quote:

Originally posted by DonDraper:
Must be the same reason they got rid of all the people that knew how to cook a burger a long time ago as well.

Same thing that popped into my mind. Why pay $12 for a burger that is never cooked correctly?

I’ve been to several across the country, yet the one in my town absolutely sucks

If service is tanking then they really should have a bus boy. They can assign other task to the bus boy if necessary. It sucks when your server is frazzled,over worked, and only comes by once or twice because they are so busy.

So how's that work? Did you just eat amongst a big pile of dirty dishes?

I have been in the hotel / restaurant business for over 30 years. I owned my own restaurant also and when I did and was opening it, I hired the waitstaff and I gave them the opportunity to decide if they would like to have bussers or would they like to clean and set the tables and not have to "tip out" to the bussers. Normally, a wait person will need to give up 15 to 20% of their tips to a busser or in some cases the bartenders if the restaurant is more of a food operation that bar operation. They unanimously voted for no busser.

Bottom line was they made more money and I made more money as I didn't have to pay for bussers...a win/ win for all involved.

The places that are struggling just don't manage it correctly. I am amazed how I can sit in various restaurants and never once see anyone that looks like a manager etc. The problem you are experiencing is bad management...not so much short staffed. The managers need to be hands on in all restaurants and be the extra hands when needed. That is the difference in better profitability as well as a better guest experience. There is also nothing wrong with scheduling correctly to manage the business levels. Profit margins in restaurants are 15 to 20% in best case scenarios for the Red Robin / Friday's type chains. That is why there are many more restaurants that fold than survive.

You have to know what you are doing and you have to work it hard. The old saying in the restaurant business is a true one..."just because you know how to eat doesn't mean you know how to own one "

I agree the minimum wage fiasco is a bit much. I think the eateries are taking advantage of this to pump up their prices. In the post above, the wage probably went a dollar or two an hour for the busboy, but the price of that meal went up $4.00!!! Multiply that the number of food orders for lunch and somebody is doing OK and it ain’t the busboy. Even if they have more than one busboy.

quote:

Originally posted by PASig:
I come to find out that Red Robin eliminated all their busboys as of January 2018, citing mandatory minimum wage requirements in many areas of the country as a reason.

This is surprising, as more and more restaurants have been getting rid of their busboys for at least a few years now. In fact, I can't remember the last time I ate out at a restaurant and saw a busboy.