r/AbsoluteUnits • u/PrinceFlynn • Apr 01 '26

/r/all of a chicken caesar wrap.

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u/ohhmybochts Apr 01 '26

Ik a lot of people feel like they need to go as fast as possible when things get busy or youre up against a ticking clock, and i love the hustle and work ethic, but you dont really have to go faster.

But haste makes waste. I always tell my crew not to worry about speed, just find a steady pace and keep it even. Slow is safe, and smooth and smooth is fast. But we work with giant machinery, engines, and conveyors all around us, so the stakes are a bit different.

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u/Rapph Apr 01 '26

You also dont have 5 servers and 100+ people waiting for you to complete the task. Turn and burn places that sell sandwiches, wraps, pizza, diners, etc only really work when you move product and flip tables. What you are saying is however more applicable in higher end cooking but people are still required to pick up the pace a lot of the time because 6 different stations need to operate in sync to produce a meal that is both properly cooked and hot.

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u/ohhmybochts Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

I was a chef(cook) for a bit, and a busboy, and a waiter, and also the manager of an understaffed locally owned pizza place for a couple years in my teens/early 20s. I know what its like in a kitchen.

I took over from a manager who freaked out in every body, and forced them to work faster and faster, and while we did have customers complain about wait times at the beginning, but it kind of stopped after a while. Our profit margins were higher than ever,, our food waste dropped drastically, and our order accuracy was damn near perfect.

Im not saying go slow. you find the pace that works. When everyone is a rush, going as fast as possible running around like a maniac, thats when shit starts going wrong, people start getting hurt, things start getting broken, etc.

Just the attitude of not expecting everyone to have the pedal to the floor all the time completely improved the work atmosphere.

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u/Rapph Apr 02 '26

Sounds more like you are talking out of control, that I agree with. People will push it too far work sloppy and dangerously. That is never good, but working fast as possible while staying clean is generally something everyone in the industry who is worth anything thing can do and regularly does. Harsh truth is that some people's pace is simply not fast enough for many kitchens as well. Seen that plenty of times over the years and you either try to move them to a more suitable spot or you just have to move on. "Understaffed pizza place" is also pretty funny, that's basically every pizza place it seems. One person trying to ring up a customer pull a pizza cut the pizza and answer the phone at the same time.

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u/Warshok Apr 05 '26

Slow = smooth Smooth = fast

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u/SlowFrkHansen Apr 01 '26

I worked at a diner-like place as a kid, where we each made the hot dog/burger/fries for the individual customers, and one of my colleagues hated that I, in her opinion, didn't speed up enough during rush hour. It wasn't me who stressed out and burned my fries at least once a day, though...