Pros
- For long shifts, we usually got a free meal out of it. If a buffet was set up, we could take a plate from there - food was great.
- Coworkers were some of the greatest people I've had the pleasure of working with
- If your schedule was open, hours were almost always guaranteed - during the summer especially, opportunities to earn money are plentiful, as each night often has tennis matches, golf tournaments, business dinners, birthday parties, etc.
- Requests for days off, if reasonable, are widely accepted if management is notified sufficiency ahead of time
Cons
- Management was often contradictory and policies continually changed, examples being servers under 18 would often be told to carry alcohol to their guests if the restaurant was too busy for other (older) servers to assist. Management also told servers they were not to leave the room as kitchen staff would deliver appetizers/salads/etc., only to be told the opposite the next week.
- The restaurant operated on hourly wages but no tips, making near minimum wage still resulted in a substantially less amount of money than the average server at an equivalent "fine dining" restaurant.
- Scheduling was often last minute, and schedules were often re-posted with changes mid-week without warning, which caused many servers, especially those who did not work during weekdays, to be unaware of any changes.
- As the restaurant was part of a larger entity of the country club, funding was often an issue as well as keeping supplied. Many times the restaurant would be out of critical food/drink supplies, I recall one time no straws were stocked for more than a week.
- Guests were often rude enough that hearing a guest say "thank you" was often a clear sign that they were not a member of "The Club." Some guests were genuinely nice, and we quickly learned their names, but they were far too few in the face of an entitled majority.