A Day in the Life of Hoagies Pizza & Pasta

A day in the life of the restaurant business can sometimes be monotonous, but customers can make your job great! At Hoagies Pizza & Pasta in Lyndonville, Vermont, it is just that.
“I hate mostly the monotony of my job, but the customers make it fun,” said Nicole Bathalon, an employee of approximately a year and a half.
A day at Hoagies consist of several steps that have to be done everyday to keep the restaurant clean, well-stocked and keep the efficiency up for when the lunch and dinner rushes strike.
“In the morning, everything is usually prepared, but I always feel like I’m folding pizza boxes,” Bathalon said. There are a couple people who arrive at 6 a.m. to cut vegetables, slice sandwich meats, and prepare the pizza dough. In the afternoon, the employees must make sure food tables are clean and well-stocked, and must prepare food for the night rushes.
"There are a lot of things I do in the morning that are pretty much behind-the-scenes," said Sue V., a morning prep employee. "Some employees never see the spaghetti sauce get made."
The waitresses make sure that dressings are portioned, silverware is rolled into napkins, and that pizza boxes are folded when customers order take-out. The kitchen employees have to shred the cheese for pizzas and calzones that comes in 45-pound blocks.
Cleaning is an on-going, everyday process that includes picking up tables after restaurant-goers are finished eating, and making sure everything is scrubbed at the end of the day.
At the end of the night, after customers have come for dinner, there is a list of things that need to be done before the restaurant can close. The closers stock the restaurant for the next day with paper cups, napkins, straws, and take-out containers. After all the dishes are done, and the counters and food-prep areas are cleaned and sanitized, the floors must be mopped, and the carpets must be vacuumed. The tables and chairs in the dining room must be wiped down. Everything must be put into order before the doors can be locked and the “Open!” flag can be taken down.
“We open in the morning, prepare for the day, clean up, close, and do it all over the next day,” Bathalon said. Sounds like it can get boring, but they certainly try to do a good job smiling!