Restaurant Punk

They say first impressions are everything, but what about the final impression before a guest walks out the door? Yianni, Noelle, and Liz discuss different approaches to greeting and saying goodbye to customers, which they think is more impactful on the guest experience, and questions, including:

• Is it too laid-back to use slang such as “ya’ll” at work?
• Is a greeting like “you guys” too gendered when addressing customers? 
• If a couple on a date is in a bad mood, is it more important to cheer up the husband or wife?
• When serving a mixed group of men and women, do you pick sides and join them in poking fun at the other?
• Does your personality shift at all when you’re working a restaurant shift?
• Was there really a restaurant called Pizzabilities?

Yianni, Noelle, and Pete are back with a brand-new episode that may or may not end with Pete’s funeral. Meanwhile, Noelle’s eye twitch raises some eyebrows, and some interesting topics, including:

• What new venues are on the horizon for Kara Restaurant Group this spring?
• Would you rather live with three men or three women?
• Does a restaurant’s front-of-house run more smoothly with a predominately male or female staff?
• Does a restaurant’s name predetermine its success?
• What’s a tang sandwich? (Watch this video to find out: https://youtu.be/tyE-L-aF9cA)

Watch the episode: https://youtu.be/ef-LhLTrax4

Peter Karapanagiotis aka The Y.B. makes his debut on Restaurant Punk, reflecting on the fact that Kara Restaurant Group has never hired formal managers. Looking ahead to the opening of a few new BYOBs in 2023, Peter asks Nikos and Liz to share their thoughts on managers in restaurants. 

• Are managers a good thing – a bad thing – a necessary evil? 
• What determines whether a restaurant needs a hierarchy or if the team can manage itself? 
• Are managers more effective if they are feared or respected? 
• Do you know the unwritten rules of the Yianni handbook?
• If you were to open a 100-seat restaurant tomorrow, would you hire a manager?

Watch now on YouTube: https://youtu.be/t0rbU9lKDB0

Join Yianni, Nikos, George, and Noelle as they cut the sh*t and answer this week’s steaming hot questions, including:

What adjectives come to mind when you think about a restaurant bathroom?

Have you ever had sex in a restaurant bathroom, and if so, was it during service or after hours?

In a restaurant, who is responsible for keeping the bathrooms clean during and at the end of the shift?

Do women sh*t in public restrooms?

How important is a bathroom's cleanliness to a business's success? 

When dining out, it may seem like ‘no big deal’ when you ask your server to split the check 2-3-10 different ways, but what are the actual impacts on the business? Yes, it’s a pain in the a**, but it also comes with added fees for the business owner, added time and work for the server, increased turn-time for the table, and more. On the other hand, sometimes there are customers who won’t patronize your business at all if they can’t split the check. Do the cons outweigh the pros? Are the b*tch fits that some customers throw when you tell them “no” really worth it? Does it make a difference if you’re cash only, as opposed to accepting credit cards?

Leah, George, and Nikos are divided on their responses but can agree on one thing: George has d*mn good dad jokes.

They say that how you do anything is how you do everything in life.

Careless Colleagues  
When there’s a lot going on in life – or when you just got too high before your shift – it’s easy to become careless when it comes to the finer details at work. So, what are your limits when it comes to a colleague or employee being careless, slow, or just plain lazy? Does it make a difference if they’re consistently inconsistent or if it’s only an occasional occurrence?

Creepy Customers
What about your boundaries with customers at your bar or restaurant – would you wear a wedding ring to fend off potential suitors? What would you do if a guest grabbed your junk? Do you think male or female patrons are more likely to be overly bold in their advances?

Yianni, Liz, and Leah discuss these scenarios and more as they explore the importance of harnessing the talents of every team member and of telling a customer not to f**cking touch you.

Watch Now: https://youtu.be/TduLYY9PUBM

Yianni and Nikos are back from a trip to the motherland (Greece), where they enjoyed classic preparations of traditional Greek dishes. So, how does the food there compare to the Americanized version? Take gyros, for example – in Greece, you won’t find a shred of iceberg lettuce anywhere near your plate. 

Nikos, Yianni, and Liz explore related questions, including: How do our food expectations influence our experience while eating them? What’s more, are our mothers setting us up to fail in preparing family recipes by either refusing to a) tell you the right recipe or b) teach you the proper technique? And, finally, are our taste buds deceiving us, or are the foods we found delicious as kids actually disgusting?

Watch on Youtube: https://youtu.be/tyE-L-aF9cA

Yianni, Leah, and Liz are going deep into the question on everyone's mind: when should I leave a tip? When you sit down at a restaurant to eat, the answer is clear, and the same can usually be said when you pull a stool up to the bar to grab a drink. But what about your gas station attendant (yes, we're recording from NJ),  the person who made your meatball sub at Wawa, or the drive-through attendant at Dunkin'? Would your answer change if we said Starbucks?  Let's get personal...how about your wife? Or your side-piece...? (Ok, maybe just Yianni is asking that question). The Comcast guy? The list could go on forever... Spoiler: Don't be an a** - leave a tip!

Join Leah, Liz, and Noelle as they revisit their careers working at every type of bar you can imagine, including speakeasy-type destinations, sports bars, nightclubs, and everything in between. The ladies of Restaurant Punk dig into the pros and cons of different experiences in the beverage service industry - from the just-turned-21-year-old who doesn't realize there isn't any rum in her mojito to that a**hole who thinks that you should  "take care of him" (read: steal drinks for him from your employer) just because he tips you.