BLOGTEMBER SERIES: “My experience working in a restaurant”
Hello lovelies!! It’s almost my birthday & I had an idea - I’m going to share with your guys what really goes down in the Food & Beverage section. Why? Because I got hired a few days before my birthday back in 2015. I worked at the counter of the restaurant, handling orders & being a cashier - not really a waitress because I wasn’t serving tables but of course, every staff needs to have product knowledge.
It’s a great job & I’m a Hospitality graduate so yes, I love the work - but you really need to be prepared physically & mentally.
I’ve had internships while studying so I had a few months’ experience in hotels & restaurants. Anyways, my first time to get a job with diverse staff was fun, exciting, & thrilling because I am also dealing with diverse customers.
When being in ANY hospitality work, you really need to be prepared. Some customers are fun to interact with, some are okay, some are annoying, & some are really really unbearable - this is not a judgement towards the certain person but how they interacted with me or any of the hospitality staff.
So...here are my memorable work experience (good/bad) in the restaurant industry:
After closing time & there are some left overs, some are thrown away & some can be taken home!! The sweets I took home every night was filling my family’s bellies. Lol. Some of my colleagues would even talk to me before closing time just to reserve some of the sweets before they’re gone.
Sometimes I get hungry before closing time & I’d ask the head chef that day if I can take some food home (cooked before closing) because the time I get home, I sometimes would just sleep & not eat. Of course this won’t always happen everytime so I have to pick my days when requesting.
One day, a customer walked up to the counter & requested a menu to look on. Told him that he can sit down at a table & the waiter/waitress covering that area will entertain him. Saw him sit down & a waiter came over to the counter to request something then at the corner of my eye I can see him get up, head over to me with an annoyed face. He started cussing at me that he was waiting for 30 minutes & no one was even approaching his table - this was on a day when we were not busy AT ALL. We just let him leave & cuss.
Another not-so-busy day came by & a woman came to our restaurant for some sweets. I got her order & told her I’ll deliver it to her desired table. My manager came to the counter from the kitchen to check on things & I tried to look for the waiter covering the area where the guest sat. Out of nowhere, the woman rushed to me & wanted to talk to the manager because I was so slow. My manager calmed her down & they talked at her table. After a few minutes, her order was on the house. Maybe it was my fault or not? Either way, not a good day for me.
The counter where I work has a bar area beside it, one time someone went to the bar & just started eating the biscuits we give to our customers with their coffee-based drinks. He started maming his way to the far back of the restaurant & sat beside a family who were happily eating. This person began asking the family for food (I guess?) because I was working at the counter. Told the head waiter what I saw & the head waiter went to the person & said he needed to leave the family alone & leave the restaurant. He didn’t move an inch. Luckily a security guard came by & the head waiter took that opportunity to talk to the guard - but when they were going to the table where the person was seating previously, he was gone. The guard talked to me after that & the barista from the bar to get information.
As you can see, there are good days & bad days along with great customers & unberable ones too. If you wish to be in this industry, I HIGHLY suggest that you are brave enough to smile & hold your tongue. It’s a great industry to be in but alas, you are also dealing with people who are unpredictable.
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I do miss being in a fast-paced industry surrounded by delicious foods & amazing (few) colleagues. Hopefully, I’ll get to be in that space soon.
If you’ve worked in this kind of industry, what was your most memorable (good/bad) day?
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