very team oriented work environment.  It is not about who can make the most money it's making sure we create an experience to ensure that customers will come back.  My managers are great.  Each one is very different which can be good and bad.  None of them are really on the same page as far as rules or responsibilities.  This makes it hard because one manager will expect a certain thing and another may not.  The people I work with are like family.  We always have a good time at work and out of the work environment.  We spend so much time together it's hard not to make a personal connection with them.  The hardest part of my job would have to be closing the restaurant.  This requires me to make sure everyone else is doing their share of work to get the place cleaned up and ready for the next day.  This can be challenging because it is hard to tell people what they are doing wrong and micromanage them.

I have really mixed feeling about this place because it all depends on your outlook on life. Because Its not for those without patience. I was a dishwasher but was promised to be promoted to cook. Then once promoted i would switch off through the week of having both shift. My very first day went like this. I walked in for orientation in the morning. It was incredibly boring seeing as the manger just hits the play button on a iPad a says watch this and walks away. After watching multiple video is say OK and shows me and a new server around the store. My Friend who was there washing dishes for the morning shift decided to help show me around. After i scheduled with the manger that i would come back that night to train to learn how to close the dish pit. Me trying to be an over achiever wanted a head start so stayed with friend through his morning shift to learn a little bit before. I head to my friends house and hangout him until it time to return. Little did i know that the guy who was suppose to train me called out and i was suppose to still come in. THEY LEGIT WANTED ME TO CLOSE THE DISH PIT ON A BUSY DAY BY MYSELF ON THE FIRST DAY WTF. Didn't even give me a heads up. Luckily my friend came back with me and taught me to close also didn't get promoted for 6 months and didn't get my 6 months raise until 3-4 months later in the amount of .25 cents REALLY. Do yourself a favor work in the front.

if you’re about to apply to be a host and want full time, please do not apply here you will not get full time hours at all. the pay you get is basically for a high schooler paycheck, not someone with bills even if you request more hours it’s because mostly everyone is full time and also have another job on top of that. that out of the way, old chicago is a very chill environment. the managers are really nice, understanding and supportive, if you’re in school they work around it too and communicate with you! the downside to them, though, is favoritism is strong because everyone has been there for 2+ years so they’re like family to eachother. going further on with that, team wise they’re not as much. a lot of the people can be very toxic and be nice to your face, but talk trash behind your back for no reason. there are a few gems of people here that you’ll love, but the toxicity and standoffish a lot of people are here are rub offs, especially since most people are partiers if you’re not in that crowd. management needs to try and lay off people that are very not deserving of their jobs here to give new people opportunities of wanting to stay. overall, it’s pretty average job if you just keep to yourself and talk to those few people who are gems and if you’re okay with not a good paycheck.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Restaurant manager 15 salaries reported	$62,233 per year
Line cook 32 salaries reported	$16.61 per hour
Pizza cook 12 salaries reported	$16.58 per hour
Prep cook 10 salaries reported	$16.90 per hour
Assistant restaurant manager 17 salaries reported	$55,382 per year

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