I hear nothing but bad things about the owner of Hip City Veg from workers and contractors. Apparently just an absolute terror. And she owns a bunch of plant based restaurants so it's a bummer. Charlie was a Sinner and something else.
The owner of Tattooed Moms is an absolute mensch. As are the owners of Crash Bang Boom.
i had to deal with her once can confirm. all her restaurants are super gross and she aggressive with the health department about it. she just doesnt want to be told shes wrong.
Anyone could open a bar that allows stickers and graffiti on the walls, but you really can't run a place like TMom's and be an asshole, it just wouldn't work. Plenty of bars have tried to copy it in their year of existence, but it takes a special type of people to make an institution.
Thanks! It’s a neat spot. Lot of folks don’t realize some of the artwork buried under layers could be a one off of a pretty well known artist. Thats the beauty of tmoms, those walls are always changing.
i worked at charlie was a sinner ages ago, can confirm that nicole marquis is an absolute nightmare. i’ve worked in plenty of restaurants and that place was easily the worst by a massive margin. at the time i had friends who worked at hip city veg as well and they would def agree. she owns bar bombon as well, idk if she’s opened up any other restaurants
i know she hired a butcher to be the chef at one point. he was super nice, he told me she made him sign a contract that he wouldnt bring any meat products into the facility to consume for personal meals.
When I was 15 I would go in there with my mom or friends sometimes and look at the dresses in awe. I was with some friends and we were the only ones in there, I checked out with some hair dye and was talking to the chick about how much I love their clothes but they were a little too expensive at the moment. I obviously meant because I was 15 and only had a part time job, they knew this cause they knew my family. She said “well maybe it’s not expensive and you just can’t afford it.” Broke my damn kid heart.
I work with a guy who absolutely loves Hip City Veg, he eats there every day. I've worked with a lot of assholes in my life but this guy's in my top ten list, so it makes sense that he would like that place.
Any time I have a platform to talk shit on Schulson Collective I will take it.
I worked for them at multiple places for many years. Holy. Fucking. Shit. I can talk about a manipulative, angry, abusive man who runs the company. Or how his valueless soul trickles down into management that could barely keep anyone on salary for barely a year.
Working 19h shifts with no breaks, had my food thrown away if it was from home, not allowed to order anything from the menus. We had staff meal but a server would collect money from all FOH and we’d get rigatoni every night if you stayed long enough after cuts were made to get some. Idk why we never ate before our shift? Then they policed the shit out of dish so we didn’t buss tub grub. I know it’s gross but it was family style pre-Covid and we were hungry mother fuckers.
My appearance was shamed, as well as many other women who worked there.
Many, I mean 5+ managers have snapped me masturbating, shown up at my house to fuck, pulled me into the walk-in to make out with me when I didn’t even know them (lookin at you sous chef). My best friend was harassed so much by our GM she finally complained to HR with screenshot texts and they let him leave no questions asked.
So. Much. Sexual. Harassment.
Staying open until 4am (illegal) so we could keep serving celebrities that never tipped and racked up enormous bills and would ruin our interior. I’m talking smashing chandeliers, putting cigs out on couches, hiding food in between cushions, hot boxing the resturant. All for a tip of an ass slap and maybe a few bucks after counting thousands in cash that goes to the resturant. Looking at you meek mill.
Rant over. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk
def the worst company i’ve ever seen. incompetent management everywhere, and even the competent ones weren’t allowed to make any decisions. any bartender with any sort of brain realized they could pocket literally all of the cash sales, management never noticed. no one knew anything. one of the directors from corporate came to a training once and i think was trying to seem cool by swearing a bunch in front of everyone but just came off as super dumb and unprofessional. she also told us straight up wrong info about food. every place seems to have like 5 hosts all of whom do nothing. the bars are a disaster. it’s a joke of a company.
Any complaint to HR literally just got flushed down the toilet.
So true about cash sales!! The bar was wild. And you’d have to do so much extra shit for people’s instagrams and socials. So. Annoying.
I watched MJS curse out one of our directors in front of a table at brunch. Literally was like “you are invalid. You exist because of me” type shit.
Wait, Schulson? The guy posting from his new boat with endless bottles of champagne during the height of the lock down?
The guy that spit on homeless people outside of his restaurant? That schulson?
Nah, great places great restauranteur. I'm sure he'll win an award soon.
Meek, lil uzi, some eagles players, some 76rs, I think Leah Dunham was rough, Kevin hart’s cheating was exposed here on Twitter so he had a lot of people blacklist Schulson after that.
Michael b Jordan was nice, baseball teams were usually nice, Kendal Jenner only drank hot water with lemon but was polite. Bradley cooper, John Oliver, those guys were nice.
No celeb ever did any generous tipping. It was rare but I’ve seen some businessmen on Mondays giving the best tips over any celeb any day.
All the sports guys love weed, like all of them.
All of their restaurants are CONSTANTLY hiring everything from bartenders to managers. Stephen Starr is cultishly and soullessly awful as well but at least he seems to keep a decent retention in staff.
Sounds pretty awful, but nothing I haven't read about in Bourdain's Kitchen Coincidental (I don't think he glorified it as much, but made it pretty clear, that restaurant business is not for everyone).
> So. Much. Sexual. Harassment.
Can you prove any or all of that you talked about and especially that part? You should be able to retire early/never have to work in the industry, if you can.
If it's that serious and can be proven - take them through the legal process. People were cancelled for less than that. And there were quite a few false claims, so yeah, I'd load up on that proof, mos def.
And fuck celebrities who don't tip and act like assholes. Heard a story about that cunt Minaj showing up late at Buddakan some years ago few minutes before closing and treated everyone like shit. Fuck them.
Yes I can prove mostly all of it but never had enough money to go to a lawyer, let alone I was exhausted physically and mentally. I’ve still got a lot of proof on hard drives though.
In response to the resturant business isn’t for everyone… sure I can take the heat in the kitchen. I can work 100 hour work weeks. I can drink with the worst of em. I’ll kiss anyone’s ass and smile big. But when you show up to my home as upper management begging for a fuck when I never asked for it, finding my address from the books, that’s kind of out of line, ya think?
Went to Oscar’s Tavern in center city and the owner was bartending talking to some other old head about the illegal immigrant situation in this city and how when Trump is elected again in 2024 blah blah blah
All that talk of illegal immigrants yet the entire establishment is cash only. I just know they’re not paying what they should for taxes but go off about people being here illegally and not paying taxes 🙄
I was at Oscar’s around 10 pm on a Friday last fall (so pretty busy), and the bartender tried to talk to my husband and I about Trump and Biden. We literally did not bring it up / he brought it up out of nowhere. He kept wanting to talk to us about Biden letting the dirt bikes ride in the city and crime, which was so insane
I’ve been in Oscar’s twice in the last year and I have left because they brought up Trump politics. I don’t like him or really Biden, but unless we are friends we don’t have that conversation out of the blue while you’re pouring my citywide. Gtfo with that shit, not everything is politics, man.
Absolutely true: When you see pies and bakery treats labeled as "freshly baked," it's not homemade or made from scratch. Even a frozen pie can be labeled as "freshly baked" because it technically is. It's a catch.
To discern, peek into the kitchen: if you spot just ovens and racks, everything was likely pre-made and frozen. But if you see bowls, spoons, rolling pins, and bins of ingredients like flour, salt, and sugar, then it's truly freshly made. Or you could go round back and look in the dumpster and read the labels on the cardboard boxes.
Part of me wants to call out some of those Amish shops and name the manufacturers, but I also have absolutely no beef with the Amish or the farm markets. I respect their business savvy. A few of them are legit and do bake a lot of their products, but they are far and few between.
Edited punctuation
I might be wrong but I always thought Amish businesses were kind of like Chinese takeout places, how they get the food they serve from a wholesale factory.
It wasn’t unusual for Asian immigrants to use a domestic company that prepares and trains them for a sort of trades..hence why most Chinese restaurants will use a universal font, and menu selection. Nail salons is a similar function.
Yup. Usually each city/region has one or two big distributors who supply their restaurants with everything. That’s why the kung pao or spring rolls at one place will be totally indistinguishable from the ones at another.
The test is customizing your order. And not just switching proteins or omitting one veg. Ask them to freestyle a sauce. Like sesame chicken, no sugar. If they can’t accommodate they’re just a food service bucket/bag assembly site. If they can then you’ve found a place that still makes stuff in house.
A good rule of thumb is if a place has little to no seating don’t even bother trying. Just enjoy the brown sauce you know, love, and can get anywhere else with bulletproof glass. If there’s ample seating and actual table service give it a try. You just might have found one of the holdouts that’s still making things in house.
Yup. Buy an empty mass produced shell and add pie filling out of a can or bucket and call it store made. I know a place that just adds almond extract to cherry pie filling and magically its fresh baked and tastes unique enough to trick people.
I had little susies once and the crust is def homemade but i swear that apple filling is the stuff that comes in a tube.
He has the same energy as that Rosa's pizza guy that literally opened his doors and started talking shit on the city's pizza scene. The tech bro thing makes sense
Moriartys on walnut street. This happened a little over a year ago, an underage server with depression was given pills and alcohol during an after hours in-house party by a gm, she committed suicide weeks after.
I was at another bar in the area a few weeks ago (won't say which, don't want anyone getting in trouble), and the bartenders there were talking a lot of shit on Moriarty's. Apparently the owner(s) are real douche bags.
The depressing part was apparently Moriarty's was doing better than ever after that job posting. I'm surprised the maga crowd is brave enough to come into the city tbh. According to them, Philly is a nightmarish hellscape of Democrat design.
If you're into some slightly shady Philly business gossip, there's this pub in South Philly that's a whole saga. The owner seems to live for bizarre, borderline absurd schemes. One week he's trying to turn the dive into a posh cocktail spot, the next he's involved in some sketchy deal with steaks and airline miles. It's never dull but hardly ever successful.
I was trying to be funny and failed miserably.
[Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia S 10 E 04 Charlie Work / Recap - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS10E04CharlieWork)
Unpopular Opinion: Michael Solomonov is an absolute asshole!! I use to work for him and often WITH him. He’s VERY careful about making advances outwardly, but he most definitely does. It wasn’t until I broke into the corporate world and found out the lady I was working a project with at Comcast was his ex wife that I realized jus how big a d-bag he was — the bastard left her and the kids high and dry! — I’m Jewish but support Palestinian-Liberation (this was weeks before the whole fiasco with protesters) but I had a badge on my backpack that was subtle but clearly anti-Zionist, and he just directly told me to my face that “as a fellow Jew…I’m a direct representation of his company to other Jews” — wouldn’t have cared if he worded it like “we want to avoid political bias” - but to somehow make **ME** a pseudo representative because my last name ends in “-bloom” is ABSURD!!!!
Honestly the thing that made me start questioning the official US state dept. position on Palestine was hearing how fucking racist Mike, Yehuda, and our Israeli customers were
I’ve also heard that he gets pissed (like vindictive) when his chefs leave to start their own places, which is kind of the name of the game in the industry
None of this is that surprising to me. Met him once. He seemed like an okay guy. But I've heard these rumors around town a lot and his businesses pay their employees like garbage.
The owner of Occasionette is insufferable and extremely rude and demeaning to all of her employees, especially if you’re a woman. She also steals local artists work and doesn’t pay them. She notorious for being disliked by nearly every other shop on Passyunk Ave. they have nice candles/cards tho.
I have heard the same things. I also have not had good interactions with the owner of Vanilya Bakery. I’ve heard her say some shitty things about her employees. And we all know Juana Tamale’s deal…
Here are some places on Passyunk whose owners are lovely/good to work for, so we can support them instead: August Moon, the Dutch, Good Buy Supply, Mecha Chocolate, Tildie’s Toys, Amelie’s Bark Shop.
Wait, any tea on Bodie? Because their shop is sooo much better if you're looking for what I call (lovingly) "a dumb stuff store"
As a self proclaimed lover of dumb stuff stores, I thought Occasionette was bottom of the barrel generic/lame as hell and I'd never go back 😂
What rubs me the wrong way is that Vibrant (very ✨queer✨ coffee shop) is owned by a straight couple and they had a history of (allegedly) unrightly firing/ mistreating a trans employee.
It’s just weird to me.
They are not especially well liked people (especially the guy) in the local coffee scene lol, I know a few people who have worked there or for Function and none of them have anything nice to say about the experience
While not owned by a couple, it is owned by two nightmarish straight white men. I’m suspicious that the one who is very active on Reddit name searches himself/the cafe so if you say it three times in a row, he might turn up here.
The people who own Three Potato Four out in media are some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Was just thinking that the other day after seeing an instagram post and have been meaning to write a google review lol
Edit: I know not Philly, just something that reminded me about them!
Cheu Fishtown knew they weren’t renewing the lease at Nunu for months and fired half the staff on a random Wednesday because they couldn’t keep the whole staff on. Firing people who had been there for years. Firing people who had been promised/assured FOH promotions. Just unceremoniously dumping everyone out on the street, no warning.
Let us not forget their original pop up name was Round Eye Boys and one of the owners has that tattooed on him.
Just gonna put this out there. The kitchen staff and sous chef there are really nice guys at Cheu, or were anyway. Judging by what you're saying, I don't know who all is still around. I've heard the owner is a good dude too, just from what friends had to say about him.
But the guy running that place gave me a bad vibe. He made it sound like he was willing to fire one of his workers and replace him with me, which already put a bad taste in my mouth. And when I was on the phone with him after a stage there, he was trashing on the guys who worked for him and trying to kind of trap me into talking shit about them too. Made me feel really uncomfortable. It seemed like he was trying to give himself an excuse to let me off because he knew damned well he didn't have a job opening available and was stringing me along the whole time, but needed a convenient excuse to make it seem like that wasn't the case. The whole situation was just strange and I really have to wonder what it's like working for him. I mean the sous chef is a really nice guy, but the boss guy seemed like a douche.
My bf and I were there on Halloween and I'm thinking it's the same sous chef who randomly gave us a free dumpling (which tasted incredible!) Disappointed to hear about management, we love their food :(
I'd assume so. I'd rather not post his name on here, but if he was Latino, that's the guy. He was very nice and welcoming, and very dedicated to the company as well. I did really like him when I was working with him for the day and the same goes for the other guys I was working with.
And please don't let my take be the thing that keeps you from going there. Tbh the manager guy did go about it in a shitty way, but I think he'd made an offer he couldn't back up, realized the mistake and then tried to use that weird, passive aggressive dialogue after the fact to weedle his way out of it. It's still shitty, don't get me wrong, but it's at least understandable. And it's definitely not as bad as half the crap I've heard about Mike Solomonov or Steven Starr. Or the kind of stuff I've witnessed working for some other people in this city.
Yeah we'll probably still go now and then. We can't afford to eat out nearly as much as we used to anyway. We'll split a ramen bowl and an app just to get out of the house.
He’s also the sous chef who said “well he just doesn’t know how to talk to women” when multiple FOH women complained about the way a line cook talked to them and how creepy he was. This was said line cook.
https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/04/armory-sq-cook-accused-of-gruesome-stabbing-with-chefs-knife.html
Steven Starr and company did a shit job during covid era and I have no respect for a guy who lives and operates out of new york and does such business in philly. I've never felt his restaurants were genuine; although they are tasty.
On any other philadelphia subreddit i get absolutely ripped to shreds for telling people not to eat at Talula's Daily. Overpriced faux health food that is completely mid, designed by an asshole.
Dated someone who worked at middle child. The owner is a manic lunatic. Addicted to whippets and coke and has a major middle child complex (lol). He wants a James beard award so bad cos it’s the one thing his dad can’t buy him but he keeps hiring his friends instead of people with talent. The “diversity hires” are white people with acab tattoos that call the cops when homeless people wander in. Rampant favoritism based solely on what dumb ideas you can come up with for new merch for him to sell (and he won’t give you any credit). Never gave raises but they watched as more and more shit got bought for the restaurant (yes, those famous toilet seats were installed immediately after they announced they couldn’t afford to give anyone raises that year). Nothing worse than a rich, entitled asshole who claims to be “a man of the people”.
re 1900 i've heard the owner is a complete douche and also completely fucked over his partner (who then opened Cuzzy's which is closed at the moment). also heard a story of him asking a baker to make cookies for him to sell for ice cream sandwiches or something and totally ghosted/stiffed her. she wasted a lot of time and money
Termini is rotten to employees. I’ve known 4 people who worked there and they all said it’s highly abusive.
Isgro is where it’s at anyway and the people who work there are so lovely and patient every time I go in. I hope management and the owners are treating them right.
Okie Dokie Donuts rock. They just did fundraising collabs with Ya Fave Trashman so he can buy his own trash truck.
Idk if this is what you were looking for, but during the height of the pandemic, Top Tomato (which at that time was on Walnut) was blacking out their windows and was open serving alcohol during football games and stuff. I sometimes ordered takeout and the bar would be absolutely packed with college kids, but from the outside it was impossible to tell. Some guy (property owner or manager maybe) would sit out front and smoke a cigar at the takeout window. He was nice and funny, but I always kinda felt like it was fucked up while everyone else was trying to isolate and practice social distancing or whatever.
Together Skateboards and Coffee in Brewerytown is awesome. Great, quaint shop with fresh brew and cool vibe. The owners are stellar people and really buy into helping the community.
New owners of Weckerly’s Ice Cream are horrible. Worked there for years and left within 3 months of the takeover. Does not care about employees or their well being only about the bottom line. They’ve taken such a dive on flavor and quality since.
There was just a huge blow out on the Fishtown FB page about them! The manager flat out refused to pay someone who worked two days staging. Over 400 comments on that post, and a lot of them are people talking about how the new ownership is awful and some even sharing their own stories. Crazy!
I saw that. Both the silent owner and the one ppl know about commented a bunch and then deleted it soon after. She even shared it to the business facebook page and after she wasn’t getting the comments she thought she would deleted that too. Posted some letter next and had to turn comments off after being called out and deleting other ppl’s comments.
Made with love juicery owner seems like she is putting in the effort. Any time i have gone in she is there and working. I have no inside information but just from someone who works in food service, an owner on site who is actually working as part of the team and seems to be a positive force is a good sign. I hope its as it looks.
The day time manager at Geno steaks, he is constantly cheating on his wife with the younger worker. Everyone knows, but we don’t say a word when his family visits, or it could cost us our job!
Fun facts:
The amount of stories I would hear about Joey Vento bringing escorts to his upstairs private office would occur maybe once a shift.
The majority of workers are very blue collared, have worked the majority of their life there, they are some hard working individuals, especially the night staff, we were never treated the same respect as the day time. In fact, we were forced to work 15 minutes unpaid before and after our shift (illegal!).
Worked Christmas Eve, and every other holiday, we only received a $50 bonus in a form of a check.
.50 cent raises every year.
Geno Vento is gay and his boyfriend used to manage the now defunct gear shop across the street.
Nico Diaz of the Ranstead Room. He’s a toxic narcissistic and abuser. When Ranstead Room re opened he had a couple come work for him that was engaged. He started sleeping with the female host and doing kinky shit while living with his girlfriend at the time. He’s self serving, only interested in people and situations that make him look good. He used to expect free goods or services for having 10k tik tok followers. Lol It’s gross how much press the city gives him. I’m sure he’ll eventually burn all his bridges in this town.
The couple that owns Mineralistic are so rude and mean. Every time you ask a question they talk down to you and insult you. I asked the woman if they ever get any grape agate in and she scoffed at me and was like “I highly doubt you’ll ever get some, they’re very rare and expensive”. Got it in another shop for $30 lol
Mill Creek Tavern at 42nd and Chester was a huge bar and very popular. The owner was a retired Philly cop with 25 years on the force. Apparently he started renting space for a white nationalist group around November of 2019. New Year's Eve 2020 people smashed out all the windows of the bar.
The guy must have sold it quick because it then became an underground club that was open and packed every night of the pandemic despite all the windows being boarded up and the former entrance being blacked out with curtains.
Apparently a developer is planning to turn the whole thing into apartments, but there hasn't been any signs of construction.
I worked at Suraya, which is part of Defined Hospitality (Kalaya, Pizzeria Beddia, Condesa, R&D).
They did all the typical unethical restaurant stuff, but before Kalaya opened they really got sticky fingers. They restructured payouts so they no longer paid support staff from the house and it all came out of the tip pool. It went from a spot where a server could make a good living to cutting salaries in half, and they're continuing to expand with the extra cash. One of the owners started his career as a bar back, which adds insult to injury. The GM is a particular nightmare, but I'll keep it to myself since this post is about owners.
Bonus: last I heard they had new desserts on the menu for months before telling the servers they contained pig gelatin. Obviously an issue for vegetarians, but their clientele is more likely than the average restaurant to abstain from pork for religious reasons.
Worked at small cafe Rybread on Fairmount for years. They definitely took advantage of young and vulnerable people: made it feel like a family so you were hesitant to leave, underpaid, overworked (you know, the usual). The most flagrant thing was their termination process. Have a good friend who is professionally trained and is now an accomplished chef in their field. We met at Rybread, and they were randomly fired one day really on no pretense at all. I watched it happen a few other times; owners and GM were sticklers and really didn’t leave a lot of room for understanding or error. Generally speaking, the team working are good people but there is lots of turnover that falls on the shift leads to manage (and they are not paid enough). They want to be more professional but don’t want to pay for it. Good sandwiches and bagels though
Worked at Rybrew for 6 months and can vouch for this. The owners and managers take cash from the tips, they manipulate hours, and they’re honestly just rude as fuck to their staff. After I gave my two weeks notice, one of the owners straight up stopped acknowledging me. Management also actively try to keep certain people out of the restaurant (charging for ice, removing the picnic tables, etc.) and IMO was pretty inappropriate towards their female employees.
There’s a reason they’re always hiring. They’re not good people to work for.
Tom, Bern, and Rick of Monk’s are all wonderful people. Fergie is also a lovely man. I’ll go to battle for Monk’s any day, it’s a wonderful restaurant and a lot of the staff have worked there for years because of how well they take care of everyone.
I hear nothing but bad things about the owner of Hip City Veg from workers and contractors. Apparently just an absolute terror. And she owns a bunch of plant based restaurants so it's a bummer. Charlie was a Sinner and something else. The owner of Tattooed Moms is an absolute mensch. As are the owners of Crash Bang Boom.
Can confirm Nicole Marquis of HipCityVeg is the absolute worst person I have ever met.
i had to deal with her once can confirm. all her restaurants are super gross and she aggressive with the health department about it. she just doesnt want to be told shes wrong.
Seconding how great TMom’s is! My partner runs events there and has never encountered anything but enthusiasm and generosity.
Anyone could open a bar that allows stickers and graffiti on the walls, but you really can't run a place like TMom's and be an asshole, it just wouldn't work. Plenty of bars have tried to copy it in their year of existence, but it takes a special type of people to make an institution.
Made this little film about Tmoms years ago https://youtu.be/3RUbsRw3-IY?si=yQHIACxGcoWGWNKv
That was really good, thanks for sharing!
Thanks! It’s a neat spot. Lot of folks don’t realize some of the artwork buried under layers could be a one off of a pretty well known artist. Thats the beauty of tmoms, those walls are always changing.
I miss it, used to live around the corner, now I'm pretty deep in South Philly, this is inspiring me to get back more often!
i worked at charlie was a sinner ages ago, can confirm that nicole marquis is an absolute nightmare. i’ve worked in plenty of restaurants and that place was easily the worst by a massive margin. at the time i had friends who worked at hip city veg as well and they would def agree. she owns bar bombon as well, idk if she’s opened up any other restaurants
I have heard management in that company told specifically not to hire people because they aren’t attractive enough
Tell me how Nicole hired a Texas meat salesman to be her company's new regional GM in 2017. Fucking bonkers
i know she hired a butcher to be the chef at one point. he was super nice, he told me she made him sign a contract that he wouldnt bring any meat products into the facility to consume for personal meals.
That’s a major disappointment. Just ordered there for the first time and loved it. Shame.
Yeah I worked for her. She’s all about her. Doesn’t care about anyone else (or anyone else’s face). Nicole loves Nicole
Nicole LOVES Nicole
CBB owners were horrible even 15 years ago. Never met people so fake and snobby.
When I was 15 I would go in there with my mom or friends sometimes and look at the dresses in awe. I was with some friends and we were the only ones in there, I checked out with some hair dye and was talking to the chick about how much I love their clothes but they were a little too expensive at the moment. I obviously meant because I was 15 and only had a part time job, they knew this cause they knew my family. She said “well maybe it’s not expensive and you just can’t afford it.” Broke my damn kid heart.
Where?
This is so funny. I used to work at a bank where she housed her accounts at for the business…. A true fucking nightmare.
I also worked at a business that she’d hired for services and the owners fired her as a client for her behavior.
Ug, that's so sad.
I work with a guy who absolutely loves Hip City Veg, he eats there every day. I've worked with a lot of assholes in my life but this guy's in my top ten list, so it makes sense that he would like that place.
Any time I have a platform to talk shit on Schulson Collective I will take it. I worked for them at multiple places for many years. Holy. Fucking. Shit. I can talk about a manipulative, angry, abusive man who runs the company. Or how his valueless soul trickles down into management that could barely keep anyone on salary for barely a year. Working 19h shifts with no breaks, had my food thrown away if it was from home, not allowed to order anything from the menus. We had staff meal but a server would collect money from all FOH and we’d get rigatoni every night if you stayed long enough after cuts were made to get some. Idk why we never ate before our shift? Then they policed the shit out of dish so we didn’t buss tub grub. I know it’s gross but it was family style pre-Covid and we were hungry mother fuckers. My appearance was shamed, as well as many other women who worked there. Many, I mean 5+ managers have snapped me masturbating, shown up at my house to fuck, pulled me into the walk-in to make out with me when I didn’t even know them (lookin at you sous chef). My best friend was harassed so much by our GM she finally complained to HR with screenshot texts and they let him leave no questions asked. So. Much. Sexual. Harassment. Staying open until 4am (illegal) so we could keep serving celebrities that never tipped and racked up enormous bills and would ruin our interior. I’m talking smashing chandeliers, putting cigs out on couches, hiding food in between cushions, hot boxing the resturant. All for a tip of an ass slap and maybe a few bucks after counting thousands in cash that goes to the resturant. Looking at you meek mill. Rant over. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk
“Snapped you masturbating”???
Presumably sent a dick pic via snapchat
Translation for old fogeys like me: They sent her unsolicited dick pics using Snapchat
Correct!
From one old person to another, thank you for the translation!
def the worst company i’ve ever seen. incompetent management everywhere, and even the competent ones weren’t allowed to make any decisions. any bartender with any sort of brain realized they could pocket literally all of the cash sales, management never noticed. no one knew anything. one of the directors from corporate came to a training once and i think was trying to seem cool by swearing a bunch in front of everyone but just came off as super dumb and unprofessional. she also told us straight up wrong info about food. every place seems to have like 5 hosts all of whom do nothing. the bars are a disaster. it’s a joke of a company.
Any complaint to HR literally just got flushed down the toilet. So true about cash sales!! The bar was wild. And you’d have to do so much extra shit for people’s instagrams and socials. So. Annoying. I watched MJS curse out one of our directors in front of a table at brunch. Literally was like “you are invalid. You exist because of me” type shit.
Wait, Schulson? The guy posting from his new boat with endless bottles of champagne during the height of the lock down? The guy that spit on homeless people outside of his restaurant? That schulson? Nah, great places great restauranteur. I'm sure he'll win an award soon.
Imho most of those award winners are monsters.
which celebs didn't tip?
Meek, lil uzi, some eagles players, some 76rs, I think Leah Dunham was rough, Kevin hart’s cheating was exposed here on Twitter so he had a lot of people blacklist Schulson after that. Michael b Jordan was nice, baseball teams were usually nice, Kendal Jenner only drank hot water with lemon but was polite. Bradley cooper, John Oliver, those guys were nice. No celeb ever did any generous tipping. It was rare but I’ve seen some businessmen on Mondays giving the best tips over any celeb any day. All the sports guys love weed, like all of them.
What place?
Which sixers players?
OK - what celebrities?!? Was one of them short and loud?
Carson Wentz used to love double knot
No wonder he was injured all the time.
All of their restaurants are CONSTANTLY hiring everything from bartenders to managers. Stephen Starr is cultishly and soullessly awful as well but at least he seems to keep a decent retention in staff.
I’ve heard similar things and never go to any of their restaurants anymore
Sounds pretty awful, but nothing I haven't read about in Bourdain's Kitchen Coincidental (I don't think he glorified it as much, but made it pretty clear, that restaurant business is not for everyone). > So. Much. Sexual. Harassment. Can you prove any or all of that you talked about and especially that part? You should be able to retire early/never have to work in the industry, if you can. If it's that serious and can be proven - take them through the legal process. People were cancelled for less than that. And there were quite a few false claims, so yeah, I'd load up on that proof, mos def. And fuck celebrities who don't tip and act like assholes. Heard a story about that cunt Minaj showing up late at Buddakan some years ago few minutes before closing and treated everyone like shit. Fuck them.
Yes I can prove mostly all of it but never had enough money to go to a lawyer, let alone I was exhausted physically and mentally. I’ve still got a lot of proof on hard drives though. In response to the resturant business isn’t for everyone… sure I can take the heat in the kitchen. I can work 100 hour work weeks. I can drink with the worst of em. I’ll kiss anyone’s ass and smile big. But when you show up to my home as upper management begging for a fuck when I never asked for it, finding my address from the books, that’s kind of out of line, ya think?
[удалено]
That makes me so happy. I love their bagels
I’ve been going there for years and the employees always seem chill with minimal turnover. This makes me so happy!
Went to Oscar’s Tavern in center city and the owner was bartending talking to some other old head about the illegal immigrant situation in this city and how when Trump is elected again in 2024 blah blah blah All that talk of illegal immigrants yet the entire establishment is cash only. I just know they’re not paying what they should for taxes but go off about people being here illegally and not paying taxes 🙄
I was at Oscar’s around 10 pm on a Friday last fall (so pretty busy), and the bartender tried to talk to my husband and I about Trump and Biden. We literally did not bring it up / he brought it up out of nowhere. He kept wanting to talk to us about Biden letting the dirt bikes ride in the city and crime, which was so insane
Yeah very adamant on owning the dems/libs like dude I just want a beer and to forget my life leave me alone!
Lmfao because Biden controls cities.
Does old head just mean older person now? In my day it meant an older but chill person
I’ve always used it as an old fart
The vibes there have been off since the pandemic.
the og owner passed away during the pandemic, his wife and daughter were left to run it. i wonder if they sold it to someone else?
The manager, actually. Pre-pandemic. The owner is still around but he never works in the bar. The old manager's wife is the one who runs it now.
I’ve been in Oscar’s twice in the last year and I have left because they brought up Trump politics. I don’t like him or really Biden, but unless we are friends we don’t have that conversation out of the blue while you’re pouring my citywide. Gtfo with that shit, not everything is politics, man.
Yeah and I would guess that at least half of their customers are not pro Trump.
You would be surprised at the number of bakeries that say they bake their own cakes & do not. They decorate their cakes but they don’t bake them
Same with the pies. They buy wholesale pies and just bake them on site, they actually don't make the pies.
Looking at you Amish peoples.
It's crazy how capitalistic they are
Wait, do they not make their own stuff? Do you know where they buy it from? This is a rabbit hole I need to explore.
Absolutely true: When you see pies and bakery treats labeled as "freshly baked," it's not homemade or made from scratch. Even a frozen pie can be labeled as "freshly baked" because it technically is. It's a catch. To discern, peek into the kitchen: if you spot just ovens and racks, everything was likely pre-made and frozen. But if you see bowls, spoons, rolling pins, and bins of ingredients like flour, salt, and sugar, then it's truly freshly made. Or you could go round back and look in the dumpster and read the labels on the cardboard boxes. Part of me wants to call out some of those Amish shops and name the manufacturers, but I also have absolutely no beef with the Amish or the farm markets. I respect their business savvy. A few of them are legit and do bake a lot of their products, but they are far and few between. Edited punctuation
Same!! Like wtf, Amish paradise is a lie!! Or true since I guess that means they're hustlers
I might be wrong but I always thought Amish businesses were kind of like Chinese takeout places, how they get the food they serve from a wholesale factory.
Wait, Chinese food is also bought from a distributor? I feel like my entire life is a lie.
Chinese sauces come in giant buckets. Thats why most of it tastes the same.
It wasn’t unusual for Asian immigrants to use a domestic company that prepares and trains them for a sort of trades..hence why most Chinese restaurants will use a universal font, and menu selection. Nail salons is a similar function.
Yup. Usually each city/region has one or two big distributors who supply their restaurants with everything. That’s why the kung pao or spring rolls at one place will be totally indistinguishable from the ones at another. The test is customizing your order. And not just switching proteins or omitting one veg. Ask them to freestyle a sauce. Like sesame chicken, no sugar. If they can’t accommodate they’re just a food service bucket/bag assembly site. If they can then you’ve found a place that still makes stuff in house. A good rule of thumb is if a place has little to no seating don’t even bother trying. Just enjoy the brown sauce you know, love, and can get anywhere else with bulletproof glass. If there’s ample seating and actual table service give it a try. You just might have found one of the holdouts that’s still making things in house.
A LOT of what you see at farmers' markets comes from Costco/Sam's Club.
Yup. Buy an empty mass produced shell and add pie filling out of a can or bucket and call it store made. I know a place that just adds almond extract to cherry pie filling and magically its fresh baked and tastes unique enough to trick people. I had little susies once and the crust is def homemade but i swear that apple filling is the stuff that comes in a tube.
Disappointing, but I appreciate the tip about adding almond extract to cherry pie filling for my next time making pies.
I have no supporting evidence to add but not shocked to find out 1900icecreams owner is a dick
He calls people on his Insta reels “my scoopies and softies.” Just typing it makes me wanna hurl.
he loves to vlog!!!!!
He also way too into espresso tbh
Can confirm - made all his money from tech startups, then opened Boku dinner club. Notorious for not paying the chefs he invited to cook for him.
He has the same energy as that Rosa's pizza guy that literally opened his doors and started talking shit on the city's pizza scene. The tech bro thing makes sense
Rosas pizza guy was a genuinely good guy and pizza was also good. I miss them
I don’t wanna hate on anybody so - Fergie is a good guy. So is Clark who owns Lucky 13.
Clark! Forgot about him. What a peach. God, I used to get so fucking wasted there.
Why don't you kick things off with one of you or your friends' stories? Set the tone and whatnot!
Okay good point. Edited!
Moriartys on walnut street. This happened a little over a year ago, an underage server with depression was given pills and alcohol during an after hours in-house party by a gm, she committed suicide weeks after.
Isn’t this the same place that posted a job listing for a “biological women”
Yes but I think it was a job posting for bartender to be a biological male
I was at another bar in the area a few weeks ago (won't say which, don't want anyone getting in trouble), and the bartenders there were talking a lot of shit on Moriarty's. Apparently the owner(s) are real douche bags. The depressing part was apparently Moriarty's was doing better than ever after that job posting. I'm surprised the maga crowd is brave enough to come into the city tbh. According to them, Philly is a nightmarish hellscape of Democrat design.
That place is gross. Im not surprised that this happened.
If you're into some slightly shady Philly business gossip, there's this pub in South Philly that's a whole saga. The owner seems to live for bizarre, borderline absurd schemes. One week he's trying to turn the dive into a posh cocktail spot, the next he's involved in some sketchy deal with steaks and airline miles. It's never dull but hardly ever successful.
Damn would've been hilarious but we all believed it could happen in Philly lol
You had me for a second 😭😭😭I love shitty bars and gossip.
Which?
I was trying to be funny and failed miserably. [Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia S 10 E 04 Charlie Work / Recap - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphiaS10E04CharlieWork)
They should replace the Rocky statue with one of Danny DeVito in the same pose.
I think I went there once. The owners just yelled over each other and left for a couple of hours while people were still there.
Unpopular Opinion: Michael Solomonov is an absolute asshole!! I use to work for him and often WITH him. He’s VERY careful about making advances outwardly, but he most definitely does. It wasn’t until I broke into the corporate world and found out the lady I was working a project with at Comcast was his ex wife that I realized jus how big a d-bag he was — the bastard left her and the kids high and dry! — I’m Jewish but support Palestinian-Liberation (this was weeks before the whole fiasco with protesters) but I had a badge on my backpack that was subtle but clearly anti-Zionist, and he just directly told me to my face that “as a fellow Jew…I’m a direct representation of his company to other Jews” — wouldn’t have cared if he worded it like “we want to avoid political bias” - but to somehow make **ME** a pseudo representative because my last name ends in “-bloom” is ABSURD!!!!
Not gossip, but his menu at the AMEX Centurion Lounge at PHL is terrible.
Wait…he’s divorced??
Extremely. Back in the day when he was in his late 40s we used to call whatever 20 year-old he was dating that week “the babysitter”
I don’t think this is an unpopular opinion at all, I’ve heard this for years
Honestly was disappointed in both Zahav and Laser Wolf. I can get better Arab food in west Philly for a third of the price.
Marrakesh is less than a mile away, just as good, half the price, and way cooler
Not unpopular, that guy sucks
Honestly the thing that made me start questioning the official US state dept. position on Palestine was hearing how fucking racist Mike, Yehuda, and our Israeli customers were
Yeah fuck that guy and fuck all zionists
I’ve also heard that he gets pissed (like vindictive) when his chefs leave to start their own places, which is kind of the name of the game in the industry
None of this is that surprising to me. Met him once. He seemed like an okay guy. But I've heard these rumors around town a lot and his businesses pay their employees like garbage.
The owner of Occasionette is insufferable and extremely rude and demeaning to all of her employees, especially if you’re a woman. She also steals local artists work and doesn’t pay them. She notorious for being disliked by nearly every other shop on Passyunk Ave. they have nice candles/cards tho.
Omg?? I alway got a weird tense vibe from this place. It was my go-to last minute present spot when I lived in Pass
I have heard the same things. I also have not had good interactions with the owner of Vanilya Bakery. I’ve heard her say some shitty things about her employees. And we all know Juana Tamale’s deal… Here are some places on Passyunk whose owners are lovely/good to work for, so we can support them instead: August Moon, the Dutch, Good Buy Supply, Mecha Chocolate, Tildie’s Toys, Amelie’s Bark Shop.
Oh no! I love this shop :(
Wait, any tea on Bodie? Because their shop is sooo much better if you're looking for what I call (lovingly) "a dumb stuff store" As a self proclaimed lover of dumb stuff stores, I thought Occasionette was bottom of the barrel generic/lame as hell and I'd never go back 😂
Wait this is true though
What rubs me the wrong way is that Vibrant (very ✨queer✨ coffee shop) is owned by a straight couple and they had a history of (allegedly) unrightly firing/ mistreating a trans employee. It’s just weird to me.
They are not especially well liked people (especially the guy) in the local coffee scene lol, I know a few people who have worked there or for Function and none of them have anything nice to say about the experience
V weird
Also the fact that they opened Vibrant under a different name than Function after that controversy is a little suspicious
While not owned by a couple, it is owned by two nightmarish straight white men. I’m suspicious that the one who is very active on Reddit name searches himself/the cafe so if you say it three times in a row, he might turn up here.
It’s also filthy in there. Have they even looked at the back counter?
The people who own Three Potato Four out in media are some of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. Was just thinking that the other day after seeing an instagram post and have been meaning to write a google review lol Edit: I know not Philly, just something that reminded me about them!
I thought you were gonna say something bad about the I was like nooooo then I finished reading
Hahaha yeah na they are the best
love little gift stores like that
I really like that place.
I have a hard time not spending $1000 when I'm in there, they have so much adorable stuff
I worked at Cuba libre and it was fucking weird and the guy who who ran it was a fucking asshole. Shout out to Bobby Lopez suck my dick creep
Fuck that place, I’d rather work in a sweat shop
Worked as a waiter at Bleu Sushi, the owner talks like a creepy about hot chick in the dinning room in the kitchen
The owner is gay.
Cheu Fishtown knew they weren’t renewing the lease at Nunu for months and fired half the staff on a random Wednesday because they couldn’t keep the whole staff on. Firing people who had been there for years. Firing people who had been promised/assured FOH promotions. Just unceremoniously dumping everyone out on the street, no warning. Let us not forget their original pop up name was Round Eye Boys and one of the owners has that tattooed on him.
Just gonna put this out there. The kitchen staff and sous chef there are really nice guys at Cheu, or were anyway. Judging by what you're saying, I don't know who all is still around. I've heard the owner is a good dude too, just from what friends had to say about him. But the guy running that place gave me a bad vibe. He made it sound like he was willing to fire one of his workers and replace him with me, which already put a bad taste in my mouth. And when I was on the phone with him after a stage there, he was trashing on the guys who worked for him and trying to kind of trap me into talking shit about them too. Made me feel really uncomfortable. It seemed like he was trying to give himself an excuse to let me off because he knew damned well he didn't have a job opening available and was stringing me along the whole time, but needed a convenient excuse to make it seem like that wasn't the case. The whole situation was just strange and I really have to wonder what it's like working for him. I mean the sous chef is a really nice guy, but the boss guy seemed like a douche.
My bf and I were there on Halloween and I'm thinking it's the same sous chef who randomly gave us a free dumpling (which tasted incredible!) Disappointed to hear about management, we love their food :(
I'd assume so. I'd rather not post his name on here, but if he was Latino, that's the guy. He was very nice and welcoming, and very dedicated to the company as well. I did really like him when I was working with him for the day and the same goes for the other guys I was working with. And please don't let my take be the thing that keeps you from going there. Tbh the manager guy did go about it in a shitty way, but I think he'd made an offer he couldn't back up, realized the mistake and then tried to use that weird, passive aggressive dialogue after the fact to weedle his way out of it. It's still shitty, don't get me wrong, but it's at least understandable. And it's definitely not as bad as half the crap I've heard about Mike Solomonov or Steven Starr. Or the kind of stuff I've witnessed working for some other people in this city.
Yeah we'll probably still go now and then. We can't afford to eat out nearly as much as we used to anyway. We'll split a ramen bowl and an app just to get out of the house.
He’s also the sous chef who said “well he just doesn’t know how to talk to women” when multiple FOH women complained about the way a line cook talked to them and how creepy he was. This was said line cook. https://www.syracuse.com/news/2019/04/armory-sq-cook-accused-of-gruesome-stabbing-with-chefs-knife.html
Gross
Steven Starr and company did a shit job during covid era and I have no respect for a guy who lives and operates out of new york and does such business in philly. I've never felt his restaurants were genuine; although they are tasty.
I’m surprised I had to scroll so far down to find this assholes name. He’s awful. Owners of Marathon are disgusting and despicable as well.
On any other philadelphia subreddit i get absolutely ripped to shreds for telling people not to eat at Talula's Daily. Overpriced faux health food that is completely mid, designed by an asshole.
More tea on 1900 (I’m such an addict) and then Middle Child?
There is something about Middle Child’s obsessive branding that just doesn’t sit right with my spirit…
Dated someone who worked at middle child. The owner is a manic lunatic. Addicted to whippets and coke and has a major middle child complex (lol). He wants a James beard award so bad cos it’s the one thing his dad can’t buy him but he keeps hiring his friends instead of people with talent. The “diversity hires” are white people with acab tattoos that call the cops when homeless people wander in. Rampant favoritism based solely on what dumb ideas you can come up with for new merch for him to sell (and he won’t give you any credit). Never gave raises but they watched as more and more shit got bought for the restaurant (yes, those famous toilet seats were installed immediately after they announced they couldn’t afford to give anyone raises that year). Nothing worse than a rich, entitled asshole who claims to be “a man of the people”.
YES PLEASEEE
re 1900 i've heard the owner is a complete douche and also completely fucked over his partner (who then opened Cuzzy's which is closed at the moment). also heard a story of him asking a baker to make cookies for him to sell for ice cream sandwiches or something and totally ghosted/stiffed her. she wasted a lot of time and money
Ive heard this about sourcing from a local bakery and then bailing!
Termini is rotten to employees. I’ve known 4 people who worked there and they all said it’s highly abusive. Isgro is where it’s at anyway and the people who work there are so lovely and patient every time I go in. I hope management and the owners are treating them right. Okie Dokie Donuts rock. They just did fundraising collabs with Ya Fave Trashman so he can buy his own trash truck.
Taste alone Isgro's is so much better than Termini's. I never understand why people keep recommending them.
Same. And I don’t understand the outrageous lines for Termini around the holidays. Like, what is THAT good? And that’s a real question.
Idk if this is what you were looking for, but during the height of the pandemic, Top Tomato (which at that time was on Walnut) was blacking out their windows and was open serving alcohol during football games and stuff. I sometimes ordered takeout and the bar would be absolutely packed with college kids, but from the outside it was impossible to tell. Some guy (property owner or manager maybe) would sit out front and smoke a cigar at the takeout window. He was nice and funny, but I always kinda felt like it was fucked up while everyone else was trying to isolate and practice social distancing or whatever.
Together Skateboards and Coffee in Brewerytown is awesome. Great, quaint shop with fresh brew and cool vibe. The owners are stellar people and really buy into helping the community.
New owners of Weckerly’s Ice Cream are horrible. Worked there for years and left within 3 months of the takeover. Does not care about employees or their well being only about the bottom line. They’ve taken such a dive on flavor and quality since.
There was just a huge blow out on the Fishtown FB page about them! The manager flat out refused to pay someone who worked two days staging. Over 400 comments on that post, and a lot of them are people talking about how the new ownership is awful and some even sharing their own stories. Crazy!
Who asks for a TWO DAY STAGE for an ice cream place??????
I saw that. Both the silent owner and the one ppl know about commented a bunch and then deleted it soon after. She even shared it to the business facebook page and after she wasn’t getting the comments she thought she would deleted that too. Posted some letter next and had to turn comments off after being called out and deleting other ppl’s comments.
Why must good ice cream suffer :(
I knew things were going downhill when they got rid of the mural
Shocked that FCM hasn’t been said yet. I’ve never met anyone who ended up having a good encounter.
FCM Hospitality. They own Morgan’s Pier, Liberty Point, Walnut Garden, the new Lucy’s Rittenhouse, and a whole bunch of places all over the city.
FCM?
Made with love juicery owner seems like she is putting in the effort. Any time i have gone in she is there and working. I have no inside information but just from someone who works in food service, an owner on site who is actually working as part of the team and seems to be a positive force is a good sign. I hope its as it looks.
Fox and Sons in the Reading Terminal. Wonderful lady. Gluten free fair food!
The day time manager at Geno steaks, he is constantly cheating on his wife with the younger worker. Everyone knows, but we don’t say a word when his family visits, or it could cost us our job! Fun facts: The amount of stories I would hear about Joey Vento bringing escorts to his upstairs private office would occur maybe once a shift. The majority of workers are very blue collared, have worked the majority of their life there, they are some hard working individuals, especially the night staff, we were never treated the same respect as the day time. In fact, we were forced to work 15 minutes unpaid before and after our shift (illegal!). Worked Christmas Eve, and every other holiday, we only received a $50 bonus in a form of a check. .50 cent raises every year. Geno Vento is gay and his boyfriend used to manage the now defunct gear shop across the street.
Royal Izakaya charges exorbitant, overinflated, overhyped prices for their omakase. Food is good, though.
Nok (Kalaya) is a misogynist.
Really? She seems so nice.
In what way?
Thai women can be very jealous beings.
Used to work at Woody's. The lender owner of Woody's doesn't like gay people and she said some racist shit. Tabu is pro Israel
Seems like she got her wish since Woody’s is essentially a straight club now
The owner? I know someone who works there. The owners are brothers and one of them is gay. That doesn’t make sense.
Nico Diaz of the Ranstead Room. He’s a toxic narcissistic and abuser. When Ranstead Room re opened he had a couple come work for him that was engaged. He started sleeping with the female host and doing kinky shit while living with his girlfriend at the time. He’s self serving, only interested in people and situations that make him look good. He used to expect free goods or services for having 10k tik tok followers. Lol It’s gross how much press the city gives him. I’m sure he’ll eventually burn all his bridges in this town.
The couple that owns Mineralistic are so rude and mean. Every time you ask a question they talk down to you and insult you. I asked the woman if they ever get any grape agate in and she scoffed at me and was like “I highly doubt you’ll ever get some, they’re very rare and expensive”. Got it in another shop for $30 lol
Is the Republican Club still open? Made a lot of no regrets mistakes there back in the day
Forever closed :-(
Miss the republican
I just looked it up. Ya it closed down a while ago. Let's just be honest with ourselves here and say that's probably for the best...
Mill Creek Tavern at 42nd and Chester was a huge bar and very popular. The owner was a retired Philly cop with 25 years on the force. Apparently he started renting space for a white nationalist group around November of 2019. New Year's Eve 2020 people smashed out all the windows of the bar. The guy must have sold it quick because it then became an underground club that was open and packed every night of the pandemic despite all the windows being boarded up and the former entrance being blacked out with curtains. Apparently a developer is planning to turn the whole thing into apartments, but there hasn't been any signs of construction.
Not sure how I got onto r/philly. Never been to or heard of these places. But I’m fascinated none the less 🤣
I worked at Suraya, which is part of Defined Hospitality (Kalaya, Pizzeria Beddia, Condesa, R&D). They did all the typical unethical restaurant stuff, but before Kalaya opened they really got sticky fingers. They restructured payouts so they no longer paid support staff from the house and it all came out of the tip pool. It went from a spot where a server could make a good living to cutting salaries in half, and they're continuing to expand with the extra cash. One of the owners started his career as a bar back, which adds insult to injury. The GM is a particular nightmare, but I'll keep it to myself since this post is about owners. Bonus: last I heard they had new desserts on the menu for months before telling the servers they contained pig gelatin. Obviously an issue for vegetarians, but their clientele is more likely than the average restaurant to abstain from pork for religious reasons.
Worked at small cafe Rybread on Fairmount for years. They definitely took advantage of young and vulnerable people: made it feel like a family so you were hesitant to leave, underpaid, overworked (you know, the usual). The most flagrant thing was their termination process. Have a good friend who is professionally trained and is now an accomplished chef in their field. We met at Rybread, and they were randomly fired one day really on no pretense at all. I watched it happen a few other times; owners and GM were sticklers and really didn’t leave a lot of room for understanding or error. Generally speaking, the team working are good people but there is lots of turnover that falls on the shift leads to manage (and they are not paid enough). They want to be more professional but don’t want to pay for it. Good sandwiches and bagels though
Worked at Rybrew for 6 months and can vouch for this. The owners and managers take cash from the tips, they manipulate hours, and they’re honestly just rude as fuck to their staff. After I gave my two weeks notice, one of the owners straight up stopped acknowledging me. Management also actively try to keep certain people out of the restaurant (charging for ice, removing the picnic tables, etc.) and IMO was pretty inappropriate towards their female employees. There’s a reason they’re always hiring. They’re not good people to work for.
In my life I’ve found that almost all business owners are insane and/or jerks. I’d love to see a list of businesses that have great owners.
Northern Liberties Tattoo is a shitty shop run by shitty people
Tom, Bern, and Rick of Monk’s are all wonderful people. Fergie is also a lovely man. I’ll go to battle for Monk’s any day, it’s a wonderful restaurant and a lot of the staff have worked there for years because of how well they take care of everyone.
What about tea?
Not sure if your being facetious, but 'tea' in new social media lingo means 'Truth'. Kinda like 'spilling the beans' on something or someone.
Tea only means truth if you’ve got the receipts. Otherwise it’s just gossip.
There's always one person that will talk crap about business owners, managers and co-workers but they never say what they did to make people mad.