Working as a server at a restaurant is not an easy feat. TikTok user @dominicpenyak talks in his video about a restaurant where he worked for only eight shifts before quitting because he says it was not a good work environment. The video currently has 123,800 views and 75 comments.
In the video, @dominicpenyak, whose name is Dominic, tells the story of the job from the interview to working his first shift.
“I applied for the serving job off of Indeed and it said that my hourly pay was going to be $25 an hour as a server, plus tips. I applied for this job because it was close to where I live and around this time it was final season so I was like, ‘I really need some money because I have a tuition to pay for,’” he began.
He went in for the interview on March 10 with the general manager of the business. The place, according to Dominic, was an upscale restaurant, which is the kind of business he prefers because he says that is where servers can make the most money.
“The interview was three hours long,” he says in the video. During the interview, they discussed his availability, and he said he wanted to work as many hours as he could. Because of the poor job market, he says he jumped on this job quickly.
The general manager offered Dominic managerial responsibilities, which required him to go in for a second interview with a manager. This interview, he says, did not go well.
“I walk in and I say ‘Hello, I’m here for my second interview.’ He didn’t tell her that I was coming in for an interview,” Dominic says. The manager was also rude and dismissive, according to him.
When they sat down, she asked him only two questions. Dominic admits that he doesn’t remember the second, but the first was about his availability, which he says seemed to go over well with the manager.
On his first day, Dominic says he greeted a nonbinary server who was rude to him, and he says it seemed like nobody else in the restaurant liked the server. Regardless, he says he did not let that affect his work.
Immediately, they had him serving his own tables while shadowing another server. Since he was new, he had questions, but he says every time he asked a question, he felt like he was a burden.
This is when he also realized that they scheduled one person per shift.
“You are expected to bus your own tables, serve your own tables, get them their drinks. You’re bringing your own food to your tables. You’re bar backing, which essentially you’re taking all the glasses from your own table, washing them, drying them, putting back them back up on the shelf. Then you’re taking their silverware and you’re washing the silverware, you’re drying the silverware, folding the silverware. You’re doing everything, right, 28 tables this restaurant had both inside and outside.”
Then, Dominic says, for a month he had to beg them to put him on the schedule. Ultimately, he only lasted a total of eight shifts before quitting.
@dominicpenyak worked a total of 8 shifts! #job #storytime #serverrant #crashout
♬ original sound - DOM
Commenters Share Stories of Taking On Multiple Restaurant Duties
Other servers also shared their own experiences in the comments. Some said they could relate to taking on multiple responsibilities during a shift, while others focused on the number of tables Dominic said he was expected to handle.
One commenter wrote, “One server for 28 tables? That doesn’t sound right, that should’ve been an instant red flag.”
“The concept of one server for any amount of tables all day actually sounds like medieval torture especially for a high-end restaurant,” agreed another commenter.
Other servers in the comments sympathized, telling their own stories about working in the industry. Said one user, “I worked at a party brunch place that only had 1 server and 2 cooks during the week no manager no buser no dishwasher closing would take me almost an hour Like you said I made MONEY but at what cost.”
Some commenters also expressed support for Dominic. “So happy you got away from that toxic place,” said another commenter.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify @dominicpenyak’s account of his experience working at the restaurant. The information in this article is based on statements he made in his TikTok video, including his descriptions of the interview process, his responsibilities during his eight shifts and his decision to leave the job.
