> is fine
This sounds like someone living paycheck to paycheck and one accident and/or illness away from putting them behind on bills and having to make sacrifices, like proper healthcare/medicine or food to eat.
Yeah if you’re getting 20% tips on your tickets, 7.25 is okay. Definitely an improvement over every serving job I’ve had. Oc it’d be cooler if they just paid a living wage and we didn’t have the tipping system.
I would love if we could get rid of the tipping system for server wages. Pay them what they should be paid. We get it, costs will increase and that will reflect on the bill. But it's still reflected on the bill whether I tip because it's mandatory for someone (the server) to be able to buy their own meal or if it's increased cost(s).
Tipping should be optional and meant to recognize excellent service. Not because it's the only way someone can put food in their belly or a roof over their head.
Was in Asheville this past weekend, went to a neighborhood grocery store (think Daily Co-Op) to get a couple of bottles of water and I kid you not, the guy at the register flipped the iPad around and asked me if I wanted to tip him for that interaction.
I was dumbfounded
Here in Athens, as I leave Creature Comforts, I always wonder if I should close my tab, then buy canned beer to take home. Feels stingy, but totally normal at the same time? I don't tip the package store clerks.
My vision is more of someone like myself who spent undergrad stocking shelves at the east side Publix for $8/hr for mostly spending money, with most of my money coming from scholarships/loans.
Ideal? No. Subsist solely on or get a head in life with? Of course not.
Sounds like you had/have a lot of great opportunities in life. It just sucks that more people don't have those same opportunities. Myself, I had to work two full-time jobs at minimum wage while I was getting my undergrad to pay for my education and my living expenses. I would not wish that on anyone, but unfortunately, it is a pretty common scenario in Athens and all over the country. People think everyone needs to work hard, grind, sacrifice, and bust their ass to make it in life, but I personally don't think that should be the case. Nor should we be "fine" with companies taking advantage of students like this.
Me? Just a person who wants you to be happy. This is not grade school. There is no act called "No adult left behind." No one is going to pity you for your life choices. There are many jobs that pay more than this and you will work the same or even fewer hours. So drop the whole life stage act. For all of my summer jobs in high school back in 2009 to 2013, I was paid $8.50 to $13.50 plus commission. So just look for better jobs. They're out there and be willing to learn said job.
On a side note. If people do t accept these jobs, they would be forced to raise the pay. So until absolutely o one will take the job they won't change.
Have you considered that some people enjoy being wait staff? Or that having someone on staff who has been there for more than a year or two is essential for running a smooth business? What are all of the restaurants in town supposed to do over the summer when the students go home, fucking close? There's no shame in working as a server when you're in your 30s. But it's pathetic that you think someone working their ass off doesn't deserve enough money to live.
Uh, let's see. There's plenty of high school students who are sitting at home looking for a summer job. The person who's been there for 2 plus years still encompasses college time and should be a manager already. If you truly enjoy being wait staff, be prepared to get a second job or live where you can afford the cost of living. Or even better after 2 years, ask for a raise. Those are the "adult" things to do. You knew what the job paid before accepting the position, so you should've budgeted your life around that.
High school students can only work a limited number of hours a week by law. Why should someone work a second job they possibly hate, which has a low likelihood of scheduling around their current job just so they can do something they enjoy? Why do think it's not only fine, but that it's good that the majority of people should be working themselves to death just to get by?
Is it not the end goal in life to not work at all? It's called personal sacrifice. Sacrifice a bit of time and effort now and reap the rewards later. You don't just automatically turb 18 and expect all the money in the world on a silver platter. Also, the limits of hours worked by high school students only apply to 14 and 15 year olds. Which are are not the target, since they usually do not have reliable transportation outside of the city bus, even then on non school days they can work a full 8hrs and 40hrs during non school weeks aka summer break.
You really do make me sad. Working 75 hour weeks is not "a bit" of time when you have no guarantee of being able to retire. Literally no one is asking for "all the money in the world" why is it that everytime someone says "enough money to live" people act like I'm saying Maserati's and mansions? You know what I'd like? The same deal that was available when one person could work one 40 hour a week job and actually support themselves. Why is that unreasonable? Why is that so crazy that the person serving me food be able to have a house and not have to work every hour of the day so they can rent an apartment with 3 other people and barely make ends meet? Why are you okay with that?
Perhaps? I've lived around the world and US. The statement holds true. Only really young people, desperate middle age, or seniors work in the service industry as a lowly waiter. At least in the US. Other countries, such as those in Europe, have standardized pay scales. It's not the nice gentle answer but it's the truth.
You’re talking out of your ass let’s break this down. Going to class my partner was able to make ~20 hours a week working. Assuming every single person you serve tips 20% your wage is now a whopping $8.70/hr that comes out to 696 before tax and around 593 monthly. Polo club was something like 500 when I lived there so living with 3 randoms you can now afford 93 whole dollars to get yourself food and gas for an entire month. Enjoy your one tank of gas and 30 day supply of ramen.
> Assuming every single person you serve tips 20% your wage is now a whopping $8.70/hr
I have to find it ironic that you said the other guy is talking out his ass. Your math only works if you assume serving 1 person per hour and that person is buying at the exact same price as the hourly wage. People are tipping based off their meal cost, not based on the hourly wage. You can serve multiple people at multiple tables per hour.
Serving just one table of 2 people per hour at $10 per meal, which is almost unreasonably low even for The Grill, would net $11.25 per hour assuming a 20% tip (2 people x $10 per meal = $20, $20 * .2 = $4).
It's not a rich wage by any means but firmly in the wheelhouse of 'okay' for a student working part time, and realistically would end up being more than $11.25 per hour.
Over a week? Maybe in a college town but no restaurant I’ve ever worked at stayed busy open to close. Weekend are typically way more busy than any other days. Still you’re at 20 hours a week no guarantee you can find a schedule crossing a busy period every day. So yes my math may be flawed but 11.25 is pathetic as well either way. Go check out the living wage calculator by MIT you’ll find a living wage in GA is around $17/hr for a full time employee with no children. Only the manager deserves a living wage then?
If you see my comment below, I meant it more in the sense that it’s better than the usual $2.13 or whatever servers get paid plus tips.
I’m just leaving it up so (certain) folks don’t accuse me of taking down unpopular comments I make…
I’m convinced it is a liminal space time machine. Makes me want to check my Converse All star shoe laces and adjust my Walkman headphones while listening to Weezer.
When I tutored for the Athletic Department (not as a student), I made $12/hr (with two degrees and years of experience).
Seeing The Grill match that helps me realize I was being taken advantage of by the Athletic Department and pretty much every other job I've had.
I worked for the athletic department and directly generated well over 6 figures of revenue for them. I got paid $10 an hour. I once met Vince Dooley’s daughter who worked for the athletic department. She told me she was paid $9 an hour. No wonder her kid went to Alabama instead. I realized college athletic departments are scams after that. You see how much money they have in the bank. I was privy to that information and it only made the low pay situation worse. They can more than afford to pay the athletes and a fair wage to employees.
Feta fries are not what you remember them being.
The Grill's french fries are now shoestring fries, the thick fresh cut fries no longer exist.
Your nostalgia will be severely let down, The Grill as you knew it no longer exists.
You have been warned.
The fry machine broke and was pretty unique...they can't find a way to fix or replace it (at least this was the story I was told before their long closure)
This is an unpopular opinion on this sub, but I've been going to the Grill since it was on Broad Street and it's always been a favorite of mine and my family.
Looking forward to it opening again
Ha ha. Real ones know.
West downtown is happenin' now, but it's hard to describe to people how desolate it was back in the day. Once you crossed the general area of the Ga Theatre, it was like a whole other (kinda sketch) town, especially at night
Bro, I’ve been out of working in kitchens for like 7 years now. Back then, with my resume, I did an interview and you told me great! How’d you like to start at $15/hr? I’d have laughed in their faces and told them their restaurant would last max 8 months! Dude you can make $14/hr at any fast food, dropping frozen shit into a fryer with a timer. Real actual precise cooking???? But the girl at the stand gets $10 and tips?? Haha good luck whoever owns this place
The grill is monumentally overrated, if it's even rated anymore. It's been closed since early 2020, and was notorious for the preceding (however many years it's been open) for bad service, being slow as christmas, and the food generally not being that good. Their one redeeming item was the feta fries, and apparently even that sucks now.
tl;dr bad service/food/slow
I worked there and was friends with tons of people who did over the years. Almost all of their food is supplied by Sysco and is not held at safe temperatures. During my tenure we had to pretend to have the kitchen closed during food inspections because the coolers under the line were way over temp standards. It’s bad food and it’s not even treated well, it’s not pretentious to hate on it. If someone accidentally fired a burger then the manager on duty would have us put it on a small plate and sometimes it would sit half cooked for thirty minutes to an hour before being fully fired and served. The fries also changed because the fry cutter was literally not even allowed by food standards and had to be hidden whenever we had inspections. The blades would break frequently and they weren’t easy to procure. It was my first kitchen job so I didn’t realize how fucked it all was until I got older and worked in other kitchens.
It's basically the grossest place in town but open 24 hours and right in the busiest part of downtown during the bar hopping times. SO it developed a kind of cult following
Am I missing something? At FT, that is about $35,000. I agree it’s not great, but I feel like that is par for the course for most full-time jobs in Athens. Especially in food service.
Abysmal, but how it seems to be here.
It’s par with what most shift leads (AKA slightly more well paid employees) make at fast food joints, not actual management. For someone looking at supervisory jobs DT it’s low.
One of my old co workers used to waitress for the Grill. I was told stories of how the staff would get bored late at night and start naming the roaches. I think about that every time I walk by The Grill when I’m DT.
That does not surprise me at all. The last few times I went in there it was pretty bad. Hopefully they used this time to clean really well. Guess I will see when/if they reopen.
The Grill of yore is what everyone misses.
If they reopened tomorrow it'd be just as empty as it's been the last ten years they've been open.
Nostalgia is tastier than bad food, it seems.
Y’all I’m just excited they are reopening. Been eating there since the 80s. Hoping service and food have improved though. - and the bathrooms deep deep deep cleaned.
I remember getting $7.25 as a cashier with no tips, and a server at $2.15 only getting maybe 8 tables on a Thursday night barely managing $10+ an hour. Oh all while having to buy my own uniforms (replacement shirts) and part of my meal tickets. So glad it’s the bare minimum now… sigh
$18/hr for management would not be worth the headache for me.
None of those rates are worth the headache.
I generally agree, but $7.25 plus tips is fine if you’re like a student working part time.
> is fine This sounds like someone living paycheck to paycheck and one accident and/or illness away from putting them behind on bills and having to make sacrifices, like proper healthcare/medicine or food to eat.
Better than $2.13/hr, I guess?
Yeah if you’re getting 20% tips on your tickets, 7.25 is okay. Definitely an improvement over every serving job I’ve had. Oc it’d be cooler if they just paid a living wage and we didn’t have the tipping system.
I would love if we could get rid of the tipping system for server wages. Pay them what they should be paid. We get it, costs will increase and that will reflect on the bill. But it's still reflected on the bill whether I tip because it's mandatory for someone (the server) to be able to buy their own meal or if it's increased cost(s). Tipping should be optional and meant to recognize excellent service. Not because it's the only way someone can put food in their belly or a roof over their head.
Was in Asheville this past weekend, went to a neighborhood grocery store (think Daily Co-Op) to get a couple of bottles of water and I kid you not, the guy at the register flipped the iPad around and asked me if I wanted to tip him for that interaction. I was dumbfounded
Yeah, no. That guy is outside his mind.
Here in Athens, as I leave Creature Comforts, I always wonder if I should close my tab, then buy canned beer to take home. Feels stingy, but totally normal at the same time? I don't tip the package store clerks.
If is the key word. There's a push recently to just kind of not tip.
That’s what I was trying to convey, but I guess it was not received that way lol
My vision is more of someone like myself who spent undergrad stocking shelves at the east side Publix for $8/hr for mostly spending money, with most of my money coming from scholarships/loans. Ideal? No. Subsist solely on or get a head in life with? Of course not.
Sounds like you had/have a lot of great opportunities in life. It just sucks that more people don't have those same opportunities. Myself, I had to work two full-time jobs at minimum wage while I was getting my undergrad to pay for my education and my living expenses. I would not wish that on anyone, but unfortunately, it is a pretty common scenario in Athens and all over the country. People think everyone needs to work hard, grind, sacrifice, and bust their ass to make it in life, but I personally don't think that should be the case. Nor should we be "fine" with companies taking advantage of students like this.
You’d be more likely to win the lottery than find a job like this that pays that well
You shouldn't be 30yo working as a sever... these are jobs for college students that pay is more than enough for spending money.
> You shouldn't be 30yo working as a sever Who are you to tell people who and/or what they should or shouldn't be at various stages of their lives?
Me? Just a person who wants you to be happy. This is not grade school. There is no act called "No adult left behind." No one is going to pity you for your life choices. There are many jobs that pay more than this and you will work the same or even fewer hours. So drop the whole life stage act. For all of my summer jobs in high school back in 2009 to 2013, I was paid $8.50 to $13.50 plus commission. So just look for better jobs. They're out there and be willing to learn said job. On a side note. If people do t accept these jobs, they would be forced to raise the pay. So until absolutely o one will take the job they won't change.
I'm sure people love to serve you whenever you go out to eat.
Actually, they do. I tip 25% or higher even for bad service.
Have you considered that some people enjoy being wait staff? Or that having someone on staff who has been there for more than a year or two is essential for running a smooth business? What are all of the restaurants in town supposed to do over the summer when the students go home, fucking close? There's no shame in working as a server when you're in your 30s. But it's pathetic that you think someone working their ass off doesn't deserve enough money to live.
Uh, let's see. There's plenty of high school students who are sitting at home looking for a summer job. The person who's been there for 2 plus years still encompasses college time and should be a manager already. If you truly enjoy being wait staff, be prepared to get a second job or live where you can afford the cost of living. Or even better after 2 years, ask for a raise. Those are the "adult" things to do. You knew what the job paid before accepting the position, so you should've budgeted your life around that.
High school students can only work a limited number of hours a week by law. Why should someone work a second job they possibly hate, which has a low likelihood of scheduling around their current job just so they can do something they enjoy? Why do think it's not only fine, but that it's good that the majority of people should be working themselves to death just to get by?
Is it not the end goal in life to not work at all? It's called personal sacrifice. Sacrifice a bit of time and effort now and reap the rewards later. You don't just automatically turb 18 and expect all the money in the world on a silver platter. Also, the limits of hours worked by high school students only apply to 14 and 15 year olds. Which are are not the target, since they usually do not have reliable transportation outside of the city bus, even then on non school days they can work a full 8hrs and 40hrs during non school weeks aka summer break.
You really do make me sad. Working 75 hour weeks is not "a bit" of time when you have no guarantee of being able to retire. Literally no one is asking for "all the money in the world" why is it that everytime someone says "enough money to live" people act like I'm saying Maserati's and mansions? You know what I'd like? The same deal that was available when one person could work one 40 hour a week job and actually support themselves. Why is that unreasonable? Why is that so crazy that the person serving me food be able to have a house and not have to work every hour of the day so they can rent an apartment with 3 other people and barely make ends meet? Why are you okay with that?
[удалено]
Perhaps? I've lived around the world and US. The statement holds true. Only really young people, desperate middle age, or seniors work in the service industry as a lowly waiter. At least in the US. Other countries, such as those in Europe, have standardized pay scales. It's not the nice gentle answer but it's the truth.
Sadly that’s true, when I was a server a little over a decade ago, we got $2.13 an hour due to some stupid fucking loophole in the minimum wage law
You’re talking out of your ass let’s break this down. Going to class my partner was able to make ~20 hours a week working. Assuming every single person you serve tips 20% your wage is now a whopping $8.70/hr that comes out to 696 before tax and around 593 monthly. Polo club was something like 500 when I lived there so living with 3 randoms you can now afford 93 whole dollars to get yourself food and gas for an entire month. Enjoy your one tank of gas and 30 day supply of ramen.
Don't forget the 1 free meal (no steak) per shift!
> Assuming every single person you serve tips 20% your wage is now a whopping $8.70/hr I have to find it ironic that you said the other guy is talking out his ass. Your math only works if you assume serving 1 person per hour and that person is buying at the exact same price as the hourly wage. People are tipping based off their meal cost, not based on the hourly wage. You can serve multiple people at multiple tables per hour. Serving just one table of 2 people per hour at $10 per meal, which is almost unreasonably low even for The Grill, would net $11.25 per hour assuming a 20% tip (2 people x $10 per meal = $20, $20 * .2 = $4). It's not a rich wage by any means but firmly in the wheelhouse of 'okay' for a student working part time, and realistically would end up being more than $11.25 per hour.
Over a week? Maybe in a college town but no restaurant I’ve ever worked at stayed busy open to close. Weekend are typically way more busy than any other days. Still you’re at 20 hours a week no guarantee you can find a schedule crossing a busy period every day. So yes my math may be flawed but 11.25 is pathetic as well either way. Go check out the living wage calculator by MIT you’ll find a living wage in GA is around $17/hr for a full time employee with no children. Only the manager deserves a living wage then?
Expecting to live on 20hr/wk is a lot to ask.
Oh damn my bad you changed my whole view that totally means it should be impossible. Duh so obvious my bad.
Glad to help. 👍
Maybe if you're a student with parents that still support you. Otherwise, nah, not so much.
I normally agree with your posts and comments but not this one. My heart. 🥲
If you see my comment below, I meant it more in the sense that it’s better than the usual $2.13 or whatever servers get paid plus tips. I’m just leaving it up so (certain) folks don’t accuse me of taking down unpopular comments I make…
Go get some feta fries at The Globe.
This is the way.
Get globe chips. They are my secret bf
Noted!
Maybe all this time off gave them a chance to scrub the bathroom that hadn’t been cleaned since ‘97.
I’m convinced it is a liminal space time machine. Makes me want to check my Converse All star shoe laces and adjust my Walkman headphones while listening to Weezer.
Yeah, sorry about that. Class of 93'
Where exactly in Athens can you live off these pay rates.
When I tutored for the Athletic Department (not as a student), I made $12/hr (with two degrees and years of experience). Seeing The Grill match that helps me realize I was being taken advantage of by the Athletic Department and pretty much every other job I've had.
I worked for the athletic department and directly generated well over 6 figures of revenue for them. I got paid $10 an hour. I once met Vince Dooley’s daughter who worked for the athletic department. She told me she was paid $9 an hour. No wonder her kid went to Alabama instead. I realized college athletic departments are scams after that. You see how much money they have in the bank. I was privy to that information and it only made the low pay situation worse. They can more than afford to pay the athletes and a fair wage to employees.
Not really the athletic department's fault that you were overqualified for a lower wage job is it?
The qualifications were to emphasize I wasn't a student worker. Not that I was overqualified.
But you WERE overqualified to tutor athletes with 2 degrees. They aren't going to pay someone with a doctorate any higher wages to cut grass either.
Winterville
Winterville has become quite expensive these days...
Dude, Winterville is not cheap at all.
WINTERVILLE? LMAO
Feta fries are not what you remember them being. The Grill's french fries are now shoestring fries, the thick fresh cut fries no longer exist. Your nostalgia will be severely let down, The Grill as you knew it no longer exists. You have been warned.
The fry machine broke and was pretty unique...they can't find a way to fix or replace it (at least this was the story I was told before their long closure) This is an unpopular opinion on this sub, but I've been going to the Grill since it was on Broad Street and it's always been a favorite of mine and my family. Looking forward to it opening again
Likewise. Longtime family favorite and best Jukebox downtown.
Same. I’m a lifelong Athenian, and the grill has always been a staple here. I am so excited to have it back!
Likewise. The new fries were still good and still hand-cut.
For a few years in the 80s Herbies was THE place for late night munchies. Damn I miss Herbie.
Ha ha. Real ones know. West downtown is happenin' now, but it's hard to describe to people how desolate it was back in the day. Once you crossed the general area of the Ga Theatre, it was like a whole other (kinda sketch) town, especially at night
Three nightclubs and three bars. But we all got along in those days.
AND WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?
Nobody swears at me like Herbie used to.
Nobody swears like Herbie. Period.
I miss RU Hungry 😫
Bro, I’ve been out of working in kitchens for like 7 years now. Back then, with my resume, I did an interview and you told me great! How’d you like to start at $15/hr? I’d have laughed in their faces and told them their restaurant would last max 8 months! Dude you can make $14/hr at any fast food, dropping frozen shit into a fryer with a timer. Real actual precise cooking???? But the girl at the stand gets $10 and tips?? Haha good luck whoever owns this place
That is garbage pay, no one should be applying for these jobs.
What's the backstory behind the bad opinions? New to athens lol (In addition to these sad wages)
The grill is monumentally overrated, if it's even rated anymore. It's been closed since early 2020, and was notorious for the preceding (however many years it's been open) for bad service, being slow as christmas, and the food generally not being that good. Their one redeeming item was the feta fries, and apparently even that sucks now. tl;dr bad service/food/slow
I’ve lived in Athens my entire life, and the grill is a staple here. You sound a little pompous in your explanation.
It's been terrible your whole life. It was only ever popular because you could go there after bars closed.
I don’t drink. I don’t go to bars. But thank you, Butter Baby. The feta fries and chocolate malts are so good, and have always been.
I worked there and was friends with tons of people who did over the years. Almost all of their food is supplied by Sysco and is not held at safe temperatures. During my tenure we had to pretend to have the kitchen closed during food inspections because the coolers under the line were way over temp standards. It’s bad food and it’s not even treated well, it’s not pretentious to hate on it. If someone accidentally fired a burger then the manager on duty would have us put it on a small plate and sometimes it would sit half cooked for thirty minutes to an hour before being fully fired and served. The fries also changed because the fry cutter was literally not even allowed by food standards and had to be hidden whenever we had inspections. The blades would break frequently and they weren’t easy to procure. It was my first kitchen job so I didn’t realize how fucked it all was until I got older and worked in other kitchens.
I ate there Early Summer 2021. It was very slow. Also a Tuesday night after students were gone, which probably accounts for this.
And don't forget expensive
It's basically the grossest place in town but open 24 hours and right in the busiest part of downtown during the bar hopping times. SO it developed a kind of cult following
It was good like, 10 years ago. It went dramatically downhill after a change in ownership and has been shit pretty much since.
I worked here 8 years ago when I was still in college and it was one of the sleaziest, most disgusting places I’ve ever worked at before or since.
roach gross
only $18 for management? not worth the headache nor time in another dead end job. wish them well though! lovely place :(
Am I missing something? At FT, that is about $35,000. I agree it’s not great, but I feel like that is par for the course for most full-time jobs in Athens. Especially in food service. Abysmal, but how it seems to be here.
It’s par with what most shift leads (AKA slightly more well paid employees) make at fast food joints, not actual management. For someone looking at supervisory jobs DT it’s low.
Ew.
I see. This really is the darkest timeline.
The pay is shit, definitely not gonna get any good people in the kitchen 😂 your food will have some spit in it
It was high school kids before the closure too, don’t worry.
Holy crap, the pay!! Just fucking stay closed.
No thanks, I’ll support businesses that pay fair wages
One of my old co workers used to waitress for the Grill. I was told stories of how the staff would get bored late at night and start naming the roaches. I think about that every time I walk by The Grill when I’m DT.
That does not surprise me at all. The last few times I went in there it was pretty bad. Hopefully they used this time to clean really well. Guess I will see when/if they reopen.
The Grill of yore is what everyone misses. If they reopened tomorrow it'd be just as empty as it's been the last ten years they've been open. Nostalgia is tastier than bad food, it seems.
Y’all I’m just excited they are reopening. Been eating there since the 80s. Hoping service and food have improved though. - and the bathrooms deep deep deep cleaned.
This was a favorite late night stop for people drinking downtown.
The hot dog guy was always my favorite late night drunk go-to
I was in line behind JB at Bell’s last week!
There and Little Italy
can’t wait to get absolutely blasted and destroy some feta fries circa 1am. downtown just wasn’t the same without it.
12 as a dishwasher isn't bad.
nOBodY WAntS tO wORk aNYmOrE
Good luck! Lol
I was so excited to see that! Malt milkshakes and good, solid, non-fancy burgers!
I remember getting $7.25 as a cashier with no tips, and a server at $2.15 only getting maybe 8 tables on a Thursday night barely managing $10+ an hour. Oh all while having to buy my own uniforms (replacement shirts) and part of my meal tickets. So glad it’s the bare minimum now… sigh
I wonder if they're pricing the server pay at actual minimum wage so that management can spread all tips around the staff equally.
That's dishwasher pay for cooks.