Do you or have you worked in some kind of eating establishment? Share your stories here!
Keep in mind you may not want to name the place you worked, but it is at your own risk if you want to.
You may share both good or bad stories of your behind the scenes look at restaurants, convineice stores, super markets, or anything food related!
A warning to readers that the stories in this thread may be gross, but don't take them too seriously as they may be made up or exaggerated.
I've worked at quite a few different food places through my different part time jobs during school. I guess I can start with a good one, when I worked in the deli at a convienece store on the east coast, USA.
Not naming any names, but it's the kind of place where you order on a screen and then get a sandwich made. I had heard tons of stories from friends about how when they worked at a restaurants, they could never eat there because of how nasty it was behind the scenes, so I was kind of worried.
But when I actually worked there, I was surprised. The place was very clean and the food regulations were very strict. We had regular check ups to make sure we followed the rules. A couple people would of course bend them here or there, but considering how tight the rules were, it was within perfect safety that they did.
Anyway, if you ever are getting hotdogs or pretzels or other stuff that is sitting out and not made fresh in one of those places, and aren't sure if it's safe or not, take a look at the sticker on the container (assuming it is a place which has containers for them). It should have a time on it, as long as it's decently close to that time, it is fine to eat. I got over my fear of convinence store hotdogs this way!
I'm a foodservice worker at KFC... all those bullshit stories about people spitting in burgers and lack of adherence to Health & Safety regulations is bullshit. I'd get fired on the spot if I did that, my shitty job is more important than you eating my saliva.
Semi-relevant humorous picture (not mindsafe):
http://img294.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mcnugget7rp.png
Probably a good time to shoot down the "KFC changed their name because their food is not technially chicken" rumor. It was changed to remove the word "fried" to sound less fatty.
I worked at a fast food joint once. They thought it was fun to melt toys in the fryvats. mmmmmmmmm.
i was at a place(they serv burger) and there they put all the stuff they had on the burger in one "sqveeze machine" and then just put the bread under and sqveezed.
>>5
Whoa they changed their name?
All these years I've been calling it Kentucky Fried Chicken regardless.
Let's hear some interesting stories, guys!
Not really a resturant or anything, but I used to work for a certain manufacturer of salty snack foods... sometimes we would get cases of product that were past their code date sent back to us... it was standard procedure to stale them out, but my boss always told me to put them back on the belt to be shipped out again.
If any of you have bought stale potato chips, I humbly apologize. m(____)m
If anyone ate any really shitty pizzas at the Pepsi Center in Denver yesterday during the Avs preseason game, I apologize. The ovens were acting really wonky and all, and I was either too bored or too busy at any one time to start messing with things. Anyway, we keep those fuckers sittin' in hotboxes for most of an event, you should just eat beforehand and buy like, a medium one-topping pizza for the same price.
Actual professional cook/chef here.
I wear a chef coat, but it's not always prestine white. At the end of the day, it's splattered with oil, blood, and a multitude of sauces.
I work in a middle-high class restaurant and do both the prep and cooking. I usually work 9 hours a day without break and live off the line, eating little things here and there. Sometimes I drink beer while working. Need something icy cold to keep you cool when the grill area is 120 fahrenheit...
I don't do it, but some cooks will mess with your food if you send it back and think that you know what a mid-rare steak is better than we do. Mat seasoning aka "throw your steak on the floor and send it back to you" is more of a common practice than you think. And don't order a well-done steak...or well done anything. Chances are, you're gonna get the oldest piece of meat festering in the back of the cooler since the difference between a well-done meat and a hunk of leather is negligible.
Well done filet mignon? Throw it into the deep fryer and cover it with bearnaise sauce.
But you know what? I love cooking. I love the intense nature of the business. I'm an ex-computer science major that got bored and decided to cook. And I'm not as old as one might think...I'm 20. Wait...they give alcohol to minors in professional kitchens? ...
I don't understand why cooks would mess with your food just because you send it back. Not only assholes send back their food, but nice people do it too. You don't think it's childish to throw someone's food on the floor because of something so inconsequential?
Don't ask me why...I don't do it. I don't think it's right to throw food on the floor and send it back out. I cook for the people and the food, not for myself.
Many cooks have that cocky "I'm better than you" mentality. It's always "who has the bigger dick" in the kitchen. Those who have weathered 10+ years as a professional cook are quite the hardasses and it's even harder to "make one's bones" (respect) when there are many of them in the kitchen.
Meat not done to the right temp doesn't really piss me off. What pisses me off the most is when someone requests to substitute practically everything on the plate for something else aka "build your own menu". Even then, however, I don't mess with the food.
But if the servers piss me off, I will make the plate hot by putting it in the oven (I set my oven to 500oF) for a couple of seconds so they burn their hand. I can't believe how demanding servers can get when I'm the only one in the back cooking on a supposedly slow night and we get slammed. Fellow cooks have the right to insult me, servers do not. I'd like to take a couple of them and put them on the line on a Friday night and see how long they last.
I'm glad to hear that there is at least one chef who doesn't do that nasty stuff to food.
Do female chefs also have that "bigger dick" mentality? I'll bet that Gale Gand on the Food Network does.
No they tend to be bigger bitches and try to run the fucking show, even if they aren't head chef. Also in my experience, they tend to be a fuckload messier leaving a lot of ingredients just lying around instead of putting the stuff away where it belongs.
True fucking that. There's one female chef I work with that tries to do everything...even tries to take over my duties and then she bitches about how she has to do everything. I showed her the fuck up last week by making a dessert special for the dinnertime when she's the head baker and makes all the desserts. She tried making a dessert similar to mine, but the staff liked mine better, as well as the customers. About 2 months ago she told everyone behind my back that I didn't know how to bake since I never bake at work. I guess I got my sweet revenge.
I didn't win the future pastry chef award at culinary school for nothing.
She needs to calm the fuck down and realize that she's not the best around. I'm not the best either. I suck compared to many cooks out there, but I'm not gonna go about acting like I know everything.
Fortunately, not all female chefs are like that. I've worked with a few that are "one of the guys" and a blast to work with.
>Fortunately, not all female chefs are like that. I've worked with a few that are "one of the guys" and a blast to work with.
And you've worked with lots of guys who are asses, like you explained in detail above.
Could it be that female chefs just get watched more closely? That certainly happens in lots of other professions, so...
my sister knew some guys who would piss on the grill were they worked to watch it steam up..i'm a cook and would never show lack of respect for peoples food...
> Fortunately, not all female chefs are like that. I've worked with a few that are "one of the guys"
I've worked with them too, they're pretty fucking cool, I can relax, get on with the job knowing that their cramps/problems/boyfriend troubles aren't going to be the real reason why I'm being yelled at.
