fine dining server

line cook

food runner

sous chef

dishwasher

Sullivans Steakhouse

A toxic and terrible place to work. Servers and bartenders bicker and fight amongst each other, FOH against BOH. Some coworkers are nice and helpful, mainly the younger and newer ones. Some take themselves too seriously and are quick to turn on you. 

The current GM in my opinion, is grossly out of touch and reckless with people’s time and effort. They like to emphasize surface level things like being nice, positive, grateful, all the while running and managing in a way that give people very little reasons to. A lot of lip service and hardly delivering anything worthwhile. They hire people for "server", but will regularly fill you in other roles like host, bussing, expo, because they're very understaffed in those roles. However, this place is eggregiously overstaffed with servers. Most servers only get only get sat 2 or 3 times before being cut because of how many servers are on rotation. You're also tasked with "deep clean" almost every night on top of your running/closing sidework, to clean and organize various part of the restaurant because it is old and falling apart. They make pre-emptive cuts, but will still require you to come in and help set up the restaurant and do work for free anyway. 

The kitchen/BOH is very poorly trained and dysfunctional. They will give you attitudes when you ask for things and need them to do their job. There's a lot of miscommunications. Quality control leaves much to be desired. Food can take over a hour to come out and will still come out wrong and incomplete. Entrees will sell before sides and add ons are ready, making them cold by the time they get to the table.   

This place is open 365 days a year. If you're sick and need to call out, you're required to have a doctor’s note or you'll get a write up. 

The only reason this place has a 4.5 star guest ratings is because servers are told to ask their guests to write positive reviews. I reckon the rating would be much lower if it wasn't the case.

One of the candles around the bar caught my hair on fire during my Friday night shift and I went into the bathroom and completely lost it. I was having a nose bleed, crying hysterically because I was traumatized by the entire incident. 

Not one member of management came into the bathroom to see about me. My other co workers only came into the bathroom because customers demanded that someone come and tend to me. I eventually went into the back office where one of the managers (who received orders from the manager above him) asked me to stay and finish my shift. I made it clear to him that I will not stay and finish my shift after such a traumatic and mortifying experience. My scalp was sore from the heat and I was still shaking. I was crying hysterically for at least 45 minutes. I went to the bar to gather my belongings and the other manager asked me "Did he say you could leave?" I made it clear that I was leaving regardless & i proceeded to leave & head to the emergency room to get my scalp checked. I decided not to return & not one member of management, including the general manager even contacted me or made any attempt to reach out to me. 

I lost a section of my hair; my hair was burned down to about three inches in that section as opposed to the rest of my hair which is about 12 inches long. I couldn't believe the calloused and inhumane way that they treated me. I was treated like less than dirt. The managers are heartless & disgusting humans being & I wish no good upon that establishment.

Sullivan's provides great benefits for servers including 401K. The staff provide a warm and friendly environment however the management is over-worked and constantly stressed. They are overly negative using passive-aggressive threats to promote their agendas. There was little room for growth however the money was above and beyond any other restaurant in the area.
As a closing server, a typical day of work for me involved assigning closing side work to fellow employees, assuring completion of running side work by all employees, taking care of my section and all closing tables, assuring completion of all closing side work, returning the restaurant to an inspect-able condition, and reporting to the closing manager.
The hardest part of the job was going to work every day with no guarantee to how much money I would make. There is very little financial security in the service industry.
The most enjoyable part of the night was taking care of my guests. I took pride in trying to make every guest experience a memorable one. Sullivan's is a very expensive restaurant. Many of our guests only visited to celebrate a special occasion such as anniversaries, birthdays, graduations, etc. I would go above and beyond to make sure that were satisfied in all facets of their experience.

I worked at Sullivan’s Steakhouse for about a year, and unfortunately the work environment was not as professional as expected for an upscale establishment.

There was a noticeable lack of boundaries between management and staff, which created an uncomfortable and, at times, inappropriate workplace dynamic. Favoritism and a clear social hierarchy affected how employees were treated and scheduled.

The environment was often filled with unnecessary drama and tension among staff, particularly in front-of-house roles. Professionalism was not consistently upheld, and it sometimes felt more like a social scene than a structured workplace.

Additionally, interactions between staff members, including in work areas, were at times distracting and unprofessional, which took away from the overall standard of service.

I stayed committed to my role and performed my responsibilities well, but the workplace culture made it difficult to feel respected or supported long-term. I believe with stronger leadership, clearer boundaries, and a more professional environment, this could be a much better place to work.

Really low pay. Benefits are low. Management is poor. Don’t waste your time it is a busy place and they are not willing to pay what the work is worth. Some people have been there forever, probably because they have known nothing else better. The kitchen is always dirty. The prep cooks always leave messes everywhere. They say it’s a “scratch” kitchen but they use Sysco stock base for all of there sauces. If you want to learn I do not recommend working here because you won’t learn anything and if you do it’s the wrong way. I’ve seen big  rats running through the kitchen also. The chef is lazy and doesn’t care about the walk in. Every thing in the kitchen is unorganized. The servers screw up every other ticket because they rush too much and then they need everything now and it creates chaos. The dishwashers never bring plates to the line and you will have to bring your own pots back for them to clean. Absolutely horrible place to work to say the least. The only good thing is staff meal because it’s free food.

We begin our evening with our family meal in which we all gather together and discuss what may or may not be working for our guest's experiences.  
I have learned how to work within a powerful, cohesive team to better  serve our guests and ensure that they have a positively memorable evening.
Our management staff is a strong unit that works well together in and out of the office.
My co-workers are more like a second family.
The hardest part of the job is when we come across a situation that causes a glitch in our chain of activity, and our guests end up with a less than amazing experience.
The most enjoyable part of the job is the high energy, positive environment I get to work in where I have daily opportunities to meet interesting people and share in their celebrations. 

There's always a bad side to a place don't get me wrong I would have to say there are so many people working that I had to split my tips between two bus boys sometimes three, an expo person, a host or two and sometimes the chef..... Now it was automatically taken out of my clothes report a certain percentage and it ended up being a lot sometimes yes the computer calculated the percentage due to your tips but you only get credit card tips at this place because the bill is so expensive people don't care that kind of cash on them and if they do have the cash on them it's not enough to give you a sufficient tip. It's still a great place to work don't get me wrong it's just a lot of people that get tipped out when maybe they should raise pay by the hour for the host to a little bit above minimum wage and they should take the stress of that a little bit more than the servers it's not like they can't afford it.

From the VP to the new regional I was given worst company I’ve ever worked for. Brought on to the team in another store which was an amazing experience but took the challenge to fix a store here in Charlotte. I moved here with my regional in charge and we were making head ways then they switched it up and put my store back under the most incompetent and worst regional I’ve ever met in my restaurant experience. Covid has changed the world but you need look at your regionals he does not need to be a regional condescending his management team was who I inherited and they are garbage from a chef that comes from a fast food concept to a manager from Olive Garden. When I documented them on their performance It was swept under the rug. Do not work for this brand it will drain you and make you hate what we all love to do which is take care of the guest

All managers are new as can be and do not know how to do their job, along with extremely rude and inconsiderate about day to day tasks along with your well being (except Ryan). They had me go through a single day of formal training and did not tell me to complete their training tests in preparation for Father’s Day (they went from 18 servers to 7 because of the events from Mother’s Day) telling me that I would receive formal training later but never gave a date or time. When they had enough people on the staff they rudely told me that I couldn’t be on the floor anymore without any warning making me waste my whole day thinking I was coming in for my shift, and showed up for formal retraining a few days later and was asked why i was out of uniform (in not so nice words)

I genuinely thought nothing could surprise me in this industry anymore...then I worked for Sullivan's, a place with an employee given motto of, "you can't get fired from Sullivan's." As it turns out, it's completely true. An employee screaming obscenities at other employees REGULARLY didn't do it, throwing of food at other employees didn't do it, insulting other employees in front of guests didn't do it, not showing up for work can't achieve it, there is literally NOTHING that will get someone fired from here. That may sound great to some. For the rest of us, it's like working in a facility for the mentally disturbed. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Fine dining server 1 salary reported	$70,000 per year
Line cook 2 salaries reported	$20.73 per hour
Food runner 3 salaries reported	$35.00 per hour
Sous chef 1 salary reported	$65,000 per year
Dishwasher 1 salary reported	$17.00 per hour

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