‘It’s kinda f*cked up’: Former server reveals why Cheddar’s is so affordable
In a popular TikTok, a former restaurant server aims to reveal the reason why Cheddar's menu prices are so affordable.
The video by Bo (@boloveslunch) starts off stitching a video of a grandmother documenting her first time eating at the restaurant Cheddar's. While looking through the menu, she is immediately surprised by how affordable the food is.
"The menu prices are so inexpensive, oh my goodness, look at this," she says while panning over the menu for viewers to get their own look at the prices.
The restaurant location she visited charges $14.29 for a salmon caesar pasta salad, $13.29 for country fried steak, and $10.29 for a classic cheeseburger. For context, a combo meal at a fast-food restaurant could easily run you about $10.
The TikTok then shows Bo in the frame, and he says he's going to reveal "why Cheddar's food is so affordable."
Bo explains that he grew up in a small town in Ohio that had a Cheddar's. In his 20s, Bo says he worked at the restaurant as a server. He says he worked at a busy location and that servers were limited to a three-table section. At the end of a double shift, a server may have made a good amount in tips, but they'd take home significantly less, he says.
"At the end of a double, you'd tally up your money and be like, 'Shit dude, I got $200 here.' Wrong! You got about $150 because their tip-outs are outrageous. They don't pay their employees; they make their servers do it. You have to tip-out a hostess, a greeter, a bartender, and buskids all from your tips," he says.
"That's why Cheddar's food is so cheap. Because they don't pay their employees, their servers pay their employees," he continues.
@boloveslunch #stitch with @grandmaswithtaste #cheddars #serverlife #restaurant #foodtok #tipout #cheddarsrestaurant #fypシ ♬ original sound - Bo Thomas
For those unfamiliar with the brand, Cheddar's is a restaurant chain that serves "American favorites," like chicken pot pie, baby back ribs, and broccoli cheddar casserole, according to its website.
The restaurant's first location opened up in Irving, Texas, and it now operates more than 170 establishments across 28 states.
In his TikTok bio, Bo described himself as an "Ohio guy with a wife and 3 kids. Just out here trying to crush it…"
At the end of the video, he acknowledges that the chain's food is good, but restaurant-goers should think twice before going.
"It's kinda fucked up what they do to their servers," Bo concludes.
In reply to a commenter, Bo said that while he's worked at multiple restaurants with similar systems, Cheddar's is the one that took the most from servers' earnings.
"This tipout was substantially larger than other places I worked at… It stung at the end of the night," he said.
Many commenters shared they also worked as servers and that it was common practice to have to tip-out their co-workers. A few pointed out that they also worked at Cheddar's and now have to pay fewer people, but Bo explained that his experience was from more than a decade ago in 2010.
Others agreed that the system was unfair.
"It is ridiculous that restaurants get a magic loophole that lets them not pay their employees," a commenter wrote.
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