line cook

restaurant manager

host/cashier

dishwasher

kitchen manager

Perkins Restaurants & Bakery

My typical day at work would be around a ten+ hour working shift. My shift would start by making sure everything in the kitchen is stocked and prepped well enough for our typical guest count for that day. Then I would count out a drawer for my cashier for that shift. Next I would make a list of side-work for my cooks and servers to finish before their shift is over. After all that was completed I would provide help wherever it was needed most in the restaurant at the time, for example if the servers were busy I would pick up open tables for them, or if the cooks needed help I would go back and help them cook or prep. I would provide help to my co-workers and assist customers on a as needed basis. At the end of my shift I would check to make sure all the side work for the day is completed, do temps on the line, and count the drawer and close down the restaurant. 

I learned a lot at Perkins, I developed many leadership skills as well as social skills. I met lot's of interesting people at perkins and that being said not everyone got along. When employees were having problems they could come to me, as I had an "open door policy" with my employees meaning they could come to me, and our conversations would remain private, thus building trust and respect between employees and managent. 

Management at Perkins  was very important. With a 50+ item menu it was the duty as a manager to know the menu inside and out. It was hard for new (and some old) employees to remember everything on the menu. Management was as follows: General manager, Kitchen manager, and Shift leader shift leader being one step down from the general manager. The General manager worked with us as far as scheduling and encouraged his employees to work hard! We would have competitions at work some days, for something small ( Like who sells the most items from the bar on a Wednesday would get a $10 gift card to wal-mart) They were really neat people!

My coworkers worked hard at their jobs, The cooks especially. Everyone was friendly and got along well. We were like a family.  

My hardest part of the job was having to watch over everybody and make sure customers were satisfied 100% of the time . I have learned that you can't please everybody and the customers ALWAYS come first. 

The most enjoyable part of the job was talking to new people everyday! and putting smiles on their faces.I love interacting with new people.

You never know what to expect. The day can be exytremely busy or completely dead. Then there are some steady days, as far as business.

What I've learned while being at perkins is that it is the most diverse place I have ever worked at. The customers that come in, Ive met from london, Germany, Mexico, Somalia, Belgium, etc. The location that I am at, is by 3 colleges, one of them being the U of M east bank as well as a hospital. I have come in contact with a variety of different people. Such as, disability, some just released from the hospital with head injuries, or just having a baby, some are being diagnosed with a disability, special diets that have been given from the doctor, College students, footbal coaches from every 2 of the three colleges. People visting from out of town at other colleges, etc. the list goes on.

The management team there is great. Recently just got a new general Manager, and she is doing great. She is working hard to change some things that might have been bad for either business or the company. it hs been working out pretty good so far. The assistant managers are great. When things are real busy, they help out, they give good conversations to us co-workers and they also play their role as managers.

One of the hardest parts of the job is trying to get out of there on time! You will never get out of there at the time you are scheduled because of how busy it is. The next hardest part of the job is trying to make yourself the best that there is. It may sound easy but dealing with people and their food can be tricky. A lot of special orders and just making sure you are satisfying your customer with the best service. You may think that you are but you may not know what your customer is thinking. Some tell you and some will not. You have know how to control yourself when you get angry customers, Some will make you feel so low but you have to some how turn that around and still try to give them the best service even though some thing did not go right.

The most enjoyable part of my job is making my customers happy. Making regulars so when they come in they request your section and if not able to, they will come in and you both will acknowledge each others presents. You get compliments from new comers and if they don't come back, you know that you have given them a great experience while being there. They will never forget you!

I decided to get a job as a prep cook at Perkins after several bad gigs at local/family-run businesses. I was looking forward to the more organized and professional work environment that an established eatery typically provides, but that was not at all my experience. 

I only ended up working there for a little over a month, it was such a miserable experience that I was basically looking for a new job after my first week there. 

“Training” is their biggest issue— it seems that everyone in a position of authority has absolutely no idea how prep is done. There is no communication between managers, so they all train you in their own way. I was taught 3 different ways to make Hollandaise sauce, and I had to make sure I was doing it to the spec of whatever manager was there to avoid being lectured. 

Management was a joke— no one knew what they were doing. On a regular basis there would be as many (micro)managers in the kitchen as there where BOH staff. I’ve never seen anything like that before! Unfortunately, they do not have strength in numbers, and having so many people in charge is a joke. At one point I scheduled a meeting with two of my managers and neither of them showed up, despite one of them suggesting it and picking out the time.

The division of labor is also absolutely ridiculous. I asked why the servers can’t cut their own fruit when I’m busy and they have down time, and I was told that during a strawberry promotion the manager caught one of them cutting fruit on their serving tray— so instead of training full grown adults to not jeopardize food safety, they take the lazy route and overload the BOH.

Perkins in Doylestown is one of the most poorly managed kitchens I have ever worked in— and that is saying something given my experience with poorly-established family businesses. Even if their management style improved, I would not want to work for such careless people. The only thing I can imagine making it less of a managerial cesspool would be a complete overhaul, but it seems like they’ve had the same overworked skeleton crew since they’ve opened and have no plans of changing anything. 

Please do better for your employees.

Perkins at first seems like it's a great friendly place to work at. They promise flexible hours, help cover your shifts if something comes up, pretty reasonable with time off for holidays and vacations. But once your hired along with 58 other people all at the same time they start firing people after a month. The reason they fire you is because they have a 3 strike system. If you get written up 3 times you get fired, which seems reasonable yes. However, what exactly gets your written up? At the end of every week your expected to do a cleaning job. If the manager doesn't sign off they write you up. Again seems pretty reasonable. But in my case I was expected to do my cleaning duty with 409 disinfectant spray. The only issue is we didnt have any. So after asking my manager what to do and they we didnt have any, he told me to clean it with a disinfectant soap and they would get more 409. Great I should be in the clear right? Well guess again. Even though that's what they told me to do and even watched me do it they didnt sign off on my clean up duties and I got written up. That happened two weeks in a row. So now I'm written up twice and one more strike and I'm gone. Well here's strike three, I accidentally missed work because I slept through my alarm. This doesnt usually happen but my dog was throwing up all night so I didnt get much sleep. And even though as I mentioned earlier they promised they were understanding and reasonable if things came up. They weren't. So they took me off the schedule and when I went it to talk to them and plead my case they didnt care. I can agree with maybe one or two of those write ups at best but I feel like I shouldn't have been fired for the company not keeping the back room stocked. So if you want an employer that has horrible managment and will fire you and make sure they inform you that you are one among a large group then feel free to apply at perkins. Or just find a job where they value they're employees.

This was the most negative work environment I have ever worked in.  The cooks hate the waitstaff, who hate the kitchen.  The dishwasher gets stored in the hottest most humid part of the building.  There were food service violations everywhere, and the management would often try to help out only to make things worse.

I learned little from my time here. Honestly there isn't anything I can say for this part.

Management consisted of the general manager.  At the time, this individual was suspected of embezzlement, which later he was fired for.  I have no idea who works here now.  The kitchen crew leader was absolutely impossible to work with, having a bipolar disorder (or female bear syndrom as we may call it now). 

My co-workers ranged from kids in high school trying to make a buck to obvious drug dealers and druggies to ex-cons trying to make a living.  Honestly I could name maybe one of these people.  The one saving grace was that I had a friend who I got hired who would do absolutely anything for me (my best friend) so he made the tough days tolerable.

The hardest part of the job was the environment.  Wet, slick floors, high temperatures, ridiculous humidity. This and the fact that when a cook needed something they needed it NOW, and if it wasn't prepped you would need to make it NOW, and if you made it NOW you would get in trouble for leaving it out because immediately you needed something else NOW.  Seriously this was not a good job for a 17 year old.  I fared better than my friend, who now has heart problems possibly from being in the dish pit too long.

The most enjoyable part of the job?  Seriously there was not!  The food maybe?  You didn't even get a free lunch for working in the kitchen at a restaurant... you go half off, and you were paid minimum wage too.. Good luck with that.

Of course it started of busy.  Answer phones, communicate with staff, parents and others to rely information, take orders, and address complaints. Then I would work on Accounts Receivable and Parables and complete bank transactions. Monitor the budget and multiple accounts. Check on purchase orders for supplies ordered, traveling itineraries were in place, and enter orders for staff and students. Put in work orders and service contracts going off the approved business and government guidelines. Check in orders and disburse, inventory.  I worked closely with the Principal in every business aspect.
I learned to be very flexible, dependable, multitask, organized and that I do like some challenges more that I ever dreamed.
When the Executive Secretary was not there or busy I was trained to step in and do her job as will as mine. Which getting Substitutes, Workman's Comp., request from staff, scheduling, work with the Principal with anything needed etc..
I had a LOT of co workers and everything was fine. Of course you have trying ones as well as customer's so you just need to talk to them and go over the rules, procedures, etc...
Was when I had to run errand or miss do to a day off. Coming back to work even after a couple of hours seemed impossible. Everyone was needing something right then and there.
I love working with sorts of diverse people, learning new things, challenges in reason, and being very positive and successful.

A typical day at work was get there, prepare yourself for it to get busy at any time. Once we were busy the night just went by. Come in early get everything fully stocked with any condiment you might need for customers so I didn't have to go get them when its busy. Greet, Cash and Seat customers. Help servers get drinks, run food, and anything else that was necessary. Help clean tables as a busser or as a hostess. As a hostess I also had to serve customers in the hotel run room services and serve customers in the bar. At the end of the night we had cleaning duties stocking duties. I learned how to multitask. I learned how to answer phones, I have great customer service skills, from what I am told is I was one of their best employees. During rushes we had no choice but to know how to try and put the customer first and try to do our job at the same time. Management is great, very understanding. The work place was sometimes hectic but it could of been worse. The hardest part of the job is getting extremely busy in the restaurant during festivities, events and when tourists come to visit or if we were short staffed. The whole restaurant would fill up for the whole eight hours I would work sometimes longer. For days like St. Patrick's Day we would stay busy all day and if it was on the weekend all night since they are open all night on weekends. Sometimes we would have to work long hours, long days with no time to rest. The most enjoyable part of the job that I had was I loved the people I worked with, a lot of our customers were great and we had a lot of regulars. We had fun and we received tips too so the money was nice.

Typically as a Hostess at Perkins I would greet the guests as they walk into the restaurant and give them a great initial experience by complimenting them and pointing out daily specials. I would then seat them and continue to check up on most tables throughout my shift in order to make sure the customers had complete satisfaction during their time at Perkins. I would complete side jobs such as cleaning the front area of the restaurant. This included vacuuming, sweeping, dusting, and organizing. I was also responsible for keeping the money in the cash register at around $250 dollars throughout my shift, therefore having to do cash pulls throughout the day. I answered telephones, cashed the customers out and asked them how their food and service was. What I learned from this experience is that keeping happy customers generates a happy work environment among employees as well. The management was okay, occasionally the assistant managers were difficult to work with due to the lack of social skills and motivation level on some days. My co workers were around my age during the evening shifts which made it easier to communicate among each other. The morning shift crew were older and tended to keep to themselves more. The hardest part of this job was when there was a long wait for customers to be seated. At that point there really was not much anyone could do, but it made it difficult to keep certain customers satisfied, which was our main goal. The most enjoyable part of this job was the relationships I created with some of the regular customers. It was a satisfying feeling to know that they have had such great service that they return weekly.

I've worked at Perkins now for 5 years now and I have learned a lot about the restaurant industry. The Perkins I work at is one of the most busy in the state of Minnesota making it a very fast paced work environment where you can go from not having anything that requires your attention to having 5 things that could blow up in your face. You learn quickly to think on your feet and how to make the best judgment call with little time to react. I have also seen many people start at our store, and not be able to handle the stress and leave within a month. But after those people get weeded out you are left with and incredible group of people that are not only good at their jobs but also have the greatest personalities you will ever come across. The whole job is always team oriented, you don't get to do nothing while watching everyone else do your work, when one link in the chain breaks the whole thing falls apart, we rely on each other for everything. Management can be harsh at times but usually only when its needed. During a rush you have to be focused and on task or you will break down and lose everything. They have all had many years in the business and know their stuff. I have learned more from that one store about broad categories that I think i will ever learn from one place in my life. My most important things I think I learned is about customer relations and thinking under pressure. I had never had a customer service job before and it was a whole new world to me, but like most challenges I face, I put my all into and came out the victor.

Perkins was my first job I've ever had. I first started out as a hostess for about nine months, then worked my way up as a server. I can't say I was too thrilled with the customers, the managers, and the co workers. All had horrible communication, and it was mostly an elderly crowd. The servers would constantly gang up on the hostesses, or the new people behind their backs, or in front of their faces and terrorize them, making it a hard environment to work in. There were about four to five managers, and only one ( the kitchen manager) would stick up to the bullying and harassment from the cooks and servers. The lead managers wouldn't take much action, and they weren't that great of leaders. The assistant manager would sit in the office and eat and complain, and the general manager wouldn't do much either. When I was serving, the managers gave me small sections ( five tables) to take, and I repeatedly asked for a bigger section to work in, and not only that, I requested more hours, and they gave me three days a week and only four to six hours a day. I wasn't getting very many tips from my small sections, and I wasn't getting a big check either because severs make less money than the cooks and managers do. And as a college student who is moved out, it was very frustrating. The managers also thought I was taking fall quarter at the community college, but I wasnt, so they gave me two days a week. The managers also told me that I needed to get better and get more practice, but never gave me the hours to do so. This place is by far the worst I've ever worked at, and eventually I left to a more professional working environment.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 451 salaries reported	$15.11 per hour
Restaurant manager 58 salaries reported	$54,138 per year
Host/cashier 214 salaries reported	$12.19 per hour
Dishwasher 128 salaries reported	$12.20 per hour
Kitchen manager 27 salaries reported	$57,721 per year

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