DO NOT WORK FOR Salsa Fiesta - Ileana Cordon-Garces, Cesar Olivo, Samuel Perez Benatar Misleading and dishonest company with zero care for employees Miami Florida

Beware the hiring ads for Salsa Fiesta, a place which promises high standards and growth opportunity for employees and does the exact opposite. 

Health code violations galore:

From silverware to cold storage, tumblers and plates are left on the floor of the kitchen and on the ground next to the garbage on patio. "Clean" dishes come out so dirty that employees have to hand rinse or wipe them a second time before serving. Also despite claims that all food is made fresh daily, containers of salsa, in cold storage often don't have tags or expiration dates because items are stored in there as long as possible to cut down on cost. Weeks if need be. Not made fresh daily. 

Employees are interviewed for over an hour by 

Ileana Cordon-Garces

who verbally creates a picture of a perfect restaurant environment, with guests smiling and servers doing their jobs flawlessly and working as the ultimate team. She talks about a team of motivated servers who will be the new standard for food service in the area, highly motivated individuals, who communicate after hours with each other to address strengths and weaknesses and motivate new team members. She talks about how piercings and tattoos are welcomed and part of the Salsa Fiesta environment. Sounds like any employees dream right? ... This couldn't be farther from the truth.

Samuel Perez Benatar and Cesar Olivo 

Are both owners who personally oversee every aspect of the daily functions. They in no way can say they are unaware of the employee mistreatment and health code violations occurring! They have cameras everywhere which they personally show up to adjust by climbing on ladders during dining hours, and then log in from their phones to watch us work. So they cannot say they do not know about the health code violations, or employees being trained incorrectly.

Employees are only issued one shirt, and are not given replacements. Even if employees offer to purchase new shirts, they are denied and must make do with the original one despite its wear and tear and cheap fabric. They also shrink heavily when washed and dried and tear easily. 

Employees who are promised full time hours often receive part time, and employees seeking part time, are often scheduled to work full time and over time. 

Servers - are not allowed to take their own cash tips home. This is very, very rare in the service industry and not a sign of stability and experience in a successful company!  Instead the cash is handed over to a manager at the end of each shift, and is later added to their paycheck which the employee receives bi-weekly. As you can imagine, the numbers never add up, ever! No matter how often you write down the amount you made in a night, how many reports you print of your tip share, your paycheck will always have a discrepancy. It is very difficult to keep track of your daily tips when they're in the hands of someone else, who gives them to you ever two weeks! Also management hired at Salsa Fiesta is generally around the age of 21. 

Management at Salsa Fiesta is miserable. They hate the environment, the hours, and the experience all together because they are highly underpaid. Managers are known to walk out during shifts and not return. Including on at least one occasion a general manager.

One recent busy weekend, the kitchen was such a mess that there literally wasn't walking or standing room in the back of the house. Plates, and bins full of dirty dishes piled high falling over each other, all over the floor, not on shelves but on the floor, plates upside down in puddles... Cesar Olivo the owner told all the employees to let their guests know that a dangerous gas leak was occurring in the kitchen, and to evacuate the restaurant. We did, and the restaurant was closed for several hours, we had to turn away dozens upon dozens of guests, losing business, just so they could clean the back. Ownership has no idea what they're doing. 

Several days later upon arriving for a regularly scheduled work shift, the night team was sat down by Cesar Olivo who explained that despite all the stress and mess, and financial irregularities in paychecks, and scheduling changes, and managers walking out - that everything was going to be just fine - and that they had a solution. That solution was a bogus claim that they had emailed guests over a multiple week period, asking them to survey whether or not they preferred table side service or not, and that the polls showed we were voted out (As if anyone prefers getting their own drink as opposed to having it brought to them!) So their solution meant to work at Salsa Fiesta you are now a busser or a food runner. There are no more servers, despite the weeks of training and pressure about the new standard of service Salsa Fiesta was bringing to Miami, they decided to become a fast-food experience. Customers walk in, order at the counter, take a cup, choose their own soda, take a seat and a pager, retrieve their own plastic silverware and napkins. The exact opposite of what any self-respecting establishment which considers itself in the SERVICE industry and not the self-service industry should be striving for. 

All in all Salsa Fiesta is an employee’s nightmare. These people will say anything to their guests, and to their employees to reach whatever short-term goal they are after, but in the long term, there is nothing of value for any employee to look forward to except what's getting thrown into the tip jar which will get split 10 ways after two weeks. Even car wash employees take home daily tips. These people are thieves. Supposedly they are hiring illegal immigrants at the Biscayne location too because they work for less. Avoid the headache and apply elsewhere.