Konbi Reviews

Cons

upper management was not it.

Cons

- I never received official employment documents, such as signing an agreement or an employee handbook - Though I was told by many staff members that I was the best server of all front of house, I was one day taken off the schedule which was their version of firing me. - In the summer I worked there, the turnover was constant. There wasn’t even a couple weeks of staff stability. People would get fired for moving slow, or just quit because of getting screamed at and cussed at frequently. - The owners have no social skills and clear anger problems - One of the owners also makes sexual comments or actions, such as imitating a sexual act on an employee.

Cons

Entry-level wages with high expectations, expectations never fully expressed, hostile owners creating a hostile, passive-aggressive environment, highly unprofessional banter including very casual sexual harassment, willingness to terminate employment at the drop of a hat, micromanagement, encouragement to work off-the-clock, clear preferential treatment, false feminist agenda.

Cons

Everything under the sun other than the three “pros” I had to scrape the bottom of the barrel for, listed above. Wholly disappointing work experience from start to finish. The owners put on a phony front that the team is paramount above all else — but end up treating employees as disposable. During the time I was there (and since, as I’ve connected and corroborated stories with a growing group of managers inexplicably fired via no-subject-line email), I experienced nothing short of a revolving door of front of house and back of house staff; this is a far higher turnover rate than any restaurant at the “high caliber” Konbi fancies itself. Also experienced sexism and casual workplace sexual harassment. “Normal kitchen behavior” from male cooks is out in the open due to the small environment so it’s on view for employees and guests alike. This includes everything from mock oral sex to objectifying customers’ bodies in front of others, plus lots in between — all of which came from the owners. Also experienced being violently screamed and cursed at by owners. Really nothing to add to that. If nothing else, the lack of structure, and reluctance to put any structure in place, was the most frustrating. Restaurant culture can be terrible but at least many other restaurants run like finely tuned machines and have tight-knit, ride-or-die teams. Sometimes makes the toxic culture worth it. Nothing about Konbi is worth it. As a hopeful employee, Konbi seemed too good to be true. And it definitely was. Glad I got out when I did.