line cook

dishwasher

prep cook

food runner

chef manager

Urban Plates

I've worked at this location at the Tustin Marketplace for a little over half a year and it's not that bad. It gets very busy and overwhelming especially when you're the only person at the cashier having to take in long lines for the dinner rush, and also having to deal with multiple phone calls for orders. Sometimes I feel understaffed, but the big red flag from working at this particular Urban Plates was the scheduling. For the first 4 months, the schedule went well with my schooling and personal life making everything okay. Despite that, you would only get scheduled for shifts ranging from as low as 3 hours to at most 5 hours if you're lucky. It was a huge turn-off for me because I live roughly 30-40 minutes away depending on traffic, and it's a minimum-wage job. The last two months of working here became a huge disaster. There were times I got scheduled for 5 days in a row and in total work for 20 hours, there was an instance I got scheduled for 9 days in a row for roughly 40 hours and that was during Thanksgiving. I believe my general manager was training someone at the time, but because of the miscommunication, the scheduling ended up being an extreme inconvenience for me, and I, unfortunately, had to leave. It turned into an internal conflict with one of the higher-ups because they noticed I've been trying to take days off through the App, but it's mainly because the person doing my schedules kept scheduling me for days I was in school.

Thankfully it was during the time I graduated from college that I could pursue my career job. Overall, if you want to apply for this job, the work environment is okay, but not great. The tips are shared with everyone and end up giving an extra 4~5 dollars on top hourly. REMINDER, YOU GET PAID MINIMUM WAGE SO DON'T BUST yourself working there. They try to psychologically manipulate you to work harder through the tipping system.

At the time of writing, I am currently a member of the UP-Management team.  
Day to day operations include working in a fast-paced environment (approx. 10-hour workdays as management), quality control, inventory management, delegation of tasks, administrative responsibilities, fiscal oversight, LSM, expert hospitality and service, food safety, team management, direct involvement in the local community, and creating memorable experiences for team members and guests.  In my time with the company (6 years), I have been presented with continuous opportunities to advance my career through hourly supervisory roles, into salary management.  I started as an hourly line cook, then moved into a kitchen supervisor (Jr. Sous), Hourly-Salary (Sous Chef), and currently am a Salary Manager (Exec Chef).  Each location I've worked in has had management teams who drive excellence in the industry.  The area and supporting management are effective and efficient, providing all levels of support to each location.  The overall culture of the company emphasizes support, opportunity, development, and clarity from top to bottom.  Management for UP has been enjoyable overall for someone who is eager to move up within a company that presents opportunities for growth.  Overall, the most enjoyable part of the job is creating a foundation in the local community.  Urban Plates stands out from its competitors in this area by being actively involved in their communities with fundraisers, charitable events, donations to local schools, support groups, and first responders, and hosting local organizations.

It was nice at first then you realize how bad it gets, the company says yes to anything and everything and have to be nice to people who don't deserve it. The manager is very flexible with school schedules but it takes a lot to get them to follow the times you provide. I'm a full time student and had to tell the manager about 5 times I can't work mids and finally stopped getting mid shifts. The pay is honestly not enough for the amount of work we're doing, like its the normal cooking cleaning, delivering food to tables and stuff but the cashiers are the face of the guest, you have to put on this show and if you're not doing it right you get told to do whatever controlling way is madr otherwise. The manager has told me that I do not communicate with people well then they turn around and communicate not nicely to someone. The manager is very hypocritical and doesn't listen to any concerns staff has. The company should honestly pay employees more because $13 an hour and having to pay for food is a bust. Theres also a new thing where you have wait until a manager will let you leave after closing, my coworkers and I sometimes wait between 15-30 minites after our shift has ended for a manager to tell us to clock out, it's not the best work environment and I haven't been there long. Do yourself a favor and find somewhere else that pays a lot more, trust me.

One of the strongest aspects of this company is its workplace culture and genuine commitment to employee growth. From the start, it’s clear that leadership values developing talent from within rather than looking outside first. Employees are encouraged to grow, learn new skills, and take on additional responsibilities, with clear pathways for advancement.
The company actively invests in its people through training, mentorship, and ongoing feedback. Leaders take the time to recognize potential and provide guidance, which helps employees feel supported in building long-term careers rather than just holding a position. Seeing colleagues promoted internally reinforces that hard work and dedication are noticed and rewarded.
What sets this company apart is the sense of trust and opportunity it creates. Employees who advance within the organization already understand the culture, expectations, and values, which leads to stronger leadership and a more cohesive team environment. This approach not only benefits individual career development but also strengthens the company as a whole.

Urban Plates offers a fast-paced, guest-focused environment. A typical day involves overseeing fresh food execution, team coordination, and ensuring high service standards. I learned the importance of scratch cooking at scale, operational discipline, and leading with consistency. Management is generally structured and process-driven, with clear expectations around quality and performance. The workplace culture emphasizes teamwork, transparency, and a strong commitment to health-conscious dining. The hardest part of the job is maintaining speed and quality during peak hours while managing labor and inventory. The most enjoyable part is working with fresh ingredients and leading a team that takes pride in delivering a better-for-you dining experience.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part of working here was I loved the job itself. I knew exactly what I had to do and my leads were very kind. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Most stressful was management. Like some of the reviews on here this job preaches equality but doesn’t show it. Favoritism is 100% a thing here and when you try your hardest to communicate with management they use it against you on later instances. Calling out is only okay for the favorites. Getting coverage is also a pain due to staff having so little availability. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
If you keep to yourself you will be fine. Sometimes felt like high school in the sense that people would talk about others in a negative way and even when brought up to management, nothing would be resolved. I loved it at first but slowly came to realized that favorite is something that this company needs to look into. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Typical day would be me going into work and staring my side work immediately. Would get stressed over certain coworkers not assisting.

Where do I start 
I’ll start by saving your time don’t work here it’s not worth it lots of people are leaving due to bad management no one appreciates the new management and he’s new to the business doesn’t even know what he’s doing half of the time and they won’t offer overtime they’ll bite your head off if you go over one minute of your shift and they’re cutting hours and are given to manager in training which some don’t even do anything not all but certain don’t do anything and the foh employees hours are going to them which is not fair because certain are just on the phone or just standing around looking foolish while the cashiers are struggling in the front with no barback this company needs help they just started and they’re already drowning and no I do not approve of this company they’re messy can’t even control the MANAGEMENT THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO RUN THE RESTURANT you know it’s a stressful work place if your management are rude and lazy very sad the management ALL of them should get retrained they need it !

Every place has its ups and downs, this location has a big turnover rate both FOH and BOH, though most FOH are students. Due to lack of workers and call outs it can definitely be tougher than expected, not only do you have to work under pressure for rush hours but you have to keep up with moving to any position that needs help, and keeping up with the GM who tends to get overwhelmed on bad staffing days. Overall the workers are friendly and it’s a fun environment aside from the 11-2 and 5-7 time frames LOL but those times are very gratifying for everyone for having worked through it as a team, and if the team really needs help there’s always OT opportunities. The management team is great at accommodating your scheduling needs and any other concerns. Be aware just like most jobs they will try to overextend you without trying to give you a raise or promotion, and sometimes they’ll promote people who have worked there less time than others. The pay and benefits are nice and it’s a good company to work for.

They over hire Pastry cooks. Don’t be fooled, they want to have only 1 pastry cook to do all that work you see on their beautiful displays and I mean 1 pastry cook per day meaning no night shift or not 2 people per shift. ONLY ONE PASTRY COOK per location, per day and they say they support you but only if an investor and or owner shows up (they “help” you by grabbing pastries and cakes from other locations) and then they do this battle royal style thing where all the pastry cooks have to work their butts off to prove they’re worthy of the only pastry position available so if you make the cut you’ll probably have to work through your break and be constantly running around trying to get things done and the others that didn’t make the cut will be offered to cross train or be scheduled 2 days or one day a week until they get tired and quit

Working here was a nightmare. Management is petty and not as nice as they come off at first. Workers are inconsiderate and will leave you doing 3 peoples jobs at once while they just huddle and gossip. It’s under staffed and that results you in having to over work yourself physically and emotionally. They expect you to suck up to everything they say and if you don’t they act like you’re not vital or important. Their work system is heavily flawed and they don’t listen or care to input on how to improve. The food benefit isn’t even worth it cause they either undercook or overcook the food. Wish it was as good as expected but sadly disappointing :( at this job I learned how to be a fast food worker cashier while holding the mannerism of a fine dine waitress from the lack of compassion. This job is a joke :/ 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Line cook 459 salaries reported	$18.57 per hour
Dishwasher 229 salaries reported	$18.46 per hour
Prep cook 198 salaries reported	$18.68 per hour
Food runner 212 salaries reported	$18.61 per hour
Chef manager 38 salaries reported	$78,697 per year

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