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.

HEARD

Communication is key when working at a restaurant. When someone tells you something or ask you to take something to the floor, you must say HEARD. Heard is very key. Heard is yes I get what you mean or yes I will do it. If you do not say it, they nobody will assume that you are on the mission to completing the circle. HEARD is basically a preach in the restaurant business.

Large parties

Large parties. They can be either a hit or miss. It is very hard to tell from the beginning. The manager makes the line up, or divide the sections them among the servers. Gratuity can not be added on the tab unless the manager suggest and the guest accept and allow it to be added. Also it can be tricky because of people that have a party of 12 or more, it must be shared with another server as well. Among that whatever the tip is, it must be divided among each server that is on the party. PLUS tip share is higher when dealing with a party. Putting in the order is very critical because it must be perfect so the kitchen is not overwhelmed. The best part of the party however, is the clean up *sarcastic smirk.*

Trays for dayssss

Serving had its ups and downs. It can be very rewarding or very disappointing. There are a million things on the mind of a server. However, one of the most annoying things that servers have to deal with is FREAKIN' TRAYS.

There are small trays that are used for cocktails or other beverages that come from the bar.

Aside from that, everything else that is brought from the kitchen...must be a large tray.

Although the trays seem very light and manageable, when there is a party of 12+ and you have to get there berverages out and bread AND plates, it can be struggle. Having to balance all those items on one shoulder and keep up with your right arm is such a challenge. Especially when the entire room is crowded or there are children running EVERYWHERE.

Damn you trays.

It was a good day

Family of seven is sat at a round table. There is a mother, a father, two older sons, a toddler, grandmother, and grandfather. they spread around the table to look for a comfortable seat. The father takes off his coat and lightly places it around his chair. As I approach to the table, the father pulls out a rewards card that collects points every time they dine in a Landry's restaurant, which includes Saltgrass Steakhouse.

The table orders on appetizer: lemon pepper zucchini. After the appetizer is placed in the middle of the table, I begin to circle the table taking everyone's order.

Two steak and shrimps, 8 ounce both cooked medium (hot-pink centered), 9 ounce filet cocked medium rare (war- red center) with bleu cheese butter melted on top, 16 ounce Pat's ribeye prepared medium, and two 22 ounce Silver-star  porterhouse, prepared medium-well (thin line of pink).

Included with their meals was a soup or salad.

After they finished their entire meal, they slowly reclined in their table, as though the food coma has won. They discussed politics, the next family vacation, Thanksgiving plans, and what they wanted for Christmas.

20 minutes later, the father asked for the check. After I cash them out, they all express their gratitude for the service they received. As they all got up and put on their coats, the father called me to the table and handed me money in my hands. Out of respect I say thank you and put it away, not opening it in front of them. I quickly walk to the main entrance and hold the door open for them. As I walk to the kitchen, I take the money from my apron. It was a very generous tip. But it wasn't the tip that made me happy, it was the way they talked to me and humble they were. It was a good day.

Brownie skillet crumble

Of course, almost every restaurant carries a selection of desserts on their menu.

Desserts are so popular at Saltgrass Steakhouse that they themselves carry their own special menu.

The menu contains a strawberry cheesecake, chocolate cake, carrot cake.

In addition there are holiday desserts which includes pumpkin pie, bread pudding and the blueberry-peach cobbler.

All of these are made from scratch, and in fact all very delicious, there is a special dessert that is extra popular....THE BORWNIE SKILLET CRUMBLE

An oatmeal cookie is warmed on a black, thin skillet under a heated vent. Once it is a golden brown and toasted, the skillet is taken out and a warm chocolate brownie is places on top. Chocolate syrup is then lightly drizzled on top of the brownie, going diagonally. One scoop of Blue Bunny vanilla ice cream goes next over the brownie (usually is Blue Bell, but had to be changed). The final touch is caramel sauce drizzled across the vanilla ice cream.

Yum!

Professionalism is key

"Walk the restaurant and find something to do!" That's all that the managers tell the servers and they constantly talk to one another. It's dead season. This means that from July up until the end of October, restaurants are slow. People are recuperating from back to school and getting their schedules back on track. Therefore, servers have to find a way to make it through the hardship. 

So as I continue to talk the restaurant, looking for something to distract me from wanting to fall asleep standing up (been done before), I hear my coworkers talking about something sounding scandalous. 

"Did you see her?" "Damn, she's so hot." "I hope they hire her." 

Didn't talk too long to realize that after glancing at the cocktail area, there was the girl that they were all cat-calling at. She was sitting down at table 503. Blonde, shoulder-length hair. Heavy makeup with bright purple eye shadow. Her top only covered her front area, barely her cleavage. Her jeans were those purposely washed out and ripped around the knees. As she is filling out the application, I can hear my managers laughing and giggling. 

They continuously kept asking if she was being serious. Thinking that she would be getting hired after coming to a job interview dressed unprofessionally. They then proceeded her way when it looked like she was done with the interview. Everyone deserves a second chance, so they gave her another to come back tomorrow, dressed more professional. 

Safe to say she did not get hired. And not because of her previous attire. She was not hired after she was asked if she had experience in the food industry and was able to carry a tray. Lets just say that the tray did a back flip in the middle of the dinning room. 

The struggle is real

Walk in to the resturant and feel the family environment, first date jitters, and business conversations that discuss "important topics" over three margaritas. Behind the scenes, of the delicious food are the servers that are continuously "weeded."Weeded can be used as the removal of unwanted plants.
In the Saltgrass world, weeded signifies a plea for help because the server/cook/manager is about to looks their damn mind.
Saturday am/pm exchange is usually a smooth transition. The servers from the morning are released from hell as the night crew is joining the fiesta. Walk to the back of the kitchen and hear the cooks bashing the server that had a pocket ticket (late order) for over 30 minutes and now wants the food on the fly. The shelfer, who expos the food and makes sure that it goes out the window looking amazing, complains about the servers leaving the condiments scattered everywhere. Servers go back to the kitchen and argue with the cooks on how their table 62, seat 3, needs an upcook because their Pat's ribeye was too raw for the guest's liking. And they forgot to add the smothered topping! Cooks then tell the shelfers to pass on the message on how they no longer have rice at the moment. "86 rice! Pass it on, let everyone know!"
The restaurant is pretty slow for a saturday night. Then…BAM. Big pop at 7:30 with two tops coming in left and right and large parties of seven walking behind them. For servers, this can only mean one thing…Double sat, the rest of the night. Maybe even triple!
The only thing that can come to one's mind at that point is the nice cold beer to go along with their prolonged rant with the other fallen.

Saltgrass Steakhouse's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Welcomed by the restaurant to the smell of melted jack cheese, burned sirloin (as most prefer it that way) and tropical sangrias. I walk to the back and avoid the fact that my tummy is screaming for a piece of bread that is being kept warm in the industrial oven.
Walk away from my boss after being yelled at that my apron is a tad too wrinkled and he can see the ceases that go down the back of my black button down.
The host grabs my attention as she tells me my first table has been sat.
Okay. Walk over with the biggest fake smile that I usually have on my face daily at work.
Table of four with a a lady that looks like she has an issue with not having a booth of her choice and looking at me as though I am walking to slow for her liking.
Welcome them to choosing to dine with us and immediately I'm interrupted by the mom asking for an unsweet peach tea and then ordering for everyone else.
Balancing their drinks and Shiner beer bock bread on a large tray on my shoulder is not as easy as it looks.
After placing the first drink on the table I am bombarded with their feast, I mean order, and ask them to patiently wait as I am in the middle of dropping off their drinks.
Double check their order. As I am leaving the table I feel a tap on my waist to see the mom shaking her glass in the air for another refill. I ask if I can get them anything else before I return. She shakes her head no as if I asked a ridiculous question. Return with her drink and as I leave again I hear her snapping her fingers rapidly like there were about to create a flame. She glared and said I forgot her ranch. Smile back and respond with a slow nod. As I poor the ranch in the ramekin, it lands on my shoe. GREAT.
Drop off the ranch and mumble as I walk away, "There's your darn ranch."