What It's All About

After growing up watching my father run a successful restaurant and working in a variety of different restaurants, I have decided to share my many experiences in the hospitality industry with other industry workers and patrons. We all have great stories to share from catastrophes in the server station and kitchen, to crazy managers, and about the mind-numbing customers that we must interact with every time we clock into work.

I have worked in the average dive diners in Jersey, country steak houses, franchises, neighborhood grills, and fancy bistros. Although the type of clientele and products are different and unique in each business, the stories are much the same: people will blow your mind when you least expect it.

With this blog I hope to share some of my funniest experiences (like the drunk patron who decided to use the wall in the bar as his personal urinal), my most frustrating experiences (like the woman who crushed glass in her tuna salad to get a free meal), and some of my most heart-warming experiences (like the little girl who couldn’t stay with her parents and insisted on following me around the restaurant because I made her feel pretty).

I also hope to shed light about this industry to people who have never worked in it. For example, if you want good service and to be a decent human being, tip your server the appropriate 18-20% when you go out to eat. It is important to remember that your server, bartender, and host are actual people—not robots—and they do handle the food and drink you are about to consume.

I also would love to hear some of your experiences as well. We all know that in order to survive in this business you have to keep a sense of humor and not hold grudges. The people who work in this industry voluntarily allow themselves to be doormats to whoever sits in their sections and sometimes it is hard to remember that there is good in people—just not when they’re hungry.

Be sure to log in soon for my upcoming blog post about my best and worst tippers, how Oprah made it harder for servers to pay their rents, and my guide to tipping and why it’s important.