shift leader

general manager

cook

line cook/prep cook

cashier

Teriyaki Madness

Great fun working there at the start, but the owner's "everything is your fault" attitude, her tendencies to break people down, talk over them, cut them off when they're speaking, etc, and her insatiable need for control quickly turned a great, productive work environment into radioactive fallout. I was a team lead for nearly a year when she fired me simply for telling the truth and defending myself after a bad night shift. Your opinion doesn't matter to her. Truly the kind of woman to ask "You still coming to work?" after some form of disaster occurs in your life, I know from experience. She disrespects her employees and her customers, because no owner who cares about their customers would freeze tofu, literally their only non-meat protein available, and then lie about it being fresh and delicious. Tofu turns into an inedible sponge when it freezes and thaws. Furthermore, there's no regard for cross contamination of anything. For example, I've seen many times the vegetables being mixed, washed, and cut together, by her, including those veggies that some people are severely allergic to, and the "gluten friendly" procedures are incredibly lax, as well as no cooking oil not contaminated by crab meat, further endangering customers, specifically the ones allergic to shellfish, all because it has to be her way or the highway, a saying she has actually used on numerous occasions. If you want to work there, or if you get a job there and want to keep it, my advice would be to prepare to sell your soul. If you enjoy being treated like a human being, wouldn't recommend applying. If you have food allergies and/or are a vegan, wouldn't recommend ordering in, or at all for that matter.

Meaning that it's not the best job I've ever had but also not the worst. All in all at my location I found that the managers and employees are majority Egyptian speaking which causes a problem because the lack of diversity involved. I often felt left out of conversations and that I was looked down upon for being the race that I am by employees. Management was and is great people, they really are nice and took as best care of me as possible but at the end of the day the minimum wage hike forced the manager to lay me off sadly. All in all the job itself was overall easy and pretty straight forward once you get used to the routine there. If you speak Egyptian and work hard than you might gain more hours depending on the position but ultimately there was little to no hours for me and at minimum wage. Advancement prospects seem minimal for anybody who doesn't speak Egyptian. All in all Id say the food is great and the management was great but the employees did frown upon an English only speaking individual. As I said above the job itself is not that difficult and pretty straight forward making this particular job overall mediocre in my opinion. I'd say choose anywhere else to work than here because of these reasons personally but if you have no other option it's not the worst place to work overall by any stretch. They just could offer better pay and more hours to those employees who are less favored.

My time at Teriyaki Madness has been nothing short of amazing. I started as a FOH worker, then cross-trained in the BOH and was then asked to become a Shift Leader. If you work hard, have attention to detail, take accountability, and adopt the high standards of the store; you will have absolutely no issues succeeding here. Hard work is recognized, advancement opportunities are everywhere, and I’ve never felt like management/owner level support was absent. My day to day looks like running my station, jumping in to help others when they need it, keeping shift pace on track, and ensuring a high standard of food quality and employee work. As for coworkers, they are easy to get along with and sometimes we even have a little too much fun joking around. I have learned so much about leadership and the behind the scenes of how a restaurant operates during my time here. The “hardest” part of my job is staying positive when unexpected things happen but as for job duties it’s what you deal with in every restaurant- some nights run long (never more than an hour), rushes, customer issues, etc… But again, that’s just part of working at a restaurant. The most enjoyable part of the job is feeling valued and that my contributions matter. However, if you are looking for a job to just blend into the background and you don’t like to take ownership over a task- It’s not the place for you. 

working at teriyaki madness had to have been my favorite job i’ve ever had, my days varied a lot but not because the manager or owner fixed it upon me but because i wanted to learn everything they had to offer and excel at everything, the management was the best part, they had the best communication i’ve ever seen in a restaurant, they were all supportive and helpful, the gm was an amazing trainer and amazing worker i knew if he was there the whole shift was going to run like a dream. every employee is in a good mood, very friendly and work very very well together. the hardest part of the job was really closing, 9/10 we could time everything to get out really fast but there were just certain days things wouldn’t go as planned and then we would get out a bit later than we had expected. i loved working with such a great team that flowed together like water and i loved being able to get the opportunities to learn new things constantly and really understand the business side of the restaurant industry. but my all time favorite part was the relationship i was able to build while i was there.

Get told what you did wrong, even though you weren't taught correctly how to do superficial tasks. Job itself is very easy, it's the coworkers and management that make work difficult.

Learned how to look busy

Management is non-existent, the owner constantly fires employees who won't follow verbatim her expectations which do not match the pay grade new employees enter at. You basically work FOH & BOH for FOH pay.

Workplace culture is have no life and work as much as you can for the least amount of pay. If you want your employees to work hard at least have a financial incentive

Hardest part of the job isn't the labor, it's the management improperly supervising employees while never being in the restaurant to see what actually happens.

Most enjoyable part of the job was the food. But they charge all employees for their meals, there is no shift meal. And breaks & lunches are either non existent or only one - two ten minute breaks for a full shift... 

Overall, my time working at Teriyaki Madness was a solid, middle-of-the-road experience that lands squarely at 3 out of 5 stars. The day-to-day work pace was often fast and engaging, and I generally enjoyed the camaraderie with my fellow team members in the kitchen.
However, two major factors limited my job satisfaction. Most significantly, the work-to-pay ratio was unfavorable. The high level of effort and energy required, particularly during peak hours, felt disproportionate to the compensation offered. This lack of perceived value made the intensive work less rewarding over time. Secondly, the quality and consistency of management were often lacking. Better communication and more robust support from leadership would greatly improve team morale and operational efficiency across shifts. It is a decent entry-level job, but strategic improvements in both compensation and management are essential for long-term employee retention.

Despite only being paid for front of house I spend far more time in the back and truly just feel like a glorified kitchen helper, even the word glorified gives to much grace to the sub-par treatment of us cashiers. Poor management has rung throughout the whole team now (I mean REALLY how have we not had a manager since mid july its absurd). Alongside severe understaffing that leaves me immensely guilty for not being able to cover shifts, or god forbid, call out (I just went in today despite being sick!). The scheduling is a HUGE issue, last minute scheduling, random small changes to the start and end time of shifts, spiteful scheduling... Its just a funny coincidence that suddenly after the first time I call out that all my schedules get pushed back from 9:15 to 9:30 or 9:45. The general instability of the whole operation leaves me in a very hard place as someone who needs a predictable schedule to balance my life as a student and an employee. Would not recommend.

Working at Teriyaki Madness has been one of the most disappointing experiences of my career. From the beginning, it became clear that the company operates with a lot of shady practices and doesn’t prioritize its employees’ well-being at all. They talk a big game about being a team, but in reality, it’s all about who’s in the ‘in-crowd.’ If you’re not part of their inner circle, you’re essentially invisible.

Instead of transparency and fair treatment, management consistently shows favoritism, giving special treatment to a select few while ignoring others. Basic requests for support or advancement go unheard, and they’re quick to disregard employee feedback or concerns. There’s no real opportunity for growth or recognition unless you’re willing to play along with their cliques.

If you’re looking for a supportive, fair work environment, look elsewhere. Teriyaki Madness is all talk, and they do not care about their employees unless you're in their clique.

What is the best part of working at the company?
There are some good people here, and for the most part, they try, but it isn’t nearly enough if you’re an inexperienced operator. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Dealing with employee drama. Constant equipment malfunctions. 
The franchisor will tell you no restaurant experience required. (At least when I attempted the concept.) Nonsense. You had better know restaurants, or you’re in for a rude awakening. They have “Business Coaches” who are really compliance cops. Don’t expect any assistance from them. 
The concept can be self defeating. The more business you have, the slower the line goes, and the more angry customers you have. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Deceptive and unhelpful. The company owner is a salesman, and will have you believing you can get this to work even though you don’t have any experience.

Lapeer, MI store : No holiday, sick, or vacation pay. Tips are distributed based on hours worked per the company handbook, but at a base rate of 1.50 per hour worked. I am not sure if every location does this, but it seemed as if tips could not have been handed out in full. Also, the owner took a full share. 

A typical day at work is easy: easy menu, easy duties, easy work. I learned how to walk on a slippery floor while balancing sauce, how to date things that should have already been dated, and how to ignore the deficiencies of family members who worked there. (Granted, most did very well!) 

The work place culture is like high school. Most employees were still in high school or early college years. 

Management does not have a business management background so many of the expected legal and safety issues were not being addressed. (Harassment, OSHA, etc.)

There was not really a "hardest part of the job" and the most enjoyable part was the customers!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Shift leader 15 salaries reported	$17.25 per hour
General manager 2 salaries reported	$62,125 per year
Cook 22 salaries reported	$15.09 per hour
Line cook/prep cook 14 salaries reported	$14.95 per hour
Cashier 10 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour

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