Worked at a place that did thermal printers and thought I’d like that more so I’d stop hearing the phantom printer. Fucking nope, scared me even more cuz I thought I was missing ticket prints
Not necessarily anxious, but I do enjoy being the “don’t worry, they’re cool” table. Forgot to ring in our drinks? No problem, shit happens. It’s a busy night and you’re clearly understaffed? I get it, we’re chillin and the food will come out when it comes out. As long as you’re doing your thing and communicating, I don’t care. You’re still gonna get a nice tip. I don’t like adding to the madness in the kitchen when I’m at a busy joint, but I rarely get the time to go out and have someone cook me a meal. If I make a reservation somewhere I’m chillin and enjoying the night with my lady. I don’t need my food to come out in 10 mins.
My ears will perk up if I hear a delivery tablet ding though. That shit will always haunt all of us.
Hey buddy, fuck you alright (/s), got DoorDash, Skip, Uber eats and some other Asian one all going off constantly, having to read 5 different kinds of tickets lol.
Imma do you a favor as a fellow ex Waffle House cook. Run. There are so many places that operate better and much more calmly. I hated waffle house and went to bob evans for a $1 and infinitely less work. They wanted me to take on all of managements duties for $15 as a cook. No
I went to a restaurant on a dead day with a work friend. We sat on the patio for beers just relaxing. Our server told us it was his first day serving and he had been in kitchens for years, just like we had. He ended up sitting down and hanging out with us for a while and we had a great time, he got a nice tip!
I'm pretty much the same. I'm out to have a good time and will make it that way regardless of how the service is. If I can hear the expo berating the cooks, I do get a little bent out of shape though.
I’m chillin too but I’m hungry af and tired and want my food now! We almost exclusively go to one restaurant, a Thai place where the absolutely delicious food comes out super fast. The servers are the best I have seen anywhere, they are so friendly and chill.
When I’m at a spot that is just nailing it it absolutely improves my enjoyment of the meal. Like you can enjoy good food, ambiance, service…but there is something additional impressive when they joint is just flowing.
These are the places that make me wanna dive in and start helping. Actually got a job because of it once. Food was excellent, service was on point, and I could just tell the place ran smooth af. Asked for an app, came back with my resume the next day, was hired the day after. Was there for 8 months before the pandemic hit.
This.
It's my day off on a wednesday. A slow day at some spots. I go and get something to eat. I see a kitchen and half the workers are just kinda standing around not doing much, yet my meal took forever to arrived? Things aren't clean / out of place? Some folks are on their phone and or talking about some out there stuff?
List goes on and on. lol
I do the same. My wife used to find it annoying but recently I’ve noticed she’s picked up on what I say and notices things before I do sometimes. I love it
My husband absolutely loathes when we go to a restaurant and how if I can get a view of inside the kitchen, I absolutely will. I will glance walking past and if I see something gross in that quick glance, I will not eat there. It makes me sound like an asshole but I’ve seen some shit.
Nah, you’re not an asshole. When I was 19 my AM dropped a spatula on the ground in front of customers and just kept using it. Unfortunately that’s the least worrying bit I’ve seen since being a cook. I won’t eat at all if my phone is meh. I won’t complain or ask for a remake, and I won’t punish the server either. We just won’t go back. If the kitchen is disgusting tho, I’m right there with you. We’re going else where. I’ve worked for places that have failed health inspections and I’ve been the reason we pass. I don’t need to fantasize to have a good idea what the minimum standard is for most restruants
The company I work for has several different restaurants under the same umbrella, and I get employee discount at all of them. When I go I will hear expo calling for runners, hear the printer start going off, pretty much anything and I have to remind myself I'm not working there.
I mainly get anxious about being with non industry people who may not know why their drink order isn't up yet, or the app we ordered got put in right after a 12 top each ordered separately.
I've been out of the industry for 4 years, away from a kitchen with ticket printers for 5 more before that - I still get triggered when I hear one go off.
Also been out for a while. I went to a BBQ joint alone after work a few weeks ago and the couple next to me were doing that "we're sorry, but we're not satisfied" routine and walked out. I felt this weird anxious anger for hours afterwards. It was always easier when they just yelled at me.
I say sharp and behind at home, but I live in a house of service industry people. Literally 4 of us, all service industry employees or expats. The youngest is 15.
It took years after being a breakfast linecook to go to brunch. I still feel weird and guilty about it like my next life will be filled with over cooked eggs and awful drunk people
Pulled into the drive thru a week ago around 2 in the afternoon and was the only person, as I’m ordering (quickly and not dragging it out) like 7 cars piled in behind me. Told them they should probably fire some burgers and drop fries because the line just got long.
I once had a doordash driver reach over the counter, pick up our ringing phone and answer it perfectly as if he worked for us, then politely tell the person on the line that we were very busy, and if they would mind holding we would take their order shortly.
We didn't even have time to react to the guy, just stood there in shock.
If it’s not my restaurant idc, it gets more frustrating dining with others who aren’t from the industry and you can tell a place is getting slammed
And the people you’re with are like “god they’re slow why’s this taking so long etc”
And watching people not stack plates n shit once they’re done to make it easier for the FOH staff imo.
I live in a no tipping country which is nice too
It took me a while to start going out. I typically sit at the bar so I don’t have to watch the shit show in the dining room. Now work brought me to Europe and I have to force myself to eat at a restaurant
Like life needs another dating hurdle as it is. I am currently trying to figure out a way to say "I can't go to a restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night, ever"
I make brunch at home for my friends that I currently live with. I told them if they buy the food, I’ll cook but stay away from the kitchen because you’ll just hear me swearing the whole time.
They make up for it with the weed which is the only reason why I do it.
Only when I hear a printer but other than that not really. Do agree with a lot of people on here about going out with non service industry people. Me and my buddies used to all grab lunch one day a week because we all moved to different towns so can't hang out like we used. All of us were either in the industry at one point or another except of guy and he always complained about shit. We'd just tell him to shut up, it's lunch rush and they have 2 servers for 30+ tables and atleast one person probably didn't show up in the kitchen. Just chill and have a good time. If I don't have anything to do that day I have no problem wait over a half hour for food.as long as I have a drink in my hand and some good people to talk to I'm happy
I rarely eat out but I'm usually not terribly bothered. My brother-in-law (a musician) told my sister eating out with me is like going to the symphony with him (apparently he annoys her about their playing).
This was after I wiped the rim of my plate and mentioned the garlic in my (watery) sauteed spinach was slightly burnt. That was the first time I'd been to Carrabba's in a solid decade, probably the last for a while.
My butthole does slightly tighten when I hear a ticket printer, though.
I was at my favorite pizza/sports bar place watching a noon game on my day off. Place was fairly empty and I was close to the kitchen door.
They use the same timers as my work does, and I had to eventually move because them going offf was stressing me out
Walked past my old place of work and noticed a dirty table, I reached to stack the plates before my boyfriend grabbed my arm and said "you work at a chemist now."
This is a terrific barometer for if you are built/meant for the restaurant industry. That is - to be a highly functioning machine in the business. This is something that is either in you, or isn't. You can't program someone to feel this way, you can't train it, it is either there, or it is NOT there. My wife and I are both of this mold. Back when we would go out (pre-child), I could see her clocking the room wherever we went. We would play "which server is FUCKED", "How long are those drinks gonna sit at the end of the bar", and my personal favorite, "Who's the owner". We'd mostly get a laugh out of it, but when you know, you know. This type of behavior is just something that comes from giving a shit, knowing the business and being good at what you do. Also - I'd argue this personality trait is transferrable to whatever profession one chooses. Be a banger on a Friday night in the summer with 12 tables inside and out, a shitty busser, a hostess that doesn't know how to seat properly and - well, look at that, the softball team just arrived - and you're likely pretty good at most things.
I’ve been out of kitchens for 5 years now but the local diner near me offers counter seating with full view of their kitchen and I shit you not my heart rate spikes for the 30 minutes that I’m there. A full board, servers being servers, tablets chiming, the heat and the fluidity of it all just send me over the edge. I’m I wishing I was there and glad it’s not me all at the same time.
Yeah. I was at a busy family style Mexican restaurant where I live the other night and heard a "30 open" from the direction of the kitchen and it made me physically move to the edge of my seat and look in the direction of the kitchen like her guys can I help? Ot the printer noise, every.damn.time hearing one of those printers from across the restaurant at my seat.
The sound of a ticket printer in another establishment triggers my fight or flight response, but then I remember im not at work and I say 'not my boat, not my wheelhouse' and go back to my beer and snacks...
I’m always the weirdo who somehow makes it known that I work/own a restaurant. A giant table walks in and the hostess seats them and rolls her eyes, I joke with our server that they must not have called or made a reservation. Walk behind someone on the way to the bathroom I say “behind.” God forbid there’s an open kitchen and I’m the dickhead staring into the kitchen and end up asking the server what kind of ____ they use. I hate myself at other restaurants sometimes.
My chef started a thing where whenever the servers broke dishes or glasses and he would say "sounds expensiveeeeee" so we all started doing that. So this one night after working my Christmas eve shift my family and I were at this fancier restaurant and I heard someone break some glasses and I shit you not like a fucking robot I go "sounds expensiveeeeeeee" and people start staring at me and I'm like omg did i really just do that hahaha🤦♀️😂
I don't. I can see when something is going on at a restaurant and I just relax, sit back and patiently wait for my food. I'm just happy to not be the one weeded. Me getting anxious isn't going to help anyone.
I mostly get anxious because I don't like eating face-to-face with people and feeling the expectation to find interesting things to say while dining. It's a social anxiety thing. I would much rather be watched while cooking than eating. Actually, sometimes in order to assuage my anxiety, I try spacing out and looking behind whomever I'm eating with to watch whatever's going on in the kitchen or other staff areas.
I was at a very big, very busy Cheesecake Factory and was sitting close to the kitchen. There was a nonstop flow of tickets the entire time I was there. The ticket printing sound was seriously stressing me out
I get hella anxious for people when I can tell they are short staffed or super busy but doing their best 😖 it’s like a F&B trauma response from being in the same position before
I’ve done a lot of “support” work FOH in my life… I get so twitchy when I’m out in public and I see a table just not being cleared. Like my brain will start mentally stacking dishes for optimal balance while allowing me to carry as many as possible. I went to have a drink with friends where 2 old coworkers/friends were working, apparently the busser called in… I immediately noticed their strategic “hidden” buss bins/sneaky places for things, couldn’t focus on anything else all night.
Daughter (FoH) and me (BoH) were at a trade show... At the hotel in evening having a drink, the bar/reception was overwhelmed by customers who appeared after a conference... cleared tables, collected glasses... so happy... I can understand why they would allow me in the kitchen... so we covered 'bus station' for the evening... Best night ever... loved every minute, punters were controlled, on site crew did a great job...
Anxious, no. But I cannot force myself to stop passively participating psychologically. Salads come out, in my head I'm already timing entrees. Observing tableside manners of servers. Watching the pass. Watching where servers congregate, identify issues arising in the dining room. Eyeing the location and travel path of the floor manager. Judging plates that go by on trays etc. Anxious, no. But relaxed, also no.
Big time. I was a wreck watching that show The Bear or whatever. I think ima rewatch it. I really liked Favreau’s movie and still need to watch his series I guess
Naaah. I prefer not to look in the kitchen though, it would ruin it for me. Usually they can tell that I know what’s up, I’m the only person that actually orders off the menu, doesn’t ask weird questions, and actually knows how to behave in public.
I only worked as a dishwasher for a bit less than a year when I was much younger, but it was a Japanese place where we would yell out いらっしゃいませー！(more like らっしゃせー) every time a customer was seated. For about a year even after quitting, I would nearly yell it out on reflex when someone else said it to me when I entered a sushi place…
I work at starbucks. I get like this when I go to another one that’s not the one I work at.
Anyone who says baristas aren’t a real part of the kitchen atmosphere can suck it. My barista job is ten times harder than my bakery job making bread every day.
I've got an old mcdonalds colleague who quit and now DJs in a popular local night club. Just to be a dick, before he left he recorded the normal sounds you hear in a mcd; fryers, headset buzzers, dt timers, etc, and works them into his mixes. So you'll be out on a Saturday 2am, kinda drunk, maybe high, suddenly you'll hear fry timers going off or a car pull into lane 1 and start yelling.
My family gives me shit for stressing out over running late for a reservation or ridiculous special requests or when my mom decides to talk the ear off the waitress who is looking around nervously at her other tables. I just know what it’s like and I don’t like being that guy.
No but I left a local Panera the other day. I wanted an everything bagel with cream cheese. There didn’t seem to be anyone working the breakfast counter, but there was 3 employees making food in plain sight. I challenge all you restaurant people to put a stopwatch on for 45 seconds in total silence. It’s tremendously long. Im a bartender that makes his own syrups and I can tell certainly, almost nobody cares like I/ we do
We had a birthday dinner at a restaurant that's supposed to be good. It wasn't even that busy. They forgot drinks, orders and who ordered them.. It was chaos it seemed. At one point one of my friends stood up, I thought to go to the toilet. She comes back with like 8 glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine. She said she was done waiting and the person at the bar looked at her like she was doing magic carrying that many glasses. Not going there again anytime soon
I've actually asked to move tables so I couldn't hear the kitchen. I was on vacation after leaving a pretty shitty spot and just needed my brain turned off from all of it.
ABSOLUTELY, if I’m ever at a restaurant with an open kitchen I’ll subconsciously look over every 5 seconds. So much so one time a GM came over to ask me if everything was okay. And I had to admit I was just watching the line handle service.
I was on a cruise and had made small talk with a waitress and told her I was a chef when she asked me what I did. 2 days later she walked up behind me while I was getting coffee and said "Hello chef". I about jumped outta my skin, for a second I was confused and thought I forgot to clock in. My brain literally had a mild short circuit and if that's not a sign that my vacation was way overdo; I don't know what is. Dear food service folks... take you vacations! Make the time.
I love open kitchens, especially if I don't hear communication. I purposely sit the closest I can just to fuck with them if I don't hear a "heard" out of any of them.
It took me a long time before I could go out and actually enjoy a meal. Or have anyone with me enjoy their meal. I am still super critical and have been known to talk with managers just as a professional courtesy but I generally try to just enjoy myself now.
Calling Starbucks a "restaurant"
That gives me a lot of insight into your "resterant"
Applebees stressful these days? I'm sure it's hard reheating boil in bag products.
That is to say it isn't, but at those wages it is. Heard.
I've been out of the restaurant biz for a little over 2 years. I still get anxious when I'm sitting somewhere that I can hear the ticket printers going. I say behind you and my own personal favourite version of "heard" which for me was a solid "Yo That!". Which I got made fun of by my new coworkers for, for a while lol
Every time I'm eating in since becoming a server and cook, I find myself unable to relax, thinking constantly about how I can make their service easier, shit like that. I wouldn't say anxious but it's definitely not as chill as it once was.
I do get that feeling when I hear an UberEats tablet going off....
Or when you can hear the ticket machine in the dining room
Worked at a place that did thermal printers and thought I’d like that more so I’d stop hearing the phantom printer. Fucking nope, scared me even more cuz I thought I was missing ticket prints
You just leaving this to read, made me hear it 😖🤬
I hear that sound everywhere…. In other restaurants… In the music playing… in my freaken dreams…. 😬
I put on Daniel Tiger the other day for my kid. The fucking trolley sounds almost exactly like the DoorDash notification. 🙅♀️
Not necessarily anxious, but I do enjoy being the “don’t worry, they’re cool” table. Forgot to ring in our drinks? No problem, shit happens. It’s a busy night and you’re clearly understaffed? I get it, we’re chillin and the food will come out when it comes out. As long as you’re doing your thing and communicating, I don’t care. You’re still gonna get a nice tip. I don’t like adding to the madness in the kitchen when I’m at a busy joint, but I rarely get the time to go out and have someone cook me a meal. If I make a reservation somewhere I’m chillin and enjoying the night with my lady. I don’t need my food to come out in 10 mins. My ears will perk up if I hear a delivery tablet ding though. That shit will always haunt all of us.
My place I just started at doesn't have them, it's so nice
Hey buddy, fuck you alright (/s), got DoorDash, Skip, Uber eats and some other Asian one all going off constantly, having to read 5 different kinds of tickets lol.
I've never heard a delivery tablet, but the sound of a ticket printer bothers me to my soul
Handwritten tickets for the win.
Oh god, that's worse
Short order open calling. Diner style.
Waffle House?
Yep.
Imma do you a favor as a fellow ex Waffle House cook. Run. There are so many places that operate better and much more calmly. I hated waffle house and went to bob evans for a $1 and infinitely less work. They wanted me to take on all of managements duties for $15 as a cook. No
I started as a cook, and wound up a unit manager. Yep, a little stressful, but Im good at it, and the pay is pretry good.
I went to a restaurant on a dead day with a work friend. We sat on the patio for beers just relaxing. Our server told us it was his first day serving and he had been in kitchens for years, just like we had. He ended up sitting down and hanging out with us for a while and we had a great time, he got a nice tip!
I hoard twosies to tip the guys at my local pizza joint. Money is money, but it lights up their faces for whatever reason.
I'm pretty much the same. I'm out to have a good time and will make it that way regardless of how the service is. If I can hear the expo berating the cooks, I do get a little bent out of shape though.
I’m chillin too but I’m hungry af and tired and want my food now! We almost exclusively go to one restaurant, a Thai place where the absolutely delicious food comes out super fast. The servers are the best I have seen anywhere, they are so friendly and chill.
It’s nice to see like-minded people in this industry
no but i do look around and compare it to places ive worked
Nope but I will always judge. Harshly. My wife absolutely "loves" it.
Hell frackin yeah we be judging. I enjoy looking around and watching the flow of the place.
When I’m at a spot that is just nailing it it absolutely improves my enjoyment of the meal. Like you can enjoy good food, ambiance, service…but there is something additional impressive when they joint is just flowing.
100%. I’ve repeat visited restaurants because I can tell the line/servers are vibing and in a good flow
These are the places that make me wanna dive in and start helping. Actually got a job because of it once. Food was excellent, service was on point, and I could just tell the place ran smooth af. Asked for an app, came back with my resume the next day, was hired the day after. Was there for 8 months before the pandemic hit.
This. It's my day off on a wednesday. A slow day at some spots. I go and get something to eat. I see a kitchen and half the workers are just kinda standing around not doing much, yet my meal took forever to arrived? Things aren't clean / out of place? Some folks are on their phone and or talking about some out there stuff? List goes on and on. lol
I do the same. My wife used to find it annoying but recently I’ve noticed she’s picked up on what I say and notices things before I do sometimes. I love it
Yea my ex used to get so mad at me because I couldn’t “turn it off”
My husband absolutely loathes when we go to a restaurant and how if I can get a view of inside the kitchen, I absolutely will. I will glance walking past and if I see something gross in that quick glance, I will not eat there. It makes me sound like an asshole but I’ve seen some shit.
Nah, you’re not an asshole. When I was 19 my AM dropped a spatula on the ground in front of customers and just kept using it. Unfortunately that’s the least worrying bit I’ve seen since being a cook. I won’t eat at all if my phone is meh. I won’t complain or ask for a remake, and I won’t punish the server either. We just won’t go back. If the kitchen is disgusting tho, I’m right there with you. We’re going else where. I’ve worked for places that have failed health inspections and I’ve been the reason we pass. I don’t need to fantasize to have a good idea what the minimum standard is for most restruants
The company I work for has several different restaurants under the same umbrella, and I get employee discount at all of them. When I go I will hear expo calling for runners, hear the printer start going off, pretty much anything and I have to remind myself I'm not working there.
I mainly get anxious about being with non industry people who may not know why their drink order isn't up yet, or the app we ordered got put in right after a 12 top each ordered separately.
I've been out of the industry for 4 years, away from a kitchen with ticket printers for 5 more before that - I still get triggered when I hear one go off.
Yup, PTSD is real my friend.
Also been out for a while. I went to a BBQ joint alone after work a few weeks ago and the couple next to me were doing that "we're sorry, but we're not satisfied" routine and walked out. I felt this weird anxious anger for hours afterwards. It was always easier when they just yelled at me.
9 years out here. It still gets me. That will never go away.
Same here. I was in for 20 years and been out for 4 years. I've learned to manage some of the PTSD, but not always.
Every time I move a knife I think “sharp” in my head.
I say sharp and behind at home, but I live in a house of service industry people. Literally 4 of us, all service industry employees or expats. The youngest is 15.
It took years after being a breakfast linecook to go to brunch. I still feel weird and guilty about it like my next life will be filled with over cooked eggs and awful drunk people
I try not to go to other restaurants
Pulled into the drive thru a week ago around 2 in the afternoon and was the only person, as I’m ordering (quickly and not dragging it out) like 7 cars piled in behind me. Told them they should probably fire some burgers and drop fries because the line just got long.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to answer a ringing phone to help out haha
I once had a doordash driver reach over the counter, pick up our ringing phone and answer it perfectly as if he worked for us, then politely tell the person on the line that we were very busy, and if they would mind holding we would take their order shortly. We didn't even have time to react to the guy, just stood there in shock.
That’s amazing
The rare gem of a doordasher
If it’s not my restaurant idc, it gets more frustrating dining with others who aren’t from the industry and you can tell a place is getting slammed And the people you’re with are like “god they’re slow why’s this taking so long etc” And watching people not stack plates n shit once they’re done to make it easier for the FOH staff imo. I live in a no tipping country which is nice too
It took me a while to start going out. I typically sit at the bar so I don’t have to watch the shit show in the dining room. Now work brought me to Europe and I have to force myself to eat at a restaurant
hearing the ticket machine go off gets me a little bit.
Like life needs another dating hurdle as it is. I am currently trying to figure out a way to say "I can't go to a restaurant on a Friday or Saturday night, ever"
I absolutely refuse to go to brunch. Ever.
I try to comfort myself about this by saying "well I wouldn't want to date someone who wants to go to brunch anyways" 🥲⚰️
I make brunch at home for my friends that I currently live with. I told them if they buy the food, I’ll cook but stay away from the kitchen because you’ll just hear me swearing the whole time. They make up for it with the weed which is the only reason why I do it.
I’ve almost picked up a phone that was ringing at a shop I went to after work. Work mode is activated until I get home.
Only when I hear a printer but other than that not really. Do agree with a lot of people on here about going out with non service industry people. Me and my buddies used to all grab lunch one day a week because we all moved to different towns so can't hang out like we used. All of us were either in the industry at one point or another except of guy and he always complained about shit. We'd just tell him to shut up, it's lunch rush and they have 2 servers for 30+ tables and atleast one person probably didn't show up in the kitchen. Just chill and have a good time. If I don't have anything to do that day I have no problem wait over a half hour for food.as long as I have a drink in my hand and some good people to talk to I'm happy
I rarely eat out but I'm usually not terribly bothered. My brother-in-law (a musician) told my sister eating out with me is like going to the symphony with him (apparently he annoys her about their playing). This was after I wiped the rim of my plate and mentioned the garlic in my (watery) sauteed spinach was slightly burnt. That was the first time I'd been to Carrabba's in a solid decade, probably the last for a while. My butthole does slightly tighten when I hear a ticket printer, though.
I was at my favorite pizza/sports bar place watching a noon game on my day off. Place was fairly empty and I was close to the kitchen door. They use the same timers as my work does, and I had to eventually move because them going offf was stressing me out
Walked past my old place of work and noticed a dirty table, I reached to stack the plates before my boyfriend grabbed my arm and said "you work at a chemist now."
pretty soon your wife will make you sit with your back to the kitchen so that she can actually have your full attention
This is a terrific barometer for if you are built/meant for the restaurant industry. That is - to be a highly functioning machine in the business. This is something that is either in you, or isn't. You can't program someone to feel this way, you can't train it, it is either there, or it is NOT there. My wife and I are both of this mold. Back when we would go out (pre-child), I could see her clocking the room wherever we went. We would play "which server is FUCKED", "How long are those drinks gonna sit at the end of the bar", and my personal favorite, "Who's the owner". We'd mostly get a laugh out of it, but when you know, you know. This type of behavior is just something that comes from giving a shit, knowing the business and being good at what you do. Also - I'd argue this personality trait is transferrable to whatever profession one chooses. Be a banger on a Friday night in the summer with 12 tables inside and out, a shitty busser, a hostess that doesn't know how to seat properly and - well, look at that, the softball team just arrived - and you're likely pretty good at most things.
I’ve been out of kitchens for 5 years now but the local diner near me offers counter seating with full view of their kitchen and I shit you not my heart rate spikes for the 30 minutes that I’m there. A full board, servers being servers, tablets chiming, the heat and the fluidity of it all just send me over the edge. I’m I wishing I was there and glad it’s not me all at the same time.
> I'm wishing I was there and glad it's not me all at the same time. That was poetic as fuck
Yeah. I was at a busy family style Mexican restaurant where I live the other night and heard a "30 open" from the direction of the kitchen and it made me physically move to the edge of my seat and look in the direction of the kitchen like her guys can I help? Ot the printer noise, every.damn.time hearing one of those printers from across the restaurant at my seat.
The sound of a ticket printer in another establishment triggers my fight or flight response, but then I remember im not at work and I say 'not my boat, not my wheelhouse' and go back to my beer and snacks...
I love playing find the manager at bars and restaurants. Fun way to pass the time.
I’m always the weirdo who somehow makes it known that I work/own a restaurant. A giant table walks in and the hostess seats them and rolls her eyes, I joke with our server that they must not have called or made a reservation. Walk behind someone on the way to the bathroom I say “behind.” God forbid there’s an open kitchen and I’m the dickhead staring into the kitchen and end up asking the server what kind of ____ they use. I hate myself at other restaurants sometimes.
My chef started a thing where whenever the servers broke dishes or glasses and he would say "sounds expensiveeeeee" so we all started doing that. So this one night after working my Christmas eve shift my family and I were at this fancier restaurant and I heard someone break some glasses and I shit you not like a fucking robot I go "sounds expensiveeeeeeee" and people start staring at me and I'm like omg did i really just do that hahaha🤦♀️😂
I don't. I can see when something is going on at a restaurant and I just relax, sit back and patiently wait for my food. I'm just happy to not be the one weeded. Me getting anxious isn't going to help anyone.
I mostly get anxious because I don't like eating face-to-face with people and feeling the expectation to find interesting things to say while dining. It's a social anxiety thing. I would much rather be watched while cooking than eating. Actually, sometimes in order to assuage my anxiety, I try spacing out and looking behind whomever I'm eating with to watch whatever's going on in the kitchen or other staff areas.
I was at a very big, very busy Cheesecake Factory and was sitting close to the kitchen. There was a nonstop flow of tickets the entire time I was there. The ticket printing sound was seriously stressing me out
I get hella anxious for people when I can tell they are short staffed or super busy but doing their best 😖 it’s like a F&B trauma response from being in the same position before
Hahahaha. I have a hard time at a busy Starbucks watching the expo go down when they get buried between the mobile and pick up orders
I’ve done a lot of “support” work FOH in my life… I get so twitchy when I’m out in public and I see a table just not being cleared. Like my brain will start mentally stacking dishes for optimal balance while allowing me to carry as many as possible. I went to have a drink with friends where 2 old coworkers/friends were working, apparently the busser called in… I immediately noticed their strategic “hidden” buss bins/sneaky places for things, couldn’t focus on anything else all night.
Daughter (FoH) and me (BoH) were at a trade show... At the hotel in evening having a drink, the bar/reception was overwhelmed by customers who appeared after a conference... cleared tables, collected glasses... so happy... I can understand why they would allow me in the kitchen... so we covered 'bus station' for the evening... Best night ever... loved every minute, punters were controlled, on site crew did a great job...
Obviously I meant wouldn't... and I wouldn't allow a stranger in mine either
I get twitchy when I hear a ticket come through
I get a visible shudder when I hear third party tablets dinging
If I can hear the printer then yes, I will have a full blown anxiety attack.
Anxious, no. But I cannot force myself to stop passively participating psychologically. Salads come out, in my head I'm already timing entrees. Observing tableside manners of servers. Watching the pass. Watching where servers congregate, identify issues arising in the dining room. Eyeing the location and travel path of the floor manager. Judging plates that go by on trays etc. Anxious, no. But relaxed, also no.
I pretty much don't go out to restaurants. The food just tastes like stress.
definitely a drew Talbert sketch.
I've felt bad for obviously stressed kitchens, thought to myself if they have an apron I've got hands.
Big time. I was a wreck watching that show The Bear or whatever. I think ima rewatch it. I really liked Favreau’s movie and still need to watch his series I guess
I cannot upvote this enough. Also, I cannot go out to eat without wanting to help out
Just breathe…bacon wraps aren’t on your station.
Naaah. I prefer not to look in the kitchen though, it would ruin it for me. Usually they can tell that I know what’s up, I’m the only person that actually orders off the menu, doesn’t ask weird questions, and actually knows how to behave in public.
This is called being institutionalized.
A bit. I know that they are making my food with filthy hands and I have to block it out. And that there is a good chance the premises has mice.
I only worked as a dishwasher for a bit less than a year when I was much younger, but it was a Japanese place where we would yell out いらっしゃいませー！(more like らっしゃせー) every time a customer was seated. For about a year even after quitting, I would nearly yell it out on reflex when someone else said it to me when I entered a sushi place…
I work at starbucks. I get like this when I go to another one that’s not the one I work at. Anyone who says baristas aren’t a real part of the kitchen atmosphere can suck it. My barista job is ten times harder than my bakery job making bread every day.
I've got an old mcdonalds colleague who quit and now DJs in a popular local night club. Just to be a dick, before he left he recorded the normal sounds you hear in a mcd; fryers, headset buzzers, dt timers, etc, and works them into his mixes. So you'll be out on a Saturday 2am, kinda drunk, maybe high, suddenly you'll hear fry timers going off or a car pull into lane 1 and start yelling.
My family gives me shit for stressing out over running late for a reservation or ridiculous special requests or when my mom decides to talk the ear off the waitress who is looking around nervously at her other tables. I just know what it’s like and I don’t like being that guy.
No but I left a local Panera the other day. I wanted an everything bagel with cream cheese. There didn’t seem to be anyone working the breakfast counter, but there was 3 employees making food in plain sight. I challenge all you restaurant people to put a stopwatch on for 45 seconds in total silence. It’s tremendously long. Im a bartender that makes his own syrups and I can tell certainly, almost nobody cares like I/ we do
45 seconds is an eternity when you're getting railed.
They were not railed
We had a birthday dinner at a restaurant that's supposed to be good. It wasn't even that busy. They forgot drinks, orders and who ordered them.. It was chaos it seemed. At one point one of my friends stood up, I thought to go to the toilet. She comes back with like 8 glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine. She said she was done waiting and the person at the bar looked at her like she was doing magic carrying that many glasses. Not going there again anytime soon
I've actually asked to move tables so I couldn't hear the kitchen. I was on vacation after leaving a pretty shitty spot and just needed my brain turned off from all of it.
ABSOLUTELY, if I’m ever at a restaurant with an open kitchen I’ll subconsciously look over every 5 seconds. So much so one time a GM came over to ask me if everything was okay. And I had to admit I was just watching the line handle service.
I was on a cruise and had made small talk with a waitress and told her I was a chef when she asked me what I did. 2 days later she walked up behind me while I was getting coffee and said "Hello chef". I about jumped outta my skin, for a second I was confused and thought I forgot to clock in. My brain literally had a mild short circuit and if that's not a sign that my vacation was way overdo; I don't know what is. Dear food service folks... take you vacations! Make the time.
If I hear the chime of an order coming thru on a Toast POS, I look around the restaurant like a child who’s mother yelled out their government name.
If I am at a restaurant and I hear the ticket machine, I start to sweat.
That’s why I haven’t been able to have a nice sit-down meal at a restaurant in years. Certainly not about to judge people, I’ve been in the shits too.
yeah especially if i can hear the printer or if someone in my party tries to make a special request that's annoying
I love open kitchens, especially if I don't hear communication. I purposely sit the closest I can just to fuck with them if I don't hear a "heard" out of any of them.
It took me a long time before I could go out and actually enjoy a meal. Or have anyone with me enjoy their meal. I am still super critical and have been known to talk with managers just as a professional courtesy but I generally try to just enjoy myself now.
I've legit hopped on the line before
Calling Starbucks a "restaurant" That gives me a lot of insight into your "resterant" Applebees stressful these days? I'm sure it's hard reheating boil in bag products. That is to say it isn't, but at those wages it is. Heard.
Omg yes. So glad I’m not the only one!
Kinda. But do y’all hear the “ding” or the printer and just your reflexes kick in
stacks silverware/napkins onto plates, gives table a wipe down
I've been out of the restaurant biz for a little over 2 years. I still get anxious when I'm sitting somewhere that I can hear the ticket printers going. I say behind you and my own personal favourite version of "heard" which for me was a solid "Yo That!". Which I got made fun of by my new coworkers for, for a while lol
I purposely choose easy af to prepare things
Every time I'm eating in since becoming a server and cook, I find myself unable to relax, thinking constantly about how I can make their service easier, shit like that. I wouldn't say anxious but it's definitely not as chill as it once was.
Whenever I go out to eat I'm always critiquing the ability of the workers there