Side Work Podcast

Today we bring you some wet and wild Server Submitted Stories and then get down to the business of unionizing. Joining us to talk about the sweet and not so savory parts of demanding safe and equitable working conditions is Cass Vogel, a baker at Donut Friend.

In today's episode we explore the origins of buffets and how that led to AYCE as a very American pastime. Joining us to shine some light on this highly secretive business model is podcast favorite, Ken Reid!

Valentine's Day is already one of the most dreaded nights of the year for restaurants and their employees. Now throw in a global pandemic to spice things up and you've got a giant, chocolate covered situation on your hands. Joining us to breakdown some headlines and Server Submitted Stories is podcast favorite, Qualin Harris. We love you guys. Godspeed and Good Health!

We are serving up your hot takes on the restaurant industry in another Server Submitted Episode!

Today we get to see how the sausage is made while going down the checklist of what it took for Jim VanBlaricum to open a bar in Los Angeles. Hindsight is 20/20, but predicting a pandemic? There isn't a phrase for that yet.  

We discover all of the pent up emotions and opinions we've been carrying toward the work place bathroom and let loose in today's episode. But first, we address some headlines and Server Submitted Stories with friend of the pod, James Dunn!

Today feels like a great day to recap some wild headlines and read a generous helping of Server Submitted Stooooooorrrrriessssss.

Welp, we did it, guys. Let's say farewell to the most notorious year of our lives thus far and usher in good tips, good health, and good vibes for 2021! Thank you for supporting, listening and being a part of the Side Work family! Much love. 

Today we praise your hustle on these holiday shifts when everyone else is in full-on merry consumer mode. God Speed and Good Tips!

Necessity is the mother of invention and the chaos of Covid-19 has forced the service industry to think on its feet. Today we discuss all the ways bars, restaurants and servers have pivoted to keep their business open or create something even better than the original idea. We interview Zach Eichenhorn and Liz Norment, creators of Sneaky Spirits Social Club about their brilliant bartending turned business pivot!

In today's episode we discuss the multitude of ways the service industry is set up to mess up your body. From racks of glassware and slippery floors to scalding soup and cramped quarters, it's a miracle any time you can make it home from a shift unscathed! 

Today we dissect all of the psychology and design that goes into the "bill of fare".  Joining us for a discussion longer than the Cheesecake Factory menu is friend of the pod and former California Pizza Kitchen server, Sean Parkinson!

First things first - are you registered to vote? Second things second - on today's episode we explore all of the ways being in the service industry makes you a natural born politician. Joining us is long time server Ross van Dongen who decided to take a chance and make the jump to working in politics and found that he's got the skills to pay the bills because of waiting and bartending.

Today, we shout out educators who moonlight as servers and bartenders to make up for criminally low salaries. Now, with both industries posing safety risks, or simply not operating like usual, where does that leave us? Our friend Nadyja Von Ebers joins us to talk about being the ultimate service oriented person as a teacher and bartender.

Every new job requires training of some sort but there is nothing more painful than the dreaded trail shift at a restaurant. Comedian and former Hacienda Hell employee Jason Burke joins us to discuss all the ways in which this experience is so demoralizing. 

It's time for another three day weekend of service hell as we bid farewell to the summer that never was. To help us ease the pain we invite podcast and pie maven Jackie Zebrowski to chop it up with us and read an epic Server Submitted Story.

We asked for stories, you served it up! Enjoy a full length episode featuring all of the misdeeds, mess-ups, and mayhem from your serving and bartending jobs!

After a three part exploration of liquor and cocktail consumption in the U.S., we'd be remiss to leave out the wine bar boom! Forgive us, Lord, for we have ZINNED. Josh Hanness joins us to discuss all the pros, cons, and broken glassware that is part of bartending for "wine people".

Today we wrap up our exploration of American liquor consumption and cocktail culture as we enter the dark drinking ages before a glorious rebirth. To get back to basics, bars and clubs had to suffer through bottle service, artificial sweeteners and Vodka Red Bull.  "The Jimmer", James Dunn dishes on headlines and Server Submitted Stories with us once more! 

In part two of our brief history of American cocktail culture, women step up and into the role of bar keeps and grog hawkers, WWII ushers in an era of Polynesian delight and paves the way for Tiki time! Ooga Booga!

On today's episode, we shake and stir our way back to the late 1800's to chat about the evolution of cocktail culture, bartending, and the crazy ways the lead up to Prohibition shaped the country and how its affects are still seen today. Favorite guest James Dunn, aka "Blind Dish Pig", joins in and now all we want is someone to make us a fancy drink.

Today we swing back to the early 2000's when a trendy revival of big band dancing ushered in a craze of martini bars and modern jazz clubs. Kara Klenk hops on to chat all about her days of service in Boston, MA. And as always we jump, jive, and wail those headlines and server submitted stories your way!

Ever wonder what it's like to work on a cruise line? Our topic of discussion really sets sail into uncharted waters as we learn about this wild and challenging version of the service industry! Our guest, and salty sea dog Dunbar Dicks spent months on end aboard these floating prisons and ooooo baby he has some stories. 

Today in a follow up episode, we lay out exactly why and how the service industry has never been an equitable career for people of color and women. And on the flip side we talk about bias toward customers we all have felt or dealt with. True story! The good news? It can change and it is changing so today, let’s start that conversation!

Today we discuss the open secret of restaurant culture: Discrimination. 

Since Sunday is the fifty-first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that occurred on June 28, 1969, we wanted to celebrate and honor the gay bar that launched civil rights for the LGBTQ community and lead to fifty years of Pride parades world wide. Happy Pride!

We explore the troubling history of the tipping “economy” in America with Confessions of a Server creator, Qualin Harris. What evolves during the service industry history lesson is racial blind spots on our part and how we all need to educate ourselves above all when it comes to the history of inequality black people live with daily. From there we can demand a brighter future for the service industry which we all agree can improve too. As always, we’re serving up hot headlines and your Server Submitted Stories!

Waiting tables. It's not for everybody and that's because some people literally cannot handle the job. Today our guest Dave Holmes outs himself as a terrible waiter much to Brooke and Andrea's delight. But before we dive into the world of folks who can't hack it in the service industry, we have some fresh headlines, a lil' Rat Chat for ya and of course your Server Submitted Stories! 

Hello! Our Regularly scheduled episode rolls out on Last Podcast Network early next week and then we will return to our regular schedule of posting on Fridays! Until Then, you can catch Brooke and Andrea talking all things service industry on LPN's hilarious podcast The Brighter Side right now! Enjoy past guests Ed Larson and Amber Nelson hosting three rounds of their quickfire game Hoopagoogoo with your Side Work gals.

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On today's episode, the gods of dumb service industry headlines smiled upon us and really dished it up. Then our topic of the day is all about the term “Karen” and what it’s meant in the service industry for years, while morphing into the mainstream as a term for white women who shirk off Covid-19 safety precautions and equate masks to slavery. Really, Karen? Our guest is the hilarious Naomi Ekperigin who weighs in on this irksome creature.

It's time to lighten this pandemic funk we've been feeling and return to some business as usual. After tackling some tasty headlines and diving back into tales from the "Unnamed Chicago 4 AM Bar", we explore the topic of Drag Brunch! Joining us is former server, comedian, and current Queen, H. Alan Scott, AKA Sadie Pines to discuss the evolution of having your eggs with a side of wig wearing and gallons of booze!

We are back speaking with our friend, bartender, bar and karaoke company owner Thom Sigsby of Hi-Ho Karaoke fame here in Los Angeles. Not only did his bar, The Fable, get punched in the nuts by Coronavirus, so did his karaoke business. We learn about what it takes to have a successful, and super fun karaoke gig while simultaneously apologizing for being terrors whenever we descend upon one of Thom's karaoke nights. And of course we worry about the future of karaoke. At the top of the show, we learn more about Restaurant Opportunity Centers (ROC-united.org) and the Music City chapter pushing their "Safer At Work" campaign! 

Restaurants are open and we are not okay with it.  We talk with Tyler Price who is forming a new Restaurant Opportunity Center (ROC) in Nashville  and their path to unionizing. Then, bar & small business owner Thom Sigsby tells us about all the ways the government is NOT coming through to help independently owned establishments.

(Sorry about the glitch but we caught it fast and re-posted with the audio fixed!) It's getting crazier and crazier out there, folks. In today's episode we start to explore existing unions for service workers and our aim is to learn how we can do it too! Then we talk about the One Fair Wage movement all while being accompanied by our favorite funny friend Nick Vatterott. God Speed and Good Health!

Reporting live from quarantine, we have some foot soldiers on the ground in Ft. Worth TX call in to tell us how they're handling their restaurant turning into a carry-out version of Road House! We begin an epic novella of Server Submitted Stories and then speak with a couple that has been quarantined from one another for over a month and dive into our topic of the day: Working With Your Significant Other.

Hey Side Work family! Today we've got some great stories from listeners, plus latest news from the ever-changing pivots restaurants are doing to stay alive. James Dunn joins us as we move on to the topic of the day: Mom and Pop restaurants. God Speed and Good Health. 

We have lots more info coming your way today as our industry scrambles to figure out how to stay alive during Covid-19. Then we talk about an issue very important to us: our PETS! More specifically, cat cafes and dog friendly restaurants and there is no one better to join us for this chat than iconic podcast host and producer Steven Ray Morris! God Speed and Good Health!

Today's topic: The Shift Drink. Many of us are now doing that with our old co-workers over Zoom or Face Time and Matt Braunger (from our first episode ever!) joins us again and brings the hilarity. But before we get into the good ol' days we have information and resources for you all so please do your due diligence and find out what type of forms / applications need to be filled out so you can receive financial assistance during this wild time. We love you all. God Speed and Good Health!

While we work on and record some new episodes in this Covid-19 landscape, let's go back to three weeks ago when things felt normal and we didn't have a care in the world! So, here is part two of a deep dive into the lives of our coffee-centric service brothers and sisters with Simon Gibson. If you can still safely go get some coffee, do it! God Speed and Good Health and we will have brand new content on Friday. 

Hey Side Work family! This was recorded on Saturday (all sitting 6 ft apart) while restaurants were threatening to close but hadn't yet. As this pandemic continues to deal blows day by day some of our discussion is already old news but we think you'll laugh and enjoy anyways!! We love you all and want you to stay positive, healthy, and connected to us and each other! Send us stories like usual --- old ones, new crazy ones - we are here for it and will share. In the meantime, please enjoy repeat guest Ken Reid who is possibly a comic genius. God Speed and Good Health!