When I was 16, I had been working in retail for two summers and felt it was time for a faster-paced job. Toward the end of that summer, I took the opportunity to start working—bussing and later, hosting—at my favorite local restaurant. In just a few weeks, I’ll start my fourth summer working at the same small Italian restaurant in my hometown, Funistrada. Â
Before I cover some reasons I love my restaurant job, I feel it’s relevant to say I think I was meant to work in one at some point. My parents once owned a restaurant called North, and around age three or four, I often greeted customers at the door and would say, “Welcome to North.” Since my parents are familiar with the restaurant industry and worked in restaurants at my age, new restaurant openings and components of how restaurants work have been frequent topics of conversation in my childhood home.Â
My love for my current job is also aided by the fact that I have loved this restaurant from a very young age. My dad worked there for just one summer, while my mom was there over a couple of years and during the off-season—aka the whole part of the year which isn’t summer. As a toddler, I was introduced to chicken piccata at my current workplace. Chicken piccata, or “chick pic” when it’s called out on the line, was and is one of my favorite dishes, which I requested that my dad serve on birthdays or other special occasions from a young age. Some of the same front-of-house staff—family friends—I grew up seeing at dinner with my parents would later show me the ropes as a 16-year-old starting my first-ever restaurant job.
First of all, one of the biggest draws to my restaurant job is that it’s convenient in so many ways. I live near the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and working in retail made squeezing in cherished daytime hikes and visits to the beach difficult. At the restaurant, which only serves dinner, I can start work around 4 pm and be done by 10 pm as a hostess, or by 11 pm as a busser. I also don’t have to worry about buying or preparing food to eat at work since there’s a snack served before dinner service begins and a family-style meal ready after the last of the customer entrees have been sent to the dining room. The food the chefs prepare for the staff is super delicious and different from day to day, too!Â
The most significant draw to my restaurant job is that I enjoy the work, my coworkers, and my bosses. Now, I don’t work as a busser, but exclusively as a hostess. It’s been so nice to be able to expand my knowledge and I was able to go from just working as a hostess on the floor to answering the phones, making reservations, selling gift cards, and coordinating carryout orders. I truly love helping customers coordinate their experience at Funistrada within my job role, while also assisting the waitstaff to optimize their anticipation of customers’ needs. At Funistrada, we have so many lovely regular customers, in addition to people vacationing or celebrating special events. Being a part of making someone’s celebration or a simple dinner with friends or family happen is one of the best parts of my job, especially when I am able to get people in for dinner off of a summer waitlist.Â
I have learned so much from my coworkers, both about my job and life. Since I have been at Funistrada for so long, I’ve been able to witness the journey of several of my coworkers from their starting work to now, and it has been so cool to see their evolution! Funistrada also changed ownership since I started, and I am so lucky to be able to say both sets of owners have been awesome and super supportive of the staff!Â