Side Work Podcast

Steaming hot leftovers up in the window! Enjoy all the group chat gems we have to cut for time and clarity as well as extra moments from guests like Georgia Hardstark, Katherine Spiers, Julian Velard, and Mitch Bisschop! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/side-work-podcast/support See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do...

Today we finally tackle the first part of a dining experience that can make or break your night out: The Host. This complicated human can be a punching bag or rock star and either nail the seat map or be the straw that breaks a restaurants back. It's a rough job that we've all had to do. We read your Server Submitted Stories and then of course welcome our good friend Will Miles, AKA the Mayor of C...

No dining establishment owner is safe from the wrath of the Side Work hosts and today we take on restaurant, hotel, & food "mogul" : Donald J. Trump. The ladies do a deep dive into the reviews, working conditions, and complaints lobbied against the Trump Hotel chain, Mar A Lago, and Trump Steaks & Wine brand. We also come to the conclusion that the person who most needs to wait tables for...

We get right back into our discussion of the "man-tality" behind "family friendly" chains like Twin Peaks and Hooters after last week's titillating exploration of the role of Playboy Bunnies serving food and drink. The gals discuss some recent taco related injuries and enjoy the heck out of your Server Submitted Stories! Then, we invite former counter server and revered Los Angeles food writer and...

We are back with a two-parter, a deep dive, a true exploration of America's favorite pastime: eatin' a steak while lookin' at tits. In this episode we talk about the dawn of The Playboy Club in 1963 and the "iconic" look of the food and cocktail servers - Bunnies. We learn that Gloria Steinem went deep cover as a Bunny to do a journalistic expose' and inform the public about the work uniform that...

That rumbling in your stomach must mean you're hungry for a new episode .... or.... family meal just didn't do it for you and now you're stealing bar olives and loose french fries from plates to stay alive during your shift. We discuss all the ways in which a restaurant fails to feed its employees yet docks your paycheck. Kyle has some CHOICE words about this topic as well as some violent response...

The podcast keeps it classy while discussing today's topic: Dive Bars. We all have a very special place in our heart for duct taped chairs, shots of Jameson and bar popcorn. Dive bar owners and servers are top of the service industry food chain, in our opinion! We read your Server Submitted Stories and then interview Wisconsin gal Beth Hoyt about her various jobs and having to wear a tie with crab...

We go all in on today's topic: Catering. Server Submitted Stories are shared, hot tips abound and then we speak with current co-workers from a local eatery in Los Angeles, Grant Prewitt and Kaitlin Magowan! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/side-work-podcast/support See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-i...

This week we pick back up with our chat about the check that's longer than a CVS receipt. We read a Server Submitted Story that inspires us to turn this into an investigative journalism podcast and then welcome April Wolfe into the pod den to regale us with tales of growing up in and working at her family's dive bar in Grand Rapids, MI. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/side-work-podcast...

We are back with part one of a two-parter talking about the check, the bill, the tab, the damage. Why does this final step of service seem to be so hard for customers and servers alike? Why can't anyone do math? Why can't someone just be a hero and put down a credit card for the table? UGH. We read your always hilarious and infuriating Server Submitted Stories and then our pal Georgia Hardstark dr...

Today we talk voluntary torture: DOUBLES, and discuss the logic behind agreeing to live in the restaurant from morning to night. It's a special sort of exhaustion that only servers can relate to. We read some more Server Submitted Stories and then Jelloyd Spencer stops by the pod den to talk about his "hospitality industry" skills and the correct outlook on life when you bartend at an Austin Power...

Today's topic of discussion: the myriad of ways you embarrass yourself on the job. Whether it's your fault, a customer making you feel like an idiot, or your fellow co-workers piling on, the nature of the job makes you feel like a real ding-a-ling.  Past guest James Dunn sits in for Joselyn and we read some more of your Server Submitted Stories. Then, long time server now turned "Song-tender"...

Our resident environmentalist and co-host Joselyn Hughes leads the topic of conversation today! We discuss the jaw dropping statistics regarding the disgusting amount of food and plastic waste restaurants generate in the United States each year. We go over habits we can all incorporate into our personal lives to reduce waste and highlight (small) steps the service industry is taking to do better....

In today's episode we discuss the one thing that makes the service industry bearable: friends. This soul-sucking profession can become an absolute blast when you've got a crew that gets you. On the flip side we talk about the jobs we had where we didn't fit in, how hard it was, and how other servers can go out of their way to make you feel like sh*t, especially when you're the new hire. But once y...

Working on and around the Fourth of July is pretty much a guaranteed dead time in the service industry which sparked today's conversation about what servers do when it's slooooooowwwwww. We discuss how the attitude and energy of the job quickly shifts into a hostage situation when no one shows up to dine and how it's utter BS that you're forced to clean the restaurant while you're making negative...

We spend a lot of time hating on the job, so today we are clearing our energy as Andrea convinces us of the many perks of having a serving job. A few epic disagreements ensue, but ultimately we all bond over a rat that fell through a Buffalo Wild Wings ceiling onto a diner's table. Then, Mitch Bisschop comes through the pod den to discuss bartending burnout, years of serving the daytime weirdos an...

We continue our conversation about managing tip based wages and in this episode give you some serious mama-bear love and advice about money. You can trust us because we've all set our lives on fire financially and got it back together! Some of us are managing money *so* well it makes us horny. Then, lovable scamps and real life sister act Danielle and Tiffany Puterbaugh drop by the pod den to tell...

Let's talk money. When you're a server how are you still broke even though your pockets are flush with cash?? We discuss all the ways in which having a serving job could earn you financial freedom..... as long as you don't spend half of your tips at the bar next door, which is exactly what we all do. It's a vicious cycle. Then, Alan Starzinski stops by the pod den to talk about how serving at Appl...

Summer jobs means summer money, baby! Today we discuss the sweaty, hectic hustle of seasonal work when restaurants double in size and garden patios around the country stay slammed for three months. But first we go off about a recent epidemic of bad hostesses and "dork font" on menus. Then, David Crabb stops by the pod den to truly horrify and delight us with stories of utter debauchery he witnesse...

We recorded this episode at the very end of May during Mental Health Awareness Month but we need awareness every damn day - particularly in the service industry. We go deeper into why this line of work breeds and invites self-destructive behavior, examine our own issues over the years while waiting tables and living that vampire life, AND manage to be funny about it. The good news is there is a re...

We can't believe we are well over twenty episodes strong with more on the way and great guests coming up! Let's celebrate the past ten or so episodes with off the wall, mostly off topic moments with a side of service industry! Reappearing in this episode is Eliot Glazer, Jackie Zebrowski, Jordan Carlos and Jen Kirkman. Here's a tip: If you enjoy Side Work, please subscribe, smash that 5-star icon...

Today we explore the comforting existence of American diners. We discuss the origins of a "diner car" morphing into the long, compact establishments we love to stumble into after a night out and why diner waitresses are cut from a different cloth. Diners remain a meeting place for people of all stripes and are refreshingly unlike modern restaurants and dammit they intend to keep it that way. Then,...

When you send back food do the waiter and chef both spit on it? Is it safe to go out for seafood on Mondays? Do all servers hate all customers? We confirm, confess, and deny to the best of our knowledge! Lots of "ewwwww" this week with Eliot Glazer sitting in for Kyle, who once again briefly died. Then, potato chip connoisseur, former waiter and friend Mike Burns drops by to tell us how he learned...

Mother's Day is upon us and what do we say to the God of Death? "Not today". Servers, steel yourselves for the busiest day of the year when dysfunctional families descend upon you to feast, fight and celebrate mommy dearest. It's a doozy of a service day where statistically your restaurant is going to run out of at least fourteen items that you promised to customers, that customer being a mother p...

In today's episode we sound off about customers with dietary particulars from being vegan, to the dreaded over-modifier.  We break down the growing trend of people claiming "allergy" to get what they want and how it's very stressful for a kitchen and can cheapen the safety of people with actual deadly allergies. We decide that y'all are crazy and should maybe just stay home. Then, our favorit...