dining room manager

host/hostess

sous chef

food runner

line cook

The Capital Grille

My first impressions of the capital grille were ones of high quality, like I had finally found somewhere to work where people acted as a team and cared about everyone there being successful.  For the first few months this was pretty much the case. We opened in early 2014 and I got overtime like crazy for a while and no one seemed to mind about labor because business was good. Lately things have changed in that the restaurant is still operating exactly as it was before, good business and the servers make great money. They complain about making $250 in one night's service.  That's how good they do on average.  But the kitchen staff is regularly yelled at about labor and our hours are cut more and more. Instead of firing the handful of lazy employees, they cut all of our hours and shrug when we tell them we have bills to pay. Basically we are expendable garbage and everyone else lives like kings. It wouldn't be so bad but they have the worst system regarding their food costs. They over prep multiple items daily, and then they throw out everything at the end of the night. It's not hard to set up a better prep system. We don't receive enough time to do everything required of us and the reservations are constantly overbooked for certain time periods. Every day we are slow until about 7 p.m. Then we are hit with 150 covers until 8. Then it slows to a crawl once again and we wait for 10 o'clock.  It's a daily reminder of how little they understand. Space out the reservations. They yell how long on a ticket that just came in along with 20 other tickets with multiple large parties all at the same time. Space out the effing reservations. And then they have the gall to act like they themselves are appalled when there are even the smallest delays. Hold yourselves to the same high standards you hold us to. It's a high class restaurant being run by greedy, snobby jerks and its kitchen staff is underpaid, overworked and treated like they work at a waffle house or ihop.  I don't make horrible money but I don't make what a cook at a place such as this should make. They pull in plenty of money every day/week/month/year and I can't pay my rent. Share the wealth.

Working at The Capital Grille has been challenging and rewarding. 

A day at work includes arriving in full uniform to clock in, check for opening sidework and completing before team meeting begins promptly at 5pm. 

Detailing glassware and tables is to happen before guests arrive to ensure the proper table settings are in order. Attention to detail is to be spot on as the managers do a "guest ready" check. 

Before completely our shift we are to report to co workers to check our glassware and tables after we clean them and detail them from service. We also have to complete restaurant cleaning every night. We get assigned certain sections daily. 

I learned that attention to detail is the most important along side time management. I know my history is food related but much of what I do is keeping guests on time with lunch and dinner because of their schedule. 

Our workplace culture is a fun and team oriented place. We enjoy doing our job to the best of our abilities and also making the job fun. 

The most difficult part of my job is reading the guests. We are trained to read the guest, but every guest is different. Every guest comes in with a different expectation and we are expected to deliver each experience. Our job is to tailor each experience to fit the needs of the people who choose to dine with us. 

My most enjoyable part of the job would be having a challenging or disgruntled guest and brain storming with a co worker or manager to try and fix the problem. 

Our management team functions practicing 8 core values that we as servers commit to memory. These 8 core values cover how they want us to function from the moment they hire us. Setting clear expectation and acting guest first are the main priorities.

This place is a great place to work if you like to keep busy and have a love and background for fine dining/hospitality. Majority of management was fun and pleasant to work with and all managers were committed to acting "guest first". Some managers were more supportive than others when it came to assisting staff when it was busy. There were some managers who like to micro-manage and were sometimes very stressful to work with though. Servers were very competitive and greedy. You get "mystery shops" which is a good way to keep the staff committed to service. There was also a lot of favoritism and that lead to a lot of drama between staff. Also expect to face some issues with scheduling every once in a while, there is constantly fluctuate in staff, meaning there are a lot of times that they are short staffed and there is a lot of understaffing on busy nights  and when it gets busy or is holiday season there is a very unlikely chance you'll get your ideal schedule or your time off. Because of the industry, you will of course deal with some very high maintenance people, which can add stress to everyone, but it just comes with the job. An overall good experience, but the drama and lack of support that lower level employees go through can make this job more difficult than most would like.

Communication is something that was always encouraged and you could see the benefits of having the mentality of getting better day by day, and shift by shift. The management team are your allies and are always committed to helping you be successful. I started out as a server and then became a trainer at my home location and directly became opening trainer for all future new openings while I was with the company. I worked hands on with all new hires from 'Front of the house' to 'back of the house' employees. I conducted training courses that were structured to prepare the opening staff for a successful opening. I then became a Service professional and worked closely with the Director of Training and Development as well as working with Directors of Operations for the regions wherever we had a restaurant opening. This company has no shortage of growth opportunity. Learn the core values that we live by and apply them to every shift you work. You will see excellent results that will be carried beyond the workplace.

on a typical day i'd wash dishes and do anything else asked of me such as food preparation or stocking inventory in the restaurant also keeping inventory.I learned a lot about food temperatures prep techniques and what it was really like to work hard this was the busiest capital grille in the world literally I am not over exaggerating,it is  the most profitable store ,management was good but dint want to move me or other coworkers because the job criteria was so crazy at times they couldn't really find a lot of people who wouldn't quit within a week or so,they did compensate more because of that though,you've got lazy coworkers everywhere some would help some wouldn't it was normal stuff some slacked on the job some didn't that's all.the hardest part was the restaurant business and some people would just walk around while others and i were in the dish room behind.the food was buy far the most enjoyable part of the job like i said they compensated so not only financially but with food every night.

Overall, the quality of the work I was doing was very high and I did feel proud of it for the most part... however, I was only a host and I was not treated as well as the server team. I don't think it's the worst job to have, but they definitely don't respect you there if you aren't perceived as making them a lot of money, and you're expected to live for your job even if you aren't making much money. The job itself was very mundane and I felt like I had no purpose in life for the entirety of my time working there, although I suppose that's more a personal matter. And the guests themselves have a tendency to be very entitled, as a female, I got hit on by lots of much older men and they constantly told me to "smile More" (I am not going to smile and play nice with an old creep who obviously just wants to get into my pants, thanks.) Not all the guests were like this though, some of them were absolutely lovely and I do miss some of them dearly. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
They hire a certain type...happy, great at their jobs, love people & are unbelievable co-workers! Those that aren't ALL of these things usually weed themselves out one way or another...lol, but facts. Great benefits in & out if work. At least at our store, management treats you like adults...it's amazing & quite refreshing. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Oh boy...it can go from 2 people in the whole place to a VERY FULL plane just let off at the front door without a reso! Lol...actually, it's my favorite & makes the day just fly! Other than that, its a fantastically chill place to work! 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Family & guest forward. Do it right or fix it fast. They give us a lot of autonomy to give guests a first class experience without having to beg to do a nice thing 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It's kind of like having a privately cheffed dinner party where pals are the servers & the guests are like our new besties. I'm not kidding! Well, it like that for me any way ;-)

What is the best part of working at the company?
The company cares.
From corporate to management the employee does matter. Multiple benefits such as health care, scheduling flexibility and a daily meal. We value our guests and we strive daily to be the best and provide an extraordinary dining experience. Very hard work and dedication is expected and rewarded. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
We can be very busy but that’s why it’s called a job. If you don’t work hard and are not dedicated this is not the employment for you.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
High energy,  you deal with different personalities, but the culture is one of a fast paced restaurant with its own unique sets of problems and issues. 
You learn to overlook and the positives definitely outweigh the negatives.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy and rewarding. Fast paced. Always different. 
Relationship building with our guests is awesome.

I’ll start off by saying I didn’t stay with the company very long due to the high stress environment and the anxiety it caused me. They do a great job training you but the amount of time spent marking tables with silverware and clearing plates is going to eat up most of your time. You’re supposed to call for clear hands from fellow servers and you should take the help where you can get it. They will expect you to sell a decent amount of wine or management will definitely notice that you’re not doing so. They have food runners but you’re responsible for running your salads, chilled appetizers and desserts. The clientele at the location I worked at left a lot to be desired and the side work took at least an hour nightly. I’ve never tipped out so much while also doing almost everything but resetting my tables. The managers were great and I wish it had worked out because of them and my awesome coworkers. Many of my coworkers enjoyed it and did really well financially. 

They hire/trick you into thinking you will work 5 shifts a week but when you show up for your one forced lunch shift it’s 90% of a waste of time, gas and money. No runners during lunch shift and you run all your appetizers and 3 table small stations.  Being the newbie your forced to setup the line and all the covers go to those who have seniority while you do all the labor work only to get cut getting no tables or about 25% of the covers of those who have been there longer. Only time for a chance to make any money is convention season cause they use you for over flow tables usually giving you about 10 covers a night while those people with seniority get 3-4times your covers. No 6+ person large party gratuity either. Managers are lazy and if anything happens no matter what happens it’s your fault. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to work here. Also all the benefits they brag about in orientation they make sure that not one FOH employee gets enough hours for insurance. Avoid at all costs.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Dining room manager 25 salaries reported	$76,400 per year
Host/hostess 105 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour
Sous chef 70 salaries reported	$74,221 per year
Food runner 51 salaries reported	$921 per week
Line cook 21 salaries reported	$21.42 per hour

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