line cook/prep cook

cuisinier

server

line cook

cuisinier à la chaîne

Original Joes

I have worked under three different BOH managers during my time as an OJs employee. In a low rewarding job such as a restaurant line cook sometimes the only real motivation to continue working there comes from the people you work with. You will see a lot of come and go employees but the ones who stay have a personality pattern to say the least. They're almost always fun and gregarious people to be around who have strong work ethics. 

A good manager can take this group of people and turn them into a power force of food producers. You will enjoy coming to work and look forward to seeing your friends. The  resteruant will feel like a family more than a buisness, which it most certainly is. Customers notice this as well. When you come into a resteruant do you like to see isolated and disgruntled servers with the line cooks making your food with their heads down in silence? Or would you rather see smiling faces, hear servers laughing with each other, with you, with the cooks? 

Sometimes all it takes to be a good manager is to tell your employees their doing a good job. Give them helpful critism when they are wrong instead of telling them to do it a different without giving a reason. Give them incentive to continue doing a good job when they are working well by simply telling them they are. Interact with them when you have the time. Ask them about their lives outside of work or even hang out once your off or come in when they need you. A good manager is a natural leader.

Not everyone has the time it takes to be a good manager however. A bad manager may be a nice person with good intentions but the simple act of climbing off their horse to be with their soldiers is lost on them. The impressions you give your staff is what they will see in you even when you are not present. A manager who isn't there is a manager who doesn't care. This is especially true in a kitchen. 

Original Joe's currently has poor managers who can not budget properly to such an extreme that it has started effecting tipouts. When food orders come in they are so consistently wrong that I actually believe they use a dartboard. This in turn empties the registers as they constantly need to send their employees to a grocery store to buy product we obviously need but did not order. I once had to spend over $180 for ground beef and mushroms; how pathetic is that.

Now if a manager can't even do their duties properly on what leg do they stand when they critique your own work. How can they possibly begin taking the right steps towards being a good and respectable leader when they can't even help themselves? 

To sum this up Original Joes has a lapdog group of managers with no integrity who focus more on keeping their own backsides out of the fire then helping their staff improve. There is no training, only an unhelpful website that you must complete at home or else they threaten you with less shifts and withhold tipouts. Truly have I never so felt so low about myself and my potential than my last few months at Original Joes. 

Gone are days of good managers for this company. As soon as they naturally partnered with the company Cara and became another coorperate franchise was the moment the blade dropped. How can a manager care for their staff in the ways I've described when they themselves are under the constant pressure and disproval from their own bosses? A chain of mismanagement has strangled this company and all the glory it once had. 

If you want a minimun wage job that doesn't care about you and grinds your nose to the floor then Original Joe's is the place for you. You won't recieve any sort of benifits, you won't receive any praise, and you may not even receive you hard earned tipouts. I recommend a come and go experience. Good luck.

My typically day usually consisted of working a lunch rush, either FOH or BOH, finishing my tasks to assist the closing team members before leaving on a split to then head to a separate location to close either the bar or kitchen.

I learned a great deal about service expectations, time management, and dealing with customers of varying degrees of satisfaction. the greatest lesson was learning that the restaurant industry is a competitive industry in which one must function at the highest level at all times to ensure customer satisfaction to maintain an acceptable level of clientel.

My co-workers were the highlight of the job; it is an industry which thrives on energy, and a positive, fun atmosphere and i feel it is of the utmost importance to nurture a certain culture of positive energy among the staff while maintaining a strict level of professionalism.

the hardest part of the job is most certainly the schedule; late nights and a large chunk of your social life disapears (unless of course you are able to enjoy yourself at work, and enjoy the company of coworkers, which i pride myself on; another reason i believe so strongly in fostering a positive and fun work culture, in the restaurant and catering industry your work in many ways comprises your social circle, between coworkers and your regular patrons).

A typical day at Original Joe’s Ellerslie could be very fast-paced, stressful, and often unpredictable. I learned a lot about multitasking, staying organized under pressure, dealing with difficult situations, and continuing to provide good guest service even when the internal environment was challenging. The most enjoyable part of the job was connecting with guests, building relationships with regulars, and working with my coworkers who made tough shifts more manageable. The hardest part of the job was the workplace culture and management inconsistency. At times, the environment created by management felt unsupportive, toxic , unbearbale, anxiety-inducing and unnecessarily tense, which made it difficult to feel comfortable or valued. There were moments where communication and leadership could have been handled much better. Overall, I gained strong hospitality experience, but the culture made the job more draining than it needed to be.

A typical day at Original Joe's isn't very typical at all and each shift has something different than the last. The customers are different each night, as well as the staff on shift. The co-workers I got to get to know over the last 3 years are amazing, and we are all very close, like a family. We are a team when we are either on shift or off of shift, but we are also each independent when we are handling our own sections. Working with the management that I have worked with on majority has been one of the best parts of my job there. They always were there to help out and took great care of their employees. The hardest part of the job was leaving because of the great customers, co-workers, and boss. I've learnt many things while working at Original Joe's such as how to handle stressful situations in a calm professional manner, how to implement useful tools and strategies to help ensure that everyone involved is happy and well taken care of, how to multi-task well, as well as working well as an individual, but also as a team member.

Great place to work, if you're working with the right crew, lots of hours, and quite a handful it seems during slow season if you're the type of worker that they're looking for
It gets pretty crazy some days, there can be 3 people on line to 6-7 it seems, and some days you'll feel overwhelmed by the amount of people than the full rail of bills
You can learn alot from just being on line, or helping out with prep as alot of stuff they do, that other employers are looking for if that sounds appealing to you, making soups from scratch, making sauces from scratch, repetitive tasks that your supervisor and manager would put in effort of showing you efficient ways of doing them if you're feeling unsure about your speeds
They have modules on the internet to teach you everything on the menu, and the right ways of cooking them as well which is a huge bonus if you keep finding yourself in a kitchen where noone seems to care about teaching you the proper way

If your not looking for your employer to support you in the working environment this job is great for you!!!! This company is not in the business of supporting professional development. They do not care about their employees. I received no formal training. There is no interest of management of get to know it’s employees. Very poor management- they sit in their offices and literally play games on their phones while the restaurant is busy. They like the free food and drinks though!! No sense of teamwork. The culture does not promote a team environment. Your on your own. People stand around and do nothing often. Very lazy work environment. Gross mouse traps found in kitchen. Moreover, some Covid precautions are not followed including sanitization of restaurant and social distancing. Often served tables of more than 6. Flow of the restaurant not controlled- you can get upwards of 3 tables sat in less than a few minutes. Overall, terrible experience. 

The work takes 8 hours, it is done with skill and dedication. The worker finds pleasure in his work because through work, man expresses himself and experiences his creativity. The worker obeys and respects his tasks, he also obeys hierarchical orders, but he can suggest improvements by remaining open.
The work culture requires that you love your work, have a sense of collaboration, listen to others and also know how to take risks. You have to have a sense of organization. The work culture requires everyone to first respect working hours, laws and internal work rules, respect hierarchy and horizontal relationships.
The most difficult moment of work is its initiation, decision-making, and the time of innovation. The easiest part at work is routine, repeating or reproducing what is usual.
It is very pleasant at work if the hierarchy approves what we have initiated: its work organization for example.

What is the best part of working at the company?
People there are very welcoming and kind. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management made bad decisions consistently and favourited certain employees. Never felt like I was appreciated for my work and was not valued.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Coworkers made the environment feel very warm and welcoming but management gave me the "walking on egg shells" feeling and it was clear they needed more management training.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Not paid enough for the amount of work they expect you to do. As a server you are expected to serve and bartend for yourself so you also have to complete prep and any cleaning/side duties for the day. Your sales average around $1000 and you only hit $2000 once in a blue moon.

I worked for this company for over 5 year and at first it was good but after management/culture/vision changes this company has turned into a disaster. So poorly run by the regional managers with policies that make absolute no sense and don’t value their employees what so ever. They don’t treat their employees with respect and take advantage of their time. It is such a gossipy environment even on a regional level. The managers are talking about you behind your back and favourite certain employees above other and make exceptions to the “rules” for certain employees over others. This company needs to seriously re-look at their values and policies because they are losing valuable people and gaining a bad reputation going down the road they are pursuing.

a typical day at work is I get there early to get changed and start right by letting my boss know whats going on in the up coming weeks to let him know when I can work and when I can. I learned that the kitchen staff and the waiter/waitresses have a really hard job from dealing with mad customers to food not being ready on time. 
The management at original joes was solid but could use more organization. 
the work place and the culture was very light and not very stressed out we had laughs and a good time from the time we started to the time we finished. 
the hardest part of the job is the lack of time to get stuff done and back ready to be used again. the most enjoyable part of the job is the people that work with you for the entire time and support you.

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