cuisinier

surveillant du service alimentaire

directeur de restaurant

commis de cuisine

préparateur de commandes

Boston Pizza

I worked at a couple different franchise locations, and saw similar issues across the board. I would think the same would apply at many restaurants but don't have others to personally compare it to. A lot depends on who you work with, whether it is servers, bartenders, kitchen staff, or management. 
Some people are great: collaborative, compassionate, and helpful to bring you along. Others are just in it for themselves, and only care about the money. Pay structure dictates a lot of that, and sometimes the people who have been there longest act like they are above everyone else rather than showing leadership. In a way, there is incentive not to help others, because it is a competitive atmosphere when it comes to getting hours (and better hours), sections of tables, job advancement, etc.
Hours can vary a lot, and you can get sent home at any time before your shift is scheduled to be over, depending on how busy it is and how many staff are there. They won't pay you the minimum 3 hours required by law either. Sometimes you may even be told to clock out before you are finished working. 
You can also be called in at any time if it gets more busy than they can handle, and if you want more hours you will likely need to work split shifts, or else be there when it isnt very busy at all, and there aren't tips to be made. 
Speaking of tips, you are forced to pay the kitchen and bar staff a percentage of the bills from your tables. This isn't reliant on their service, or the amount customers tip. On my first shift, which was quiet so I only had a couple tables that didn't tip well, I actually ended up owing ten cents rather than taking home tips after paying the tipout to the restaurant. One employee should never have to pay another employee. That is the restaurant's responsibility. 
There can be quite a culture of staying late and drinking in the bar after shifts.
Management don't care about your schedule, getting enough hours, etc. and aren't very good with training, constructive feedback, etc. Usually they are just people who did well as servers themselves, but have no credentials or actual management skills, and will just tell you what you did wrong after the fact.
When quiting the job, it makes sense to quit on the spot without notice, which is generally a pretty terrible thing to do to a business. If you give at least 2 weeks notice, as you should, and you are expecting hours during that time, you may end up with an extremely limited number of hours, or only terrible shifts. 

As a hostess, I sat people at tables, helped clean, and managed take-out and delivery orders. 

I worked there for a year and a few months, and in that time period, I had 4 different general managers. This was frustrating because each manager had different ways of running things. Also, you had to "prove" yourself to each new manager. 

I liked a lot of my co-workers, but not all. Some servers would expect you to do their work for them, i.e., clean all their tables, even if they weren't busy. Sometimes, servers would give me a $5 bill to bus their tables, but there were plenty of "slave drivers." Also, certain servers would constantly criticize the hosts, complaining about us double seating, even if it wasn't our fault. I had servers approach me before my shift saying, "No quadruple seating people, today," before I even sat them. While most of the kitchen workers were nice, there were a few who would yell at the front-of-house staff and get angry if you asked them for a sauce, etc. 

The shift times were quite unpredictable. If it says your shift ends at 10, you probably won't end at 10. You'll probably be asked to leave at 9 or 8. If you have your own way of getting to work, this doesn't matter much, but it can be frustrating if you're relying on someone to give you a ride. 

We got 10% off our food if we came in to eat. If we worked that day and decided to order something, we got 50% off, but only up to $6 off, so it wasn't phenomenal. I worked there over a year and never got a raise. There was a host who worked there for 2+ years and she never got one either.

The dress code was all black dress or shirt + skirt and 1-inch heels. I hated wearing heels and thought it wasn't fair that the men got to wear flat dress shoes and pants. There was a lot of walking involved, including up and down flights of stairs. My feet were almost always sore after my shift. A few of the servers wore flats and never seemed to get in trouble. 

The hardest part of the job was probably dealing with difficult co-workers. Us hosts tended to get blamed for almost everything. It was frustrating when management kept you longer than your end-time. It was often unpleasant cleaning tables and high-chairs if their was food still on them. Most high chairs would have cold spaghetti, etc., stuck to them. Going to the dish-pit to drop off glasses/plates was also unpleasant because of the smell and the humidity.

I may return in the future to work as a server/bartender, but I would not recommend working as a host. You are taken for granted, heavily criticized, and are rarely applauded for your work.

I worked at Boston Pizza for a total of 2 years, at 2 separate locations. Overall, while I enjoyed working with most of my coworkers and consistently performed well with strong sales and positive guest feedback, the management experience was deeply disappointing.

The role itself is extremely high stress. Multitasking is absolutely crucial, as servers are required to prepare their own bar drinks + desserts in addition to managing full sections. The restaurant layout and operational flow are not functional, which adds unnecessary pressure, especially during peak periods.

Leadership and management were the biggest issues at this location. The owner was largely absentee and relied exclusively on his adult daughter, who acted as the de facto general manager, to make operational and staffing decisions. This created an inconsistent and at times, unstable work environment.

Communication and feedback were unpredictable. One day you could feel supported and appreciated, and the next you would be avoided entirely, with concerns communicated indirectly or not at all. Feedback was almost never delivered in person, and there was a noticeable pattern of favoritism and gossip about staff, which undermined morale and trust.

Despite being a top performer, I was terminated abruptly at the end of my Saturday night shift "without cause" due to "not having the right personality for this store". I had no prior performance management, nor did I have an opportunity to address any concerns. 

During my entire time there, I never once received positive feedback from management, nor did I witness praise or recognition given to other staff. Consistent acknowledgment and constructive reinforcement are crucial in a service environment, and their absence was deeply demoralizing.

With more consistent leadership, direct communication, and fair performance management, this could be a much stronger workplace. As it stands, job security and expectations feel unclear, regardless of performance.


Everyday at a Boston Pizza contains a new set of challenges. Facing those challenges head on and finding the solutions and implementation strategies to solve them is exciting. Putting the strategies to work and then doing the analitics to determine the degree to which that they did worked, or not is addictive. Seeing a 30-65% rise in sales week over week or year over year on a particular day that you can attribute to an initiative that you put into action is extremely fullfilling. Executing near flawlessly inside the store to keep attention on the Perfect Guest Experience is always the goal. It can get crazy and time flies when it does. It is great to watch the results on patrons faces and table touches during these times, High Five Days, etc., is a rewarding contact point with our guest always but particularly on these days. When the team is working together, fenceline to fenceline, it is like magic. Food and drinks, sports, fun and people! How sweet is that? It doesn't get better. BP conferences have been great learning opportunities and touch points to getting to know the bigger Boston Pizza family. The organization is, and the people within it are, truely most wonderful. This store has transformed our town for sure and forever. I am looking forward to our next owners conference again next spring. These conferences are very awe inspiring to say the least. Meeting great positive people and getting to know about all the learning and growth potential for my staff is a blessing. Those growth potentials come in the form of educational scholarships, travel/working holiday opportunities, and the incentives to learn and climb the ladder in this field of food, beverage, hospitality and entertainment. The learning is exciting and ongoing and these conferences help spread the important words and knowledge that I can share back home at the ground level in the store. The BP system is quite remarkably inviting, friendly and knowledge based. It is truely fun.

A typical day includes coming to work early and prepared with my own float, extra pens, and a pad of paper. Becoming aware of plans, expectations and information for the shift needed is done before starting, if possible. Each shift then becomes an interesting juggling act of customer service, communication, product knowledge, and teamwork to ensure an excellent customer experience. This is done through greeting guests, receiving their orders, relaying this information clearly, anticipating guests' needs, delivering orders, and through communication with the guest, achieving customer satisfaction and a positive customer experience. Respective cleaning duties should be done throughout the shift and following the last guest helped.
        I've learned about many different kinds of customers and how to adapt service to their needs. Anticipating what can help achieve a smooth and happy experience for a guest makes it easier and more enjoyable for everyone. How to be a better team member, better adaptation to unexpected situations, multitasking and organizing are all invaluable skills that I have been able to learn.
      Management could use more communication between themselves as well as with the staff. 
      My co-workers are often the reason I enjoy going to work as they are also my friends. I moved to Nova Scotia last year not really knowing many people and was able to build bonds with many of my co-workers quickly. I enjoy being able to help my friends to have a better day at work or to be there to celebrate when they experience success.
       The hardest part of my job is the combined stress of the unreliability of the hours available to me, the lack of job security and the lack of stability.
      The most enjoyable part of my job are moments like returning guests remembering my name and requesting me as their server, my coworkers, and being able to meet all kinds of very interesting people who often have the best stories I've ever heard.

Kitchen (heart of house,HOH)was a fun place to work.  Typically you would start before a rush and leave afterwards.  A computer routing and order system installed greatly improved efficiency, becoming more like a fast food business, just with a bar.  If you were hard working and available, there was “full time” pay periods but the days and or  hours worked were always different week after week although good management would try and accommodate your life situations. There were “mistakes” with food and even though it’s against company policy, the supervisor may let the staff eat the mistakes free of charge as it would be thrown out anyway.  
   The lounge decore promotes a sports culture as there are company sports teams at some locations and many of the managers and supervisors are highly versed in sports media.  On some occasions i was even invited to attend professional sports matches with many other employees in attendance.  Many local sports teams would eat here as much of the menu is team friendly and quick.
    The problems here is that the company expects you spend 3 to 4 hours per month on the company learning website unpaid on your own time and if you don’t complete the learning on time, they could cut your shifts.  No allowance for constantly washing uniforms at home on own time. Also, front of the house (FOH) management came and gone like the wind , meaning many with “sticky fingers” and gambling addictions (in house VLTs) where kitchen tip outs were typically the most affected from this as much of this was cash.  Also some managers had anger management issues.  They stopped giving raises and only keep up with the minimum wages as per jurisdiction, as tip outs were used as the excuse to keep wages low.  
   The most enjoyable part of the job was the teamwork involved to get though hard times.
   The hardest part of the job was being understaffed when sports teams would show up out of the blue with no reservations.

In my almost year and a half experience working with Boston Pizza, I learned one thing. You don't get ahead, working for someone else.

With only three weeks of training prior to our location opening, we were thrust into full fledged restaurant kitchen duties, while management did their best whip cracking to try and motivate my fellow staff.

The promises of tip pool, company parties, bonuses and promotions were always talked about, but almost never actually provided.
90% of the kitchen staff were getting by on minimum wage, while consistently being expected to carry a larger and larger workload. Frequently short staffed, and poorly coordinated, with management often motivating via threats and bullying instead of positivity and coaching.

I can recall on several occasions where I personally was asked to run the entire kitchen solo, while my supervising manager spent a majority of his shift sitting in the lounge with a few of his friends, chatting. On company time.

They seem to promote via popularity rather than on merit, and while companies like McDonalds and Perkins are paying their starting cooks almost two dollars more for the same work, BP consistently claims raises happen each year. And yet, with more than 446 days worked for them, I know of several, frequently manager acclaimed employees, myself included, who never ONCE saw so much as an added cent.

Now we move on to cleanliness.

Never before, in all my years of kitchen work have I seen management disregard basic food handling principles as frequently as I saw here. Our assistant kitchen manager on no less than two separate occasions, has placed food dropped on the floor back on the line. I was so disgusted I nearly quit on the spot.

I cannot in good conscience recommend this place to anyone. Whether they be seeking work, or just hungry, my advice would be "Anywhere else."

Basically I'd come into work 15 minutes early to be prepped on any large parties for that day, I would get my section of the restaurant and ending duties and also I would be told of any promotions that were happening in the restaraunt.  If I was working an early shift I'd open the restaurant, check tables for proper placements, set up all the equipment; salad bar station, pop machine, coffee machine.  If I was working just a day shift my secondary duties would be to help with the salad bar, stock the produce and desert fridge.  If I was closing the restaurant I would dismantle all the equipment at the end of the day and do a full cleaning of the restaurant to the managers satisfactory.  I worked with all cash machines and learned about gratuity and tips, I also learned how to cash my register out at the end of each shift.  I underwent intense training on a deadline as well.  My co-workers were amazing, I really enjoyed the down-to-earth feel and they were a lot like my second family because I did work a lot of hours there.  The hardest part of the job was any dine & dashes because you do see it coming but you can't just refuse a guest service, I found it sort of nerve-wracking but anytime a co-worker or I would be faced with this sort of problem we would all ban together and deal with it in the most professional manner.  The most enjoyable part of my day was making someone else's day, I met so many great people and learned so much.  I would absolutely recommend this job to any, and I still maintain a healthy out of work relationship with most co-workers and left on good terms with my boss at the time, who might I add is amazing at what he does.  Overall it was a great learning experience!

Was employed throughout all high school and my first year after, they were really great at accommodating my schedule, as I would try to be for them. 
They promoted me three times, very quickly. Boston Pizza is a good place to make you feel good at your hard work that you put in. 
Typically I would clean tables, regardless of the position I was in, seat customers, greet customers, always with a smile on my face! You would handle a float of cash, handle a float of sanitizer, they would teach you to make alcoholic drinks, once you were of age. 
You managed a section of tables and communicated properly to the kitchen of any dietary needs, supplementary or particular needs that are required. In any circumstance the better the communication the better the outcome. 

Management would keep a steady hand on everyone throughout the shift.
The most difficult part of the job would be .. the fast paced environment, probably, and trying to suit the needs of each customer whilst keeping everyone satisfied. Typically with all the support of the staff its easy, but occasionaly, it gets unjustiafiably busy, and it can be difficult to suit everyones needs, but everyone tries.

The most enjoyable part of the job: There are alot of enjoyable parts to the job. Defiantly interacting between customers is one of my personal favorites. I enjoy hearing what is going on in their day. What they have planned or ideas for the next upcoming holiday! 

Its a really great place if your first job, like a hostess or as a dishwasher. 

Waitressing and working within the kitchen is defiantly more complex and not something you just jump into.

Boston pizza was a good pick for my first summer job. 
A typical day at Boston Pizza for me would be cleaning and setting all the tables when customers were finished eating. Greeting and seating customers and providing them with a menu and the special of the day. I had to answer phones to take delivery orders or answer any questions a customer might have about the restaurant. I was also required to take out the garbage's and tidy the bathrooms when the restaurant wasn't busy. 
Boston Pizza was my first job. So I learned what the working environment was like and how to act professional when it came to co-workers and customers. I learned how to be a responsible young adult and how to create a positive working environment for me, my 
co-workers, and the customers.  
The management and my co-workers were all very nice and helpful to me. I appreciated all the tips they would give me and how they took their time teaching me everything I needed to know so I was comfortable when working.
The hardest part of being a hostess at Boston Pizza was at times,  it could get very stressful and rushed depending on how busy the restaurant was. I constantly had to be on my feet, running around cleaning tables along with greeting and seating people in the proper sections of the restaurant for the waiters and waitresses. I got pretty used to it after a short while, but being my first job, it got a little over whelming at times. 
The most enjoyable part of the job was the fact that I was barley ever bored. Yes, there was a lot of running around but it did keep me very busy and motivated. I had fun meeting and working with new people as well.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Cuisinier 399 salaries reported	$21.11 per hour
Surveillant du service alimentaire 152 salaries reported	$20.23 per hour
Directeur de restaurant 126 salaries reported	$33.05 per hour
Commis de cuisine 74 salaries reported	$17.62 per hour
Préparateur de commandes 107 salaries reported	$19.25 per hour

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