Photo by Jon Anderson.
Seth White.
Q: What all do you do here?
A: I coach and correct team members on-site, so if something is not being done correctly, I go behind them and tell them, ‘This needs to be the way it’s done.’ I order truck. I take inventory — just all around take care of the restaurant. I’m taking care of the irrigation system now as well. I’m working with the landscapers now as well to get the front of the house looking better.
Q: How long have you been doing this?
A: I’ve been a manager just now coming up on a year, but I’ve been working for Darden Restaurants for eight years. I started in Tuscaloosa as a busser when I was in high school, and then I kind of just moved my way around the restaurant. I was a busser, a host, server, then on to the kitchen, then I ultimately moved up to be a manager here.
Q: What’s the best part of your job?
A: My favorite thing is whenever I have a guest come up to me on their way out the door and tell me how amazing everything went, like their server just went above and beyond and took great care of them, and they’ll definitely come back and see us again. Probably next week they’re going to become a regular for us. That’s one of my favorite things to hear.
Q: What’s the most challenging part of the job?
A: Probably the guests as well. We have some guests that come in here, and they’re super happy with everything, and every now and then we’ll have an unsatisfied guest we’ll have to take care of. But that’s not an issue. It’s pretty easy to take care of an upset guest because it’s either the service or their food. You can fix either of those issues.
