barista

line cook

server

kitchen manager

front of house manager

Cafe Landwer

In my 7+ years working in the food/hospitality industry, I've had my fair share of ridiculous (word fixed) management that I had to deal with. For most cases, since I've been in management myself, I know what it's like dealing with minor issues and complications in this industry. Landwer exceeds all of that. I don't know HOW they haven't had any issues establishing franchises all over the world and almost 5 in Canada but I don't expect it'll come to fruition unless their company culture changes. There is ONE specific person that handles almost everything in the stores in the GTA regardless of the matter (almost like a mascot). That person is not Mr. Landwer nor a manager. The relationships of the head chefs/management/gm/owners/shareholders are very fine and ambiguous. It's a very unnecessary complication but it has a lot to do with WHY it's a disaster (word fixed) in these stores. 
Aside from work culture, in regards to the pay you should value yourself way more than Landwer does to its employees. Seriously. For the amount of duties (word fixed) they make you do, the level of money laundering is unreal. If you're going to underhand employees money, at least make it SEEM like you know what you're doing. This is what happens when you prioritize ethnicity over experience. If you've fallen for the blogTO promos and ig posts and you just feel like you have to work here, I suggest you get a list of contracts/agreements or any necessary proof of employment along with specific breakdowns of how things are handled for future references. This will save you. It's what damaged a lot of past and current employees.

As a server you will need to:
- Do all serving activities (no SA, usually 2-3 managers on hand ALL the TIME) 
- Help manage other sections as needed
- Clean-as-you-go
- If there is a moment you can catch a breath, you should be wiping instead
- Memorize each and every item AND instances that can be modified for free and for a fee as THEY ARE NOT REASONABLY THE SAME. Even then, managers/chef/owner/managers will tell you 5 different answers. Good luck
- No waters of staff should be seen in the front or visible to customers EXCEPT management (but no space boh either)
- Serve AND clean owners/management tables for their 'meetings' or 'meals' or friends
- Help baristas stock up
- No break room

As a barista/bartender you will need to:
- **They do NOT have any countertop bars. This is a lie. If they hire you as a bartender, you will end up as a cafe barista occasionally serving bottled wine or beer, no liqueur or crafted mixes
- Do all usual cafe barista duties
- 'Bar' can fit 3 people MAX
- Each person on shift will have a designated position. Espresso, Tea, Smoothie, Bakery, etc. (Exception for night shifts)
- Frequently make menu desserts, as most come from bar, some from kitchen
- Cash out takeout orders from cafe area or phone
- Constantly make staff drinks and its modifications while it sits there for hours
- Sometimes you will have to do everything yourself. Bar managers' stance is to 'observe'
- Ring the bell like crazy for servers to come and get their orders before everything cools down
- ORANGES
- No break room

As a host you will need to:
- Do basic host duties
- Keep an eye on 1 or 2 doors (when there is an emergency exit that they let people use?) and welcome EACH guest as fast as possible
- Usually set menu only, water as well if necessary by situation
- Do a lot of SA duties such as wiping tables, stocking up, errands, etc
- Answer phone calls, make appt
- Clean
- Managers will constantly be on your __ (word fixed) about who knows what
- Host area is small to non-existent. Customers aren't organized either. Good luck
- No break room

I worked at Cafe Landwer for a period of time, and my experience there was a mixed one. While there were aspects of the job that I truly enjoyed, I feel compelled to share some concerns about the management, particularly the general managers.

Pros:

Team and Atmosphere: The frontline staff at Cafe Landwer was fantastic to work with. I had the pleasure of working alongside some incredibly talented and friendly individuals who were dedicated to delivering quality service and making customers feel welcome.

Customer Interaction: Interacting with customers and serving them coffee and food was a fulfilling aspect of the job. It was rewarding to see regular customers and engage in conversations over a cup of coffee.

Cons:

Management: Unfortunately, my experience with the management, particularly the general managers, left much to be desired. It often felt like they were more concerned about their own agendas than the well-being of the team. There seemed to be a lack of communication, and it was disheartening to witness favoritism and a lack of support for certain employees. Also, general managers and even the CFO of the company is always on tips. 

Toxic Work Environment: The work environment was often toxic, with an air of tension and uncertainty. I felt that the management only engaged with employees when they needed something, and there was a noticeable lack of appreciation for the hard work put in by the staff.

Lack of Development: Opportunities for professional development and growth within the company were limited, and it was unclear how one could progress in their career at Cafe Landwer unless you share the same background with the owners.

Furthermore, it's worth noting that I personally know at least more than five colleagues who decided to quit their positions at Cafe Landwer solely due to the general manager's habit of talking behind their backs. This created an environment of distrust, insecurity and unprofessionalism among the staff.

In conclusion, Cafe Landwer has its strengths, such as a great team of coworkers and the chance to interact with customers. However, the management issues, particularly the behavior of some general managers, created a challenging and sometimes unpleasant work environment. It would benefit the company to address these concerns and foster a more positive and supportive atmosphere for all employees.

I hope this feedback can contribute to improvements within the organization and create a better experience for future employees.

I worked at the university location for over two years and the best way to describe this place is like being in a toxic relationship. They will treat you good at the beginning and use money as a way to manipulate you into staying and overlooking the horrible management this place has. This place is know for their extremely high employee turnover which is why they are always *urgently hiring* so be ready to say goodbye to your coworkers every month or two. People are constantly leaving because of the unprofessionalism of management. They are very money thirsty and only care about their pockets being full. They have a consistent history of cutting shifts by hours as well as delay you anywhere from 30 minutes to TWO HOURS for their convenience because if they are not making money, then no one else should either. They are very disrespectful and lack compassion when it comes to employees having personal issues. They are extremely inconsistent with schedules being delivered on time with multiple instances of receiving your work schedule on Sunday evenings for the following week, making it impossible to plan your week in advance and have a life outside of work. You are not allowed to complain about anything without them telling you how replaceable you are, truly showing you that they don't care or see you as a human being. I recommend you look for other places to work at because this place will only ruin your mental health and confidence. Don't let the "$30-$35/hour" fool you. You wont be making this every shift. The money is not worth the treatment you will receive here. Stay safe.

The cafe landwer I worked at is quite busy, so you usually don't have much time to stand around and relax. Very fast paced

Cafe Landwer felt like a bistro with better service contrary to what they advertise themselves to be: upscale casual dining. 

My trainer did a fantastic job, however, the menu was not taught in detail such as allergies, ingredients, etc and unless you don't take your own time off work to google and study, good luck. 

Some of the manager were great, but I suppose they don't communicate with each other; regarding cutting my training short because they assumed I didn't need it. I got so much attitude from one manager I had never worked with before and she questioned how I even completed training which I told her I didn't and she just went silent. 

In addition, your promotion or position will not be granted regardless of your previous agreements. They hire you as a supervisor but lie and say you need to train as a server first. Once you accept the job, they promote someone else and you're indefinitely stuck as a minimum wage pleb. No communication or clarification. 


Management plays with favouritism all the times, any decision is made without their personal thoughts. They work with pool tipping but servers does not knows where is the money going, counting tips from the tips total instead of food sales as regular places. Also, they tip out 33% to the kitchen when is a very high percentage in comparison to other places and if you go and ask the kitchen staff they have never seen this money. General Manager includes herself on tips even days that are not scheduled as a manager, they call it "back up" but is just to stand beside kitchen and see if the food is coming out in order. after all, the general manager makes the same money in tips as a server that is been working for 7 hours. 

This restaurant makes a lot of money in tips, it is a really busy place on weekends and all the staff works really hard for less money and for being treat as garbage.

The hygiene standards there are beyond terrible. Cooking raw meat over cooked meat? Leaving raw meat out at room temp for a day? People have fallen sick before and I'm surprised they haven't been reported/shut down yet.

Fast paced place for minimum wage. Management doesn't care about staff health and could give a rats a** about government regulations regarding covid. They'd still expect you to come in to work no matter how sick you are. 

All of their food comes out of cans and is mostly frozen. If you're a cook who wants to learn more about food stay clear of this place, you'll mostly practice bad habits and learn nothing. 





Worked at the DT location. Super busy place so expect to work but the tips make up for it. Your schedule is based on performance so if you’re a good server and are a team player you’ll get the shifts you want. Downfall is sometime you work with new servers that can’t multi-task and you have to pick up the slack. The managers were super helpful but some are strict but that’s in every restaurant. Shifts are between 5-8 hours and have never been delayed, only asked to start early because of how busy it was. Baristas can sometimes think they are gods and freak out if you ask them a question. Like chill out.  Overall I had a good experience here. It’s what you make of it. 

I worked as a server at the downtown location, as a server be ready to handle volume and turnover. Also, do not expect management to respect your availability. On many occasions I had days booked off for my other job and was scheduled anyways, and management refused to alter the schedule or assist me in finding a cover. In addition to this, you are running around all shift serving tables and bringing in a lot of money but do not expect to even see a fraction of it when you get your tip out. Not quite sure how the pooling system works but I would say I would bring home about 15% of what I brought in, which is not even close to industry standard. Get experience in high volume as a new server here and move on, there are places that respect your work far more than here. 

This place is only good to work at if you are just starting off and need to build experience. The managers take most of your tips and do not disclose how much they take, but they take around the same cut as you do. Technically illegal since they don't do work legally qualified to allow them to take a cut of your tips but they get away with it. They also are very cheap and try to cut your hours as much as possible, forcing you to sit out 30-60 mins before your shift, and 30-60 min breaks during your shift. So your 6 hour shift turns into a 4-5 hour shift. I left after 2 months for a better restaurant and now make on average quadruple what I made here in tips.

I learned how to be a server here. Managers and colleagues are pretty nice and friendly. I like fast paced work environments but the problem is being cut very often. When it is not busy at all, we have wait to clock in even though we are there on time or they are giving us a break, sending home earlier. That's why we are losing hours and tips. This is very frustrating for me because I am always open to work hard and be active. Weeekends are mostly busy and we are not taking break at all which is fine. Shifts are mostly 5, 6 and 6.30 hours without the cuts. Tips are not bad, especially on weekends. 

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Barista 21 salaries reported	$28.31 per hour
Line cook 8 salaries reported	$19.48 per hour
Server 6 salaries reported	$27.26 per hour
Kitchen manager 2 salaries reported	$24.00 per hour
Front of house manager 3 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour

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