I would say it’s oranges and apples. Working BOH has more freedom. You don’t have to look good or wear makeup. Your degeneracy/authenticity is often encouraged. You don’t have to put on a customer service face, which can get really emotionally draining.
At least when you are BOH, you can do your shit and go home. Bartenders are often the last ones to leave, the ones who have to constantly oversee and manage drunk and ridiculous people. It’s definitely more emotionally draining in my honest opinion. Mental and emotional would be way more difficult to protect and maintain. BOH, for me, was just a physical push daily.
DubbulGee
FoH all love in their own little world you can’t possibly comprehend how much they struggle /s
lowfreq33
Honestly, if you haven’t done both you don’t have a lot of room to talk in either direction. BOH is hot, physically strenuous at times, longer hours, you deal with a lot of gross stuff. But you can bitch and swear and yell to your heart’s content, tell people to fuck off, smoke weed while you take out the trash, you get a lot of leeway.
FOH you have to kiss peoples ass when they’re being so rude you want to punch them, juggle multiple tables who apparently have never ordered food at a restaurant before, deal with whatever piece of shit computer system you have, deal with the FOH manager who always seems to be in the office and can’t just go around and talk to tables or do their job at all, and you have to smile the whole time. On top of that you never actually know what you’re getting paid. You get some wannabe high roller run up an $800 tab and leave you $5. That produces a whole different kind of anger. Holding all that shit inside while you take verbal abuse from people you wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire requires some next level self control.
YourDeathIsOurReward
BoH doesnt have to deal with asshole customers. You dont have to be presentable. You dont have to wear a service smile despite how bad your day is going. Its all work and acting like one side has it worse is dumb.
Minervas-Madness
Having done both, I’d say FOH is harder for me. Both jobs call for different skill sets, and I know I’m better suited for the BOH.. That’s not to say either job is EASY, both have their own kind of difficulty. If you and that server swapped jobs for a day you’d probably both suffer.
pokiebird
I work both boh and foh. Pretty much the foh is mentally draining and the boh is physically draining. Two sides of a sword fighting the same battle.
bigojijo
When you respect them and empathize they make your job easier.
Dababolical
I’m pretty well convinced line cook is as close as a civilian can get to war. There is no time to cry, no one cares about your feelings, just keep marching forward and try to stay upright.
Error_Evan_not_found
*Tickets printing nonstop in the background*
chilidownmychest
i’ve done both. they do each have their own challenges. tbh, i’m much more suited to BOH cus i don’t have as much people patience, so i do find FOH harder in that sense.
…….that being said, i’m fuckin sick of the shit i hear FOH say and the way they can bark to BOH. and i’ve only heard FOH say shit like “i was a personality hire”.
Lost_Tumbleweed_5669
To be fair it would kill me a bit on the inside to have to be friendly and smiley to every bastard.
TheHighSeasPirate
ITT – A bunch of servers make terrible excuses for how it’s the same hard work as the BOH.
TravisKOP
BOH leaves you physically exhausted, FOH leaves you mentally exhausted. Up to you which you have the stomach for
KoiOf_Madness
I like my FoH coworkers, until they tell me they’re making a paycheck a night in just tips. Then I don’t like the.
YourAverageGod
7-6-2 millimeter full metal jacket
Breadloafs
I’ve been a line cook, and I’m a bartender now.
If the money wasn’t so good, I’d be back on that line in a flash. 10 hours splitting prep and line is so much better than 8 hours with customers in my face.
squeakynickles
Really depends on the person.
I work both FOH and BOH, working service in a packed dining rooms scares the fuck outta me. 10/10 I’d prefer to be in the shit on line
GrandReaction8798
But what song is this?!!!
I must know!!!
Successful_Wealth907
Who’s got the bigger dick
SmananaBoothie
I have managed for damn near a decade now. From server manager to kitchen manager to GM and everything else.
Truthfully I enjoy being in the kitchen short term, but FoH long term is like a boring vacation, very easy yet mundane. Letting someone complain to me isn’t hard, idgaf about their food being slightly too salted this one time, but I care about my reviews looking good, so I just say yes, it’s actually so easy.
Kitchen is hot, constant, draining, and disrespectful from both FoH through lack of knowledge and BoH through stress and exhaustion causing tempers to flare.
BoH is good for feeling fulfilled at the end of your day.
FoH is good for relaxing.
Exa8yte
Boh vs front of house management is where the difference becomes pretty stark. Sous chef/chef vs gm and agm. As a Sous, seeing the agm at my restaurant literally playing games on her phone on the pass because she had “nothing else to do” while I opened the restaurant by myself, was down a line cook and working a station, and hadn’t had a second to breath is what made me quit and go back to hourly. She made $10k more a year than me.
Plantain-Feeling
My favourite front of house line is always
“There’s only X number of us out there” when they do everything possible to inconvenience 1 singular person
Usually the pot wash
And it’s just like
And there’s only one of me in here what’s your fuckin point
mattersmuch
BOH who don’t recognize that FOH is a hard job are some of the most vacant idiots on the planet. Right after that are FOH who don’t recognize that BOH is hard. You fucking work together! Pay attention!
Glad-Fish-7796
NO KITCHEN CLASS WARFARE. WE ARE BOTH COMRADES AGAINST THE COMMON ENEMY (Customers who dared to come in during our open hours)
Kyuso__K
Meanwhile you put the mentally unstable ego fueled BOH doing waiter job he will get a mental breakdown and start yelling within 1 hour into the rush. Because his brain cannot deal with social anxiety
spacex-predator
Yeah, it’s incredibly difficult to smile fuck up orders make in tips the equivalent of 2 1/2 cooks wages for an 8 hour shift when you put in five, get banged in the bathroom by a random customer every other shift and have a balanced home/work life… Whiny FOH will drive you crazy
stickwithplanb
pretty sure anthony bourdain had something to say about this.
iloveprunejuice
Here come the servers pretending like taking dishes to tables and typing things into a computer is hard.
Itonlymatters2us
I’ve been a BOH guy for most of my 27 year career with a bit of FOH here and there. They are both challenging and stressful in their own way, but I’d take the BOH stress over having to deal with some entitled asshole’s attitude.
Mak_daddy623
My favorite was when a server decided to complain to me about how unfair their pooled tips were (he ‘accidentally’ dropped his paystub in the staff room once, and was on pace to make 6 figures)
tehmattrix
Wipe that look off your face, Pyle and report to the D-Fac to peel 100# of russets you maggot.
GallusTom
Oh you’ve got a lot of checks on? Now imagine each check is a table of people constantly vying for your attention with nonsense requests/refills/ temperature adjustments etc. You’ll be begging to be back on that line
abaub710
Kingpin line cook origin story confirmed.
bdrwr
Having worked both sides, it’s just different flavors of ass. BOH is the manic rushes and the unforgiving nature of prepping food orders. FOH is customer service, having to plaster on a fake smile and be totally polite and servile in the face of blatant disrespect and entitled eccentricity. One is stressful because it’s high pressure. The other is stressful because you’re expected to accept abuse as part of the job.
BigCATtrades
Whining about the side of the job you choose to do is always a poor choice & shows your lack of character.
AcidMoonDiver
Dealing with the public is its own kind of hell.
HandicapperGeneral
Having worked basically everywhere in house, it’s pretty annoying to hear anyone scoff at the tribulations of the other. Line is the longest hours and most physically demanding, bar is the most hectic and draining, floor is the most mentally/socially demanding and involves the most cardio. Basically it all sucks shit but at least we can agree that we have it worse than the hosts.
Troubled_Rat
servers have to deal with the guests, sure, there’s wonderful guests – and ofc horrible customers.
38 Comments
I would say it’s oranges and apples. Working BOH has more freedom. You don’t have to look good or wear makeup. Your degeneracy/authenticity is often encouraged. You don’t have to put on a customer service face, which can get really emotionally draining.
At least when you are BOH, you can do your shit and go home. Bartenders are often the last ones to leave, the ones who have to constantly oversee and manage drunk and ridiculous people. It’s definitely more emotionally draining in my honest opinion. Mental and emotional would be way more difficult to protect and maintain. BOH, for me, was just a physical push daily.
FoH all love in their own little world you can’t possibly comprehend how much they struggle /s
Honestly, if you haven’t done both you don’t have a lot of room to talk in either direction. BOH is hot, physically strenuous at times, longer hours, you deal with a lot of gross stuff. But you can bitch and swear and yell to your heart’s content, tell people to fuck off, smoke weed while you take out the trash, you get a lot of leeway.
FOH you have to kiss peoples ass when they’re being so rude you want to punch them, juggle multiple tables who apparently have never ordered food at a restaurant before, deal with whatever piece of shit computer system you have, deal with the FOH manager who always seems to be in the office and can’t just go around and talk to tables or do their job at all, and you have to smile the whole time. On top of that you never actually know what you’re getting paid. You get some wannabe high roller run up an $800 tab and leave you $5. That produces a whole different kind of anger. Holding all that shit inside while you take verbal abuse from people you wouldn’t piss on if they were on fire requires some next level self control.
BoH doesnt have to deal with asshole customers. You dont have to be presentable. You dont have to wear a service smile despite how bad your day is going. Its all work and acting like one side has it worse is dumb.
Having done both, I’d say FOH is harder for me. Both jobs call for different skill sets, and I know I’m better suited for the BOH.. That’s not to say either job is EASY, both have their own kind of difficulty. If you and that server swapped jobs for a day you’d probably both suffer.
I work both boh and foh. Pretty much the foh is mentally draining and the boh is physically draining.
Two sides of a sword fighting the same battle.
When you respect them and empathize they make your job easier.
I’m pretty well convinced line cook is as close as a civilian can get to war. There is no time to cry, no one cares about your feelings, just keep marching forward and try to stay upright.
*Tickets printing nonstop in the background*
i’ve done both. they do each have their own challenges. tbh, i’m much more suited to BOH cus i don’t have as much people patience, so i do find FOH harder in that sense.
…….that being said, i’m fuckin sick of the shit i hear FOH say and the way they can bark to BOH. and i’ve only heard FOH say shit like “i was a personality hire”.
To be fair it would kill me a bit on the inside to have to be friendly and smiley to every bastard.
ITT – A bunch of servers make terrible excuses for how it’s the same hard work as the BOH.
BOH leaves you physically exhausted, FOH leaves you mentally exhausted. Up to you which you have the stomach for
I like my FoH coworkers, until they tell me they’re making a paycheck a night in just tips. Then I don’t like the.
7-6-2 millimeter full metal jacket
I’ve been a line cook, and I’m a bartender now.
If the money wasn’t so good, I’d be back on that line in a flash. 10 hours splitting prep and line is so much better than 8 hours with customers in my face.
Really depends on the person.
I work both FOH and BOH, working service in a packed dining rooms scares the fuck outta me. 10/10 I’d prefer to be in the shit on line
But what song is this?!!!
I must know!!!
Who’s got the bigger dick
I have managed for damn near a decade now. From server manager to kitchen manager to GM and everything else.
Truthfully I enjoy being in the kitchen short term, but FoH long term is like a boring vacation, very easy yet mundane. Letting someone complain to me isn’t hard, idgaf about their food being slightly too salted this one time, but I care about my reviews looking good, so I just say yes, it’s actually so easy.
Kitchen is hot, constant, draining, and disrespectful from both FoH through lack of knowledge and BoH through stress and exhaustion causing tempers to flare.
BoH is good for feeling fulfilled at the end of your day.
FoH is good for relaxing.
Boh vs front of house management is where the difference becomes pretty stark. Sous chef/chef vs gm and agm. As a Sous, seeing the agm at my restaurant literally playing games on her phone on the pass because she had “nothing else to do” while I opened the restaurant by myself, was down a line cook and working a station, and hadn’t had a second to breath is what made me quit and go back to hourly. She made $10k more a year than me.
My favourite front of house line is always
“There’s only X number of us out there” when they do everything possible to inconvenience 1 singular person
Usually the pot wash
And it’s just like
And there’s only one of me in here what’s your fuckin point
BOH who don’t recognize that FOH is a hard job are some of the most vacant idiots on the planet. Right after that are FOH who don’t recognize that BOH is hard. You fucking work together! Pay attention!
NO KITCHEN CLASS WARFARE. WE ARE BOTH COMRADES AGAINST THE COMMON ENEMY (Customers who dared to come in during our open hours)
Meanwhile you put the mentally unstable ego fueled BOH doing waiter job he will get a mental breakdown and start yelling within 1 hour into the rush. Because his brain cannot deal with social anxiety
Yeah, it’s incredibly difficult to smile fuck up orders make in tips the equivalent of 2 1/2 cooks wages for an 8 hour shift when you put in five, get banged in the bathroom by a random customer every other shift and have a balanced home/work life… Whiny FOH will drive you crazy
pretty sure anthony bourdain had something to say about this.
Here come the servers pretending like taking dishes to tables and typing things into a computer is hard.
I’ve been a BOH guy for most of my 27 year career with a bit of FOH here and there. They are both challenging and stressful in their own way, but I’d take the BOH stress over having to deal with some entitled asshole’s attitude.
My favorite was when a server decided to complain to me about how unfair their pooled tips were (he ‘accidentally’ dropped his paystub in the staff room once, and was on pace to make 6 figures)
Wipe that look off your face, Pyle and report to the D-Fac to peel 100# of russets you maggot.
Oh you’ve got a lot of checks on? Now imagine each check is a table of people constantly vying for your attention with nonsense requests/refills/ temperature adjustments etc. You’ll be begging to be back on that line
Kingpin line cook origin story confirmed.
Having worked both sides, it’s just different flavors of ass. BOH is the manic rushes and the unforgiving nature of prepping food orders. FOH is customer service, having to plaster on a fake smile and be totally polite and servile in the face of blatant disrespect and entitled eccentricity. One is stressful because it’s high pressure. The other is stressful because you’re expected to accept abuse as part of the job.
Whining about the side of the job you choose to do is always a poor choice & shows your lack of character.
Dealing with the public is its own kind of hell.
Having worked basically everywhere in house, it’s pretty annoying to hear anyone scoff at the tribulations of the other. Line is the longest hours and most physically demanding, bar is the most hectic and draining, floor is the most mentally/socially demanding and involves the most cardio. Basically it all sucks shit but at least we can agree that we have it worse than the hosts.
servers have to deal with the guests,
sure, there’s wonderful guests – and ofc horrible customers.
but they have to deal with them all + BOH 😛