assistant manager

head chef

chef

supervisor

general manager

Zizzi

1) When I got that job, I didn't even have an interview. For me, that indicates lack of professionalism and no recruitment standards.

2) Minimum wage without any prospects of increase.

3) No training. 
Literally put me at the bar on my own from the very first day without the basic training, not even to show me where is everything. Bonus point, they put me to sign I ve got training when I signed my contract (they said it's about the training I will get later... never got).

4) ALWAYS understaffed.
Maked us running like headless chickens in order to make all the orders, stock up the drinks, keep clean and tidy, cut fresh fuits, empy the bins, etc. 
Usually there was only one person at the bar to do all of these for a store which is in a mall, and had constantly orders coming. (On Saturday evenings, there were two people)

5) They used to give me shifts whenever (a lot of times out of my availability).

6) Clocking in & Clocking out 'system' (2019) is on a piece of paper which is 99% of the time at the bar. 
I can't imagine if someone drops a coke or something on it how they are going to short out the payments for next month. (payments are every 4 weeks).

7) Some of the crew members had 11-hour shifts while others had only 2 hours! ... Yes, 2 hours shift.

8) Real conversation:
Manager: "Well, you have 3 hours shift today (12:00-15:00), but if it's busy I will ask you to stay longer".
Me: "I was planning to study for my exam which is in 2 days after my shift".
Manager: "That's not how it works, if it's busy; you have to stay".
Me: "What do you mean you will 'ask' me then? And what if it's not busy?"
Manager: "If it's not busy, I will ask you to finish at 14:00. That's how it works, so it's your decision if you want to keep working here".
(I left the job after that immediately).

9) No protective equipment.
Had to emptying the bins with broken bottles/glasses without even wearing gloves (I asked if there are any, they said not really). Bonus point, the bins with empty bottles/broken glasses never had bin bags on.

10) There is no break for those who work less than 7 hours.

11) There are few people who are friendly. However, most of them are not. (That goes back to the lack of recruitment standards).

12) The only good thing might be some free meels. BUT, no free food after 17:00. So, if you work evenings; you have to pay for your food (half price fortunately). Still I can not understand, why someone who works for example 3 hours in the morning is allowed to have free food and someone who works for example 6 hours in the evening is Not allowed.

"We don't make good times, we do great times.. for our customers, and the worst nightmare of our staff to maximise the profit.."

Working as a general manager at Zizzi was one of the most frustrating experiences of my hospitality career. On the surface, it looks like a modern, trendy brand with a great vibe, but behind the scenes, it’s a different story.

First off, the support from upper management was inconsistent at best, and at times completely absent. Targets were unrealistic, with constant pressure to cut labour and costs, while still being expected to deliver top-tier guest experience and high staff morale — all with minimal resources.

The staffing model is broken. We were regularly understaffed, especially in the kitchen, and any attempts to hire or retain quality team members were stifled by poor pay and limited progression opportunities. Turnover was incredibly high, and head office seemed more focused on saving pennies than investing in people.

Training was minimal, onboarding was rushed, and any “support” usually came in the form of last-minute panic emails or micromanagement from area managers who didn’t fully understand the daily challenges on the ground.

The systems are outdated, and when they fail (which they do often), you’re left scrambling without proper tech or IT support. Even simple things like stock ordering and rota planning became unnecessarily stressful due to clunky software and ever-changing policies.

Ultimately, Zizzi talks a lot about values and culture, but in reality, it felt more like a revolving door. As a GM, you’re expected to be everything — chef, HR, cleaner, therapist, and miracle worker — without the tools or support to do the job well.

Would not recommend for anyone looking to build a long-term, fulfilling career in hospitality leadership.

A typical day at work starts at 9am. I begin by conducting health and safety checks to ensure we are safe an compliant to trade. After which I set up the restaurant ready to trade. Once the business is set up I will carry out admin tasks such as rota's forecasting, filing and responding to communications via email. Once the restaurant is open it's all about the customer. I meet and greet guests and ensure that every aspect of the guest experience meets the company's expectation. To do this I am expected to work alone and as part of a team.
Once the restaurant is closed I cash up, secure the takings and close the business up and prepare for the following day.

From working at Zizzi Bexleyheath I have learned how to recruit and manage a successful team to deliver the complete guest experience. I have also learned how to addapt to different clientelle due to working in different branches in different areas. I have learnt how to set goals and how to plan to acchieve my goals. I have learnt the importance of team work.

With regards to management, I have been lucky enough to have a very supportive line manager who does not micro manage and within reason will give a free reign and freedom to make decisions for the good of the restaurant.

The culture I have enstilled in my team is teamwork. I have tried to instill confidance in my management team to be able to make their own decisions when running their shifts.

The hardest part of the job is the unpredictability of the trade. On many occasions I have found myself under staffed and under a lot of pressure to deliver a good experience to all guests. On the flip side of this I also need to control costs based on the company expectation. Much of which becomes easier with experience.

The most enjoyable part of the job is training a new team member and seeing them become part of the team. I also enjoy it when we have had a tough shift but all pulled together to acchieve our targets with no complaints.

A typical day as a waiter/barman at Zizzi's, Market Harborough, would consist of restocking in the morning with slow early trade to then prepare for the more busy late shift. This is when most of the money as a waiter would be made.

When working for this business it soon became apparent that the 'team' wasn't so much of a team and workers were urged to look at their selves as individuals rather than a team. The lesson I learn't was that the restaurant couldn't run if people seen their selves as individuals as this would produce a slow services and when being placed as a barman/waiter, you will earn less tips due to the rest of the restaurants reliance on your job. When being the barman the pressure is on you to make sure others can supply a decent service, however a minority of waiters/waitress's would actually share their tips with you at the end of the night for providing such a service for them to offer the service in the first place. This would result in less benefits for yourself in the individual based work culture and more for everyone else.

The management is very different to what the company actually wants and the service the company actually wants is very different to what is actually given. When training up the service taught is to be very customer focused and experience based, however management must have strict targets to make each week and will punish workers for doing this. The management emphasize a need to get customers in and out as quick as possible but the difference in training and the actual expectations from management are so different, it would actually be beneficial for new workers to ignore all of the training program and just observe how others do the job.

The most enjoyable part of the job was actually meeting the rest of the team, they are a great group of people.

I have worked for the company for over a year and a half as an AM. Upon joining, I was promised quick progression to GM level. Since then I've had poor training, and been left to my own devices most of the time. 

Despite running the restaurant whilst there was no GM for over two months, was told I wasn't experienced enough to continue, despite the sales being good and te team happy. 

You'll be expected to make lots of sales on minimal labour. If you're one hour over their forecast, expect a lot of grief from Ops. New labour management tool is even worse, as it isn't tailored to each restaurant so expected to have 200+ covers on a busy Friday/Saturday with three waiters and a manager + barman...considering no waiter should have more than 20 covers at a time, it's ridiculous. 

Management contract is 48 hours, but you'll be expected to work more, and you'll get no extra pay, or any thanks for it.

My team were the reason I've stayed too long, whilst other AMs and GMs have all jumped ship. And I'm doing the same.

They're more interested in opening new restaurants in UK and Shanghai(?!), than protecting their current ones, and paying better. They expect to find supervisors for around £8 per hour...no credit card tips or service charge for supervisors or managers (even if they're working alone, which happens). 

And you've got to pay for staff food!!

Restructured bonus scheme means it's almost impossible to meet the bonus qualifier....so there is no longer incentive to work there. 

The good staff are all leaving, even those that have been with the company over 10 years. That in itself tells you enough.

Unless you're a student or just looking for 10 hours or so, don't bother.

Deplorable.

How a place can go down hill so fast?! The company used to be right up there with the best chains to work for but it became impossible to work for. Don't get me wrong the restaurant management team were fine but when upper management clearly had issues with you personally they had to find excuses to belittle you, even when you had no control over the situation. How different things were just a few years earlier when you were trusted as an employee, to do your job how it should be done without having to worry if you are going to get screwed over by the upper management's favourites in their bid to force you out. As with all of the hospitality sector, complaints are a massive part of the job. Instead of looking at the reasons why the complaints come about i.e not staggering sittings, sending tickets through at the same time, disproportionately cutting kitchen hours compared to floor hours, the general response from uninformed/inexperienced staff was 'oh its the kitchens fault, they are awful, never seen anything like it' and then the upper management takes that as gospel and threatens to sack you without even considering your opinion. You cannot work in a place where, even with the support of the restaurant manager, the upper management want force you out.

If you really care about your job and the company but you actually have an opinion do not consider working here as you will be ostracised and treated like a problem rather than someone with ideas and values that could help the company build

This company had change over the years from decent to “place to avoid “ .
Labor control push workers in the business to work understaffed to the point that no business keeps the staff for more than a couple months .
As a kitchen manager you have to :
Be a Kp 
Be one man army 
Do orders , move deliveries up and down on your own ( the clock tics , you start at 10 am and you HAVE to open at 11:30)could be 500£ or 5 thousand doesn’t matter.
Recruitment during your unpaid break or your day off as you HAVE to be in as you don’t have staff .(including the interviews with the same pattern)
Training my favourite !! you have to beg for 15 h to train a person ( with or without experience) by be able you will cut your “experience “ staff to be able to safe hours for the training .
You are an hourly worker (30h max contract) but still you have to  make sure your availability is 24 /7 or your are not a team player …
The favourite words of the senior management- this is hospitality! If you don’t have waiters run yourself ,no chefs cook run yourself no matter what or who the business still open as perse this are your duties your responsibility, this is hospitality! 
Or - give them less hours so they will be come on their days off !! Great idea 🥸👍
There’s not a training team which in a company like this is embarrassing that your cook off are been planning the day before if you lucky .
This is my personal point of view after 5+ years .




a typical day would begin with me dropping my kit off in the changing room, walking out on to the restaurant floor and heading to the bar, checking if there is anything to be done on the tables I pass. once at the bar I would ask where they would like me to work today (whether I was on the bar or had a section of tables) since they shared tips it didn't matter so much where i worked.
I learnt that working as a team (having someone behind the bar, someone collecting plates off the tables) makes the job much easier and efficient. The management was spot on and never once had to shout at anyone during the whole of my time there. the co workers were great fun, the majority of the staff was not from Britain giving me opportunities to try learn Russian, Polish and Slovakian (they are all so similar yet different, it was tough.) the hardest part of my job was to either deal with a large order of drinks or food. It could also have been when I had to restock the bar at the end of the evening. The most enjoyable part of the day was when it started to die down towards the end of the night. It opens up the floor to discussions so I was able to befriend my co-workers and inevitably enjoy working with the people I did.

Initially after being told I had got the job as bar staff and waitress I was really excited to work at Zizzi. However, this soon wore off as I saw the people I would be working with and how immature they all are (management included). I was told I would be contracted so many hours and on a higher wage, which turns out to be a lie. I have some weeks where I have only been given two hours work after being told I was contracted for 16. Management are abusive, and like to humiliate their staff. Supervisors drink the wine from the fridge whilst working (not paid for) and then blame bar staff for "pouring incorrect drinks". Management steal cash tips from waiters and act oblivious when this is pointed out, and spend most of their time sat in the office eating fast food. Certain staff members are picked on more than others and made to do all of the jobs whilst the staff members who have been there the longest stand around and do nothing. I was told I would be allowed to waitress but after working here 3 months I still haven't been given the chance.. I work my socks off and put up with so much abuse for my measly minimum wage (and no tips!). Furthermore, this company will tell staff that their main focus is the customer (this is a huge lie!!). Overall awful company to work for WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND.

I worked at 3 branches for about 2 years and overall I had a great experience. As a student, my managers were understanding and flexible with my hours. Going in for a shift at first was a nice break from studying, however as managers get more comfortable with you, they tend to start being less friendly and pushing your limits a lot. 

I learnt that its very easy to pick up the skills required, as long as you care enough to make an effort. A lot of people quit or didn't show up to shifts maybe because they didn't care about the job or had a better offer.

The staff were amazing, its easy to make friends and you become like a family, supporting each other and having fun whilst working.

The hardest part of the job really was working long 11 hour shifts and still having to stay for longer, because the customers didn't leave on time for you to clear your tables. A reason why I decided to leave was how tiring shifts are, even a short 4 hour shift can leave you drained and unable to do anything else with the rest of your day.

However, I did enjoy my time working at Zizzi and I benefitted from the tips. Its a great place for a young person who may not be very experienced, to pick up a few skills to set them on their way.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Assistant manager 323 salaries reported	£31,918 per year
Head chef 686 salaries reported	£13.65 per hour
Chef 875 salaries reported	£12.84 per hour
Supervisor 513 salaries reported	£12.63 per hour
General manager 80 salaries reported	£40,897 per year

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