Countering Typical Food Service Jobs

Joseph Iller, a food counter attendant at Pasta Bravo, feels fortunate that his job isn’t typical of other food service jobs. “This is a small, new company and the owner is very interested in what we have to say. At other places you go in, do your job and leave without learning anything,” Iller said. “We help establish goals and find ways to work toward them.”

Pasta Bravo serves green salads, cold pasta salads and hot, fresh-cooked pasta dishes in a fast-food format. Customers approach the counter, review the selections and place orders with the cashier. A team of expediters dishes up the cold selections and hands them off to the customer along with the drink order. If a hot food item is ordered, they assemble the side orders while a cook prepares the fresh-cooked dishes.

“We have a policy that customers should be greeted by more than one employee when they enter the restaurant and the cashier always offers to help if the customer is puzzling over the menu,” Iller said. “The goal is for it to take no longer than five to seven minutes from the time customers enter to the time their food is served.”

Iller, 19, began working at Pasta Bravo while still in high school and recently became an assistant manager. “People come here on lunch breaks or after work and usually they are all stressed out,” he said. “We get them their food quickly and try to make sure they are in a little better state of mind when they leave.”

OCCUPATION: Food counter attendant

* What’s involved: Taking orders and serving food at restaurants with walk-up food service.

* Qualifications: Requires good communication and organizational skills. Most establishments provide on-the-job training and often hire high school students for part-time work.

* Outlook: By 1998, the number of food counter attendants is expected to increase by 6.8% to 6,450.

* Salary range: $4.25 to $5 per hour

* Pros: Opportunity for entry-level employment and job training

* Cons: Fast pace during lunch and dinner hours

* Advancement: Could advance to managerial positions

* Quote: “I like it when everyone is working in sync and everything flows freely. We try to make it a fun environment for both the employees and customers.”

--Joseph Iller, Pasta Bravo

Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times