front of house supervisor

back of house supervisor

cuisinier

server

front of house manager

Jack Astors

Jack's Kingston is a fun place to work for... until you start to question management about their way of handling things. Working there is like being back in high school, constant drama, never ending problems, and the General Manager acts like a teenager. If you have just the bare minimum of work ethic this is the perfect place to be! If you like blindly following orders without explanation "because they said so", its a perfect place for you to work. However, do not question anything they do-- even if they're doing it wrong. You will forever have a target on your back and be treated with less respect. From what I can see Jack's only cares about the front of house, the pretty girls, the ones out front making the tips... not us in the back making the actual food. Their "open door policy" is a load of bull. You will find people coming up to you for days asking you what is wrong, when it was supposed to be confidential between you and management. If you're any good at your current job you will never move up or get promoted-- bussers stay bussers for years being promised to move up to serving. Your end time is what they call a "suggestion" AKA a joke because you will never get to actually leave at your end time. My whole time working there I only have about 20 shifts worth of me leaving at my end time. Compared to 200+ shifts.  People will be hired in the summer to work FOH and find themselves working in the kitchen. It's unorganized, has poor management and when you try and talk to your boss's boss about how messed up your boss is, you will be ignored. Working for Jack's the past 4 years has been like another go at being in high school. It's not what I signed up for. The only reason anyone stays is the hope that things will change and get better (they never do) and for their fellow peeps. Management is taking that place down to the ground.

-The company is being liquidated slowly. They hire extra people to ensure nobody works full-time.
-They start you off on a basic position, then pile more responsibility onto your plate, but NEVER pay you for the extra competence or responsibilities. Mastering one section = minimum wage. Mastering all sections, and being on-call to replace sick coworkers whenever you're needed = minimum wage. Mastering everything and staying there for 5-10 years = still minimum wage.
-There is no loyalty. They're working you for mileage.
-It's deliberately engineered to be a dead-end job. Don't stay here longer than 6 months, and don't bother giving them a 2-weeks notice when you quit. 
-Last summer we crushed it in sales. The boss wrote "CONGRATS! WE MADE $216K IN PROFITS THIS SUMMER." on the whiteboard... and not a single person saw a dime of that profit. We've got supervisors working 11 hour weeks, and struggling to feed their kids.
-It has all the positive benefits of being a cook; learning new techniques, using new tools, familiarizing yourself with chaos and high-stress decision making.  But again, no matter how good you get, the company still sees you as a loser, who isn't worth paying a living wage. 
-They randomly spring 'ghost kitchen' work on us, with no regard to how badly it affects workflow, wastes space, and lies to customers. 

Overall, it has been degrading. And I've never been proud to say I work at Jack Astor's. I have nothing to show for all my hard work, except a hardened attitude towards labor in general. The hardest part of the job is swallowing your pride, and not taking your anger out on your spineless managers, whose job is essentially being a goalie between my productivity and a decent wage. 

On a typical day at work I would be fully dressed in the Jack Astor's uniform, loaded with make-up and costume jewelry. I would do a number of OTLE running duties along with cleaning work areas such as booths and all areas of the restaurant I had been assigned. After this I was to show a shift leader I have completed my duties and have all necessary tools in order to begin to serve. When guests come into the restaurant we are to greet them not as order takers but experience makers all quickly but effectively. We were able to socialize but only enough to get an understanding of how long your guests will be staying in order to serve them accordingly. I learned you have to kill coworkers with kindness even when you feel you are being mistreated or it'll cost you proper shifts and eventually your job. Coworkers at this location were highly competitive and often fought in front of guests over the #'s of  tables they received and the lack of tips they were paid. The hardest part of the job was dealing with harsh comments of coworkers which were at times personal but mostly of upper management, it made the work environment toxic and it showed in the service they provided. Long hours without breaks standing was also difficult to contend with. I did not enjoy many features of this job but I do still feel a serving job works for my personality type, just not at this location, not worth the drama and disrespect.

If you’re in need of hours and want them as a cook, this is NOT the place for you (this location specifically, at least).
Manager brings you in part time and has you work your way up to full time, which is completely fine, in my opinion, and I was cool with that. The problem? “Part time” was basically 2-3 shifts a week that lasted 3-4 hours, and I was lucky to even get one shift that lasted 5 hours. I even had a week where I only had one scheduled shift(!) with so many days off in between that and my next scheduled shift(s) the week after and the reasoning behind it after bringing it up to management, hoping to negotiate getting a few more hours? Weak. 
Mentioning that “COVID made things harder” for the restaurant biz, while obviously understandable, sounded like a crutch. It’s 2025…
Only things that made working here bearable were how helpful, chill and respectful my coworkers and some of the managers+GM were, for one (minus a rude/creep dishwasher), and going home after finishing a 30 minute shift…
The bottom line is that, if for whatever reason you apply to this location to be a cook and you get in, congratulations, but have another job at the same time - especially one that actually GIVES you hours, cause you’ll be getting what feels like nothing when working here. Good luck paying bills and such if not, as you may not even average close to 20 hours a week as a “pArT tImE” new hire. I sure didn’t. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 

My time at Jackastors was unfortunately marked by poor management, lack of communication, and a toxic work environment. From the beginning, expectations were unclear, and there was little to no onboarding or training support. This led to confusion and inefficiencies that were often blamed on employees rather than addressed by leadership.

Management frequently displayed favoritism, and feedback was rarely constructive-instead, criticism was often harsh and delivered in unprofessional ways. Employee morale was consistently low due to unrealistic workloads, constant micromanagement, and little recognition for hard work.

Opportunities for growth were virtually nonexistent. Promotions seemed to be based on personal relationships rather than merit or performance. Raises and benefits were minimal, and there was little concern for work-life balance.

Overall, I would not recommend Jackastors to professionals seeking a respectful and supportive work culture. I hope the organization takes employee feedback seriously and implements meaningful changes to improve the environment for future team members.

As goes for most restaurants, its all about your management team, coworkers and communication that truly make the difference. Ive always felt comfortable talking to my management team as they respect and value feedback and take concerns seriously. 
The job has long hours, you will stay past your end time every shift. Side duties are extensive, product knowledge will take time to learn with many drinks & dishes, and customers can be difficult and entitled. 

It is an incredibly fun place to work, but it is hard work. 
 They have clear paths to climb up, and have regular meetings with employees to discuss performance and receive feedback from every position within the restaurant. 
It is a restaurant- there will always be big personalities and disagreeable attitudes. In my experience the seasoned FOH employees can be quite elitist as there is a clear hierarchy. This can be grounds for exclusion and gossip, but hard work and initiative is never overlooked and is often rewarded swiftly- by everyone.  
 
It is an incredibly fun and rewarding place to work, but it is hard work. Attitude is hugely important, it is a team environment. Working FOH here will prepare you for any serving position. it's like a bootcamp for corporate serving.

Tired of being a positive, happy, human being?
Sick of being treated with respect??
Want to feel unappreciated for all your hard work?!

Well this is the place for you!

In all seriousness, SIRcorp treats their service staff like garbage. They cut hours relentlessly. Never offer any incentives or even thanks for hard work. Just generally have zero regard for the lives and wellbeing of their front line employees. 
I was hired on as a full time employee, and was told i could get benefits. Just had to work at least 25h/week for 6 months. Easy Peasy! 
Well surprise surprise, just two weeks before my 6 months was rolling around my hours and steady schedule suddenly and mysteriously gets cut to 20h/week for two weeks. It wasn't due to lack of work either. I confronted them about it and they basically shrugged me off. This continued every couple months after. Random week here or there with less than 20h. 
I then asked around and found out not a single employee, even the ones who've been there for years have benefits... This company is sick.

Greasy as they come.

They're also extremely unorganized and basically only care about money. 
They call their customers Guests, yet treat them like livestock. Just trying to squeeze as much cash out of them as possible.
This was by far the most demoralizing job I've ever had.

On a typical work day at Jack's, I am able to communicate with a lot of wonderful people and make sure everything goes well in the front of the house. I answer the phone to answer questions and book reservations, as well as greet and make every guest comfortable in our restaurant. I have learned amazing communication skills and have learned to be very comfortable in a restaurant and retail environment. The management at Jack's is very friendly and concerning and makes sure to accommodate your schedule. My co-workers are all wonderful friends and know very well how to do their jobs and please the guests. Between the hosts and servers, there is a lot of team work and we all work very well together with very little conflicts. The hardest part about my job at Jack Astor's is making sure everything runs smoothly when we have a full house. There are nights that we get very busy and making sure the guests have an enjoyable stay is my number one priority. The most enjoyable part of my job is the people I work with. I love everyone there and have so much respect for them. Over the year that I have worked for Jack Astor's, I have formed a little family and enjoy working with them very much.

I was there only 8 weeks. They give great initial impression showcasing effort and desire to change their long history of toxic management /workplace culture. Really believed in them, so I mustered up the courage to make a complaint about management who openly mocked and belittled others. Five days later I was let go for “asking someone on a date” (which never happened) and for “giving hugs/personal space concerns”. Reprisal? or hyper sensitivity because their history?  Idk.
My advice to their leadership would be to have courage, and deal with long tenured toxic management/staff rather than protecting them and shuffling them around multiple locations. Don’t use new managers as a pawn/tool to give the staff appearance that you’re taking workplace culture seriously, whilst simultaneously doing nothing to improve long standing toxic employees.  Live your values and have courage, improve your culture rather than lip service and making decisions based on what will cost you the least amount of money (long tenured dismissal payouts). 

the highlight of work at Jack's is easily my coworkers and the people i connect with there. typical day at work is never the same with it being the only one in the West, often you can expect a steady day with a busier evening, occasional reservations or events during the week. i learned that some people have no clue what they're doing and that serving really isn't for everyone. management needs to work on overall communication to peeps and with each other as well as motivating their staff. workplace culture is the key with many people who are kind, friendly, relatable, diverse, and witty, and you can make true friends you actually want to spend time with outside of the workplace. hardest part was dealing with guests, as often the guests would want to change and alter the  menu items for difficult preferences that would change how to meal is prepared and we try to accommodate guests, but not strain or back-up our kitchen. the most enjoyable part i think is actually learning how much you care for the people you call coworkers and seeing them work and improve day after day, but always being surrounded by love in the building .

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Front of house supervisor 16 salaries reported	$19.34 per hour
Back of house supervisor 10 salaries reported	$19.30 per hour
Cuisinier 10 salaries reported	$18.48 per hour
Server 24 salaries reported	$17.91 per hour
Front of house manager 1 salary reported	$54,000 per year

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