Pros
Michelin recognized, so guests are excited to be there, so it's easy to sell guests on the menu. Having onsite "sommeliers" (I use this term loosely with some of them) allows you as a server to just focus on the BTG wine and food knowledge (which is more than enough), as opposed to selling bottles yourself. Small sections, small wine bar, bartenders only do service well (separate from wine bar), which would be a dream for some. Sustainable practices are in everything we do, who we work with, and what we make, so there is very little waste (by industry standards) and both staff and guests can feel good about what we make and do. Scott, our wine director, is a wealth of information and heads his own wine school (Grappolo), but isn't around much as this is his main focus. His wife, Paula, is instrumental in our sustainability and gastronomic efforts, and Olivia would truly be nothing without her. Set closed days (Sun, Mon) make scheduling more predictable.
Cons
Small business = less transparency. There is no HR, and managers have each others backs, as you would imagine. A manager was caught pocketing cash tips from a guest, and our host called him out on it. Only then did he fess up and add it back to the tip pool. He wasn't fired, even though this is straight up illegal. Also, Restaurant Olivia hourlies are paid based on hours worked + a tip pool, but because there isn't a detailed / clear policy, no one knows exactly where all of the money is going, and it seems like most of the servers are too apathetic to investigate further or try to change things. Only when Dear Emilia, their second concept, opened did new recruits ask for more openness and transparency in this area, and even then it's still not 100% fleshed out, at least on the Olivia side of things. Also, there is an automatic 20% "service charge" on the bill for each guest, and while this is what goes into the tip pool, it's specifically called this and not a "tip" / "gratuity" because it would be designated differently, legally speaking. Also, this part is hearsay, but this designation also allows them to use part of the tip pool (or I guess it should be called a "gratuity pool" based on what I just said) to pay salaried employees. They definitely don't mention any of this during the interview and onboarding process, and if they did things would be very different. Also, the internal motto of "Take care of (y)ourselves / Take care of each other / Take care of our guests" would be a lot less hypocritical if they actually offered health insurance at this company. One of our chefs shattered his arm in an accident (not at work), and I honestly have no idea how he's paying for the medical care. Training and onboarding is lacking, inconsistent, and not well structured. There are so many things I never learned or wasn't informed on, and still didn't have knowledge on months in because I didn't know to ask. It looks different for each employee, and FOH training is usually determined day of and thrown onto one of the senior servers. Giving feedback is an option, but hasn't really been acted upon during my time. One of the sommeliers has a history of hitting on women at our tables (not to mention ones among the staff), and has made guests uncomfortable on multiple occasions. Management hasn't stopped him or bothered to correct this, so it continues happening (he came in drunk on one of his Saturdays off and followed a group of women diners out to their Uber). One employee was fired during my time here -- there were probably several reasons, but mainly it was because she wasn't well liked, and she constantly pushed for more transparency around pay and where the tips were going. She alerted the labor board, but I don't know if a full-fledged case was made. Regardless, doing this definitely pissed off ownership. She also had a family emergency at one point, and they fired her for calling off because of it, in addition to the labor board "scare". Not only this, but they gave her a $5000 check upon firing her. It seemed like hush money, or given to implicate her in some way to invalidate her labor board case, if she were to actually cash it. Ownership can be a pain in the a**, but have backed off a bit since their new baby Emilia is open and getting off the ground. They also have a history of working for / with Bonnano Concepts (see Mizuna), so some of what I mentioned above shouldn't come as a surprise. Long-standing employees can be cliquey and decide whether they like a new employee or not (I've seen it go very well and also very badly). The concept of "night cleaners" and outsourcing this, as many restaurants would, is foreign to this company, and is done entirely by yours truly and the server team on a daily basis. If you as a guest make a mess in the bathroom, we're cleaning it up before, during, or after service. In my view, there is a lot of extra work and not enough compensation to justify it. The head chef / part owner definitely isn't the most disrespectful I've ever worked with, but there are people he won't address, let alone by name, even if they've worked at Olivia for months. It's weird and there is something off about him. Maybe there has to be something off about you to thrive and succeed in this restaurant? lol. Also, on that note, leadership is very "pale and male," and so the problems that come with it are as one would expect, unfortunately.