Kinda vague, I know.
The new restaurant is working out well-ish. It's probably the easiest waiter job I've ever worked. My tips are much better than at Isabellas. I generally have a very welcoming, humorous, and charming style when I wait tables. If I could be like I am when I'm waiting tables all the time, I'd get laid so much. At Isabellas it didn't show up with the tips. I mean I got mostly 20%. But there were soooo many foreigners. Isabellas is right next to the natural history museum. Or Isabellas got really old people living on the upper west side. Or it got parents with babies. I can't tell you how many times I'd get a big top that was half kids. All three of those demographics are high maintenance with unreliable appreciation. And if I did get 20%, it would be like $44 check? 8 bucks. I'm not going to go hungry over a dollar, but there's a psychological reward of getting $9, slightly higher than 20% because I busted my ass to make your experience perfect.
That happens at Crispo. First the first time in my 6 years of waiting tables, I'm reliably getting above 20%. The attitudes of waiting tables, or even treating employees like human beings is just so much better. You're treated like adults by competent and appreciative management. Which is funny because at Isabellas you were treated like children by a management team that was younger than you were. Here's an example.
One of the managers last night, Jordan sat me down to chat about my performance. He said he just wanted let me know that they thought I was doing a good job, I know the food, have good customer service, and that I was thrown in to much busier situations than they (the management team) would have liked. He mentioned the things he wanted me to work on. But was confident I'd get there.
Let's compare that to Isabellas' attitude.
I never got a sit down about my performance (with the exception of going over my sales percentages.) There was never a check in on how I was doing. The only comments the general manager ever made were when she saw I did things wrong. She was never receptive to any of my problems and when I mentioned them she became defensive and shot me down. When ever I tried to approach her with a problem during service I usually either got a response of "can't you see I'm busy" or she would criticize me for not being brief enough.
"All you need to say is X." Her constant criticism always made me feel on edge. If she was around me while I was waiting on a table, I always stumbled.
Jordan, the Crispo manager, is quite possibly one of the best managers I've ever worked with. Supportive, fair, firm. He'll call you on your bull shit, but he'll also call customers on theirs. There was a large party that felt the pricing of their meal didn't match up with the contract they set up. The girl had it on her iPhone and was showing him. To which he pointed out clearly calmly and reasonably in the contract wording the restaurant standards and terms. Not even Wild Ginger would have kept to that. At the ol' WG if you complained enough you got almost anything for free.
Jordan, the Crispo manager, is quite possibly one of the best managers I've ever worked with. Supportive, fair, firm. He'll call you on your bull shit, but he'll also call customers on theirs. There was a large party that felt the pricing of their meal didn't match up with the contract they set up. The girl had it on her iPhone and was showing him. To which he pointed out clearly calmly and reasonably in the contract wording the restaurant standards and terms. Not even Wild Ginger would have kept to that. At the ol' WG if you complained enough you got almost anything for free.
Granted the place does have some pit falls. No discount. Closing takes forever to get out, especially since you have to wait for all guests to leave. The food they do make for you is carb heavy (it's pasta.) And to be honest, because it's an easier job, it can be boring. Especially since the way they make cuts, (pooled tip house) you're not going to be working less than 6 hours. But all in all it's a pretty cool place.
One last thing about how they treat you. When you get called in for your on call shift, you're one of the first to leave. And they thank you for coming in on your on call. It's like they're aware you're some sort of human being. Weird huh?
One last thing about how they treat you. When you get called in for your on call shift, you're one of the first to leave. And they thank you for coming in on your on call. It's like they're aware you're some sort of human being. Weird huh?
New band I discovered on good ol' Pandora.
Speechwriters LLC
Speechwriters LLC
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