Insider Secrets: What Restaurant And Bar Workers Won’t Tell You About How They Cut Costs Behind The Scenes
Ever wondered what really goes on behind the scenes when you’re chowing down at your favorite restaurant or nursing a cocktail? Spoiler alert: the truth can be a wild mix of bizarre, hilarious, and downright shady. From “Frankenstein pizzas” stitched together from leftover slices to premium liquor bottles secretly filled with bargain booze, the food and beverage world has its own little dirty laundry. And guess what? The servers, bartenders, and kitchen staff who navigate this rollercoaster of chaos often hold the juiciest secrets—secrets businesses would prefer you never hear about. Ready to have your perspective on dining out flipped upside down? Buckle up, because these insider revelations are as eye-opening as they are stomach-churning! LEARN MORE.
Working in food service is no easy feat. From entitled customers and their irrational preferences to horrible bosses conjuring up problems when there are none, restaurant and bar workers have seen it all. It’s just a part of the job. But while we, the customers, don’t really get to see what happens on the other side of the curtain, navigating the twists and turns of the industry leads staff to naturally pick up a few dirty secrets establishments hope to keep shut.
This stands at the center of an illuminating thread on Quora: “What’s the shadiest cost-saving tactic you’ve seen in a restaurant or bar?” The question immediately inspired servers, cooks, and other professionals to expose the nastiest management techniques they’ve ever witnessed at work, and their responses did not disappoint.
Reheated Frankenstein pizzas and bulk liquor poured into premium bottles are just a few ways businesses cut corners, according to the people who know what they’re saying. We at Bored Panda have gathered some of the most surprising responses to share with you all. So continue scrolling, but be warned: reading them may cause an uncontrollable urge to be wary the next time you dine out. Hit upvote as you go, and be sure to share your own tales with us in the comments!
Psst! After reading these stories, check out our earlier article featuring restaurant workers spilling industry secrets right here.
There are two extremely shady things that I’ve seen restaurants do to save money that top my list.
Years ago, I was working banquets as a part time gig for a hotel to help them get through a busy few weeks. One night, we served a large wedding, and at the end, about 30% of the food was left over. Instead of offering it to staff and throwing the rest of it away, it was saved for later use. I know a lot more about food safety now than I did back then, but even back then I knew that this was wrong. Trays of food that had been sitting out for hours, and not held hot, need to be thrown away.
The most shady thing I’ve witnessed occurred long ago. I worked in a bar and restaurant, and perhaps their most important employee was their do-it-all dishwasher. I will call him Albert. Albert was an extremely diligent man of about 50, and he also happened to be mentally challenged. The owners took advantage of his hard work and unfortunately, also took advantage of the fact that had a low IQ. They made him do every job that no one wanted to do, and quite frankly, the place would have come to a screeching halt if he decided to not show up for work one day. He worked 80 hours a week at minimum wage and did not get paid overtime. They paid him in cash for his overtime hours, but that still works out to considerably less in that particular tax jurisdiction. When the minimum wage would go up, they would tell him he is getting a raise. This is easily the most blatant abuse of a worker that I have ever seen. He was the kindest, hardest working man I’ve known in the industry. At least the rest of the staff treated him with respect and kindness.
There are a number of things that less-than-scrupulous owners do to increase their margins. I’ve seen operators pour bulk liquor into premium bottles hoping guests won’t notice. Cocktail bars can print one brand on the menu and then pour another one because they ran out of the more expensive one. The shadiest thing that I’ve encountered though was an owner that tried to hire all of his staff as independent contractors so he wasn’t liable for paying payroll tax or required insurance. Treating the human capital poorly is the shadiest tactic an owner could do to cut costs.
I was a 16-year-old waitress in a deli and my cheap boss would make me re-use the soda cups unless they had obvious lipstick marks on them. I lost all respect for him and soon quit.
It was back in the 1970’s. I was a young cook in a restaurant in LaCrosse Wisconsin. Most restaurants would run a Friday night all you can eat special which was always fried fish, usually beer battered, Cole slaw and fries. Yep, YOU KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING.. An extra dishwasher was scheduled that night to search the returning plates for untouched fish and fries. These would be refried and served again. The owner’s explanation was that the refrying killed all “GERMS”. Needless to say I rapidly found another job before someone got sick and the kitchen was blamed.
In my teen years I worked at a Sonic Drive In. When it got slow, the manager would make us carhops dig through the trash (no gloves) and pull out unused ketchup, mustard, etc packets and put them back in the bin on the shelf. I did that once and then quit and never went back!
My cousin work at the same Sonic and she said they used to make her wipe the green slime off of the hot dog wieners and then throw them on the grill. Barf!!
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