is anybody a server?

(edit)

i got a decent serving job and it took less than two weeks. i maybee shouldnt mention the name but its downtown and italian and not a chain so all good so far.

60 views but no replies?

Try asking at www.yelp.com talk forum. A lot of bartenders post looking for advice.

Welcome to Chicago. My advise for getting a service job is to fill out a ton of applications and make sure you make a good first impression. Most all of the restaurants downtown and in Lincoln Park give servers the potential to make some realy good coin. But there are also a ton of applicants, so it can make being found in a stack of applications a pain in the butt. Also the best resource for restaurants that are hiring is the Chicago Reader. It's a free publication you can find on most any street corner. They also have a good web site. www.chicagoreader.com. [/url]

^thanks for the heads up!

I'm a "career restaurant person" who is "retiring" from the biz to move laterally into the wine biz. I second Justin's advice: pound the pavement, and spring is a great time to look, since it's the start of the busy season...if Chicago really does have one.

There are plenty of places, literally thousands, to work at - definitely check the Reader online, as well as Craig's List. Nothing beats an in-person application though...feel free to send me an email when you arrive if you haven't found anything by then. [email protected]

Good luck!

Hey Everybody,

I know this post comes a little late in the conversation, but I think you should go to http://www.TheAngryWaiter.com.

It looks like it could be a really good site for Chicago restaurant people.

ChgoGrrl wrote:Hey Everybody,

I know this post comes a little late in the conversation, but I think you should go to http://www.TheAngryWaiter.com.

It looks like it could be a really good site for Chicago restaurant people.

That's one of those sites that seems to exist merely to give wait staff a bad name. I've read some of the most ill-educated, self-entitled, oblivious snark on similar.

No, it's not one of those type of sites. The name is meant to make fun of those sites.

Go to http://theangrywaiter.com and see for yourself. I promise you it's not one of those "my job sucks and so do customers" sites.

Obviously, you haven't been there yet, so I really think it's unfair for you to say such things without first checking it out. Just check it out.

Hi ChgoGrrl,

What's your affiliation, if any, with the site?

Just curious,
Ed

ChgoGrrl wrote:No, it's not one of those type of sites. The name is meant to make fun of those sites.

Go to http://theangrywaiter.com and see for yourself. I promise you it's not one of those "my job sucks and so do customers" sites.

Obviously, you haven't been there yet, so I really think it's unfair for you to say such things without first checking it out. Just check it out.

Hey, ChgoGrrl!

You wouldn't happen to be ChgoWriter over at GaMerZ.forums, would you?

No...but I know him. He's a cool guy and he really wants to do something different.

I've seen your site too. Nice.

Oh, as far as affiliation...none, really. I gave him a few pointers on building a blog, pointed him to the right forums when he needed help and helped him try and figure out how to build his forums using bbpress. Just got him started, that's all.

ChgoGrrl wrote:No...but I know him. He's a cool guy and he really wants to do something different.

I've seen your site too. Nice.

Oh, as far as affiliation...none, really. I gave him a few pointers on building a blog, pointed him to the right forums when he needed help and helped him try and figure out how to build his forums using bbpress. Just got him started, that's all.

Gotcha... thanks very much for clarifying

Sorry, I know it's not cool to go on a post about someone's site, but I really do like his site. It's a really good idea.

And, I wouldn't have posted again if that guy from Indiana hadn't lumped it in with negative sites without even seeing it.

So, again, sorry. Bad netiquette.

ChgoGrrl wrote:Sorry, I know it's not cool to go on a post about someone's site, but I really do like his site. It's a really good idea.

And, I wouldn't have posted again if that guy from Indiana hadn't lumped it in with negative sites without even seeing it.

So, again, sorry. Bad netiquette.

Pointing us to a website that may interest is always a good thing.

What really gets me going is someone who rather than answer the query or join the conversation, points you back to their blog or website for the answer. Copy, paste and quote yourself, if you don't feel like writing the same text again.

Regards,

ChgoGrrl wrote:Sorry, I know it's not cool to go on a post about someone's site, but I really do like his site. It's a really good idea.

And, I wouldn't have posted again if that guy from Indiana hadn't lumped it in with negative sites without even seeing it.

So, again, sorry. Bad netiquette.

Actually, "that guy from Indianapolis" (um...I ain't from there, my dear) DID in fact read the site and found the article deconstructing the "Crib" joke in The Reader retardedly obvious and the "jokes for your customers" section whatever it's called...both passe'(really old jokes) and risible(really inappropriate jokes). Extremely off-putting(and I ain't no shrinking violet)...if your intention is to be an antidote to the churlish, reactionary cabals of other "industry" sites, then may I suggest that ripe jokes are not the way to go; real content is.

Extrapolating from those initial impressions, I'd say "your" site is bandwagonesque, at best(offering nothing new content-wise) and, if it's meant to riff off other "industry" sites...is doing a poor job. Speaking of content...this is obviously a recent launch; there's no there there.



fyi: as per another gleaning on your main page that Angry Waiter recommends...the hip, tattooed baker chick: that image has become such a cliche', so fast, it makes my poor, Indianapolis-residing, head spin.

What is it about cupcakes, vegans, and anti-establishment ornamentation in the 00's?

Once they made that movie, Stranger than Fiction, shouldn't the whole cliche' have collapsed?

It's not my site...it's a friend's site. He's just getting it going, so maybe you could cut him a bit of slack.

I'll tell him about your comments. I can tell you this, he mentioned the jokes to me too. They're the only ones anybody has submitted so far.

As for the Reader article, I don't think he's writing to foodies, I think he's writing to people in the service industry who, while they may be servers and bartenders, probably don't follow the careers of chefs unless they do fine dining. Most servers don't.

From what I understand, he doesn't want his site to be about how much servers hate their lives. He wants it to be a place where they can find a recipe, pick up a little restaurant news to talk about at work, find a joke to tell their bar customers and to talk about the other things servers and bartenders are doing with their lives...like acting or painting or whatever.

I think that's refreshing.

I just looked at his site and there isn't anything negative I can find.

I posted here because I thought this might be something restaurant people in Chicago might get behind. I still believe that. If you work in a restaurant, think about supporting someone who wants to do the right thing

I'll say this

the jokes have got to go(regardless of intent they come across as filler)

you're friend's right...there should be room for a site that offers tips and general discourse for wait staff

too many sites give wait staff a bad name(basically mining bad attitude for personal profit)...it's good to see someone attempt the opposite

your friend has his work cut out for him...you can't just create a template and expect the content to come to you...

You're right about content and I think he knows that. Content takes time.

My boyfriend and I hang out with him and his girlfriend. When he talks about what he wants to do with his blog he talks about writing about the interesting people who work in restaurants, bars etc. he wants to write about issues that impact their lives like healthcare.

As far as articles from other blogs are concerned, I'm a blogger, I don't write about food or bars or restaurants, but when I find something I like on anther blog or website, I post it and point my readers to it. I find a lot of the stuff I read by clicking on links on other people's blogs.

One last thing...Please don't hate my friend for something I wrote. I'll never hear the end of it. I'm already regretting posting here in the first place. If I'd known it would cause a problem, I never would have done it.

Christopher Gordon wrote:Actually, "that guy from Indianapolis" (um...I ain't from there, my dear)

Why put "Indianapolis" as your location in the profile that's attached to every one of your posts if that's not where you are? It seems disingenuous. If it's supposed to be funny, I don't get the joke.

LAZ wrote:

Christopher Gordon wrote:Actually, "that guy from Indianapolis" (um...I ain't from there, my dear)

Why put "Indianapolis" as your location in the profile that's attached to every one of your posts if that's not where you are? It seems disingenuous. If it's supposed to be funny, I don't get the joke.

Because that's where I'm at, not where I'm from. I don't consider myself a Chicagoan, either...tho' I lived there from '97 until Summer '07. If asked, I'd offer I'm a Texan, 6th generation. How many posters posit locations other than Chicago neighborhoods in their info? There are at least a few. I don't infer that's where they're from just that that's where they are posting from. And, what does it matter except that Chigrrrrrrrrl deployed snarky approbation as per "that guy -from- Indianapolis"...I'll offer she's probably right for the most part...Indianapolis is a wasteland offering the binary opposition of some truly great fine dining and pretty crap everything else. But, I ain't a Hoosier. Thank god. Apparently, "Hoosiers"...ick...that ad hominem nomenclature...Hoosiers like their food pub grub'd, country kitsch'd, and/or ethnically bastardized...don't forget the large portions...nothing too foreign or challenging. It's amazing (or maybe not) Vonnegut and Kinsey excelled here. No, I'm not from here.

Not that it was ever necessary for you to notice, but had you...you would have seen until July of last year that my location read: Gold Coast, Chicago

ChgoGrrl wrote:You're right about content and I think he knows that. Content takes time.

My boyfriend and I hang out with him and his girlfriend. When he talks about what he wants to do with his blog he talks about writing about the interesting people who work in restaurants, bars etc. he wants to write about issues that impact their lives like healthcare.

As far as articles from other blogs are concerned, I'm a blogger, I don't write about food or bars or restaurants, but when I find something I like on anther blog or website, I post it and point my readers to it. I find a lot of the stuff I read by clicking on links on other people's blogs.

One last thing...Please don't hate my friend for something I wrote. I'll never hear the end of it. I'm already regretting posting here in the first place. If I'd known it would cause a problem, I never would have done it.

I'm surprised by your strong, considered responses(so many new posters, at the merest hint of opposition, want to take their toys and go home...unfortunately, they have their defenders...whatever happened to criticism, to debate?). Don't regret what you've posted...

It's simply, merely criticism...not lambasting, not trolling

If your friend is aware of the frailties of his site then all the better...

it's a place to work from

this thread got serious!
we are moving to Edgewater and are thinking of checking out
la tache
antiprima
broadway cellars
la fonda
ole ole
francescas

which one would you prefer to work at or that may be hiring?

If you're looking for a serving job, the best advice which is given above is to pound the pavement. Take a pen, resume if you have them, and hit every place in a five block radius. Next day repeat in a different five block radius.

From an operators standpoint, we only post on craigslist when we have multiple positions. Since craigslist went to pay per listing, the number of listings are smaller, a posting brings applicants running. On the other hand, when we have only one position to fill, we look through the previous couple of weeks applicants and pick one. I also like an applicant who has the confidence to walk into a place that isn't advertising they're hiring, and apply. I can't tell you how many servers I've hired that just happenned to walk into the restaurant on the right day. The last piece of advice is to be respectful of the manager's time, I can't tell you many applications have been thrown in the garbage by someone who walked in the door at 4 p.m. on a Friday or made twelve follow-up calls. Good luck.

pizano345 wrote:
From an operators standpoint, we only post on craigslist when we have multiple positions. Since craigslist went to pay per listing, the number of listings are smaller, a posting brings applicants running. On the other hand, when we have only one position to fill, we look through the previous couple of weeks applicants and pick one. I also like an applicant who has the confidence to walk into a place that isn't advertising they're hiring, and apply. I can't tell you how many servers I've hired that just happenned to walk into the restaurant on the right day. The last piece of advice is to be respectful of the manager's time, I can't tell you many applications have been thrown in the garbage by someone who walked in the door at 4 p.m. on a Friday or made twelve follow-up calls. Good luck.

I agree with all you said. We've hired a good share of servers from applicants that just walk on in; for some reason they end up being the best hires.

Also, please lay off chgogrrl. Our names are similar and I feel the need to stick up for her!

how professional would you recommend dressing when applying and interviewing?.dress slacks and button up is a given but is a suit overdoing it?

thorough wrote:how professional would you recommend dressing when applying and interviewing?.dress slacks and button up is a given but is a suit overdoing it?

Depends on the restaurant and position applying for in my opinion. I think if I was applying for a captain opportunity at Everest, I would wear a suit. I would rather be overdressed than underdressed when applying somewhere.