A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

"Darden Restaurants" is the parent company of 4 major restaurant chains across the U.S. and Canada. These restaurants include Smokey Bones and Bahama Breeze, which are restaurants based mostly in the southern U.S. bettern known darden restaurants include Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

2 months ago Darden Restaurants made all of it's employees sign a contract at the end of a 10 page booklet. This booklet was all about Darden's new policies on lawsuits. After signing the contract no Darden employee could take the individual restaurants or the parent company to court. Any problems would be settled by:

1. A group of peer jurors (other darden employees).
2. Local and national management staff.
3. Outside mediation (as chosen by the corporation).

If we refused to sign the contract we were "agreeing to voluntarily resign."

Now, 2 months later Darden restaurants is employing new policies for kitchen staff. These policies include, but are not limited to:

New uniforms-white long sleeved button up shirt, black pants, black non-slip shoes, chef hat. These uniforms must be purchased with our own money. The uniforms also can only be purchased from Darden restaurants. We cannot go to a uniform store to purchase the uniforms.

No body piercings. This includes earrings, tongue rings, lip rings, eyebrow rings, nose rings, etc...

No visible tattoos.

No facial hair.

No long hair.

The rest of the list will be explained at a meeting on Monday.

If we refuse to pay Darden restaurants for the uniforms we are agreeing to voluntarily resign. According to the talk around the kitchen, the uniforms are priced at roughly 200% of the cost of any other store.

If we refuse to take out all body percings, including those that cannot be seen while fully clothed, we are agreeing to voluntarily resign.

If we refuse to have visible tattoos removed or covered up at all times, we are agreeing to voluntarily resign.

If we refuse to keep a clean shaven face, we are agreeing to voluntarily resign.

If we refuse to keep a short hair style, we are agreeing to voluntarily resign.

I have been with Red Lobster for over four years now, I will be given no special treatment. Thanks to the contract that I signed two months ago, I cannot do anything except for throw up my middle fingers as I walk out of the meeting on monday. I will not be recieving my 3 weeks worth of paid vacation that I have earned, due to the fact that I am not supposed to get it until the second week of September.

Darden Restaurants has roughly 150,000 employees, roughly 40-50% of which do not fall within the new criteria, so a fairly large chunk of Darden's employees across the U.S. and Canada will be quitting this week.

What is the moral of the story? Don't eat at a darden restaurant for a while. Both restaurants are going to be hiring on basically a whole new kitchen staff that won't be worth a ----, and those that decide to follow all the new rules will probably be holding a grudge and spitting in the food for a while.

I'll probably update this again after my meeting on monday.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Eh, that sucks

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

might as well jump someone at the meeting to make it worth it
this is why places have such shitty customer service, frankly i dont care if the person waiting on me has a zztop beard and more peircings than i can count if they take care of the customer, cleanliness i can see but the other stuff just doesnt matter

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

kill whitey!

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Darden Restaurants = Where to get the drugs at!
My girlfriend use to work at Olive Garden in Central Florida. I know that all our pills came from there. Who cares if you gotta look a certain way and wear stupid ---- you can still do drugs and have a job the next day even if your still fucked up.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

yeah i worked for redlobster and all we had to wear is a t-shirt and jeans!!! but that was years ago, that company sux but they all do!!!

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

DAMN THE MAN!!



isn't that against your rights if they fire you and you previosly had visable tattoos...sorry i didn't read all of it so maybe i missed some key points

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

No one is getting fired, they are just "agreeing to voluntarily resign."

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Sounds like there tryin to change their image. I never go to those kind of places due to 20.00 dinners that usually suck.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Welcome to the restaraunt industry... Thats pretty normal fair for most all kitchens, unless you work in Hard Rock Cafe. As for the unforms that is kind cheap, most places have the decency to at least provide you with 2 then you steal what ever you get your hands on.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

With the exception of the uniforms having to be purchased from them, the rest of the rules seem pretty reasonable. Maybe you could start your own resturant and have every long haired, pierced, tattooed, scruffy bearded person that got fired work for you. You can pay for their uniforms too. lol

And I doubt nobody should eat there because all the employees are going to be spitting in food for months to come because they agreed to the new professional rules. Last I checked, working at Olive garden/Red Lobster ect. was a career.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Also helps that on my end, my ex works there and that wouldn't be a very good experience. I bet they'd poison the food. :-\

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

I got fucked, by ircuit city after working there for 4 years, I know how ya feel man, It realy sucks, because its not your bosses fault, Its some seven figure ------- ceo in an other state. It would be easier if you could yel at the person whose fault it is

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

max 15 dollars an hour after forever years = not a career

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

No reason to welcome me to the industry, I'm a chef, I've been working in this industry for 9 years. :)

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

that stuff happens everywhere man, ---- happens and life goes on ;)

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

i was a cook for 3 years. always ran every resturant i was at. after awhile i couldent tollerate it. the maturity level of most of the people who work at resutrants is so shitty. theres so much gossip and drama at most of these places. and resturants expect SO much out of you. and if you live it up to it they expect even more.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

the good thing about being a cook though is there is always cook jobs out there ..........i never eat red lobster,olive garden etc. i hate there food i can make it better at home and way cheaper

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

You're clueless. No offense, but this isn't a faggot desk job, it's drinking stress through a straw. The shirt and tie neat and clean crowd can't cope.

Every restaurant I've ever worked at that was worth a ----, the kitchen staff looked like they'd stepped off a pirate ship. About the only place locally - aside from Olive Garden and Red Lobster it seems - that worries about what it's kitchen staff looks like is Grove Park Inn aka fifth largest resort in the world. I currently work for a small Northern Italian restaurant that in the last five years has taken four best entree awards at the WNC Culinary Exhibition - going up against multimillion dollar establishments like the Biltmore Estate and ALL THREE of Grove Parks seperate restaurants (Horizons, Chops, Blue Ridge) which are considered seperate entities in terms of the Exhibition.

When Daniel "Woody" Desmond ran the kitchen at 23 Page, and they started getting stars (three, bitch!), his kitchen staff consisted of a half-Irani kid who is currently a roomate, a fat black kid with a thing for midget porn, and a gutter punk with "IRISH" tatooed on this throat well above the collar line. Half the spray bottles in the kitchen that were supposed to be bleach water were Popov, and when Woody forgot to bring the liquor to steady his hand the waitstaff bought him shots of Gran Marnier.

Every single person we get in the kitchen who is clean cut, presentable, and overly proud of going to CIA (culinary institute of america) or whatever facility for the grooming of dysfunctional idiots is popular that week, they can't handle it. They all need seven faggot assistant chefs to help them make faggot french food. Worthless. Very much HMT love versus HT bling, to make an analogy. Which is better? Which is has more pop appeal?

PS, I declared 24K for the year of 2003 off of an average of 17 hours a week - three shifts a week. Most of our bartenders clear $70K for a little more effort. Welcome to Asheville being one of the top 10 places to move/retire for the last twelve years. No, I don't think of it as a career, but it sure is easy money while I ---- around and enjoy life.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

heh god on the food industry subject, today at work was a ------- massacare. I was working lunch, we did over 70 covers in 1.5 hours, while working a station that I've worked maybe 3 times (at night none the less, our nights are slower than days) since we've started any of our menues. We are currently running 3 menues! On those menues are 3 differnt types of Bass! The ------- Executive Chef was expiditing, biggest douch ever, for whom I have very little respect. This guy just ------- burried me, He had no pace, called everything the second it came in, wouldn't even give me a minute to catch up with anything.

Oh and to boot he has no ------- clue what is on his menu, He was bitching b/c I was putting up plates the way they are supposed to be.

And finally to kick it all off, I was chillen with the bartender after work and he said he had guests asking Wtf was going on back there!

There is my rant. Btw I do consider myself a very confident cook, been doing it over 5 years now, worked in restaraunts that blow this one away.


also you fogot Outback and Roy's

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

If the cooks are never seen, than they shouldn't have such high appearance standards, but I would assume that the owners of these type of everyday resturants love to give the appearance that they are world class dining facilities. That's probably where they're going with all these new rules, but I don't think they're out looking for the fattest black irish kid with tattoos as their ideal targets of employees. He may be the best, but with the image of thier staff, I don't think in every situation the tattoo'd kid is going to be looked at as talented first. By the employers or the customers.

Good to see you in GD though. >:D

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

I dont see any problem with the dress code, I would rather eat at a resturant with a professional looking food service worker, clean shave, netted hair, nice clothes/professional uniform, no piersing in males, but the other rules you listed are some dictater ----.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

This whole concepts has to very opposite extremes and i can see where both sides come from. Having worked as a manager in the restuarant business, i was always in charge of keeping cooks and cashiers up to par on dress code etc. I really didnt see it as being that important, nobody took advantage of the dress code or lacked a descent appearance for that matter. However at the same time, youd always have those customers that would freak out when theyd come in and see a cook with no hair net, theyd even give me a whole lecture on it. some of them walked out because of this. Personally, i care more for service..... people in the food industry and who would have the nerve to spit in someones food or something of the like either do not like you, or do not like the job at all... and this is usually a result of the people managing it. Needless to say i had a great time working in the business but i never thought of it as a potential career.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

I've worked in kitchens since i've had working papers. thats about 15 years and i've been a chef for about 7 years . as far as for the rant for darden restaurants if you dont like it dont work there it's that simple. if you need the job and the money then buck up and learn how to drink heavly like the rest of us. oh yea and im supposed to be doing the schedule right now. my cooks cant understand why i always take 2 hours to make a 20 man schedule.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Oh yea and about your JW and CIA grads. I would rather take a a tattooed, longhaired cook over those guys every time. The CIA grads suck i have to explain to them every time that just because you spent $50k to learn how to tress a chicken you are not better than the next person. I cant even count how many times these dudes spend an hour making one dish and they bring it to me and ask what do i think. What do i think? Make 200 of those plates in an hour, then come talk to me. Cooking is my life and I make about $53k a year and i would never think of doing anything else. It has done alot of things for me, like developing a slight drinking problem :-[

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

Damn they are really cracking down!

I worked for Darden for 5 years. 2 at the OG and 3 at Red Lobster, I was a server at the OG and a bartender at Red Lobster.

I left last winter when they made the change to the server's uniforms. I moved on to a different position but I remember everyone bitching about having to buy their own white shirts and ironing them before each shift.

It sucks, but I think Darden is having some trouble right now. Their stock price is dropping, I've already lost quite a bit of money on their stock. I should sell it now before it continues to drop.

The problem is, Darden knows they are in trouble with their investors, so they are trying to bump revenues by cleaning up their appearance. Which I personally don't think will make that much of a difference... They are also increasing the bottom line by not providing uniforms, which lessens their expenses and looks better to investors.

Maybe I'll hold on to my stock until the revenues increase from the drop in expenses and then sell it all.

Anyways, in my experience with Darden, you are going to get bent over either way, if you struggle it hurts more, if you relax and take it, it's not so bad.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

nice man, id like to work in a real resutrant to see what its like. corprate shitholes are crazy.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

It's not that great. Like someone pointed out, it's a whiny whiny dramafest. I've got the blue collar indifference and thick skin - that and a razor tongue make most people steer clear of involving me in the drama, but I still wade through it daily. But, if you're really good at not taking the job home with you, it works out pretty good.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

i cooked for 3 years so i can dish some ---- out >:D i just mis being that bussy. i work on recreational vehicles now and i get so damn bored at work I fall asleep half the time. if you have good people who put there all into it when you work with them cookings not bad. Its when you get slacker ass bastards dicking around that it turns into hell.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

for a corparation like darden, it should be of no trouble to them to pay for your uniforms. it's actuallly the least they could do. all of the other rules seem pretty much seem like common culinary school etiquette. i'm pretty surprised to find that they've been operating for so many years and now they finally changed their standards considering the jewelry and etc. Most places i've worked at wouldn't even let you were a -----/cock ring if they knew you had one. But they should pay for the uniforms, that's just horseshit.

I would for a company based in California called The Patina Group (www.patinagroup.com) . They own a shitload of upscale restaurants here. I've worked at two of their restaurants so far. i'll admit that they do put out a pretty good product. But it's disappointing to find that they dont like to pay well. i'm pretty sure red lobster and olive garden would raise pay for a credentialed cook. but at Patina, a culinary degree doesn't mean ---- to them. even executive chefs higher up the ranks don't make three figures! My brother is a co-owner and executive chef of The Yard House Breweries restaurants around the nation (www.yardhouse.com) and has no problem taking care of his cooks. He starts most of them at 10-12 an hr and makes sure each of them that's committed has a retirement plan.

i've learned you've gotta watch out for the snakes in this business. i've also learned that if you're not one of those snakes, you end up being better off.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

The appearance rules are lame, but the whole making you buy your own uniform is just too much! It's just a discreet way to lower the wages. Take part of your wages back through an overpriced uniform.

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

I personally would prefer the person cooking my food to have short hair and no facial hair but thats just my opinion

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

But what does hair lenght matter when it has always had to be covered in the past, now they are just saying it can't exist (unless you are a female, then you can have long hair).

Re: A little info about darden restaurants. **rant**
 

I work at a pretty fancy restaurant in the "trendy" part of town...i think every single person in our kitchen would get fired. Two of our servers even have nose rings...we never get any complaints, so the hell with it. who cares!