shift leader

general manager

assistant restaurant manager

restaurant manager

team member

Shoneys

-A typical day at work is coming in and if you don't have a table as soon as you clock on then the manager will ask you to count the cash register drawer and then you will be asked to do your side work. After you finish your side work then you'll be asked to fill the sugar, salt, pepper, and napkins. You also must make sure the table set ups are good and the restrooms are clean. Then at closing time you are expected to clean the whole store for opening the following morning. It must be overlooked by the manager on duty and if everything is done properly then the manager on duty will give you permission to clock out and leave.

- I've learned a lot about the food industry and a lot about the computers that we work with. I also learned how to handle a outrageous guest by their attitude and actions. I also learned how to keep my cool. And what is in our entrees and all our other items on our menu and bar.

- The management can vary on which manager is in control. I feel as if only three managers out of all the managers at different stores whom I've had the pleasure of working for actually care about their employees and care about what they need to get their job done. They understand that they can be our friends but when it comes down to it they won't let us down and guide us in doing our job to the fullest as well as discipline us if necessary.

- I feel as if some of my co-workers are lazy and constantly mess up but will blame it on whoever they can. They also seem to think they can get away with bossing other servers away, and sometimes it really depends on the group of girls working on a shift but if not all of them get along then you won't see them working as a team helping each other out and just trying to get things done.

- I believe the hardest part of the job is dealing with rude and hateful guest's who will say anything and everything to hurt your feelings but trying your best to keep your emotions to what they are saying inside and instead of showing them they hurt your feelings, you have to hold it together smile and explain to them you will get the managers attention so that they can make sure their problem can be taken care of.

- The most enjoyable part of my job is seeing my guests happy and when they compliment on my serving skills often and make sure to let my manager know that they enjoyed me serving them and compliment my personality and hard work.

The management there is terrible, they do not know what they are doing, tend to become personal with the employees and take out there anger by not scheduling shifts to the person they are angry with even though it is not work related. when i was nine months pregnant they still had me working 7 days a week multiple doubles and would not allow me to eat or sit down during my shifts, and that was 8+ hours on my feet all day long without a break, and because they don't care about their employees, especially ones that had been with the company for 2+ years and would not allow me to sit down or take breaks in my long shifts i was put on bed rest at my 8 month mark because my pregnancy then became a high risk pregnancy. When they had already had knowledge i was having complications, they didn't schedule me less in fact they had scheduled me more. then that location where i was on maternity leave on, shut down because one of the managers , who had no management experience and was an alcoholic ran it into the ground, would talk to the customers like they didn't matter and were uneducated and dumb. he was very rude to all of the customers and eventually those customers who had been my regulars for many years stopped coming in. My co-workers were very rude as well because the managers wouldn't do anything about them, one day one of the oldest ladies we had working there she was in her 60's ran out after a customer and handed back the dollar they gave her and yelled at them " you obviously need this more than me because that's what you think a tip is" the managers laughed when they saw it happen instead of her having to suffer any consequences they acted like it had never happened, that caused a drastic number of our daily customers to sink

Shoney's has a lot of franchises and a several corporate stores.  Corporate stores generally do less sales and have worse controllable costs, tho corporate tries to strongarm franchises into doing things "their way."

As for franchises, you're life is up to the whims of the owner and/or president of operations or whatever title that franchise chooses to use.  Controllable costs change like the wind depending on...well, i don't know what it depends on.  Product mix has nothing to do with food cost, and sales volume has nothing to do with labor.

As a manager, expect to work in a position much of the time.  Staffing levels are minimum, so expect that a call out will result in you filling the position yourself.  55-60 hours a week is the norm.  Working a 6 day week, unpaid, is expected when another manager is on vacation...remember the low staffing levels??  Ditto on management staff.

Pay isn't great...or good for managers or employees.  Expect a lot of people who are just getting into the workforce, habitual job hoppers, lifers, and people who can't get a job anywhere else.  Employees who are good will use their experience to gain employment elsewhere for better pay.  Same for managers.

Its a good place to get a good understanding of the restaurant business.  Sales volumes are generally low...I'd guesstimate less than 10%-15% of Shoney's do over $35k/wk,  Higher volume means higher pay for hourly employees and managers.

If you have zero restaurant experience and can't get a job anywhere else, look here.  If not, maybe look somewhere where your time and effort will be compensated into dollars.  Restaurant work is too hard to not be fairly compensated for it.

dishwashers do food prep and food bar work which dishwashers clean bathrooms,parking lots,dirty dishes etc,I came from shoneys in tenn and didnt do any bar/prep duties the bar person did that only. I had to leave the bar duties to clean a toilet in womens bathroom once and go back to bar work and do dishes.I made 9.50 in tenn doing just dish duties but only 7.25 at the austell ga store I observed a server one morning handling her tips and the dishes to be taken to be washed return up front to make a customer toast and didnt wash her hands neither time. I observed the gms daughter so I was told who works there rolling silverware in front while eating chicken,hot sauce and peppers and I thought who does that.Management is very weak,as is the cooks,who cooks for example 7 pieces of fish on a sunday when theres a line at the bar. theres no sence of night prep for the morning and once the gm got mad at us for not having all the spaces filled on the bar when we had everything that was to be put out out there.Its her job to be sure we have the backups.She is a very weak manager.The owner forgot my lady was a gm at shoneys in tenn and said he had contract with ecolab which he has all that cutoff in his store which is a health violation,he buys bleach and dishsoap and pours it into the ecolab buckets to be run in the dishmachine.I could go on but to get to the point,the pay and the operations in that store is not right.even though the got a good score in inspections,that dont mean thier practices and management are correct.I could run that store better and I was just a dishwasher.I know because like I said my lady ran a high volume shoneys for 5 years.

at typical work day at Shoneys went like this 

you clock in then you get assigned a section 
you work your section and as people walk in to be seated you greet them at the door and seat them and say welcome to shoneys and the happy little jingle get the drinks and sere them, then take there order and god forbid your cook makes it right then make sure that the drinks stay filled and then you clean the table and clean your area wipe table seat and sweep the floor
what i believe i have learned is that if you have a party assigned to you it is okay for your co workers to take over that party and when they do you take over their section and your section and the when you bring it up to your manager they say well i cant do anything about it. now the management i had worked there for a month and i got fired for being to slow when i was new there i had my uniform in order and i never had a single complain against me my work  was almost perfect. workplace culture  from what i heard our cook was an inmate from the jail. 
the hardest part of the job was knowing that when you would have to cover that persons section and if you cover there section the tips that was in the section that you covered you had to give it to the person that you was covering for why they was doing a large group or on a break. the most enjoyable part of the job was going home and coming to the place. 
if you ask me they dont deserve 1 star there is not enough negative stars in the universe to give them and even then i am still telling you thats not enough so yes it is really really bs

It isnt the Shoney's most of you remember, this Shoney's serves alcohol has a fully stocked bar, tv's every where, servers that serve the table including cashing out guests.  What is most difficult about this is the new concept is hard for some to accept.  Our prices are also very different, jts no longer the cheap place to gake the family for a buffet. So i deal with alot of disappointed or down right angry guest's because of the price. Kids over 4 who eat from the buffet are charged 9.99 and this has definitely lowered our volume in the last few months.  They dont advertise our bar and all the changes,  this to me is crazy. I think we should be on the radio, tv, internet ads. Bus signs and billboards.... We should have the best happy hour in town but we dont. 
I do enjoy the people I work with, most of the FOH staff is female which is probably not the best thing seeing how we women do tend to be hormonal and emotional. So i wish we had some guys amongst us to help level this out.  I think that our owner needs to talk to the staff more to gain better insight to what really needs to be changed to ensure that this new concept actually lasts. We are the best source seeing how we are the first contact and the last our guests see and we hear their complaints, we suffer financially for decisions we have zero input on.

Supervised kitchen staff to ensure quality customer service and cleanliness of restaurant kitchen.
• Prepare cook-to-order meals as well as food for buffet
• Prepared buffet area
• Clean food preparation areas, cooking surfaces, and utensils.
• Cook and package batches of food, such as hamburgers and fried chicken, which are prepared to order or kept warm until sold.
• Cook the exact number of items ordered by each customer, working on several different orders simultaneously.
• Maintain sanitation, health, and safety standards in work areas.
• Measure ingredients required for specific food items being prepared.
• Mix ingredients such as pancake or waffle batters.
• Operate large-volume cooking equipment such as grills, deep-fat fryers, or griddles.
• Pre-cook items such as bacon, in order to prepare them for later use.
• Prepare and serve beverages such as coffee and fountain drinks.
• Read food order slips and receive verbal instructions as to food required by patron, and prepare and cook food according to instructions.
• Verify that prepared food meets requirements for quality and quantity. Wash, cut, and prepare foods designated for cooking.
• Clean, stock, and restock workstations and display cases.
• Order and take delivery of supplies.
• Prepare dough, following recipe.
• Schedule activities and equipment use with managers, using information about daily menus to help coordinate cooking times

The servers at Shoneys were responsible for taking care of there customers, hostessing, checking customers out(running cash register) and the up keep of the food buffet. I also did marketing for about a year as well. I did alot of different things to help bring in customers. I would go to different elementary schools in the area and give them rewards for the students with a coupons for free kids meals attached to it. I took a couple marketing classes when I attended school for business management. But actually getting out there and doing it helped me learn alot. I was able to put what I learned into play. I was also responsible for training new servers. I taught them how to do there jobs and the importance of the ten step process. I made up alot of different charts for them to keep as reference guides to help them do a better job. I really enjoyed working with my co workers. I got along really well with everyone there. There really wasnt anything that was hard about my job. I have always loved working with the public, meeting new people and teaching others how to do things. I have always been a very stronge leader. I probably enjoyed training new servers and getting out and doing marketing the the most.

Everybody loves breakfast at Shoney's! At least it appeared that way early in the morning when I first started working there. I worked with a great team for the most part. I learned alot from them as a server over the years. Most of what I learned was valuable enough to save for later reference. The manager that originally hired me left the company unexpectedly about three years after I came. The assistant manager moved up to general manager mainly because there was no one else. That was when the business slowed to a minimum low. The manager couldn't seperate family and friendship and would allow a longtime family friend and his wife (both of whom were longtime employees) privilege over the others no matter what the situation. The employees were all in an uproar over how to put an end to those circumstances as well as open the topic on the other problem areas such as the general manager standing in your face screaming and cussing at you allowing others to hear everything said. I guess I'd have to say pleasing the management was the hardest part of the job. I mostly enjoyed the customers and the friends I made while working there.

I started out washing dishes on a commercial style dish washer leading up to working on the buffet line. I worked on average 20 hours a week in the evenings. Setting up the cold bar was very different from the hot bar, although where the food containers were located was the same. All the items came from areas in the back, either the coolers or heaters like for the soups. The cooks took care of the entrees while we took care of the other part of the restaurant offerings. We prepared the salad fixings like the lettuce, tomatoes, and other salad toppings plus the dressings like ranch, french, italian, and blue cheese. We had to bake rolls or biscuits and fish for the hot bar. The flatwear and plates were offered at the buffet for guest use. It could be a mess, especially on Friday and Saturdays. Sometimes you could have a "feeding frenzy" type of a night, and could be real scarey. No matter what can be seen, teamwork was the way to handle any problems that came up. The people were quite nice and ready to help if you needed it.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Shift leader 6 salaries reported	$14.25 per hour
General manager 2 salaries reported	$58,750 per year
Assistant restaurant manager 2 salaries reported	$33,979 per year
Restaurant manager 1 salary reported	$56,000 per year
Team member 2 salaries reported	$12.50 per hour

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