Working in the food industry as a teenager in high school comes with its own set of challenges and rewards. Despite a drop in overall teen employment, restaurants have continued to hire teens at pre-recession levels, with 1.7 million working in the industry in 2023. Whether it’s a sit-down restaurant, a fast-food chain or a café, each job comes with its specific challenges of balancing schoolwork with a job’s commitment, servicing customers, or navigating team dynamics.
La Fondue offers senior the opportunity to work as a hostess
In January, Senior Ivy Tian found herself drawn to La Fondue in downtown Saratoga because of its unique fine dining experience. The restaurant boasts an Opentable Diner’s Choice Award in 2024 and 2025, offering a 2-hour, four-course dining experience. Options include house-made cheese fondue paired with a selection of meats — including exotic options like alligator meat and Wagyu beef — and chocolate fondue with fruit and treats for dessert.
As a hostess, Tian primarily manages reservations and seating arrangements. She typically works about 10 hours a week over two or three weekend shifts, making $18 an hour and 3% of the servers’ tips. Despite the relatively short nature of her shifts, she says the job can become hectic, especially when tables run behind schedule and customers grow impatient. Additionally, the most stressful days for Tian are during holidays, like Valentine’s Day, when the restaurant offers Special Prix-Fixe dinners. Otherwise, La Fondue isn’t typically busy.
“As a hostess, we actually get the most attitude from customers,” Tian said. “I didn’t expect that coming in because we’re not their servers, but people can still be rude to us.”
Despite the occasional stress, Tian appreciates the work culture at La Fondue. She describes her coworkers as welcoming and her manager as understanding, especially when it comes to accommodating her school schedule.
“It’s a pretty easy-going job. It’s very flexible and easy to schedule things around my job,” Tian said.
Sending mass applications pays off as senior lands job at Popeyes and boba shop
Senior Alexander Yaung got his cashier job at Popeyes in February after applying to many local businesses; he found it difficult to find a job as a student, especially because many places required previous experience.
“I threw my application at everything, and [Popeyes] was the only one that took it,” Yaung said. “A lot of places, like 85°C, wanted a year of experience just for a cashier job, which didn’t make sense to me.”
For Yaung, the interview process was straightforward. After submitting his application through the Popeyes website, he received a call from the store’s owner inviting him in for an interview, where Yaung was just asked about his availability. The training process was also simple. Yaung learned how to use Popeye’s computer system and how to mop. During a regular shift, he wipes the tables and stands at the register.
While working at Popeyes isn’t physically exhausting, Yaung says the hardest part of the job is the restaurant’s work environment.
“They keep you in this state where you’re not busy enough to be constantly working, but not relaxed enough to zone out,” Yaung said. “It’s like purgatory.”
Yaung reflects that interacting with customers usually isn’t difficult, but he recalls a few instances where he had to involve his manager, such as when a customer complained about their chicken sandwich seasoning.
“[Popeyes] doesn’t schedule students for too many hours, even if you’re over 18,” Yaung said. “If I’ve sacrificed anything, it’s social media time, which is a pretty good trade-off.”
Yaung typically works two 6-hour shifts a week, but because he felt like he had more time on his hands, he decided to pick up another job as a boba barista at Shu Shia 树夏, with “Shu” meaning tree and “Shia” meaning summer.
As a barista, Yaung says it feels like he’s a part of a production line. On average, there are 40-50 drinks in queue at once, and the environment is more fast-paced than Popeyes.
His salary at Shu Shia — $18.50 per hour — is lower than Popeyes. Yaung works this job from 4-8 p.m. a couple times a week, allowing him to work directly after school.
“That’s the time when I go home after school, eat dinner and go on Instagram reels, so I think making money [during that time] is better,” Yaung said.
Big Basin Cafe integrates Saadieh into its team of mainly college student employees
Junior Kiana Saadieh found a job at Big Basin Cafe through family connections, since her mother is friends with the cafe’s former owner. Once Saadieh entered her freshman year of high school, the former owner was eager to bring her on board.
Initially, Saadieh primarily worked as a cashier, but over time, she was also trained for other roles. The training process was unconventional — since most of her coworkers were college students who worked seasonally, she ended up learning from multiple people at different times.
“I was trained by four different people in bits and pieces,” Saadieh said. “I actually found it really beneficial because I got to pick up different techniques and knowledge from each person.”
Saadieh works weekend morning shifts, from 8 a.m.-noon — the busiest hours at the cafe. She works as a cashier most of the time, but also occasionally steps in as a barista. The fast working pace requires constant communication with coworkers to keep orders running smoothly. However, Saadieh appreciates the experience because the teamwork skills developed at the cafe applies to other aspects of her life as well, like school group projects.
“It’s a great experience for teamwork,” Saadieh said. “You have to coordinate with others — if a customer asks for something and you can’t do it at that moment, you rely on your coworkers.”
During rush hours, Saadieh focuses on staying calm and taking her time. She says that stressing out leads to forgetting orders and unsatisfied customers. Additionally, providing high quality customer service can be difficult during long, busy shifts when energy levels drop.
“When you’re exhausted, your service quality goes down, and that can hurt tips at the end of the day,” Saadieh said.
Saadieh makes $16 per hour on top of tips, which make up nearly half her earnings. She works around eight hours a week, and her shifts are in the mornings.
Saadieh sees her job as a valuable experience, preparing her for future work by interacting with customers and coworkers.
“I’m the youngest [out of my coworkers] because they’re college students, which is really nice because I get to connect with people who have more experience with me,” Saadieh said.
