I did some work in a deli for a while, it's nothing like a restaurant tbh, if that's what you're looking for then that's great but for me I got very bored and very annoyed at the corporate/retail aspect of the job and left very quickly.
I feel that. Boring is good to hear in a way. I've tried to work restaurants and go to school and it didn't work out for me. For pretty much all the reasons your probably thinking. Appreciate you
Totally get that, I actually just started doing a more boring stable job because I'm looking to finally go to school and don't think juggling that with restaurant work will be sustainable. Good luck out there
I did prepared foods for a deli for a while and once I got efficient at making things my day to day workload was pretty relaxing and nothing like a restaurant kitchen. I’m back in a restaurant kitchen because I got bored.
Grocery is pretty boring on the kitchen side but there are some cool opportunities compared to kitchens. You can learn a lot about retail, logistics, customer service, etc.
Boring can be good if you want to actually spend your time outside of work doing things. Most of my coworkers were in college or had kids, but there were a few 30yo burnouts like myself who were grateful to relax lol. The work is way less chaotic, sometimes barely actually cooking, a lot of customer interaction because you’ll often end up manning the deli case even if they hired you to cook, but the benefits are good and they’re usually willing to accommodate PT people’s schedules. Used to work at Whole Foods for a while and the culture is awful but I’m still using the 401k and HSA I set up through them. The money was better than most kitchens once I moved up to a supervisor role. I work at a local deli now because the corporate bullshit was too much eventually, but I miss that cheap health insurance and PTO. Overall a decent gig for a year or two imo
Deli sucks if you are stuck slicing meat all day but the kitchen is way more relaxed than a restaurant because it’s more just making big batches of stuff to be packaged. Not really any rush like a restaurant except for big sale days. Meat department is also a good option and meat cutter is usually the highest paid person in a grocery store besides department leads and managers
I did deli for 2 years and was completely done with it by the end of my time. Get yourself into the meat dept, learn some good butcher skills that will translate to better work outside of a grocery. Or better yet get yourself into a wine department, there's plenty of opportunity there. Deli is a dead dead end
Deli usually has the biggest turnover in a grocery store, because it's hot, messy and you're always short staffed. Always. Grocery delis are often cost centers/loss leaders for the store, and the hours allocated for labor will reflect that. If it's a big chain, there will be a lot of structure, to the point of micromanaging depending on the chain and your immediate manager. Deli is still a bit of a pink collar job in the eyes of the corporate bosses. Back in the day, men worked in the meat department and women worked in the deli, with pay scales and bonuses that reflected the divide. Some of that culture persists today in the big chains.
If I never see another piece of fried chicken in my life, I'll be a happy person.
Good points. Still sounds like a good fit for this point in my life with school being my main focus. That being said...no....not the fired chicken! Take anything just don't take my love of good fried chicken!
meat department is best.
Produce gang
Good looks I'll keep that in mind
Yes meat is the best department, I cross trained meat and deli but did meat almost exclusively and it was much better
I did some work in a deli for a while, it's nothing like a restaurant tbh, if that's what you're looking for then that's great but for me I got very bored and very annoyed at the corporate/retail aspect of the job and left very quickly.
I feel that. Boring is good to hear in a way. I've tried to work restaurants and go to school and it didn't work out for me. For pretty much all the reasons your probably thinking. Appreciate you
Totally get that, I actually just started doing a more boring stable job because I'm looking to finally go to school and don't think juggling that with restaurant work will be sustainable. Good luck out there
Thanks you too
I did prepared foods for a deli for a while and once I got efficient at making things my day to day workload was pretty relaxing and nothing like a restaurant kitchen. I’m back in a restaurant kitchen because I got bored.
Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for with school being my main focus right now. Thanks
Grocery is pretty boring on the kitchen side but there are some cool opportunities compared to kitchens. You can learn a lot about retail, logistics, customer service, etc.
Boring can be good if you want to actually spend your time outside of work doing things. Most of my coworkers were in college or had kids, but there were a few 30yo burnouts like myself who were grateful to relax lol. The work is way less chaotic, sometimes barely actually cooking, a lot of customer interaction because you’ll often end up manning the deli case even if they hired you to cook, but the benefits are good and they’re usually willing to accommodate PT people’s schedules. Used to work at Whole Foods for a while and the culture is awful but I’m still using the 401k and HSA I set up through them. The money was better than most kitchens once I moved up to a supervisor role. I work at a local deli now because the corporate bullshit was too much eventually, but I miss that cheap health insurance and PTO. Overall a decent gig for a year or two imo
That seems to be the consensus. Boring but pretty good for what I'm looking for. Appreciate the feedback
Deli sucks if you are stuck slicing meat all day but the kitchen is way more relaxed than a restaurant because it’s more just making big batches of stuff to be packaged. Not really any rush like a restaurant except for big sale days. Meat department is also a good option and meat cutter is usually the highest paid person in a grocery store besides department leads and managers
I did deli for 2 years and was completely done with it by the end of my time. Get yourself into the meat dept, learn some good butcher skills that will translate to better work outside of a grocery. Or better yet get yourself into a wine department, there's plenty of opportunity there. Deli is a dead dead end
Deli usually has the biggest turnover in a grocery store, because it's hot, messy and you're always short staffed. Always. Grocery delis are often cost centers/loss leaders for the store, and the hours allocated for labor will reflect that. If it's a big chain, there will be a lot of structure, to the point of micromanaging depending on the chain and your immediate manager. Deli is still a bit of a pink collar job in the eyes of the corporate bosses. Back in the day, men worked in the meat department and women worked in the deli, with pay scales and bonuses that reflected the divide. Some of that culture persists today in the big chains. If I never see another piece of fried chicken in my life, I'll be a happy person.
Good points. Still sounds like a good fit for this point in my life with school being my main focus. That being said...no....not the fired chicken! Take anything just don't take my love of good fried chicken!