terrible employees (that will be your biggest headache)
Everything everyone has said is true. The food industry is brutal. You are married to the business. You are there to serve the customer and be open when convenient for them even at the cost of you missing holidays, sacrificing free time with your family etc... My dad and 2 uncles opened a family restaurant in 1975 and just sold it this year. After 42 years in business the one thing that stuck out in this thread is what I quoted.
The bad quality of employees that runs rampant in food service industry is nothing new and well known. I dont know how else to say it but being a line cook, wait staff, busboy are not exactly lofty goals in life. You get alot of riff-raff that applies for food service positions and you have no choice but to employ them. In my experience the best employees were young adults who work for you while putting themselves through school and have a good sense of responsibility. Unfortunately you only have them for 1-5 years average before they move on to their real careers.
Here are some common occurrences that I remember from my time there:
-We had a Mexican guy working for us that started a fight with my uncle and actually waved a chef's knife at him; caused a huge scene in the kitchen that involved calling the police.
-Fraternization between male and female employees causing Jerry Springer like situations. One women we employed as the hostess was really just a hoe and was banging most dudes in the kitchen. We lost a good chef as a result; his wife made him quit. One of those "find a different job or I'm finding a different husband" type of ultimatums.
-Our kitchen staff was primarily Hispanic men who brought their own customs from their countries of origin including unashamed cat-calling, whistling and making lewd comments/advances to our female wait staff. We had several white girls quit on us due to the disgusting comments and eventually we either hired men, tough skinned ugly women or Hispanic women as wait staff who were familiar with this custom and just brushed it off.
-Alcohol/drug abuse is common. One guy we hired as a dishwasher/cleaner spent alot of time "cleaning the basement". We believed him because he actually tidied it up and showed us the work. He ended up breaking his arm falling from his bike (no car and biked home after work) so he had to quit. One day i went down into the basement and found he had filled up and hidden away 3 55 gallon trash barrels with empty Marsala wine bottles. He would go downstairs with the explanation that he was cleaning and get loaded off of bottom shelf cooking wine. Hundreds of bottles!
-More than several employees we had arrested over the years due to theft of money from the till or supplies.
-So many no shows at start of shift. Common reason: drunkenness and cant come in to work. What a bullshit reason. Or my personal favorite is actually driving to work drunk and thinking we were going to let you work you shift while absolutely plastered!
-Many times, the applicants didnt speak english. I'm the one who had to learn Spanish. Not exactly the worst thing as I can vacation in spanish speaking countries with no problems now.
-Immigration issues. More of a problem in the past than in the last 10 years but you see falsified documents and claims that applicants are legally authorized to work in this country.
What a shit show. We put up with it and forgave more than we should have because we needed them more than they needed us. It takes weeks to hire, train AND retain someone decent. They knew they could walk out on us and find employment at some other restaurant alot faster than we could replace them. One cook or waiter pulls a no show and the resulting effects are profoundly felt as the dinner rush starts and takeout orders pile up. You are under such pressure to provide good customer service in a timely manner or else the customers dine elsewhere.
Good luck to you in your new business