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Punch Bowl Social

Is this your company?

Bleeding employees, terrible communication. - Host Punch Bowl Social Employee Review

2.0
22 Apr 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lot of great coworkers, 50% employee discount isn't bad, weekly paychecks.

Cons

1. This is one of the most mismanaged companies I have ever worked for. 7 managers and none of them are on the same page. Regularly a manager would tell us to do a task, and some time later another would come up and tell us to do it another way or not at all. When asking managers questions about new policies, most would tell me they didn't know the answer to my question and to ask another manager instead, rinse repeat. 2. Their credit card system regularly double charges customers. This leads to a lot of angry people on the phone I had to deal with on a near daily basis. Completely unacceptable business practice. 3. Employees have to pay for parking. It's not the most expensive parking, but it should be validated. 4. Seem to operate on a churn-and-burn system with lower level employees. Constant training mill. 5. Expects employees to perform duties not in their job description. They do not hire bussers at this restaurant, they expect servers and bartenders to do so while also serving guests. This puts too much on the server/bartenders, and it leads to the hosts to become primary bussers. Hosts are not a tipped-out position and should not be doing that work on a regular basis. Hosts bussing takes us away from our position at the front kiosk and results in guests waiting in the front or coming in without checking reservations, missed phone calls, etc.. More examples of this, but this problem was the most apparent to me in my role and something I communicated with the managers as being a problem multiple times. 6. The hourly rates for bartenders and servers are very low. One of my coworkers worked a 6 hour shift for $16 after tips. As a host, we got a base pay at least. 7. Hotschedules system was confusing, sometimes cancelling days I had marked off. Also I was once scheduled for a 21 hour shift, 7am-2am. No explanation as to why that happened, as hosts are only in the building 11am-10pm at the latest. 8. We had a transfer from Indiana who was coming in expecting a management role in the Activities department, something she was trained to do. They made her a Host for a month until she quit, scheduled her past her last day, and then turned around and begged her to stay for a pay raise. Dreadful treatment of a years-long Punch Bowl employee they knew was coming down months in advance. 9. Two months before I quit, I was told that I was being considered for a Shift Lead position, something I was interested in and qualified to do. Two weeks later, the other person they were considering for the role quit. No follow up on that promotion, instead I was already doing some tasks of the role with no raise, and other tasks were not getting done because they had not filled the shift lead position at all. After 3 other hosts quit within a 2 week period, I set a meeting with Frank (the incoming GM) and Jun (another manager) asking about the Shift Lead position and turning in my two weeks if that position was not on the table. Frank agreed I would be a good fit and that he would speak to Thomas (outgoing GM) about approving that promotion. The next week, I asked Thomas about it. Frank had not spoken to him, so I stuck to my two weeks and left.

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Punch Bowl Social Response
1y
Thank you for your candid feedback. We genuinely appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and perspective. We're glad to hear you enjoyed working alongside great coworkers, appreciated the employee discount, and found value in weekly pay. We’re actively working on leadership development and cross-departmental communication to ensure our team members receive clear and consistent direction. Regarding operational issues like the credit card system, scheduling problems, and job scope confusion - we are sorry you had these challenges and have recently made improvements to our POS! Our goal is to provide genuine growth opportunities, and your case highlights a need to improve how we follow up and support team development. Thank you again for your hard work, and for voicing issues that matter. While we’re disappointed your time with us ended on a frustrating note, your feedback is helping shape change. We wish you the best in your next role.

Explore other reviews about Punch Bowl Social

5.0
30 June 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good corporate support, development of skills.

Cons

While I have moved on to the job that I went to School for, I had and exceptionally good experience working for Punch Bowl in Austin

avatar
Punch Bowl Social Response
12mo
Hello, Thank you for taking the time to share your experience with us! We’re so glad to hear that your time at Punch Bowl Social Austin was positive and that you found value in the corporate support and skill development. It's always rewarding to know our team members can grow with us and take those experiences into their future careers. Best of luck in your new role — we're proud to have been a part of your journey! — The Punch Bowl Social Team
2.0
13 June 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Free food, nice coworkers, The food there was decent and always high volume on the weekends.

Cons

Imagine working a high volume restaurant where management were drinking on the shift, drama non-stop, asked to fix urinals as a part time employed not being offered any additional pay for unique skills, A bar that did not offer a happy hour or discounted special days, terribly ran on a financial and social aspect. Arcade areas were never updated and items (darts, cue sticks) stayed damaged forever.

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