I worked at McAlister's Deli for over a year. I managed over that year to be promoted to shift leader of the front of house staff. With that in mind, I want you to understand that this is in no way written because of a bad experience or resentment I hold against McAlister's. This is written to inform you of the truth.
The McAlister's franchise I worked under, Southern Rock (Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Mississippi), was by far the worst work treatment I have ever experienced. Not only experienced personally, but I witnessed it with so many of my fellow employees. The franchise had such terrible turnover rates and did absolutely nothing to fix the problem. Bad pay, no benefits, openly acknowledges little care for employees. My job was threatened personally by my general manager three times for speaking out against one of the shift managers treatment of my fellow workers. As a shift leader, I was told that every single employee is replaceable and that if I couldn't get over the mistreatment and harassment, I would be replaced. In my last week of working and the first of my two week notice, we had 8 people quit, mostly in part to the mistreatment by management. IT IS A TERRIBLE PLACE TO WORK. After informing my general about my two weeks, whom I had come to form what I thought to be a very good relationship, he proceeded to remove me from the schedule and end my employment right there. After proceeding to tell him I need those hours and was counting on them until I could st
When I first got this job I was told by a senior employee "You should of got a different job." I now agree.
McAlister's Deli on a typical day is insanely busy. With a constant lunch rush of $1000-$2000 hours. Lunch rushes usually last about 2 or 3 hours with hundreds of people coming through and start around 11:30 am. Dinner rush starts around 6pm but is nowhere near as busy as lunch. We constantly push to have our orders out in eight minutes and look presentable. Management follows a do as I say not as I do mindset. If we need help in the kitchen they quickly get irate and unstable. We don't like asking them for help but its necessary as we are always understaffed. This job seems to be a revolving door. Management recently took away the shift leader position because of an employee wearing a shift leader shirt, while not being one, caused a verbal altercation between other employees and managers all the time. There is absolutely no room to move up no matter how good you are at your job now. We are constantly refused raises because the managers claim food cost is too high, but then you'll see them take free food all the time. Its very frustrating. The most difficult part about this job is interacting with the managers as we're constantly told we are replaceable, leaving us feeling completely unvalued to the company. As far as co workers go, new employees work super hard for a month or so before they realize you can't move up, the managers don't care at all about you or your
ProsTiny discount on food.
ConsNo room to move up, not valued at all by management, Told were replaceable, no raises.
First I put in the application to be a manager. I received an interview the very next day. When I arrived to the interview the person that was supposed to give me the interview was out of town 2 hours away. So I was told to just interview with the person at that location. I did. Two days later I was contacted by a different location. She seemed excited to get me to her store and told me to come in the following day with my so card and drivers license. I came in for orientation the following day to do videos. What alarmed me was the fact the there were no management modules in the bunch thatbI was doing. I completed all of my videos which toon7 hours in one day. When I got home I texted the General Manager and told her that I wanted to be hired in as a manager and did know if the manager videos came later. She responded with "You must be fully trained in the kitchen before you receive the title." I said ok and did my training. It only took my two weeks to learn prep, salads, spuds, expo,and sandwiches. I was even told that I was one of the best employees they had hired this far. So fast forward 2 months and I hadn't heard a word about promoting me. To me traveling over 20 miles for a cook position wasnt worth it. I addressed my concern and told her I wasn't happy. I told her it wasn't what Ibsigned up for and I felt my 8 years of management experience and my servsafe food manager was being wasted. She told me she would talk to her DM. Now the DM lives 2 blocks away from the s
Laziest people whom I have ever worked with on top of the rudest, mean hearted managers ever. The Gm of the store has no control of his personal emotions and if you mess up orders he will talk down to you, tell you your a worthless person, and lazy. My first day I called in spoke with the manager to tell them that I had a tire blow so I couldn't come in. When I came for my first day I was told that I was not a team player, I had terrible work ethic, and that instead of doing training I would run food. Which was fine anyone can run food. Was promised not to have to work weekends and if I did I would be paid more for having to pick up the slack with the teenagers. Never happened. Had to work every weekend and on top of that had to do the work of three while management and high schoolers stood around to talk inappropriate at the front counter. People were not trained to wash hand properly and most time other employees didn't even after cleaning food from people's plates and touching used silverware. Tea urns were never cleaned up. Place was a complete circus without any leadership. Leaders that were put in place weren't fit to run a store. No set hours really either because of so many call offs and people quitting. They asked every single day for me to pull double shifts. No one ever cleaned bus room or trash can in bus room. They stacked dishes to the ceiling and set ice buckets on the nasty floor while getting ice. Which is a serious health code violation. People stole foo
ProsNone
ConsLazy employees, terrible management, tons of health code violations
Mind you this is a Franchise of McAlister's Deli. Not to be confused with the Corporate Stores.Typical day at work was a minimum of 10 hours. Either started at 8am , 10am, or 11am, you were expected to work 50+ hrs if you are an assistant mgr, or 60+ is you are a GM. The pay is ok but there are positions in other concepts that are equal to this that pay upwards of 70 to 80g a year. You were given an opportunity for a bonus which was always nice when you hit "your numbers". But it wasn't much to speak of. GM's were the ones who made out and the assistants fought for the scraps. I learned that you cant trust people who work for these people. Certain management gets privileges over others, while others get ridiculed and reprimanded for doing the exact same thing these other managers are doing. Very unfair! The co-workers and my employee's were the best part about going to work for this company for the 6 years that I did. the hardest part of the job was trying to balance my family and quality of life and still remain dedicated and passionate for the company. The company did go out of their way to take care of my family in times of need but the trade off was undue stress and hardships that were just unneeded. It was unfortunate that i was terminated because i needed a day off to handle a personal matter. The GM of the store I was at had it in for me. I knew a little to much information about them. Kind of as if they were trying to try up any lose ends if "your mopping up what I'm
There is a lot to say about this place. It had been opened barely 2 years and has dealt with a lot. I was there for a while and seen constantly management turnover. During my time, they went through 3 almost 4 General Managers in span of over 1 year. That is just counting them, that was not including the several shift leads and assistant managers I saw come and go. The management that is currently there are bottom of the barrel when it comes to almost anything. They are reactive about most things, especially the currently GM. Instead of trying to coach and teach the staff when there are problems, they are very aggressive and almost down right rude when it comes to issues. And if that was not bad, the store is in horrendous condition, mostly in back of house. They can barely pass health inspection because management refuses to show employees how to properly clean and to instill a proper cleaning schedule. Instead, they reprimand anyone that is not in their small list of favorites and causes further tension between coworkers and management. They will tell new hires that there are videos and tutorials to watch so they can learn how to do things correctly but not once did I see anyone finish more than one of the video sets. Instead, they will toss them to the fire and watch them burn. They keep saying that they were going to start doing the training the 'right' way but I never saw any of that come to fruition. The only positive side about this place that I can think of is that ex
I’ve worked for the company for 2 years and as much as I like the concept, there is a very serious disconnect with corporate management to store level management.
Lots of issues begin with communication. Whether it’s rolling out a special discount, seasonal item changes or salaried manager development, usually there is a major hiccup in the process and managers are notified only a day or two beforehand which leads to a lot of breakdown in communication in the store and our staff and guests.
I’ve been on track for a promotion for months and several opportunities have been opened, but I’ve not been interviewed or spoken to about those positions. When I’ve asked my corporate manager for some clarification, it took nearly four weeks to get a response, let alone a solid answer. It’s truly disappointing as I wanted to continue my journey here, but it seems as though there are plans being made about my development without me behind closed doors.
And along with development, the pay structure is some of the worst I’ve seen. Raises only up to 3% of your salary once a year, but you usually don’t receive that. Bonus structure is based 100% on sales growth, which I know is normal, but the amount of growth they want each quarter, up to 10%, is unrealistic even with potential to have some heavy weeks of catering. And with growth being the largest portion of the bonus pool split between 3 managers, I will only make around $500 for the year. Not an ideal situation when salary makes up for
I worked here for a few months and at first it was great, started at $9.00 it wasn't until I got the big picture of everything and saw how things were going wrong, managment was everywhere, nobody took charge, often times you can't get time off or personal days off without two weeks in advance if two people request the same day they choose the first day and that's fair until, first come first serve but, not okay when it's an appoitment, school related or something that can't be put off or rescheduled. I was told i'd get a raise after three months I didn't recieve one till 6 months and I had to personally sit them down and say "The pay and the work I'm doing are not adding up." there was times if you worked say 30 hours they put 25 which is tealing and wrong since you worked for those hours and not given, If you weren't good you didn't get the good hours. there's "labor" and basically you have to make more money than you're paying your staff so often times they revolved around that instead of anything else it's stressful when they sed people home due to labor but have so many things to do that require more than one person doing and after lunch they send EVERYONE HOME except three people a person upfront to take orders, clean tables and take food and literally one person take care of the entire front, second person at the window and the third person in the back making salads, sandwhiches and getting the sides, restock, clean, etc. Three people run the whole store while manageme
Proscan't think of any.
Constoo many.
3.0
Customer Service Associate / Cashier | Ocean Springs, MS | Jul 10, 2020
All right until you get a micromanaging manager
I mainly worked front of house for McAlister's, interacting with the customers directly. We were paid like waitstaff, even though all we did was run the food to tables--the people at Whataburger do that.
It was just a job for some extra money so it was not a deal breaker for me. It was my fortune that pretty much all of my coworkers I truly got along with and thus did not have any issues.
Job was fairly pleasant and the tips usually were good considering the clientele which frequented the restaurant. The environment was friendly and laid-back, and once you got used to the routine and learned your role, everything ran quickly
Job was nice until we got a new manager; we had the store running like a well-oiled machine, and then she arrived and threw a wrench in it by trying to change up assigned duties for different shifts and micromanaged even the most senior employees.
She somehow was able to micromanage us but somehow disappeared whenever we needed her to sort out something with a customer or other managerial assistance.
Upper management did not do anything about her; while the manager she replaced had made us feel truly appreciated and like valued crew members, this new one destroyed team morale--we had previously felt comfortable expressing feedback to management, knowing it would be considered within reason, then that changed.
New manager cost the store a few employees, some of which just up and walked out on their shift.
ProsFun Fridays with free lunches, employee discounts on food, free drinks when on the clock
ConsNo benefits, FoH paid like waitstaff even though we weren't classified as such
4.0
Back of House Team Member | Columbia, SC | Aug 26, 2020
Great Beginner or In-Between Job
This was my first job when I was 16, only ones who would hire me with no job experience. My first location was a bit crazy, mainly because of management. She had her own problems and clearly brought them to work and rarely put forth effort to help us. I remember doing it all in the kitchen at 17-18 with pay at about $8-$9. I left at $9.10 (also the cooks get tip shares as well, which was nice to have cash and a check). They keep changing it over the years but currently the employee discount is 70%, so you get $10 worth of food for about $2.
I returned to work at a different location at 19, and the management was so much better. However, it’s the other people quitting that will get you. I had to work doubles and night shifts (3-close) and it was getting really tough while in school. Also, it will be tough getting 40 hours at this job without either working 6 days, or at least two doubles in the week. My manager tried to bump my pay to keep me but it’s time to move on for better opportunities. I’m leaving this location at $9.75 (tips bump my pay to about $10.75).
Keep in mind it’s hard to bump your pay up unless you’re a key holder or been there many years like I have.
This job has taught me dependability, honesty, responsibility, and how to get in a routine to get out in time. Lazy coworkers will slow you down and you may have to pick up their slack in order to get out. It was mainly babysitting young, irresponsible and lazy teens that got to me with this job.
Just learn th
ProsEmployee discount, flexibility, decent pay
ConsBabysitting teens, some management, high-turnover
Questions And Answers about McAlister's Deli
How often do you get a raise at McAlister's Deli?
Asked Sep 14, 2020
Depends on how good you work
Answered May 31, 2023
3 months
Answered May 31, 2023
What is the promotion process like at McAlister's Deli?
Asked Sep 16, 2020
There are no promotions.
Answered May 30, 2023
You work your butt off for maybe a 50 cent raise if they do that
Answered May 26, 2023
What is the best part of working at the company?
Asked Dec 7, 2019
My wonderful customers
Answered Jun 26, 2022
The employee discount makes eating here affordable
Answered Jun 25, 2022
What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Asked Mar 13, 2020
Busy
Answered May 28, 2023
Either busy or nothing to do
Answered May 23, 2023
What is the vacation policy like at McAlister's Deli? How many vacation days do you get per year?
Asked Mar 4, 2018
if you got any days off it would be at best 1-2 days and thats if they dont call you in on those days
