Front Vs. Back - The Inside Scoop for Restaurant Jobs
Written By: Alexandra Perez-Urbina on Tue, Jun 17th 2008
The restaurant business is no joke. Having worked in the front of the house before moving to the back gave me some interesting insight on the madness.
While I was a waitress, I think that my greatest peeve was dealing with people. Sometimes I just wasn't in the mood for faking it. Waiters and waitresses represent the establishment they work for, and there is no room for negativity when dealing with clients--I didn't really have what it takes to always keep a smile on my face. Also as a waitress in Philadelphia, I ran into some interesting situations; there were people that didn't like their food, people that wanted to come in just to use the bathroom, people who asked for money, oh, and flirty guys who tried to get my number. In the back of the house, the only persons I have to deal with are the order shouter and the person standing next to me who is usually too busy to chit chat anyway.
Front of the house prep was tedious. For one thing, I had to clean the bathroom--ew! Cleaning bathrooms makes you realize how inconsiderate people can be when there's crap on the walls! The rest of the work was pretty standard: polishing utensils, making sure that glasses were clean, setting up the tables, and with some other miscellaneous tasks, like making coffee. Kitchen prep is also tedious, but each task has a tendency to last for a while. For example, making homemade French fries for a busy restaurant is a nightmare. I call the French Fry realm Potatoland, since it's a process that can take up to a few hours depending on how many covers the restaurant expects...
When the restaurant gets busy, it gets busy. In the back of the house, I practically roll up my sleeves and become a robotic lean, mean, plating machine. I don't care about anything except getting the plates out! In the front, there is no focus. You want to get to table nine, but two tables stop you on the way. The mentality is different just because you have to deal with people and people want your attention. You cannot rush them, but you have to rush to them when they call (especially if you really need that tip).
The dangers of working in front of the house also involve the fickle element that is people (including oneself). A little slip and you could drop a plate, hopefully not on someone's lap! By-the-way, flatware is incredibly loud when it falls, I just thought I'd mention that. Kitchen hazards are all that you, the reader could imagine, from almost singeing eye brows to slipping on kitchen grease--no, not all shoes that claim to be slip resistant are.
The last big difference involves the pay. Kitchen people normally have a set amount they get per hour, which is usually a few dollars above minimum wage at my level. Front of the house people make below minimum wage, if they make that at all. Some places do not even pay hourly, just tips. This can work to the benefit of a waiter, but at the same time, it can work against him/her when no one comes in. As a waitress, I constantly felt stressed about everything I did because I really needed that tip, or I could earn zero for all my hard work.
In the end, I decided I liked the back of the house much better--even though it can get unbearably hot. In the kitchen, I can get on with my anti-social self, and the customer won't even know...
