line cook

server

host/hostess

dishwasher

prep cook

True Food Kitchen

True Food Kitchen pulled me in with its concept. From the outside, it seems like a fun, casual restaurant with sustainable and healthy food. However, the truth is less idealistic. For one, the short-order menu is tempting, but really doesn’t hold up. Dishes that seemed inspired and delicious at first glance reveal themselves to be one dimensional and boring over time. Some of the menu items are clearly designed simply to be the fastest way to throw some palatable ‘healthy’ food on a plate, while others are clearly just dressed-up vessels for expensive ingredients to jack up sales. For the most part, the only dishes with any level of finesse or complexity are seasonal items. I initially enjoyed working at True for the amazing community of people I would come in and see everyday. If you work here you will befriend some fantastic individuals, but that bond will be one forged through adversity. The glaring issue with this company is that they depend on exploitative labor practices to keep their margins out of the red. It is clear that from a corporate perspective, this restaurant exists to make money for its executives and shareholders; the people who work here are not compensated fairly for the value they bring in to the company, and I have had enough conversations with the management team to know that they are aware of this. Cooks, bartenders, and To-Go specialists (in that order) are probably the most exploited by the flawed and outdated systems in place (and the oftentimes ludicrous workloads they engender). A successful restaurant should be busy, but being deep in the weeds every single day is indicative of some larger issues. Almost all of the guest dissatisfaction I experienced was caused not by server/kitchen error, but by a lack of adequate systems being in place to deal with the workload; or just being plain understaffed, and I experienced angry or dissatisfied guests essentially every shift I worked. Get ready to spend your entire shift ‘apologizing for the wait’ because I regularly had 40 minute ticket times even for appetizers. The store genuinely cannot keep up with the volume it is experiencing, and management seems incapable of attracting enough team-members to fully staff it. My comments on the management will make very clear why this is the case. Almost all of my coworkers had to contend on a regular basis with BS like being scheduled 7+ days in a row, having to open after closing on a Friday night, the list goes on. To make matters worse, the General Manager (Seaholm Location) seems to be overwhelmed by the responsibilities of his station. He often acts irrationally or even cruelly towards team-members, obsesses over the physical appearance of the store, and micromanages everyone from servers to line cooks. If you get on his good side he will respect you and let you do your job, but he behaves quite  erratically at times so it’s hard to know what will trigger him. Combined with the oftentimes crazy workload, this leads to an environment where respect is very difficult to earn, and anxiety that the littlest thing will lead to immediate termination permeates. Some of the other managers and all of the Chefs are more level-headed, but they simply lack the power to counteract the influence of the GM. Furthermore, the opportunities for advancement in the FOH are essentially nonexistent. Almost all of the FOH managers were hired externally, and promotions are based more on deference to the GM than merit. Overall, I honestly cannot recommend working here. I wanted to love TFK, but that quickly became impossible. 

Initially this place looks legit. It seems well meaning teamwork, boasting being supportive of a "work life balance" fits into their image. But what it really means is regularly being scheduled 30 minutes early before your floor shift so they can work you the next 7-8+ hours straight. For example, you're scheduled at 9am-4pm, but what that really means is you come in at 9am, then immediately clock out for a mandatory break then come back at 9:30am and work straight until 5pm-6pm straight. (Yes that's over 8 hours with no breaks-not even a 10minute.) and if you stop to drink water or whatever they just keep screaming "hands hands, I need hands in the kitchen!" and give you the hairy eyeball until you drop what you're doing to run someone else's food. It's all under the guise of "teamwork" which I am all for (and I have been commended many times in the past for teamwork) but I have never in my life ran so much food and drinks for other people! Then I realized they DO NOT hire support staff. Most busy, successful restaurants will have a food runner or extra bartender on weekends to help with the busier days but not here! All under the guise of teamwork- so they keep labor costs down by under scheduling, while we are short and can't possibly give good service being sat your whole section all at once! They definitely do that regularly then expect you to run everyone else's food and bevs all because they don't want to pay a food runner? And management is not much help, they just stand around talking 
 or yelling for "hands" in the kitchen. So as a server your tips will suffer and you make ok money due to shear volume of the location in Fashion Valley. But I've honestly made the same amount of money for 4-5 hours at other restaurants versus an 8+ hour shift running around at True Foods. This is why the turn over is so high. I left 

Just go in and do your job. The staff here is very 80/20 in terms of authenticity and integrity. Keep this in mind for the customers too. The job is easy. Easy to retain and easy to go in to make some money. There needs to be a uniform method of training people. New people get talked poorly about and/or feel unwelcome due to poor training. Workplace is constantly drama. Keep your head low and just rise above it. If someone approaches you to talk about somebody, just let them know you're not interested in it, recommend names of people who would be, and return back to work. Management works with your schedule and is understanding if you need to call off. However, they're in favor of nepotism. Just like former reviews said, if you air out a concern/something that is negatively affecting you, you're looked at as the problem. Poor communication in a place where communication is vital. The job is good and easy but long-term isn't a healthy place to stay. Breaks are almost non-existent. Get your training here, get your experience, then move onto something better. Clear favoritism is shown, too. They'll promote people just for the sake of promoting people. The management here lacks the actual experience needed to actually manage a person, a team, and moreover, a business. Do better. 

Working as an Assistant General Manager at True Food Kitchen started with high hopes, but unfortunately, it turned out to be an experience filled with mixed signals, inconsistent policies, and constant burnout. Despite being fully committed and taking on a wide range of responsibilities, I was never given a fair opportunity to step into the General Manager role—even though I was ready, willing, and already doing the work.

The company made significant budget cuts that directly impacted the staff and leadership team. Hours were slashed to the point where I was forced to jump between roles—host, take-out, and even running expo—all in a single shift. This was in direct conflict with corporate guidelines stating that AGMs shouldn’t run expo, but it became necessary just to keep things afloat. The expectation was to do more with less, every single day, all while keeping up with performance metrics and maintaining guest satisfaction.

What made matters worse was the complete lack of support in key areas like marketing. We were expected to increase traffic and sales with little to no assistance from the brand on promotional efforts. It constantly felt like we were being asked to drive results with no fuel in the tank. 

In the end, it felt like loyalty and hard work were met with vague promises, poor communication, and ever-growing demands. True Food Kitchen talks a lot about wellness and balance, but unfortunately, that ethos didn’t extend to how they treated their leadership teams.

Did you ever work at a place that had 5 kitchen managers? Probably not. Maybe in a resort or a place that also does catering, but this was just a busy restaurant. 

Management doesn't have a clue how to inspire their team. 
You have about 3 on the clock all the time and all they do is tell you to hurry up. If they have to prep, they usually do the things that are easy or just something they can mindlessly do( make dumplings) 
If the line is backed up, they wont jump on until the GM tells them to. 
They usually expo and don't delegate the tickets like a real chef should. All they do is call a ticket number then ask you how long til its ready. They all act like they hate their jobs, so if you're trying to be a sous or chef, you'll just be constantly disappointed that those guys have their job and not you. 

I burned my hand, and their words exactly were "What do you have left?" 

They told me to hurry up when I had second degree burns on two of my fingers.

I've worked this industry for 5 years. I've been burned and cut, and I'm not the type to complain about injuries, let alone file for workers comp, but to tell someone to hurry up when they're injured is just harassment. 


The company ideals are good, and the starting pay was slightly above average. 

It's your typical successful restaurant that's trying to go corporate and cut corners. 

I've already emailed their company and their response was good, but we will see if they do anything about it.

Sad really.

Let me start by saying that yes, times have changed recently with so much going right now. True Food has an amazing holistic food concept that they have done. However, the way they are with their employees is by far from amazing and "true." Lately they have had an immense amount of turnover with so many people coming in and out from different positions, specifically BOH. They recently had a switch up with the higher ups in corporate causing a huge amount of terminations from people in the salary department in management. Which has now led to decreasing the pay for BOH employees regardless of high expertise in the culinary industry. I have done more than enough for the company in my time working for them. I feel like my work has gone unnoticed and unappreciated. Favoritism seems to be habit that management likes to thrive on with long-working employees that have been here since the near beginning. Not to mention they are the highest ones paid and seem to brag about it on a frequent basis in their own language. The current executive chef there seems to take their anger out on there employees when things don't go there way for example having to pick up shifts from call outs. In other words, know your worth when working for a place like this. Don't let any company take advantage of yourself. 

Overall, working as a server at this tfk location was a great learning experience. I personally thought that the management team I worked with did a good job to care for their employees and did their best to create a healthy/safe/fun environment for everyone. Pay was sufficient (as a server) and hours were flexible if your work ethic reflected that you cared about the job. To work here you must learn the entire seasonal menu and potential allergies that each dish may contain, for there are many guests that rely on this restaurant to cater toward their dietary needs. They train new hires for a week and require them to take a certification test at the end of training. This is a fast-paced restaurant that requires you to put in genuine effort for every shift. There are lots of regulars at this location but also many travelers because it's next to LAX Airport, so be prepared to communicate with many different people. Co-workers are welcoming for the most part, I only had a few issues with others I worked with but had help from managers to sort things out in a civil manner. The hardest part of this job is learning how to multitask while moving efficiently when there is a lunch or dinner rush. The best part of this job is the family-like team they've built and the healthy food they serve.

People who are newly hired get a $20 pay starting even with no experience (known because employees talk about their pay and experience amongst eachother) but the people who have been working there the longest are either the highest paid (which is only a few) or the lowest paid (below 20) no matter how much experience we have in the kitchen especially for this specific kitchen. The only reason it says starting pay 18 on indeed is because the lowest paid on the line is 18 so those people wont say anything, but when it comes to the interview they are bribed to take the job for $20. Many people have worked off the clock and management knows about it. You tell management you need a day off or you cant work a certain time they act like you never notified them. They update schedules on the same week (days off to now working) without giving you a notice. They think we dont have a life outside of work so we are expected to to pick up the phone when we are at home or doing our own thing. Management gives a certain few some slack while others get picked on and in trouble (you can call it favoritism) they are not flexible with hours at all, people quit so fast and because of management but they still wonder why they quit and still have the same issues towards employees. 

The workers are very friendly and respectful. Management on the other hand can loose their cool. When things get busy ( which it will. Business is very good at the location)chefs and the Gm will tend to loose focus and get overwhelmed  And a lot of us QUIT because they ran so many great workers off because of management. Will send you home 2-3 hrs in on your shift if it's "slow"but will want you staying til 1-2 in the morning when dishwashers call off. After they ran off good workers. They expect you to pick up that work load (here is when the lies and fake promises come in)they tell you they'll give you a raise if you can work more then one station. I worked 4 different stations for 2 weeks (and this was honestly the only way I was able to get a 40hr work schedule)and I let managers and chefs know I can't keep doing it without some sort of raise. I was getting the run around for some time so I left. I've been cooking for a while now. And one thing I never saw was a very busy restaurant who can't keep workers.

True food claims they're making a change for a healthy work environment and for their community, but this is your typical restaurant job. As a tipped employee, expect 6 training shifts and to do all the grunt work for your trainers without seeing a penny of tips. Once you've finished training and pass your serving test where you serve the managers under extreme scrutiny, you are thrown to the wolves. The guests that dine in this restaurant are NOT nice. Many of them have health problems, allergies, or are just generally difficult and extremely unforgiving. There are a handful that are nice and understanding, but generally not. Tips aren't super impressive, around 18%-20% is the standard.  The management team is extremely toxic, and there is a huge divide between FOH and BOH. They will do anything to please the corporate overlords and don't think of the staff as individuals. It's A LOT of work for not a lot of money. There are some nights on the weekends that get very busy, but for the most part it's just not. Don't even think about a promotion unless you are ready to dedicate your life to TFK.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 72 salaries reported	$20.23 per hour
Server 2 salaries reported	$20.25 per hour
Host/hostess 4 salaries reported	$17.50 per hour
Dishwasher 1 salary reported	$16.59 per hour
Prep cook 8 salaries reported	$19.19 per hour

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