Hot take: Hitting 100 covers in a single night isn't the flex people think it is

Everyone brags about doing 100 covers in a shift at this place in Chicago, but honestly that number surprised me for the wrong reasons. We did 112 last Saturday and the quality dropped hard on the last 30 plates. I'd rather do 75 good ones where i can actually taste the sauce than rush through 100 sloppy meals. How many of you actually think that volume number matters over consistency?

2 comments

2 Comments

palmer.henry1mo ago

Crazy numbers get the owners talking but the regulars notice the sloppy plates way before the ticket count gets tallied. The real skill is keeping consistency up when it gets hectic, not just cranking out food for the sake of a high number. Volume impresses the new guys but the vets know quality keeps the seats filled week after week.

margaret_bennett31mo ago

Notice how nobody mentions the mental toll that kind of pace takes on the whole team. When you're cranking out numbers like 100 plus, you're not just compromising the food, you're teaching bad habits to the younger cooks who think speed is the only thing that matters. I watched a kid at a place I used to work at learn to skip tasting his sauces just to save ten seconds on every ticket. Six months later he couldn't tell you if a hollandaise was broken because he never stopped to check. That number on the board costs you more than just a few sloppy plates, it costs you the next generation of cooks who never learn what good actually tastes like.