shift leader

restaurant manager

team member

team leader

cashier

Taco Cabana

There is a severe lack of organization and structure at Taco Cabana. Weekends there are an absolute mess. The place can descend into chaos on some weekdays, too, but there is no match for a Friday, Saturday, or even Sunday working at Taco Cabana. I’ve known multiple employees who have walked out on Friday’s/Saturdays or simply never returned after a particularly terrible weekend shift. 

You will likely never get out at the time you are scheduled to leave on a weekend. You will be expected to stay 1-2 hours or more over your shift. I have gone 10+ hours straight working as a cashier on weekends, with no break. Somehow this is seen as normal there, and if you try to challenge it and ask to leave at the right time, everyone talks bad about you.

Being a drive thru cashier on a weekend at Taco Cabana is hellish. You will rarely, if ever, have enough help and will have to run the entire operation by yourself (as in, taking orders AND charging customers/handing out orders AND stocking, all at the same time). Yet managers are somehow surprised and angry when their drive thru cashiers get confused or forget things. The amount of multitasking and high standard of customer service expected from a DT cashier there is just unrealistic. The wait times get long on weekends, so the struggling DT cashiers get to bear the brunt of customers’ impatience and rage.

Sometimes, front cash is no walk in the park, either. Good luck finding a chance to go to the restroom as a cashier there on weekends (front or drive thru).

It seemed like something was ALWAYS going wrong at Taco Cabana. I would go in and wonder what kind of disaster I’d to have to deal with that day - the receipt printer is broken, the drive thru touchscreens are not working, the credit card machines are malfunctioning, the cash register won’t open, we’re out of rice or beans during a rush, we’re out of ground beef, we don’t have lids/cups for drinks, we don’t have utensils, we don’t have sugar... you name it, it’s probably happened. The management probably needs to consider investing in new equipment and MAKE SURE THEY ORDER ENOUGH SUPPLIES.

The customers are dreadful. There is a toxic “The customer is always right” mentality among Taco Cabana management that comes at the expense of the employees. The managers let customers get away with treating cashiers like scum or making things up to get free food. Managers are too willing to bend over backwards for customers to a point where the store probably loses money over it. They arbitrarily give out free things to customers who are demanding, “regulars,” or friends of theirs. I wish there was a point where a manager could tell a customer “No” or “Please don’t speak to my employees that way.”

TC has narcissistic managers who blame employees for their shortcomings/screw-ups. Their scheduling doesn’t make sense. The way they talk to employees at times can escalate to verbal abuse. Once I had a manager scream at me in the middle of me trying to take an order calmly in my headset. I have witnessed managers yell or cuss at employees very ugly, loud enough for customers to hear. I don’t think any of us ever felt truly appreciated or respected for the back-breaking work we did for those managers.

The training for new employees is not nearly thorough or informative enough. You’ll likely just get thrown into the storm and have no idea what you’re doing for a few days. You are treated like you’re dumb when you don’t know something that you were literally just never taught. If you’re a cashier, you’ll find yourself in situations with customers that you don’t know how to deal with because you were never trained for that.

The work environment involves a lot of interpersonal drama, gossip, and pettiness. The coworkers are a mixed bag. I’ve had some coworkers spread ridiculous rumors about me as if we were in high school. But I’ve made good friends with others. Sometimes they would make it more fun to come to work and we’d help each other get through the day. Also, the shift leaders are pretty great and they tend to have employees’ backs more than the higher-level managers.

There is a high turnover of employees. In the time I worked there, I just saw one employee after the other be hired and quit within 2-3 months or less. The only people who ever stay are those who’ve been there for a long time and have received some kind of promotion/raise. The place is always hiring for a reason - it’s just awful and no one really wants to work there. Plus there is nepotism. Sometimes new hires make more than people who’ve been there longer, just because they are related to the management or a current employee somehow.

In the beginning I was working night shift so I would come into the restaurant and go to the salsa bar to clean and stock it up. After that I would get a register and begin taking orders. Until I had a person to make the food and after my training I would make the food and take the orders. After a month of being there I started training for shift leader. I would go into the office to close the cash-link system at the end of the day and print the reports. I would also count the inventory and check the temperature of the food to make sure it was the right temperature. After a couple of more months I started working day shift and once I started working the day shift, I would go into the office and count the safe. After the count of the safe, I would check the emails and the points of how the restaurant is doing overall. I would put the points into a spread sheet and send them to the district manager. I also would put the inventory count into the computer as well on a spread sheet so that we would have the count to make sure, if we ran out of something we would know. 
   The co-workers were easy going and I got along with them very well they did as told and knew where they were going to be placed for the day. I had trouble with one co-worker but ended up taking care of that problem to where there wasn't much of a problem anymore.
   The managers I worked with were friendly and I got along with the store manager better than any of the other managers. The managers liked me so well that I was training for shift leader within a month of working at the restaurant.
   I loved working there and having the ability to grow and expand my position from cashier to training for shift leader. There was room for advancement there and I would love to go back if they would let me. 
  The hardest part of the job was when I started to feel uncomfortable around the store manager. There was something about the store manager that made me feel uncomfortable but since he has retired I wouldn't mind working there again.

A typical day at work consists of preparing food for the breakfast, lunch and dinner rushes, lots of cleaning, but mainly revolves around serving food to customers. If I have learned anything at Taco Cabana, it is that holding your tongue is the best thing for you to do. I learned that sometimes when you try your hardest, it is not enough, but that is okay. Management does not like confrontation or when employees question their authority. Since the store I work at has been given new management, I feel like they do not care about the employees anymore. Like they do not see the employees as people who have their own lives outside of work. My co-workers are always friendly, funny and we all act as a team. The hardest part of the job is staying calm when trying to make huge orders under the company's time-limit for desired speed of service while understaffed, all the while having customers getting angry and wanting to talk to you while you are trying to get their meals out to them as fast as you can. Honestly, the most enjoyable part of the job is when the customers remember that you are still a person and are trying your hardest to make a living by serving them. Aside from that, the most enjoyable part of the job is going home and putting your cleaning, cooking and taco-folding hands to rest.

You would actually be doing yourself a huge favor if you overlooked this job entirely. You actually have a better chance of getting treated with respect at McDonald's. The job itself is an enjoyable job, and the atmosphere that the customers provide is a comfortable one. That's where the good stops at this job. The job is essentially based off of favoritism, with zero regard for experience. In general, the managers are disrespectful. They really do not care what you have going on in your personal time, and will schedule you as such. You can try and talk to them, but the majority of the time you're going to be trying to get one of them to sit down with you for a month or two. Most people eventually give up. There is no real room for advancement unless you fit in with your managers little click. If you don't speak Spanish, just be forewarned that your managers have absolutely no hesitation when it comes to talking about you in another language. They will also do it behind your back. Your coworkers can either be good friends, or they're literally just going to try and stab you in the back every chance they get. They will also try and promise you competitive wages, which is a complete lie. They started me off and told me I was being paid based off experience, which is funny because they have people with no experience that start making more money than experienced workers.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Taking a break working 12 hours without one no good

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
No help opener have 15 people work close 2 Rgms not working here hours and when they do 15 team members 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Not much managers need to talk to team members better than they do don't treat one team member one way and treat other team members a different way because you expect more out of them even shift managers and assistance you treat them differently you'll sign them to too many tasks if they're not your favorite the one that works the hardest is the one that puts in the most hours whether they're an assistant or shift manager no respect general managers come in work 9 hours and some of them think that's okay and then they turn around and try to get their assistance to stay late and work 12 to 13 hours no help manager and training with one new person aboard closing with just those two for three days in a row rgm feel that's okay you guys can do it not okay way too much just not a place I want to be

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Some days are okay and then some days are overwhelming some days you have a little help and some days you just have none work with the company almost 2 years did not understand so many things that they did on a typical daily base

A typical day at work goes by pretty fast but that’s because you’re fast paced from the time you get there to the time you leave I don’t know if every position is like that but I worked drive thru cashier training was difficult because it’s fast and there so many items on the menu and watching anything at the speed of light and trying to retain information the most difficult part of the job is when we’re busy and you forget big things like to upsell or offer certain items or donations it’s kind of a big deal and makes you look like a weaker cashier since you can’t keep up but you at least have those times 3 times a day breakfast lunch and dinner . Management was relaxed and understanding and a team player.  The most enjoyable part of the job is when everything is consistent and flows nicely no mess ups and up selling and donations. 
The whole team comes together and works nicely together it’s sooo great. 

Another thing that annoyed me about the job is I’m a smoker and liked to smoke on my breaks and actually got in trouble because I wasent supposed to be smoking on the property. I don’t have a car. And would use my breaks to smoke and calm down from being rushed or irritated. So I really needed them. It caused me to part ways because that was the hour of the most enjoyable part of my day gone 

The GM is amazing, there are some good customers and coworkers that make the job feel worth it, weekly pay is awesome, and the food discounts are nice. However, the GM's assistant is always angry, and if you manage to unknowingly get on her bad side, nearly every interaction with her is sour. Some coworkers will teach you the incorrect way of doing things, and you'd never know until it lands you in trouble. It's common to get called in on days off, but you'll be sent home early on a different day to balance it so that you don't get overtime. Breaks don't exist unless it's really slow, and sometimes asking doesn't get you one either. For some, hours are consistent, but once you deviate from your regular schedule, it's all over the place even if you're promised a stable schedule. And lastly, while PTO does exist, you can't use it until you've been with the company for a full fiscal year. Which means if you leave before that, you do not get a PTO pay out for the hours that you accrue throughout your duration working with the company.

I enjoyed working with Taco Cabana has a staffing specialist. I would set up my interviews a week ahead for the stores that were in need of staff. I would make calls daily to those that I had received applications from through our hiring sites. I would email, call and text them and leave or speak to the candidate seeking employment and invite them out to interview with me. Once the candidate came out to meet with me, I would sit with them and conduct an interview to see if they qualified and fit the needs for the store that was hiring and then if so I would submit a background check and once that cleared I would get back with the candidate and either moved forward with offer or declined depending on background status and interview. I enjoyed working side by side with all the management staff. Taco Cabana had a very warm and friendly work environment. The hardest part of my job was having to decline an applicant of a position and of course the most enjoyable part of my job was offering an applicant a position in one of our stores. I also enjoyed classes that I taught for all new hires when bringing them onboard.

A typical day at work would be busy all day,like getting the line of food ready making sure everything is in order, cleaning everything, checking the dinning area, patio, next would be checking the bathrooms making sure it was clean, then being real quick to put the food together for the customers, after a long day check to see if everything would be clean for the next people that come in the next shift. 
 I learned many things while working at Taco Cabana. Such as prepping food, cleaning, to be quick when making the plates, and last thing was to make sure my register had the correct amount of money left for the person that comes in for the next shift.
 The management was very caring, nice, towards everyone and myself. Except for the general manager would sometimes not let some people miss a day or two even though they would be sick, or didn't really care if you came to work sick you would have to work no matter what.
 All my co-workers were very friendly, nice, helping , and caring.
 The hardest part of the job would be trying to make the plates fast during rush time because we had specific time to meet.
 The most enjoyable part of my job was making customers laugh, happy.

on the location i work at the way they treated employees was horrible starting from managers, shift leaders all the way to customers is just horrible. The managers had this  "customer is always right" mentality and will get the customer what ever they want . When i worked there people were always calling and complaining about their food and we would replaced them everything even family grande meals and they will get them for free always ! sometimes they would come without a receipt and asking for a meal to be replaced and managers told us to still replaced it. customers were always asking for discounts and they will still complain it was too much they were paying for. Managers barely show any empathy to their employees for example if you have school or any other activities outside of work and had to leave early or have days off and want managers to work on your schedule don't expect. everyday in your shift you will get out 2-3 hours late making it a 12 hour shift without a break. Try to contact their human resources department to complain. They will not answer you!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Shift leader 1 salary reported	$18,000 per year
Restaurant manager 2 salaries reported	$55,000 per year
Team member 100 salaries reported	$12.95 per hour
Team leader 12 salaries reported	$47,500 per year
Cashier 2 salaries reported	$13.00 per hour

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