restaurant manager

cuisinier

surveillant du service alimentaire

directeur de restaurant

server

Symposium Cafe Restaurant & Lounge

I'm embarrassed to say i ever worked at this establishment, if you can even call it that. I don't even know where to begin with all the bad that is symposium Waterloo Erbsville. Management is unprofessional, lazy, unqualified and its obvious none of them including the owners have a clue what they are doing. BOH manager is verbally and mentally abusive to all staff except BOH, child-like when he makes mistakes and will outright ignores all questions. It appeared he purposely made food wrong, or simply just didn't make it at all and then would get mad and blame you and even when you showed the chit to prove you were right he would act even more verbally aggressive. The owners are in over their head and its obvious they have absolutely no idea how to run a functioning restaurant. Cheques were always bouncing and you wouldn't receive them until 7-8pm...always 86'd on almost ALL beer, most wines and even the most popular food causing you to look incapable(there were times i had to go back to my tables MULTIPLE times because things that were 86'd weren't even on the 86'd board, there is no cleaner ever so literally only the bare minimum gets cleaned. We would be under staffed almost every morning which caused a lot of walk outs from angry customers because not only were we getting slammed and asking for holds on the door but on top of being a "server"  you were also a dishwasher, a bartender, a barista, a hostess and expo, with almost NO HELP from managers. In fact they would harass you when you were overwhelmed to do more and to do it quicker when there was no way to do it without completely ignoring our tables. And trust me when i say this is just the tip of the iceberg but there's not enough time in the day to say everything that's actually wrong there. So in conclusion, if you enjoy being so abused to feel mentally broken, if you enjoy getting yelled at and made to feel stupid, if you enjoy your cheque bouncing often and also enjoy looking foolish at your tables then this is the perfect fit for you!! If i could rate this place a -1000 i would.

It's a great place to work at to gain experience for your future career. I had little to no experience in the specifics of a restaurant when I was taken in. This restaurant (I've worked in 3 different locations), although may have a menu that is close in pricing to a sports bar, focuses heavy on good presentation and delivering a 'fine dining' experience for the guests. They will teach you everything from scratch if you put yourself to it. Just remember that it is a very competitive and fast paced work environment hence the high turnover as many employees either leave due to being unable to handle the work or not matching the standards expected by the owner. Pro tip? Try to be on good terms with all that work here to gain a better experience. I had a great time and learned so much. I made plenty of mistakes but due to being on good terms with the team here, I was forgiven for my mistakes and allowed to prove myself. I ended up spending 2 years at the business. Two very rewarding years that I have no regrets. The job is demanding as you are expected, even as a server, to know a little bit of everything at the restaurant as they are always seeking those who can potentially move up into higher positions. You do have to spend a lot of hours at this of course but commit, and you may be surprised at what you can gain from this job. Expect to lose weight and gain some very valuable skills.

I was hired here and worked very hard for a few months before I found another job with better pay and benefits and less duties/responsibilities. There were many factors that motivated me to respectfully give my 2-weeks notice and choose the other job. I sat with the owner/manager and gave my notice. She was understanding and said we all had to be what was best for us. Before my two weeks were over, I was removed from the schedule without notice and quietly fired. The owners are fake and unappreciative. They will shower you with compliments when you start out and you start overworking for them and feeling like “part of the family,” but trust me that you are nothing to them but a number and will be replaced/cut without hesitation. They make you tip out 5% of your tips and you end up going home with $20-$40 max in tips most nights if any. They schedule 1-2 servers max and send you home most nights when it’s not busy. You’re expected to finish all cleaning duties including cleaning 3 washrooms and wiping and mopping the entire restaurant, and you’re sweating through it all as they tell you they’re cutting you at a certain time - but you’re still expected to finish all duties. Owners have no experience in the food business and no professional standard of cleanliness/hygiene and food safety practices. They’ll try to save money wherever and whenever they can such as reusing served condiments, scheduling very little employees at a time, and cheating/lying/misusing their employees. 

No communication amongst upper management. You get sent to the flagship store in Milton for "2 weeks" of training. Most people end up getting their time extended to 4 weeks, I've heard as long as 2 months. This is because trainers are unsupervised and can decide on a whim if you should be "certified" or not on different stations.
If you do well and get good tips they keep you longer (because you don't get to keep your tips while training..), so really that just encourages you to just barley pass their standards in order to move to the next training station, except management can just put you back on a previous station to cover for their regular staff — this wastes days of what should be new training.
They do this freely because your hours don't come out of the Milton store's budget. You get paid by the store that your supposed to go work at after your training, so you're basically free labour for the Milton store and that's exactly what they treat you as.
Be prepared to fight for your wages. Get everything in writing and keep copies of any and every agreement you make with everyone you talk to. There is terrible communication between managers, supervisors, general managers and store owners — sometimes they haven't even known what positions people were training for after a week of shifts.
If you're choosing between Symposium or anywhere else then choose anywhere else. $45,000 part-time managing is just an outright lie, they will never agree to that rate

During the 2 years of working at this location, i realized  the owners and management dont care about giving guests an enjoyable experience, they expect the servers to get rid of tables and follow unrealistic serving standards. The sales are so low that making tips is about minimum wage. Every bill is around 10-30$ which means tips are about 2-5$ per table. Might as well work at mcdonalds. Servers must follow a script when a table walks in, this includes a long speech about daily features, happy hour, beverages, etc. But there is no dishwashers, no hosts and no nightime cleaning staff. Servers are constantly washing dishes and sweeping and mopping the floors instead of paying attention to their guests. Management often spends time in the office doing absolutely nothing while restaurant is almost full of guests. I have been a server at multiple restaurants and this is beyoned the worst experience ive had working for a franchise. I recommend applying to mcdonalds before going to symposium. Kitchen staff is always making mistakes and the turnover rate is so high that you will see new workers almost everyweek. Owners are fighting and dealing with legal issues everyday and police have been called on multiple ocasions. Do not apply at this location.

The job started off well, fun easy going staff and managers, with the exception of one.  Had to fight to finally get my own tables so I could receive my own tips.  I would say that they are somewhat understaffed and it certainly shows when it gets busy.  Their menu is FAR to BIG and this causes stressful situations, especially when combined with take out. Every order is placed using a Symposium iPad mini, so if you're not tech savvy,  you'd better start to be. Most of the staff were wicked, some are highly under appreciated and overworked. They are the true OGs of that location.
They also have a weird way of tipping because if you don't make cash at the end of your shift you don't get your tips that night. Every Wed your owed tips from the weeks previous shifts are deposited into your bank account, and while this isn't entirely a bad thing it does however leave a paper trail for when tax time arises. The other thing is they have an extremely high tipout at 5%. So a chunk of your tips goes back to them. Your uniform will also be deducted from your 1st paycheck and it isn't cheap either. It costing over $100.
But all in all I did enjoy working there.


Be prepared to work lots of split shifts and pay 200 bucks for a uniform. Its okay if you've never served before but if you're an experienced server the tips are kind of mediocre. Not piercing or tattoo friendly, and a bunch of other rules (ie if you're a male server you must be clean shaven or take time off to grow a beard). When you first start look forward to a huge booklet of homework and no tables of your own for 2 weeks. Also if you double punch 2 separate orders you will lose your tables to another server. If you don't follow steps of service or miss one during a surprise evaluation they can terminate you on the spot. Lots of turnover.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Was a good experience helping customers in the early hours of the day. Enjoyed my time for a while but the management is lack lustre (scheduling, employee relations were not satisfactory)

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Disgruntled employees and management

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Friendly at times but rather demanding. The motivations are understandable to keep a the operation running but the execution could use work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Hectic at times but manageable with the help of employees. There is a lot asked of you but it’s good, honest work.

The management here is unprofessional and poorly organized. They argue with customers over complaints about food and outright refuse refunds, creating a hostile atmosphere. I was constantly apologizing to customers on their behalf. For employees, it’s even worse you’re constantly chasing your paycheck, shifts get cut without warning, and you’re told to complete all closing duties within 30 minutes. If you can’t finish in that time, you’re expected to work for free. Overall, it’s a stressful and exploitative environment for both staff and patrons.  


Didn't have experience working in a resturant before. Many places require at least one year of experience but this one doesn't so it's a good place to start. The resturant is pretty cheap, where servers don't get much discount or benefits. I did enjoy my time there. It was hard to get used to at first, but if you're up for a challenge it'll be fine. Had to learn to stay on my feet and alert, paying attention to my tables, keeping as professional, quick, helpful. The good thing is it's a beautiful place to work. Managers were okay. If you're humble and kind you should be fine.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Restaurant manager 3 salaries reported	$42,833 per year
Cuisinier 14 salaries reported	$24.84 per hour
Surveillant du service alimentaire 7 salaries reported	$17.73 per hour
Directeur de restaurant 8 salaries reported	$25.34 per hour
Server 10 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour

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