How to find reliable staff for a food business
Finding dependable restaurant workers is hindered by endless ghosting, no-call no-shows, and unqualified applicants from job boards. This constant hiring friction leaves owners working 15-hour days, missing every weekend, and facing severe physical and mental burnout.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from September 2026.
- This comes up 164.6× more often in r/restaurantowners than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Working long consecutive hours (e.g., 15-hour days)Did this help you?
- 2Spending months training new employeesDid this help you?
- 3Operating without days off or weekendsDid this help you?
- 4networking with other industry managementDid this help you?
- 5putting out a physical sandwich board sign out frontDid this help you?
- 6relying on word-of-mouth referrals from friends in the industry, former managers, and solid employeesDid this help you?
- 7posting flyers with a QR code in local community spots like gyms and car dealershipsDid this help you?
- 8using alternative platforms like Workstream or Facebook hospitality networksDid this help you?
- 9Refining hiring processes and persisting through recruitment effortsDid this help you?
- 10searching out local hobby groupsDid this help you?
- 11using fb or TikTok searchingDid this help you?
- 12visiting hobby shopsDid this help you?
- 13using job boards, Reddit, or FiverrDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“over the past three years I’ve spent thousands of real dollars and at least a couple hundred hours interviewing candidates from indeed. Only to get ghosted or called out sick on first day.”source ↗
“The few that actually showed up for their trial shift, are so inept or lazy that I haven’t kept even one of them on.”source ↗
“As someone who opened a pizza spot 3 months ago after 3 years of pop ups the worst part by far is staffing. Good people are hard to find. Good reliable people are really hard to find. Ive had so many no call no shows. Worked 15 hour days for a month and a half straight before I had a staff competent enough to leave on their own.”source ↗
“Staffing is a major issue. This kind of business requires people to work unsociable hours which has its own issues. I’m 8 years in and grateful to have a profitable business but I haven’t had a weekend off since opening and work pretty much every day.”source ↗
“Indeed sucks. In my experience, half of the applications were completely off from the posted requirements for the position. Only about 20% of applicants were worth reaching out to for an interview, probably 30% don't respond, and below 25% of scheduled interviews show”source ↗
“Hard time hiring 6-7 guys per month, in an industry where barely anyone is experienced.”source ↗
“I’m looking to open a stationery store/coffee shop in nyc. For the stationery operation, I’d be looking for someone as obsessed with stationery as I am and with experience opening a store, ideally knowing something about coffee stores as well. Where could I go to find someone with specialized experience like that?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 5How to find reliable implementation partners without pay-to-play rankings
- 24Why are job boards full of impossible roles and ghost listings?
- 12How to get local students for a new business?
- 79How to find reliable contractors who actually show up
- 3How to book a wedding caterer without a food tasting
- 2Why is it so hard to hire an HR business partner?