What r/restaurantowners keeps coming back to
Complaints raised here by more than one person. One-off posts are not included.
30 recurring problems · 87 threads read · read since September 2026 · Reddit
Raised more than once here
Most people first.
- 20How to deal with uncooperative coworkers who don't do their work“We recently have been receiving complaints from a cook A about cook B.”
- 16How to handle clients who demand refunds and bully you“Anyone else get days where customers are so rude?”
- 15Why does Etsy automatically refund buyers without seller approval?“customer orders the dish but with a lot of mods.”
- 12Why are clients suddenly ghosting contracts and sales slowing down?“Just had the slowest day ever 33% loss for today.”
- 10How do you deal with a rigid and untrustworthy service provider?“They had already deposited the certified check I gave them but I noticed they also pulled the same amount as an ACH the following day (I had provided them ACH authorization for future transactions).”
- 9Why are restaurant and cafe startup costs so high?“Complete remodel of a leased space for a new tenant -- what did you pay for and what did the landlord pay for?”
- 9How to get out of the restaurant business when you're completely burned out“I’m just so tired…8 years, including getting through COVID shutdowns.”
- 9How to handle high-pressure roofing salespeople“For example, my restaurant did about $250K in sales on UberEats/DoorDash, but $125K was discounts. So they charged royalties on $250K, even though $125K was my sales.”
- 8How to stay competitive when wholesale food suppliers merge“Restaurant Depot is the only reason some of us can stay competitive on proteins. I go there twice a week for chicken, pork, and whatever produce is running high from my main distributor.”
- 5How to work on low energy days without feeling guilty“Some hours we aren’t hitting even $100 in sales. I can’t cut down to a 20% labor cost or 33% labor cost if the sales just aren’t there.”
- 5How to find reliable staff for a food business“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.”
- 5How to follow up with a client who picked a cheaper vendor“If you want the sales, have the lowest price. We’re all broke, all struggling against costs of literally everything. If I’m shopping for equipment, I’m going with the best price after shipping. Period.”
- 5Why do restaurant fly lights and cleaning fail to stop flies?“Hi i recently took over additional space with full kitchen and tables. We have fly lights but still seem to have issues. We mop floors and wipe down tables Any suggestions ?”
- 4How to manage multiple stores selling the exact same products“Scheduling is one problem. But Im also dealing with inventory, ordering, labor costs, employee availability and keeping both locations following the same processes. Right now we have different spreadsheets and systems for different parts of the operation, so I spend too much time pulling information together and checking that nothings been missed.”
- 4Why are food delivery apps so expensive?“Services like DoorDash and UberEats make food service more expensive for no reason at all.”
- 4Why do customers get mad when they see a Sysco truck?“As a restaurant that doesn’t use any major suppliers and uses almost all local farms and makes everything from scratch- we are struggling to get guests. People can’t or don’t want to pay for what that means.”
- 4How can small businesses afford twenty dollar minimum wage?“I would LOVE to give my employees raises and offer free health care, but as it stands we can barely take a dime for ourselves.”
- 4How to handle fake emotional support animals in restaurants“We've been getting a lot of emotional support animals lately. The latest was a bichon frise wearing a dress, jumping on the table and pooping in our booth.”
- 4Running out of cash to pay daily credit card tips“I do not like this system, it takes all our cash.”
- 3How to find appliance brand OEM manufacturers and cheaper alternatives“What brands do you use? Or what price level did you pay? The range is so varied -- our vendor is showing us a $4700 model that holds 8 6-pans with no sideboard, but there are plenty of models that cost half the price and hold 16-24 6-pans.”
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restaurant management87.3×restaurant industry87.3×hospitality industry87.3×restaurant business87.3×