John Vargas, 39, has been working industry for 23 years now. Vargas is currently serving  those in South Brooklyn, at Hawiian taco joint, Ho’brah.  From family owned establishments to corporate  restaurants, he shares his thoughts on the pros and cons in the restaurant industry.  

 

 

 

At the age of 16, Vargas was introduced to the restaurant industry when he started working at a small diner in New Jersey owned by one of his uncles. He was looking for ways to start earning his own money when a family member offered to train him to become a busboy. Ever since, Vargas has been making his living working in the restaurant industry.

Vargas began working at Ho’brah just a year after their grand opening. With his prior experience in the industry, he put his faith in his boss’s promise of  profit and expansion. Today, Vargas also works as one of the restaurant’s managers.

“Working as both a manager and a server, I’ve learned to handle situations by observing them from every point of view. However, there are some instances when you know that you’ve done everything you can to offer a solution to a problem but some customers just refuse to drop their sense of entitlement,” said Vargas.

Being a server for most of his life, Vargas really cares about customer service.  He takes his profession seriously and tries to provide customers with the same respect that he would hope to receive if he were dinning out.

“Its frustrating,” said Vargas. “You have to deal with all sorts of people. Like the ones who treat you like you’re their slave instead of their server.”

After dealing with the difficulties that come along with working as a server, he believes that everyone should work in the restaurant industry at some point in their lives.

“If given the opportunity, I think everyone should work in this industry at some point,” said Vargas. “Whether it be as a server, bus boy , hostess, whichever. I think working in a restaurant provides you with an important set of manners and skills that you need to work anywhere. The biggest thing that I can take away from working in this field is that it has humbled me; it would humble anybody.”