How To Recognize Toxic Restaurant Environments (Even When Employees Try To Hide It)

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Working in the restaurant industry is no joke. While it can be a rewarding and fulfilling experience, it can also come with several pitfalls. Rude customers, relying on tips, dealing with lunch and dinner rushes are just a few of them — and let's not forget, navigating toxic environments, managers, and ownership. Staff may try to hide a toxic work environment with friendly smiles and stellar service, but problems still exist. Unsurprisingly, hospitality experts know exactly how to spot the signs.

"Hospitality begins within, and if internal relations are broken, it is likely to show up in how hospitality is genuinely brought forth to customers," explains Frankie Weinberg, a professor of management at Loyola University New Orleans, co-owner of Pomelo and Good Catch restaurants in New Orleans, and author of "Mentorship." According to Weinberg, "restaurants where management constantly barks orders and employees fail to support each other even when one member is visibly overwhelmed, point to negative aspects of organizational culture."

These are just a few red flags that indicate a bad restaurant. Sure, the food may be delicious, but it's not worth supporting establishments that treat staff unfairly. Instead, you'll want to frequent spots where employees seem content, communicative, and willing to help one another. "Restaurants where employees exhibit pride in their space and community show positive signs," Weinberg adds.

"There is very little a customer can do when a restaurant has a toxic work environment for its staff," notes Izzy Kharasch, president of Hospitality Works, Inc. "This has only been an issue for me one time," he reveals, recalling one occasion where he witnessed a restaurant owner yelling at a server. "We canceled our order and walked out, as did a number of other guests." Weinberg, however, offered a more hands-on approach: talking to upper management. Sometimes the most useful thing a customer can do is offer a viewpoint that may go unnoticed if not brought up.

"For example, if a snafu occurs with a dish, but the customer recognizes the server took especially good care to correct the issue, it's worth noting," Weinberg explains. This reveals two things to management: a disconnect between the front- and back-of-house staff, and that servers went above and beyond on behalf of the customer. This is "a nuance that could have been otherwise overlooked by a manager dealing with a problematic situation during what's already a hectic workday," he notes.

Ultimately, spotting a reservation-worthy restaurant involves paying attention to atmosphere, too. If something feels off, consider writing an online review. Additionally, you can always forget to check what other customers have said about a restaurant's culture in Yelp reviews and viral Reddit threads.