Restaurant Punk

From parents attempting to set their server up with their “super successful son/daughter” to the swinging couple wanting to know your coworker’s plans after work, some awkward sexual tension is part of almost every restaurant shift. So, where do Yianni, Liz, and Noelle draw the line when it comes to customers coming on to them? Tune in to find out as they answer questions, including,

• When a guest hits on you, do you feed into it or brush it off?
• Do you know who Al Pacino is?
• Do you believe that Yianni doesn’t know when women are hitting on him?
• Is it appropriate for a customer to hit on their server or bartender?
• What are Yianni’s tips for keeping a great a$$ as you age?

We’ve all been there – you’re starving as you sit down and order your food. Finally, after 15 minutes, it arrives at your table, and as you’re about to dig in, you see it: a hair. After carefully examining the color and length, you conclude it can’t be yours. So, what do you do? Pull it off the plate and keep eating, ask your server to bring you a new dish, or call for a manager to take the item off your check. Yianni, Noelle, George, and Leah are letting their hair down as they discuss questions, including:

• When you find a hair in your food, does your reaction differ based on whether it’s your first- or fifth-time dining at that restaurant?
• Is there a difference between finding hair in your food versus your drink?
• Are you more likely to send your meal back at a corporate restaurant than a mom-and-pop establishment?
• Is it worse if you don’t find the hair until after it’s in your mouth?
• What percentage of kitchen staff do you believe are actually wearing gloves?
• What is ServSafe?

No matter what job you work, you’re bound to learn a lot over the years, especially if you stick with the career for more than a decade. When you’re a spry young newcomer, you’re usually pretty confident in your beliefs, but after a while, it becomes clear that you don’t know sh*t about f*ck. Liz is quizzing Yianni, Peter, and George on what they’ve learned in their time as restaurant entrepreneurs with questions, including:

•  What is one thing you thought you knew when you started your career that you now realize was completely wrong?
• Are you Team Cool or Team Pizazz?
• Are restaurant owners rolling in dough – literally and figuratively?
• Do hands-on owners make a difference in the company culture?
• What’s the best perk of being a restaurant owner?

Whether you’re in a committed relationship or are hoping to one day find the love (or second or third love) of your life, working in the restaurant and hospitality industry can be a major stressor. Between the long, sometimes odd, hours, the flirty customers, and the financial pressures, there’s always something to worry about. So, what do Yianni, Nikos, George, and Matt Smith have to say about the subject? Tune in for the answers to questions including:

• How do you find time for yourself and your kids as a business owner?
• Do babies really remember whether you’re working or not?
• Can you be a great parent, partner, and entrepreneur?
• Was the set somehow transported from Yianni’s living room to a high school boys’ locker room?
• Can you have balance in your life and also be successful?

When you open your own business, it can feel like second nature to comp the check for friends, family members, and regular customers. But free meals are like hugs – if you go around giving them out to everyone, people start to expect it. Liz, Yianni, and Nikos are talking about the checks and balances of giving out free sh*t and answering questions, including:

• As an owner or manager, does it annoy you if people call you personally for their reservations?
• Should the customer whose meal has been comped tip their server above and beyond the industry standard?
• Do you consider gift cards free advertising?
• What’s the difference between comping a full meal and comping a single item, like dessert?
• Do sales make everything disappear?
• Is there really not one, but two, TGIFridays in Athens, Greece?
• Does your opinion of an owner change if they pay for their meal, even though they don’t have to?

It's ladies' night on the Restaurant Punk set, and Noelle, Liz, Leah, and Kate are ready to b*tch about boss a** ladies getting less respect than less qualified men. From reflecting on the bosses that they've worked under to exploring how they manage their businesses today, they're getting into questions, including:

• What are the differences between male and female leaders?
• Is the power trip that often comes with a leadership position inevitable, regardless of gender?
• Do you believe that there is a double standard that causes people to perceive women as b*tches for the same actions that qualify a man as a "boss?"
• Does the bass in a man's voice command respect in a way that a high-pitched female voice does not?
• As a female, do you feel like you have to overcompensate to come across the "right" way?

Another new face is gracing the Restaurant Punk set as Matt Smith (shoutout George’s Place Wildwood Crest) joins Yianni and George to discuss setting boundaries with employees outside of work. Of course, having solid relationships with your team is essential, but how do you draw the line between boss and friend?

• Do you say yes if your employees ask you to join them for a post-shift drink at the bar down the street?
• How old were you when you got your first job?
• Do you believe that hosting after-work events is good for team camaraderie?
• If you spend time with your team outside of work, do they lose respect for you as the boss?
• As an employee, do you automatically assume the boss is lazy if/when they leave early?
• As an entrepreneur, does each year get progressively easier, or do you keep suffering the whole time?
• What’s the difference between Uno and Chess?

Whether you’re serving tables or slinging drinks, someone always wants to substitute something or make some highly specific special request. So how do you balance accommodating a single customer while not ruining the experience for the rest of your guests?

• How do special requests impact the kitchen?
• Do you pretend their substitutions are reasonable or tell them to find a new restaurant?
• Has a guest ever handed you their phone with their request or recipe written out in detail?
• Is altering a menu item disrespectful to the chef/restaurant owner?
• Is it less annoying if someone requests an adjustment based on allergy versus lifestyle choice?
• Is it rude to ask for salt and pepper if it’s not on the table?

Last week we welcomed Kate the Great, Nikos’ wife, to the podcast. This week, we’re traveling back in time to a few weeks before the couple said, “I do,” to hear what Nikos thinks about how marriages – and shared finances – work while owning a restaurant/business or being an entrepreneur. This episode’s discussion topics include:

• Financially, what changes post-marriage, and do you believe in pre-nuptials?
• Are you more likely to understand your partner’s financial decisions if you’re both entrepreneurs?
• Do you keep separate bank accounts entirely? Do you maintain any joint accounts?
• Are you more likely to reinvest profits into your business or make your personal life more comfortable?
• How do you feel about having business partners?

Kate, the bada** bitch from the Moulin Rouge aka Kate the Great aka Nikos' wife, joins Noelle, Yianni, and George in this no holds barred episode where Yianni poses a point-blank question to Kate: As a former employee, what was it like to work for Kara Restaurant Group? After requesting the presence of a referee and a bouncer to mitigate the almost inevitable fight, the gang kicks around questions, including:

• What happens when your employees think that you're playing favorites?
• Is agreeing to disagree the same thing as disagreeing?
• When someone is good (and knows they're good), how do you encourage them to keep growing?
• Do you agree that the person who you butt heads with the most can also (sometimes) be the person who helps you grow the most?
• Are you keeping track of the number of times that Yianni has admitted that Peter is the better Chef since the podcast launched? (It's three…)