Walking into Saltgrass, you never know what you are going to expect. You can think that things will go a certain way, and then they completely go another. The one thing that makes it all fun is the coworkers. We are from all over the place, Edinburg, Mcallen, Mission, San Juan, Wesleco, and etc. We all have our stories. Most of us opened the store together in May 2014. It is like a second family. Managers greet each employee with a hello and handshake. Regardless how busy they are. We are important to them and they are important to us.

Sugar Caddy

Yes. Sugar caddy not daddy. Every table must have a sugar caddy. It is like a small bowl. It has to have  20 pinks, 20 blues, 10 whites, and 5 yellow (do not recall the names for each type of sugar.) The pink and blue are then fanned on the sides while the white and yellow are down the middle. And at the end of the night when a server wants to get checked out by the head wait….they count..each…one.

Black everything

Black long sleeve shirts. Black Dickies. Black socks. Black undershirt, and it must be all black. Black non-slip shoes. Hair pulled back. Earrings cannot touch the shoulders. Black apron. Shirt, and apron must be pressed and have creases down the middle for the apron and for the shirt on the sleeves. Now…..imagine wearing it every single shift, especially when the weather is cold out and people complain so the managers turn up the heater. Yup. SUCKS.

The inevitable

A table full of doctors is sat in my section. They are in professional clothing, as if they just got out of a conference. They order expensive appetizers, and entrees. They asked for extra sides, and each had a cocktail. They all laugh about some joke that was not even as funny. Yet again it might be the wine that was getting to them. As I am recovering the dirty plates from the table, they ask me what I want to do with the rest of my life. It was going perfect until they had to ask me that damn question. I replied with the best answer possible…"I don't fucking know."…… Minus the f-word

Old bar stools

Walking around the bar, you get to meet some of the people. Usually when you have a table, the people or families are very engaged with their conversations so they normally do not acknowledge you if it does not have to do with the meal. However, the bar is a different story. The people that usually go to the bar area are a lot more social and wanting to talk to others around them. One of our jobs as servers is to run cold bar drinks to the tables that need them. In the process, there are people sitting on the bar tops, talking about their life and how they happened to walk in. Many of my coworkers have even received connections for a career by people that happen to walk onto the bar. Its weird how a little story can change into a life changing experience.

Sunday Funday

Scott Turner. A white man, that I believe is Hispanic on the inside. He is my general manager. Every Sunday he has his days off. However, the restaurant is his wife. Therefore he comes in every Sunday, dressed in blue faded jeans and a black polo with a white shirt underneath. He sits at a two top at the bar. He orders a margarita, on the rocks with an extra salt rim. and lime. For round two, he then asks for a michilada with DosXX. This queso fresco then arrives, which is a queso blanco skillet with brisket, pico de callo, cilantro, and chips. Sunday Funday.

Hard working daddy

His name is Justin. He is a shelfer that started at Saltgrass when the restaurant first opened up. He used to work at Corner Bakery. He is the lead shelfer. He works shifts from 10 am (open) to 10 pm. He ensures that everything goes out perfect to the job. If the guest is not satisfied with the appearance of their food, the manager will make Justin's life a living hell. He takes all the bullshit because it is not jet about him. He has a little man waiting for him at home. Ty needs little things so Justin has to put up with the big things.