Abe and louies…decent place, bad decisions!

I worked at Joe’s… It is a good place for your first serving job… The training is pretty solid. But the management treats you like shit and definitely plays favorites. I worked for them for two years and finally couldn’t take the 45 year old manager playing with her little boy toy and letting him slack off while everyone else picked up his slack and never would get the treatment deserved… It is ver corporate… my advice is to either stay away or get hired and trained and then take yourself to a smaller not corporate place that wouldn’t fire someone for something stupid like forgetting to offer fresh Parmesan cheese. Go somewhere more laid back with understanding top people… BBRG doesn’t ever take the staff side anything goes wrong with a costumer and the firewalls is up…. Other places understand that sometimes people just suck or want free stuff..

bbrg NEVER takes the side of their staff… it is too bad… all the managers are so worried that the owners will walk through the door… thy are worried because the owners have no idea how to run the place…. they are always lying to you and are like little robots, the managers are so worried about someone else’s money… it is pretty pathetic… too bad

Has anyone ever worked with a server named Rita, she’s worked at charlies chestnut hill and joes waterfront. She’s old, trashy, wears ghetto fab ankle bracelets over her socks, and is a miserable human being. She gave her two weeks, then the GM begged her to stay. She got a server and a bartender fired (FIRED!!!) because someone wrote something about her on a blog. Now our GM gives her a rim job every time she’s on the floor. Any horror stories/suggestions for getting her to quit for real this time?

A bunch of money grubbing idiots. The managers make about as much money as the WNBA does. What an as#%*e the owners are. They should be ashamed of themselves they have ruined the service industry for so many great people. Dont work for this corporate whorehouse, work for chilis or applebees first, you think I am joking but you’ll make more money and you wont want to kill yourself. NO LOYALTY SHAME ON YOU CHARLES.

Im currently working for Joe’s & it is HORRIBLE!! I cant stress enough to NOT work there. The staff is too big to know anyone, there is no introduction to your co-workers. when the cooks arent screaming at you from the kitchen its only because they already did & now your out running food (which is fine cause your away from the kitchen).
The main problem is that it is SO VERY corporate. You get 1 apron 1 tie… after that you have to purchase them from joes. Not to mention all the shirts you have to buy yourself. I went from working a much smaller privately owned bar to this hell hole. My previous job was 1/2 the work & more money….

Its definitely safe to say i will be leaving of Joes ASAP and DO NOT RECOMMEND any one working there. No wonder why the turnover rate is so high!!

This restaurant was a pathetic joke!!!! I had decent coworkers and a couple of the managers were great. But what a nightmare! Sidework was beyond anything normal. Always having to handwash wine glasses, soda glasses, never can find anything. Everything covered in grease. Running like crazy for NOTHING! No money there. Benefits suck, too. I lasted 3 months and can see why there is the turnover. Very corporate. One of the managers had no social grace whatsoever…. Fine for a first job as they will train you and you can practice skill sets. The location I worked in had a broken sewer pipe and always reaked. Must always have 2 servers and then a manger check your section and sign the server report before you can leave–takes forever. There was a reason PapaRazzi was always advertising for help. It is the worst group to work for-period.
*I can see A&L being great, money wise………

I love my job now.

Sarkis does have some loyal followers (culinarism is in the eye of the beholder, moreover family, financial and ethnic background ties, afterall) yet I have to agree with most of the postings: corporate dining may work for the owner and excite his cronies, especially in the suburbs, but what they render onto customers and employees within the few premium blocks fenced in by Newbury and Boylston is a mere tourist trap and a pseudo-cosmopolitan outlet for recognizable non-city franchise venues of questionable standards and performance and relative renumeration.
In regards to operation and staff treatment in the city of Boston: characterized by utmost lack of flexibility, 80’s style corporate training and vision (God bless Ann-Marie, she is who she is and good in it, inspite of claiming there is no quality difference between prime and choice beef and advocating pouring off wine by the glass at the table), chaotic kitchens and inadequate inventories, lack of consistency at any level and junction, good intentions and no delivery.
RS is raking in mad money, though, exactly due to all the implications above, lowest food cost, overpriced liquor and wine and the seasonal nature of his Bean locations.
By the way, the steakhouse hierarchy in this city is as follows:
Grill 23
Oak Room
…Watch out for KO Prime, Ken may very well do something with food where boutique hotellierism did not work…
Capital Grill (Newbury St), Davio’s, Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris (not necessarily in this order)

THEN, perhaps,
ABE&LOUIE’S
closely followed by the Palm, Fleming’s, that Irish place on Bromfield St…

Bottom line is, if one has low expectations of and/or short term interest in the restaurant industry the BBG would do just fine, no Legal Seafood chain but definitely a better prospect than Uno

This corporate monstrosity is a nightmare for any server who has worked for a smaller, privately owned restaurant! A FIRST for me, I took the job because I needed one asap and was hired on the spot…..The building was completely renovated and the food was reasonably good, also there was a nice deck and the location brought both a decent lunch crowd, as well as an early dinner crowd…..
Management in general sucks, everything is about ‘numbers and revenue’, extreme sidework–which some people neglect to do (try hand washing wine and cola glasses on a busy saturday night)! Steps of service which MUST be follwed and a re ridiculous!!! Long training periods, mandatory tests and then you must serve the regional manager before getting onto the floor. It is NOT fine-dining, for sure…… There is a reason they always seem to be hiring, they treat their employees like shit! Favoritism is rampant and seniority is played out to the hilt…..Some of the senior servers completely suck, get 7 of the best tables, give shitty service, but are making the money and management never bothers them. Everyone else suffers.
Stay away from this nasty restaurant group–PapaRazzi!!! Miserable employment and NOTHING gained!!!!!!!!

i worked at a & l for several years. its was great at first, than the
money hungry clueless sarkis kids came in.

they decided to open the upstairs private room, with a kitchen about the size of a large walkin closet for regular menu dining. Adding about
100 seats to an already HORRIBLY run front door, and several more
servers to the mix!!! recipe for more servers, more seats..same amount
of diners…LESS $$ in servers pockets…and a little more for the restaurant but with a noticeable DROP in quality..my goodness, they actually RENTED cheap wedding furniture like 4 days a week to create this “new dining” room!..

the Maitre-d romeo thinks he can squeeze any tips out of the person looking for a tabe he will have u wait..unncessarily…hence many tables sit
totally empty for the entire night, waiting for that elusive ‘reservation”
they hold WAY too many tables to line the pockets of the front door!!
we had to tip him out a very high % or we’d never get any tables.

the best of boston award is SUCH a joke..porcelain coffee cups//CHEAP
and really bad finish work had brought this restaurant into disrepair and
poor condition..and questionalbe service and truly hit or miss food..
either GREAT or REALLY BAD!!

Back Bay Management is totally clueless….the restaurant management
is worse. Gerry is a puppet, he babysits the TWO immediate OWNERS CHILDREN which are Charles Sarkis JR. the DISTRICT MGR and Amy Sarkis FUNCTIONS DIRECTOR…they are TRUELY CLUELESS!

stay far away from management positions, because as one 16 year
former manager would say..they just get it in their head they dont
like you, and off you go..12, 15, 6, 17 years service..out the door.

payback is a difficult thing..but Abes/BBRG are getting theirs..

I am actually employed at A&Ls, and it’s one of the better jobs I’ve had. The chefs are some of the best I have worked for (between knowledge and respect for their cooks), and the food is always above standards.

I wasn’t around when the Louie Louie dining room opened, but it runs like clockwork now. Everything is very well-tuned, and I can’t imagine many people don’t like dining there, since the sales speak for the restaurant (2nd biggest on east coast, 5th in country, and has higher sales than every other BBRG restaurant combined).

And on top of all that, most of the employees, both FOH and BOH alike, have been with A&Ls for more than 5 years. I also understand that it is much nicer to work for them than any other backbay restaurant because corporate doesn’t interfere with any of the retarded policies that I hear other restaurants adhere to.

Of course, I wouldnt mind trying Atlantic Fish Co. just because of that smokin hot little chef that i’ve noticed there

They are absolutely brutal to work for. The staff at my restaurant payed them back by throwing away as much silverware and glassware as possible. I’m sure that didn;t really hurt the company’s bottom line, but it must have affected some idiot manager’s (undeserved) bonus. The bartenders were robbing the place blind. Some of the staff figured out a bug in the micros system that was VERY profitable for them. I just got another job and never went back. I believe in karma, so I wouldn’t steal, but I can understand why the people there do.

Jackass managers, blatant favoritism for a few servers, and absurd over staffing made it a miserable place to work. Nothing better than having to stay all night, make $40,and get stuck doing all of the sidework for the 2 servers who were making $300.

Stay far, far away from these places.

I worked at a Joes for almost a year and most of the staff in Woburn rocked but there were a few that didnt deserve what they got As far as chefs yelling at you hell ya and I yelled right back we talked at the end of shift over a cig and he was very cool he was stressed by the Sarkis bulls*%t Yes I made money and it was fun the managers could be dickwads but think about what they look up too sidework and getting signed out was a joke taking forever the whole condiment thing god lord if someone ordered a burger you needed to bring over 10 different condiments and hell is far better place than Joes if you forgot one. great place to start your life as a server but you will eventually leave and hate the place

SouthieNative here. This place closed due flood damage last week.

No body has to babysit the Sarkis kids!! Charlie Jr. is the hardest working guy in the Company!!! Any one who puts them down is just a lazy a**! If you do not want to work hard and earn your money then don’t work for BBRG!!

OMFG! I am a seasoned (old…hehehe!38) vetran of the rest. biz and I was HORRIFIED at the way the waitstaff was treated when I worked at Charlie’s!!!(Chestnut Hill)
I have been a bartender/waitress for
20 yrs and have NEVER been treated like such dirt in my life!
I know that I got a little spoiled ’cause I’ve been behind a bar for the last ten years (and it is true that we get treated better than the waitstaff!) but I decided to go on the floor for a change up and maybe see if a bar shift opened up but I didn’t last long enough!!!!
this place is ridiculous!!!!
favoratism,overwhelming side work (signed out by 2 “closers” ) that you can never find!!!
You can’t even take care of your tables ’cause every time you go in the kitchen to get a salad or coffee or anything you are IMMEDIATLY screamed at to run someone else’s food out!!! I have actually been grabbed by management (by the arm) saying “where are you going I told you to run some food!!!) even though I have a tray w/coffee,desserts…etc in my hands already!!!
All of the previous comments about mang. NEVER taking your side and ALWAYS comping the check for anyone who says ANYTHING negative is SOOOOO TRUE!!!
can you say “SNOWBIRDS” any one know what I’m talking about?
Anyways…I’m looking for a job now and came across this website ….I LOVE it, I wish there was one of these ten years (even 5) ago.
keep the awsome bitching coming…and try to keep the world of the rest. biz in perspective, always bitchs,always drugs/booze,always shitty managers!!!
P.S. Don’t ever work at the Coach Grille in Wayland as a Bartender…waitstaff only makes the money!
Stay out of the weeds !!!

Charles Sarkis, his son and all his loyal corporate disciples will constantly let you know how lucky you are to work for them. After all, they provide their beloved employees with a safe and clean working environment (mice, mold, and roaches not withstanding), and of course the opportunity to work in the best restaurant in Boston, if not in the world. He holds 10 year anniversary meetings with all his beloved employees, to motivate their continued loyalty, to scare them with tales of the not so loyal having their hands slammed in the walk-in fridge, and of course to comment on his perceived employee theft problem. He found a great sense of pride in the “fact” that those who work for him always get paid accurately and on time. He exclaimed that when we work, we get paid, he doesn’t steal from us. We in turn should not steal from him. What’s his is his. Oh, the great leader. He speaks these truths… Wait, a minute. He got me thinking. He inspired me, as I’m sure the speech was designed to do. He doesn’t steal from us? Why would he. What’s his is his and what’s ours is ours, right? My inspiration led me to my paychecks. Oh, great leader, your words so inspire! As I review my checks, what is this I see? My humble eyes must be weak. They must ache from the many overtime hours i have worked. My paychecks. All of my paychecks have been altered. What’s mine is mine. But. But. Well, maybe at Abe & Louies, what is mine is really Charlie Sarkis’. Why have my hours been changed? All those overtime hours. Where have they gone? Why have I worked so many loyal hours only to have those overtime hours erased? Disappeared? My time is not my time. What’s mine is not mine. There must be some mistake. Someone as benevolent and generous as Charles Sarkis surely would not steal from ME! Steal from my hourly rate of $2.63? No way. I know. I’ll contact the corporate elite. Must be an error. I will alert them to the error of their ways. Surely i will be lauded for my revelation. My meetings commanded results. Apologies were abundant. Payments were made. I WAS FIRED. Charles Sarkis and his restaurant group stole from me and many, many others. Good people to work for. Good stand-up people top to bottom. Thanks for the years.

Omg this brought beack memories… This was my first “real” serving job (Joe’s). Serving the manager before I could go onto the floor, being told to never leave the kitchen empty handed, taking those retarted tests… wow. I fell one day in the dish area and landed on a broekn wine glass, slicing my finger open. They gave me a ride to the hospital then LEFT me there after I got stitched up, forcing me to take a cab back to the resturant to get my car. I got fired because some I forgot some asshole’s wine. Maybe he should have asked for his glass of wine instead of waiting til the end of the meal then complaining to the manger about it? I was told I made an “egregious” mistake. They suck.

this place is the worst as far as age discrimination. I am an experienced server with a great personality and terrific food and wine knowlege. I have applied at four different Papa Razzi locations (Concord, Chestnut Hill, Wellesley, Framingham) as well as the Woburn Joes American. At none of them would they even speak to me about a job. The saddest thing is some of these places have ads on craigslist week after week. If they’d have bothered to respect a real professional server like me, they would not have had the turnover they do. I looked around at the staff and not a single server is over late 20’s. It sickens me to see that they get away with it.