I am currently a restaurant manager for Bar Louie in Newport, Kentucky. Prior to this, I was a manager for an Outback-affiliated restaurant for over three years where I had been a server for nearly two years (in addition to a variety of other positions), and I have worked at a variety of other places. I started out at a restaurant called Cadillac Ranch in Kalamazoo where I worked for about eight months (until right before it closed), and then worked the following summer at the Frankenmuth Brewery in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Working at the Brewery played a large part in me falling in love with the restaurant industry. I was very sad to leave the Brewery and the people there when I went back to school that fall, but it gave me four months of incredible serving experience and a better look into how restaurants run. The following January I was hired into a small-town pub called Rhino's just north of Kalamazoo. I absolutely hated working there (the management was a joke, and I was only part-time) and wanted to find something that I could do more full-time (like I had been at the Brewery) once I was finished with school. I stayed with Rhino's through mid-June, which is when I was hired into my previous restaurant for its grand opening in Michigan. I was thrilled for the opportunity to be in the original staff for a new restaurant, and ended up absolutely adoring my job. I worked for a couple of other restaurants part-time while I was still just a server and trainer there (Bennigan's and Francois'), but it was always where my loyalties stood.

I've fallen in love with working in the restaurant industry and Dan and I often discuss our future restaurant together. The atmosphere is so unique, and every day is different from the last--I never get bored with my job. The industry definitely comes with its own set of challenges, however, and it's not for everybody. In Michigan, servers only make $2.65 an hour (a lot of people don't realize that), so they really rely on tips to pay their bills. Some restaurants are highly lucrative for servers (particularly very high end or exceptionally busy restaurants), but a large number really aren't, so every little bit counts. Whenever I go out to eat I am certain to tip roughly 20% of the bill, and often more. Even when I have really bad service I'm not likely to tip less than 18%; I understand that there is a lot more to the server's job than meets the eye, and I never know what might be happening behind the scenes.

I could go on for hours about serving, and restaurants, and about dining etiquette, but this really isn't the space, so I'll spare you the lecture...this time *grins and winks*