My Break into the Restaurant Business

True story, I actually worked for a restaurant chain called the Italian Oven Restaurant in Chestnut Hill Pennsylvania in 1996. The night before my big break, I was attending a restaurant meeting. It was common knowledge that the day and night managers would leave the safe on day lock. I was in the manager’s office and noticed the safe was slightly ajar. I mentioned it to the night manager and she said: “ don’t worry about it the safe is always open”.

What is day lock?

Opposite of a locked safe.  Crazy right, there are managers who are lazy as hell in thinking it’s easier to leave the safe unlocked rather than securing it safely by locking the safe to prevent theft.

The day of the theft

I was awakened to the sound of a ring, ring. My phone was ringing, so I answered it. It was the am manager, she said the police was at the restaurant due to a robbery. I came into the restaurant as fast as I could. Apparently, the safe was robbed of its contents sometime between the previous nights close up into the discovery of the theft by the daytime manager.

I told the manager the money is still in the building or outside the building. So I decided to search the property for the missing deposit. I found the missing deposit in a stairwell located by the back door.

I saved the day by turning the money into the director of operations Monty. Because of my tracking skills and honesty, I was promoted to kitchen manager. That’s how I got my first break into management. 23 years later and I am a proud owner of Workplace Wizards Restaurant Consulting.  https://www.workplacewizards.com  https://www.workplacewizards.com/restaurant-forms/