cashier

cook

shift leader

caterer

assistant manager

Tazikis Mediterranean Cafe

Just a terrible place to work. Taziki's Mediterranean Cafe embodies almost every negative trope about working at a restaurant with only a few of the positives. I'll try to keep this brief because there are so many problems about working at this store that listing out all of it's issues would take far too long. 

Firstly, here is no leadership. Management does not hold anyone accountable,  and people are almost free to do as they please. Which is great if you have no work ethic, but if you do; it's extremely frustrating. People will come in late for their scheduled shifts, sometimes not even showing up at all, leave and be nowhere to be found in the middle of a rush, and just generally ignore their job responsibilities. So naturally, employees that work hard are rewarded by having to do their co-workers' jobs in addition to their own. Toxic employees are allowed to run amok and destroy the morale of other people, and job duties aren't even close to being distributed evenly. For example, a cashier (which new-hires are typically hired on as), are expected to: Attend to drive-through customers, take orders at the register, take orders over the phone, run food out to tables, completely clean and buss tables, do the dishes, assist customers with miscellaneous  requests, as well as completing side-work, among other things. 
Going back to management, as I said before, they are extremely lacking. Even well-meaning managers tend to be subpar for the simple fact that they let the entire team suffer as a result of things like I mentioned above. And that's if their well meaning; the ones on the lower end of the spectrum can be so bad it's jaw-dropping. One example is being severely understaffed, (4 people trying to operate an entire restaurant), and the general manager of the store took it upon himself to get inebriated and not assist with the closing of the store that  he was responsible for. Yes, it sounds comical but this sort of thing really happened, and yes this person is still with the company somehow. There have now been two assistant general managers to quit without any notice because of how toxic the working conditions are, even for them. In addition to this, the company is even willing to hire managers to lead the store who are so untrained that they are unsure how to make basic items on the menu. More day-to-day examples include having to do double work because the person who worked the station before you didn't do their part to set up the next shift, having to work multiple stations because someone didn't bother to show up, having to stay late because it's not actually possible to do all you're supposed to  do in your scheduled time, and much, much more. And these things are all a result of a lack of structure and poor leadership. 
To be fair, there are some good days, where there is a full staff, the restaurant is able to meet the demand of it's customers well, and employees can just do their part and go home on time; but those days are few and far between. Other positives are that you are able to have free meals when you work, there is a good amount of downtime, and your co-workers are pleasant people for the most part. Seriously, I don't want to gloss over this, personality-wise; most of the people working there are rather nice people including management, that's not an issue.
Overall, it is a very chaotic environment, and it would be wise to work there no longer than you absolutely have to. It's probably a fine place to work for people who don't take issue with all of the problems that were mentioned above, but for people who actually value their time and energy, it's best to just avoid. 

Got hired as an AGM in the Birmingham area. The job itself isn't difficult. It's easy to pick up.  

The problems for me may have been a one-off.  I was hired on and the paperwork was scattered to the winds. It took a while for anyone to get with me on anything.  When they finally did begin my training on the job, I was put into a store with another AGM still in training, who was being trained BY an AGM. (Manager was moved to another location.)  This meant I wasn't actually being trained.

Cleaning wasn't a priority which is gross in a restaurant.  Management was surprised at my frustration over how the process started. 

We had a sit down with the area manager, and he got me set up training properly.  Things went well enough for a few weeks after that. I was moved to another store for FoH training, which didn't start for weeks again.  At the time of writing this, I was with the company, working, for almost 2 months and had only had about 6 hours of actual management training.  I was a paid well to run food.

I was fired for not being a "good fit," with no notice.  I legitimately went above and beyond to ensure I was developing relationships with co-workers, handling all of the associated work, and just trying to learn.  No one seemed to know it was coming.  

The individual who fired me was a good guy.  The managers I had to interact with were good people.   I harbor no ill will towards anyone specifically in this situation, and can't stress enough, this was just -my- experience. Hopefully anyone reading this doesn't take it as an indictment of the company overall, but maybe just asks a few more questions about how many people will be getting trained simultaneously when they start. It seems to affect quality here, big time.

I suspect my initial frustrations which were spewed may have played a long-term part in firing me.  However, the way it came down the pipe, over a month and a half later, was without notice, and zero prior indication I was a "problem" to the team- including from fellow teammates who were baffled I was leaving. So just be careful.

I don’t get why this company is lying about their pay on indeed… nobody is making the amount of money they are saying you will make. I went in for a interview, told me I would be making $16-$18 an hour plus tips and my first day I started I get told from another manager that I would be making $10 plus tips so the tips will amount up to $18… common sense is that not everybody tips. Whether you’re a caterer, waitress, etc for this company or any company. Almost everyone is messy and they back bite a lot! I haven’t even been here a week and I saw this on my first day, employees talking about other employees and then smiling in their face. Don’t expect to get uniform or info to log in because a lot of people has been quitting because the job is not worth the amount of stress and trouble you will endure. They expect people to quit so that’s why they don’t give you the info to clock in or a uniform shirt… people are quitting because they are being lied to about the pay. Why lie? Do you think you’re gonna keep employees moving like snakes? I don’t know if they have all this going on at the other locations in Memphis but the one on Mendenhall is TERRIBLE! And the manager comes up to me and says “Oh you must’ve misunderstood me when I was telling you about your hourly wage” no I didn’t and the other people I was training with didn’t “misunderstand” this person’s words either. Definitely not worth it for any position at this company, I quit on day 2. I needed a job and money after being out of work for 7 months just to get lied to for no reason about the pay. They should put “Can make up to $16,$17,$18” stop telling people they will be making these amounts. And you will be getting paid every 2 weeks 

Anyone could go in and out of the safe with the money, know codes for discounts, make deposits, take money out of the register because they thought they needed to purchase something at publix etc. (money was always short at the end of the day)  The favorites could bring their kids and work while they are unsupervised during working hours, and use it as a free daycare.  the kids (literally) would grope each other and kiss during store hours.  Upper management lied all the time about miscellaneous things, such as who was in what position.  Upper management never took action except when he wanted to fire someone...nobody got fired when the kids (literally not even 21) decided to play pranks on each other  : placing bowl movements in the oven mitts, throwing lettuce all over the floor, loosening the spouts on the tea urns so that tea would go every where, tapping things up so that people couldn't get to them, would call out multiple times... I knew the last manager they had started out as an assistant manager, then moved up to manager, she was pregnant and during her maternity leave they made her come back just to work for her insurance and her paycheck was literally less than $40.00 every pay period and she was supposed to be the manager - who really wants to work for a company that will turn your back on you.

All in all I wouldn't be surprised if they were just using the business as a tax write off.

Everybody expects you to do everything for them; they just stand there on their phones while you're doing every single task by yourself.
You end up doing the job of 4 people as 1, particularly closers because opening shift can't be bothered to do any of their tasks.
That's besides attending to the night rush with a shortage of people, since there was almost always GUARANTEED one or two people who called out an hour into the supposed start of their shift. It's definitely doable as two or three people but everybody wants to boss you around and have line done their way instead of just letting it flow which makes it super inefficient.
So not only do you have to do most of the closing for back of house, front of house AND dining room by yourself, but the opening shift leaves their food prep tasks, dishes and cleaning to you.
Every time I walked in it was DISGUSTING in the back from the openers, sink clogged and muddy with hundreds of dishes from the entire day. They'd just be standing there on their phones waiting for you to get in and then literally RUN to clock out and leave.
Just don't even be bothered to apply if you respect yourself. Other employees think they're entitled to your time and attention outside of work as well; they will text and call you about "being sick" and needing a cover almost every single day after leaving all their work to you while on the same shift.

I loved working at Tazikis!! Just like many jobs do, Tazikis got old after being there for a while, partially due to poor management. A typical morning at work would include arriving early to prep foods, count cash drawers, clean and prepare the lobby, getting together catering orders, taking orders over phone and in-store, checking lobby, cleaning, and making sure customers were satisfied. A night shift at Tazikis usually included making sure everyone was happy with their orders, running food to customers, taking customers orders on the kiosk computer, taking phone calls/ to-go orders, taking payments, making sure the lobby was clean and organized, making sure customers were happy and satisfied with their service and meals, making sure employees were staying on task, handling complaints, counting inventory, closing down drawers/ computers, putting in bank deposits, checking the cleaning jobs of employees, and locking up the store. I loved my co-workers, everyone got along and had a good time, but were professional in he same sense. I loved tazikis and miss it all the time!

This job seemed amazing at first! Overtime pay, good starting pay, tips I get to keep, easy job. But it was a steep hill to go down. I was trained at a store with 2 catering people. At the store I worked at, I was the only one but was expected to do the work of 2. I wasnt allowed to come in as early as I liked/needed to do the work expected of me and was rushed out the door at theend of the day. I was told getting 60 hours a week was fine when hired, then one week I was close to it. I had 1 off day and a few doubles, including a shift I picked up to help out management and another for a large evening catering. Got yelled at for how many hours I had. Also, large orders that would take up  hours of my time did not include gratuity. I had to prepare a catering order for almost 200 people, organize the order for weeks, had to prep, help get everything in the van, unload it, organize it at the location and spend a couple hours there to also serve the food to every individual with no tip. Then to get yelled at for the amount of hours I had and to get my hours cut for having a busy week.

A typical day at work would include being the cashier for part of the day and helping out in the dining room. Then after the lunch rush, I would go around town marketing our business. If there were catering jobs that day I would put them together and then deliver and set them up.
I learned quite a bit about the running of a small restaurant and learned marketing skills along with catering and some manager skills.
Management was always present and very helpful with whatever I or fellow employees needed as well as customers.
My co-workers were all wonderful to work with and were hard working and dependable.
The hardest part of the job was marketing for the business. It was still a fun part of the job, but was not for me.
The most enjoyable part of my job was being able to talk to and help people. I am a very social person, so being able to talk with so many people and brighten there day was really a joy, and wasn't really a job to me.

A good place to get started if you're a student. It has decent pay and benefits, but nothing to work up to. A typical day if working all day starts three hours before opening to prep appetizers, sides, and ingredients for sandwiches. After opening, sandwiches are cooked and appetizers and sides are plated to order. There is usually a two hour break between 3 and 5pm. Start cleaning and wrapping food one hour before close if it's not too busy. Cleaning is usually finished one hour after close. Prepping is actually very enjoyable and relaxing especially before opening. But it is stressful at times as some employees are unreliable which makes for a very chaotic schedule at times. There doesn't seem to be any direction, everyone is left to their own pace no matter how fast or slow. Overall, it's an okay place to work, not great, but not too bad either.

I was one of the first cashiers to work at my location and helped them open. The management praised me for being fast and reliable yet suddenly cut my hours severely without reason. For some reason they can’t put more than one cashier on a shift even on the weekends even though we’re supposed to take orders, bring food, bus tables and wash dishes. It’s very tiring and because we’re the only cashier we don’t get breaks (my coworker even got a write up for taking one!) I stayed for so long because I figured it was growing pains of opening a new restaurant but a year in and it’s worse than when we first opened. Best thing I can say is the actual owner is sweet, pay is good because of catering tips and customers are nice. Other than that, I would say if you work here apply to be a cook rather than a cashier because then you’ll have actual help. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cashier 25 salaries reported	$13.68 per hour
Cook 32 salaries reported	$14.27 per hour
Shift leader 16 salaries reported	$17.19 per hour
Caterer 24 salaries reported	$15.44 per hour
Assistant manager 7 salaries reported	$44,286 per year

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