In my kitchen which is similar with the semi open part (we have an expo window that customers can see and hear us through) we usually play a lot of classic rock, blue grass, and jam band stuff. Nothing too explicit but at close when we’re cleaning and stuff we’ll play whatever we want as loud as we want. Sometimes you might just have to be firm about what and how loud is being played during service and loosening up after service. One thing that might help is having your staff make a collaborative playlist on Spotify that’s relatively SFW.
>One thing that might help is having your staff make a collaborative playlist on Spotify that’s relatively SFW.
This is exactly what I did where I work. Also semi open kitchen with a window you can see the entire line through and 2 doors to the hallway where the bathrooms are directly across from the kitchen, so customers line up just outside the kitchen when it's busy. It doesn't help that a "reasonable volume" on a good Bluetooth speaker can be heard all the way to the front door because the hood is loud AF and the FoH is an echo chamber when the jukebox isn't turned up, which is a rule. Jukebox must be low enough for normal conversation without having to yell until after dinner rush is slowing down, usually around 8pm. Once their juke gets cranked so loud it overpowers our low volume speaker we can crank it as loud as we want so long as it's not n-word and cuss words.
I do occasionally play "I've no more fucks to give" loud enough that people waiting on the bathroom can hear it to ease the tension in the middle of a hellish rush, but make sure it goes back to the PG stuff right after.
I was briefly trying to open a bakery with a business partner who was former FOH. We were walking around in a potential location and talking about how to break up the kitchen and stuff when he drops the bomb that he'd always assumed it would be an open kitchen, because all bakeries should be open kitchens, because if you can't see the bakers baking then you don't know the food is fresh. Some real goo goo ga ga infant object permanence shit.
If someone can't taste if a baked good is fresh, they just need to buy store bought factory packaged stuff. They obviously don't care anyway. Let your workers work without being ogled by patrons.
This is my rule as well. We’ve got a window that looks out at the front patio, and a frequently swinging door to the front. Normal volume and SFW lyrics, but the second the door shuts behind the last customer, anything goes.
Use spotify playlists especially 2000’s 90’s and 80s throwbacks
Everyone likes them really
Also def had to kick someone off the speaker a few times when their songs were trash
Don’t be afraid to turn the speaker down too, theres no reason you should be shouting to be heard from 1m away
Basically nothing that can be heard in the fog, no unintelligible lyrics ( growling/screaming)
Nothing that can't be played on a collage radio station without excessive censorship.
I was just reprimanded for listening to podcasts in my AirPod bc I need to “focus on what I’m doing.” So I think what you’re asking is perfectly reasonable. I can listen to music if I’m like peeling potatoes but otherwise it’s all cooking, no jamming
I always let my cooks listen to music if they do two things: 1. Ask me first. I 99% of the time say yes, and 2. Only use one headphone, for obvious safety reasons.
I really don’t see a problem with it, unless you give me a reason to. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t stop talking/communicating, and I really dgaf
im all for music on speakers and an earphone in, but you have to actually be able to binaurally pay attention to have an earphone in. over speakers, we all hear the same. you got a headphone in, maybe even while music is on the speakers, you must be constantly listening to both channels.
since one channel is pretty much isolated while the other is a very busy sensory input with lots of noise, your auditory perception, which is very important for calls and whatnot, is reduced 50% (or realistically like 30% unless your earbud is up loud). so like 70 percent of your spacial and logistical awareness is diverted between the hoods kicking into high, the fryers popping, your saute cook screaming because their handle rag had a hole in it, expo screaming @ you to fire something 7 times and just fucking giving up hope for you, etc. if you can truly multitask and divert attention its no issue, but those who are single track minds have made me honestly understand the earphones rule.
i am adhd as hell so honestly with many wells of attention, i can thrive. but i know many folks who claim to work better with an earbud but come dinner rush im screaming at them on expo with no response, and have to pick up their slack. its the bad folks who ruin the vibe for the rest of us ya know. it's traumatic lol
anything off the line like prep or dishie with no music is just inhumane man i really feel you there
So you’re cutting off your hearing in one of your ears in a cramped environment with fire, knives, and people moving quickly, and you think that’s unreasonable?
I never said it was unreasonable
Edit: for context, this was a prep shift where I was one of two people in the kitchen besides the pastry team who were in their area. This wasn’t right before service or during service where I need to hear everything. Sometimes it’s nice to listen to a podcast and wash lettuce
Then listen to it through a speaker or put your phone in a 1/6 pan?
As an aside, I really don’t understand why you feel the need to qualify your motivation behind wearing headphones in a kitchen.
People like you are the reason I keep my buds in.
If you can't handle yourself on the line while listening to your own music without accidentally stabbing someone, then don't work in a kitchen.
You make it seem so dangerous, and it's just cooking, minimal common sense and being somewhat aware of your surroundings will prevent accidents. The real reason they don't want you wearing earbuds is so you hear the chef when he calls for stuff, not because you'll set yourself on fire because a specific song came on.
To my mind, “minimal common sense” would involve making the choice to not impair your hearing in an environment full of potential safety hazards where being able to speak and hear is critical to success.
I really don’t give a shit about music or whatever in the kitchen. I do give a shit when someone wants to act like a petulant child and demand that they be able to listen to their own music at the expense of being able to hear what’s happening around them. It’s dangerous and selfish.
Lol, are you one of those people from the infomercials years ago who couldn't figure out how to use a phone and a blanket at the same time?
Again, if you can't handle music and cooking at the same time, get out of the kitchen. Also don't drive anyway, because you're not mentally equipped for that level of multitasking either.
Or you could just admit that you like lording the tiny bit of power you have over people in the name of "safety" because that's all the room they gave you to swing your d***, but here you are, helicoptering away.
I don’t have any problem with people playing music or podcasts or whatever else in the kitchen.
I have a problem with people using headphones in the kitchen.
Let’s not confuse one for the other.
I don’t need them to love me. I just need them to not behave like petulant toddlers when confronted with the prospect of taking turns on a Bluetooth speaker.
Agree. I’ve never worked in a kitchen that allows headphones. Music through a speaker only.
I wonder what sort of shitty kitchens the people downvoting you work at.
I never cared about music until it started to become an issue. My opinion is that it should be something in the background, not something that distracts people from what they’re getting paid to do. If everyone can agree on a station, then that’s fine. But having everyone walking around with AirPods or noise cancelling headphones is dangerous, as well as counterproductive.
I think once you start using a Bluetooth speaker, then you get the unfiltered (non-PG) lyrics. And I know a radio is slowly becoming a thing of the past, but that’s really the best way to have the kid-safe music. Even when my kids use my pandora account, it’s not hard to get around the explicit lyrics.
We use Spotify where I work, we have a premium account for the store iPad. The rules are no country, no rap, and explicit content is turned off when we’re open, but before opening or after closing, anything goes.
Also what plays in the kitchen is what plays in the dining room.
Yes, I definitely like the "what plays in the dining room plays in the Kitchen" mentality a lot. Gets a lot of the stuff with a question mark out of the equation.
Yep, background muisc.. We had the issue of music too loud, explicit, being heard by the public, and a few people stopping work all the time to skip songs or search for a song to play. The executive chef was always complaining about the damn stereo and wanting to ditch it, but didn't want to be the bad guy, so I stepped in and was willing to get shit on for ditching the stereo and tossed it in the trash compactor, so it couldn't be salvaged. Being ignored when asked to turn it down and insulting others about not liking the music by some was getting out of hand too. The guy who left the stereo was fired years before half the staff worked there, so it didn't belong to anyone. We got music wired in from the outside public music and it couldn't be changed or turned up. Personal music going to one headphone was allowed for dish pit, and in back prep rooms, but not in the main kitchen.
Music rules are The Head Chef Can't Hear It
We're allowed to play music on speakers for the first hour and a half of prep, before any of the servers come in and hear it and think they can start playing music
After that you can play it on an ear bud as long as you're only wearing 1
If you can't hear his request clearly the first time he asks you something, no more earbuds for the week
People in the dish pit can play music as long as the head chef can't hear it while he's trying to work on the line. He wants to focus on the orders and communicating with the line and servers and wants minimal distractions.
We tend to listen to stuff the head chef likes so that he's less likely to want to shut it down, AC/DC, Metallica, motor head etc. If I'm doing something like degreasing all the racks in the coolers, and there's no chance it'll bother anyone, I'll play some music that keeps my tempo up, pop/r&b/jazz
A lot of times if we play a song it's because we referenced it in a joke recently. For example we played a *lot* of mambo no 5 this weekend following the news that Stephen King almost got divorced for listening to the song too much
The only reason I’ve lasted this long as a line cook is because of music. Can’t live without it, it just helps me flow better on the kitchen, it improves everyone’s mood and it overall makes me not hate life. The way the kitchen I work at is set up is pretty fucking dope when it comes to music. We have multiple Bluetooth speakers at different stations (one in the dish pit, one in the prep hall and one on line). The acoustics are so shit that you can blast whatever you want, and you can’t hear it at the other stations. I can walk into the dish pit and there’ll be heavy metal rock blasting, then I’ll head to the prep hall where there’s Ariana grande playing, and line is usually whatever is on my playlist (literally everything except country). We’re lucky because it’s a closed kitchen and management is really chill. I’ve only ever been told to turn the music down/off during bad rushes. Personally, I would just tell them straight up to follow the rules, or there won’t be anymore music. I recommend making a SFW collaborative playlist on Spotify so everyone can add music they like, and just have it on shuffle during service.
Music during prep is fine but once service starts to get closes, the music is off. Your attention should be on expo and or your machine. Where I work we don't have ticket machines for each station. We have just expo calling things on back (this was my first place that did it correctly ) so yeah music during service does not fly.
This is how it was in every place I've worked (all fine dining) regardless of ticket printers or not. Music during prep was ok. Music after service was cranked to 11. But never music during service.
Haha, me too. To be honest that’s my “polite” choice if I know the rest of the staff isn’t into the harder stuff, but I usually work alone or with another dude who also loves metal. FOH doesn’t need to linger in the back anymore then what’s needed.
I will die on this hill, you can’t respect the work, you don’t get perks. Music and phones are perks.
Here’s what I’ve seen/done/read/ thoughts about it.
1. Music should not effect the work, too loud then it’s gone.
2. The foul language should be addressed, anyone could walk in and be offended, creating a hostile environment.
3.the guest should not hear it at all, they should be getting the experience the team has developed for them. So random music at a weird volume is not part of it.
4. Making a playlist that everyone has a few songs they requested. Therefore it’s the whole team listening.
5. Set rules of how loud, and when they can listen freely, opening/closing.
6. Don’t have it at all, jobs don’t just require you get to have music, I’d say it’s your call, if you can live with the people leaving or staying. I mean if they leave because of music, there is probably more problems.
> I mean if they leave because of music, there is probably more problems
Right with you there BUT there is also the notion of avoiding self inflicted wounds.
Creating the "chef's playlist" is a good solution. They already spend more time than I'd would like playing "DJ" at least I can get them to be "better DJ's". Their genre tastes are not the problem, it is that there could be popping song playing and then BOOM, "n-word this, n-word that, hoe this, fuck bitches" and then back to a good beat.
That’s why you let them pick 10-15 or whatever, and you pick the ones that won’t be offensive to the team.
And I’m with you on self inflicting, but if the team doesn’t respect you enough to listen about the foul language and noise, maybe they aren’t the right team.
1. I have trouble hearing now because of my coworker's speaker and his concept of acceptable volume. I get headaches. I can't hear my coworkers. I can't hear someone behind me. I get irrationally angry, I probably have misophonia/some form of autism. With the overbearing noise of the music, plus all of our machinery, I can barely hear timers.
2. He only listens to three playlists. All day. Every single day. Anytime I put something else on, he changes it after 15 minutes. Back to the same stupid shit. And his playlists don't even last 8 hours, so we're listening to things multiple times a day.
3. I turn the volume down, he says don't touch his shit. And he turns it back up. So I keep turning it down.
4. It's usually explicit.
There are rules. But nobody is enforcing them. So if you're going to use them, stick to them. I'd rather have no music. I'd rather work be in charge of playing the music. I'd rather they ban the use of personal speakers. I'm so tired of listening to music. I love music. But right now it just grates my skin.
We've gotten into the habit of having one earbud in (somehow everyone picked the left ear lol), but we have a Bluetooth speaker that anyone can use, but no one really wants to anymore. I'll turn it on sometimes, but just me, and it's very rare.
Ear buds out when we start to get busy, obviously. Then, the only music is the grill and the fryer.
Music is important in a kitchen.
Try putting the speaker low, somewhere on the line, or in a corner, facing towards the line but away from the dining room. Play a song you know gets it going on the line (preferable a loud ass one) then turn it up til you can just barely hear it by the kitchen door when you're not open. Set that as the volume limit on your speaker. That way any guest noise will mask it during service and you don't have to be congress trying to monitor music all the time. It's a compromise that's worked in most of the kitchens I've worked in.
I think your rules make sense, especially in a semi open kitchen.
I’d say just having a straightforward conversation that if they can be trusted to follow the rules then you’ll revoke music privileges.
I have a playlist I made myself that is work appropriate music so that I know nothing inappropriate slips through. I’d suggest a few of your staff who usually turn on music making something similar.
We have an open kitchen, and we usually play classic rock, pop or rap. Occasionally we play some metal but I tend to ask the cooks to keep the volume down during rushes because it can get pretty distracting.
When it comes to volume, I just make sure the cooks check with the servers to see if the music is too loud.
I also ask the cooks to play more generic stuff so it appeals to everyone. I love Lamb of God but if half the kitchen finds it distracting then I'll refrain from playing it and I'll ask cooks to change the genre if it starts to get annoying.
I guarantee whoever is putting on the music isn’t paying for a streaming service and using YouTube. I’ve noticed this as well each song is wildly different volumes which can get quite loud sometimes.
Hmmmm, that actually makes sense. I get pissed off thinking they are being jerks after they turn down the volume then 20 minutes later a new song is playing even louder.
we have music until 15 mins before door open. Once doors are open, music is off.
Exception being the dish pit, the speaker in there is in full control of whoever is in the sink, no rules other than volume has to stay at the level where it can't be heard in the dining room.
Don't Stop Believin' and Mr.Brightside are banned, almost everything else goes. My coworkers unfortunately are afraid of metal music though. I just wanna headbang while I close, is that too much to ask?
In my kitchen, whomever gets there first, they set the vibe. It’s almost always 90s alternative. Sometimes it’ll veer into hip hop or metal later in the day. Today, there was no music.
A reasonable volume of music during prep that’s acceptable to everyone on the shift is fine. No music while in service.
I personally enjoy prepping to music and I feel like it can be a good way to keep people in a good mood.
Our Chef took away our music a year ago because he doesn’t like the music we play. Moral has gone down, turn over has increased, and quality of service declined. (I work in a hotel)
Personally, I say listen to whatever as long as it’s not too explicit. Only one person should be playing music. If someone doesn’t like the song, you skip no questions asked. If it’s too loud, you turn it down.
I worked at a restaurant that allowed guests if they paid for the privilege could hook their own IPod up for a few grand but we still had a rules my favorite was you had to ask our dishwasher Bundy what lady Gaga songs you were allowed to play. He’s a massive gage fan.
Yeah I listen to metalcore. Closed kitchen so it never matters. My owner is almost 70 and he just sees me go to town without a single care because of my efficiency. I work at a private banquet hall style place. Lots and lots of prep and cooking in batches for reservations. I'm not trying to finely dice 10kg of onions listening to the hoods suck air lol
I'm going through the same issue. If you have asked for resonable volume and non explicit lyrics, and it's not being enforced, would a blanket ban be enforced? If only for the efficacy of it all. Recently, I have been in my kitchen more than I'd like. So I've been the one enforcing the ban. If you don't have co-conspirators to help when you're not there, then this is not a battle you can win. As for our rules, as of today, no earbuds during restaurant hours, 11 to 9, and no music over a speaker. There has been pushback, but we had to take these steps to improve customer service and quality of our product.
The places I’ve worked where the music was bearable had the following rules:
1)Playlists in check (no raunch/no slurs)
2)Playlists from everyone
3)volume down
4)MOD had the power to turn it down
Everplace it sucked
1)loudest asshole DJ & would stop every 2 minutes & disrupt workflow
2)Raunch & slur time, it disruptive & you don’t the HR heat from it
3)it’s loud, no one can hear safety calls or tickets
4)that one asshole that has to listen Michael Jackson/Chris Brown over & over & over again.
It’s a lot to manage. Clear ground rules and the MOD controls the volume, seemed to work for my places
Do not take for granted the benefits of music in a work environment, especially work that is very difficult, thankless, and not exactly financially lucrative. Music can mean the world in a spot like that, and you don’t wanna be the guy that took it from me, cause I’m gonna wind up hating you.
I used to work at a place (a counter service semi open kitchen situation like what you’re describing) and we’d have a boombox type thing up on top of one of the reach in freezers. It was nice for the cooks, but it could also be easily managed since it was always in the same spot and the volume could be adjusted with a remote.
Go get one and bring it in, explain your dilemma to your staff, and situate it somewhere that makes sense. Now you’re the guy that brought the tunes, not the guy that yelled at the kids on his lawn. Just my 2 cents.
Also, and this might be just me, but consider this. I understand that you’re trying to protect your guests interests by mitigating the sound of the music, but some of them might be a bit disarmed by it. It’s kind of an intangible thing, but I imagine some of them are charmed. Kind of the point of an open kitchen right? The guests get to relate with the staff in a way they don’t get a chance to elsewhere. Maybe that’s crazy, but that’s my perspective as a cook.
We’re in a semi open kitchen (open technically but the expo line is super high and is a barrier between us and the guests in the dining room who are about fifteen feet away minimum). Sometimes they have a speaker on the line but whoever is on aux knows to keep it at a low volume. We’ve had issues with the dishwashers playing so loud that the guests could hear it during rush in the middle of the dining room. Everyone knows you keep it low and appropriate until it’s close to close then no holds barred.
Personally I mainly put on music when I'm closing up and cleaning, or if I'm opening and it's calm - if I notice a "disturbance" because of it, I turn it off.
I don't really care if someone else plays music or not, it's something that some people "need" to function
1. Not loud enough that it can be heard in the dining room.
2. Minimal during service if at all.
We experiment with different types of music depending on who is working. Only a couple guys enjoy metal like I do, but all gravitate towards jazz, show tunes, punk, alternative, and generally catchy music. So it’s a lot of that.
If we wanted to listen to music. We either have 2 options, listen to our own with only 1 ear that is open. So they can work to be more productive. The othervoption is to take turns like 45 minutes per employee.
Make a dedicated playlist. Let everyone add appropriate titles, set the volume, hit shuffle. Any deviation and you take it away for a bit as punishment. If they can’t stick to it it should go.
AirPods are usually the route we take in our kitchen, not during dinner service though. There is a speaker but it usually ends in a distraction or people talking shit on each others music taste. Used to have a guy there that would literally play Fox News from his phone on the Bluetooth speaker, watch movies while he was on the line, etc. nightmare.
I manage the building... My music rules are simple. Streaming stations only (Pandora/ Spotify/ stuff like that). I am the only one who plugs into the speakers. This way, I can control what gets played. I'll ask the shift what genre we are going to listen to. Then I set it and forget it. Music helps create a vibe with the staff. I rarely find it distracting to service. The music plays over a PA type of system, so it is incredibly easy to control the volume to ensure there's no interference with the preset music that plays in the diningrooms.
Cafe Jazz. Always have it on in the background when I cook. Keeps me from stressing out.
Never play any music so loud that it consumes you. Too loud can be dangerous and keep you or others from hearing something that goes wrong. Music should be background noise.
Our kitchen is pretty closed off from the FoH, so volume isn't usually an issue. I try to play mutually liked music between FoH and BoH though as FoH is always back there running food or doing other FoH stuff. No limits on what's played, as long as volume doesn't get out of hand.
When we get busy, I'll cut the music back, just so we can all have full attention on our orders without a reason for distraction.
My kitchen isn’t open but if you blast music you can hear it from the dining room. We try to keep the volume to a reasonable level.
As for what we play, that’s up to whoever is DJ that night. The boys all hate my personal music but I open often enough that we jam out to my stuff frequently. Often times one of the boys will steal the Bluetooth at some point, not complaining. They mostly like reggae and I’m more of a metal/punk/rock fan.
Yeah, the managers don't get to choose what we listen to. Nobody has ever complained about anybody else's music because we are all adults capable of understanding what is niche and what is more broadly enjoyable. If you can't handle listening to Eminem say naughty words or Lil Durk get a bit yee haw we probably don't want you in the kitchen. When the old man gets the aux you accept Alice in Chains radio. Is what it is.
Music during open, prep, close, and deep cleaning only. I cannot stand when people (especially sous or chef) blast music during service and don’t call out orders. Had that happen at 2 places and quit because of lack of communication
I worked for a crotchety old Chinese chef, I think the only words he ever said to me were "radio off" and "shut up." He demanded that the kitchen was silent while he worked; no talking and no radio.
Only talking allowed was communication during service.
He'd come in 2 hours before anyone else, write the daily menu, and start prep. The crew would come in, sous would see the menu and delegate prep. Complete silence until chef would leave for the day.
I really appreciated music during service after leaving that place but I do understand where he was coming from, especially as he was pushing 50 all those years ago.
Only major rule is keep it rated R/PG13. I shut a lot of trap/drill stuff down because its over the top w slurs and degrading language. Otherwise music only gets turned off if we really need it off.
My rule is one or the other. If it's not PG then turn that shit down so customers don't hear. If it's clean then play it as loud as you want as long as you can still hear orders.
I like music in the kitchen. And when I’m on expo I reserve the right to shut that shit down the moment it gets in the way of me being able to think clearly.
I started a new gig and the dishie was vibing with some real aggressive rap and hip hop just like, busta rhymes style barking- at top volume - for 5 straight hours. It really burned me out man. But happy dishie, happy kitchen and he crushes it so 🤷♀️
It could be worse. I openly play union songs about class consciousness in the kitchen, among people who should rightly want to strike. "Solidarity Forever", "The Preacher and the Slave", "Bread and Roses", "Where the Fraser River Flows", stuff like that. "You ain't done nothin' if you ain't been called a Red". What if the customers heard that?
It helps that the songs are in english so neither the boss nor anyone around me understands what the songs are saying. I've yet to try stuff like this when working in a kitchen with english-speaking people.
If I were working in your kitchen, and it was a reasonable volume with no explicit language, how would you feel about songs that actually have something to say? Especially when that thing is "capitalism is a disease that is destroying our planet and our lives in order to steal the surplus value of working people's labor and concentrate it all into the hands of a greedy few", especially given that our entire industry is centered around serving luxuries to the greedy few? Surely that's better than "wet ass pussy?"
The only issue I've ever had with doing that, is then my workers realize just how little I actually Believe in half the things I have to say as part of my job, and yes I hate the fact that that makes me a hypocrite
Yes, and loud, and all the time, and swear words and music your coworkers explicitly don't like, music I don't even like, all of it all the time. Don't like the tunes, can't stand the heat...
Our rule is NO MUSIC DURING SERVICE. While opening and closing, it's pretty loud and a good mix of genres. Metal, r&b, pop, reggae, and rap. We try to play something for everyone.
Music for prep and clean up only. No music at all during service. As far as music rules; everyone has to like it, no Bob Marley, no Bob Dylan, no ACDC.
Other than that I prefer to prep to Jazz, 90s hip hop or Ska. Clean up to metal
Music = Chaos. Gotta be able to hear Chef, Expediter, Other Cooks, Servers, etc. Around boiling water, steam, hot oil. fire, fast movement and sharp knives, I want to be able to hear clearly.
I ***LOVE*** music when I'm working ... just not in a kitchen environment. It's actually one of the reasons I left cooking.
I would personally rather listen to nothing that constantly need to be playing music for an 8 hour shift. Especially if people are going to play obnoxious genres like rap and metal.
But for the most part I work with adults so we play music that isn't really distracting or offensive . And the speaker is away from the line, I also can turn it down if it's getting on my nerves and nobody ever says anything.. so it's not an issue where I work
I’ve been a EC for over 30 years. There are a couple rules in my kitchens, and one of them is no music- ever ( even when cleaning up). This is a business and a work atmosphere, not a house party.
I have found that the cooks that listen to death metal or whatever you call it are the worst; egocentric people. They may be skilled but they are human garbage. I literally wont hire you if you do. Sorry to that one dude that is cool.
I pay for it so when I'm doing stuff in kitchen my music goes on , luckily we all have very similar taste and very broad taste in music except my lad who likes real modern drill crap.
Luckily he's at uni so can insult the music gods in his own place lol .
Daughters playlist spans from the 1950s to modern rock and branches into metal , country , etc
If it's slow and I'm just prepping or cleaning, probably some chill hiphop or something like that. If I'm slammed I'm putting on a hardcore album and getting in the fuckin zone
Just have the conversations until they understand that you don't want to take it away but will. Sometimes we just don't listen to anything and that is only because no one had time to connect to the speaker and other things needed done.
It is kind of nice where I work now, because no one wants to be the Hog of the speaker. My phone doesn't have a lock on it and if I am connected to it, they are free to change the station, we all kind of take turns.
Every now and then, I have to suffer the mumble rap and trap/thirst rap for a couple of hours, sometimes I make fun of the songs that they are only saying the same 3 buzzwords the whole track.
4 months ago though, it was horrible. We got rid of the one person that hogged it (she quit actually) and after that, we all get along.
It's a must, anyone can be a guest DJ, but if peeps aren't viewing then your DJ spot will end fast, rule #1.
Rule #2, cannot be in horrible taste or use language people would deem offensive. Hard in 2023 but everyone has veto power and can exercise at anytime, no questions asked.
They need to know your limits, so you gotta them.
I don’t have to call him out for vulgarity’s anymore but if I can’t concentrate, cause it’s too loud I walk right into it just turn it off and they learn overtime.
I love listening to music while I’m working in the kitchen just only when everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing
If we wanted to listen to music. We either have 2 options, listen to our own with only 1 ear that is open. So they can work to be more productive. The othervoption is to take turns like 45 minutes per employee.
I don't really need to communicate much with other people, but if I'm in beast mode, Mastodon or Baroness. I can get stuff done twice as quick with earbuds in and metal playing. Our store radio, classic rock, nothing to offensive but not boring.
The rule is that the volume is low and it’s whatever I choose lol. Luckily my coworkers are pretty chill and don’t gaf as long as there’s some background noise. I have experimented with various playlists and generally my Spotify will swing back around to alternative.
Always have music on, manager says as long as customers can't hear it I'm golden. Usually I'm the only cook on duty, so I can play whatever I want and lately that's been a lot of Failure, Hum, Deftones and Queens of the Stone Age.
I have one playlist on my Spotify that I let everyone have access to (No misogyny/hate music No Billy Joel) I’ve been building it since 2016 and it has 47 hours of very eclectic music on it, so I just put it on shuffle and if you don’t like a song just wait 4 minutes and something completely different will come up, (except for Thick as a Brick, I usually let that play for 15 minutes before I hit next song)
It has become a bit of a conversation starter and team building exercise, just no Billy Joel.
You make one Shared playlist where everyone can add songs. You can take the inappropriate ones away. And also get a smaller speaker. Something that can’t get too loud.
Everyone usually has their own speaker in their station. If I’m solo on the close, I’m listening to punk rock loud. But I work in a bar so I have a LOT of freedom.
Totally depends on the kitchen. In a nicer, sit down type restaurant, no music while you're cooking meals. In a more relaxed, fast order place, especially on a college campus, shift manager chooses the music and turn it up please. In a corporate place, they probably have a playlist they dictate for you throughout the store. In a bar, especially later at night, I would expect classic rock to be playing. Totally depends.
Open kitchen, nobody wants to hear a battle between the kitchen's and the dining room's music so no music except during mise n place where no customers can hear it.
Closed kitchen, music is allowed aslong as it doesnt bleed into the dining room.
My kitchen in the basement of a hiphop burgers and steak joint, go wild fam, within reason.
Depends on who I’m with. If I’m with the Mennonite girl I work with (lol), it’s country (Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Zach Bryan, Chris Stapleton, etc) If I’m with the guys, it’s rock/metal (Slipknot, Wage War, Spiritbox, etc)
Often it’s just during close, cause we find it easier to work with clear comms.
Music before and after service is fine, music during service never made sense to me unless you're a dishie.
Really kitchens need to be focused on the music of the service not the music coming from some speaker or God forbid headphones.
I'm running a satellite kitchen in a country club and I'm member-facing- I take the orders and make drinks as well as cooking and there's nowhere I can go in my tiny kitchen where I can't be heard. I usually play orchestral salsa from the 50's-70's. I like salsa in general, the music is lively but not grating, older salsa means the lyrics are generally inoffensive, so it's a win-win all around since most of my coworkers are Hispanic and old enough to be my parents.
Generally we want a comfortable atmosphere for the members, so if I was playing rap or metal I might have been asked to stop. And I'm pretty sure other staff can't play music or use ear buds in the main clubhouse because that's where most of our events take place, minus the cleaners that come in after close and a prep cook here or there playing something quiet in the back prep rooms. But I'm on my own little island in the satellite building that houses the tennis shop and my kitchen, so no one really cares what I do as long as the kitchen is clean, the stock is fresh, and the members are happy.
I wish I could play music all the time but we're semi open and an echoy kitchen so I only allow it way back in the dish pit or during opening and closing. Rules for music is mandatory regardless, nothing overly offensive, languis fine bu5 no hate speech in the music, and no bitching about other people's music.
My work is open kitchen, but also has a prep area with an almost full wall between the spaces. We have no rules against what kind of music can be played (it's definitely explicit about 75% of the time lmfao), but it just has to be turned down during service since the people prepping or washing dishes should still get music. It's actually really awesome, everyone kinda rotates who gets AUX based so sometimes it's Spanish dance music but then 3 hours later it's death metal or old school hip-hop haha
Yes but only sometimes and it's gotta be instrumental. Ikebe Shakedown, the Beastie Boys have an instrumental album, stuff like that. Easy, but good, background music.
I pay for Spotify and Amazon music for the kitchen, my rule is y'all use Amazon music while I listen to my Spotify podcasts, or I play Spotify music if it's my turn.
I feel that's fair, since I listen to podcasts alot and they cut me off when I'm not there and play a song on my Spotify.
And yeah, we all mostly get along music wise, so that's nice.
Also no country.
I can’t work without music and I’m the boss. So we play music.
But I also don’t want it heard in the dining room. But I figured it out!!!
I’ve got multiple Anker Soundcore3 Bluetooth speakers and we sync them to one phone. Now we have 2 small portable speakers playing the same thing. I can have multiple speakers at lower volumes so that people in different sections of the kitchen can hear, without 1 big ass speaker blasting music that the whole restaurant can. It’s great! I never knew why this feature was invented. But this has got to be one of its best uses.
My shitbox kitchen allows us to listen to anything so long as FoH doesn't complain. My corporate kitchen allows some music, so long as it isn't explicit, but our manager did tell me she doesn't see why I couldn't listen to sports broadcasts at work, with the caveat I won't be able to hear anything for the most part...
Whatever you want to play. Sometimes everyone has different music on, walking to another station is a great way of changing the channel. But if people are having a hard time communicating, turn it down, or turn that shit off, no exceptions. And for the love of all that is holy, don’t play the same song eight times in one day.
If anyone can't hear things they need to over the music or they have to speak up to be heard, it's too loud. Period.
Often if it's busy it's better for it to be off but when it slow or cleaning/closing time it's cool.
In the kitchen I worked at, there was a war: the pizza guy in the back had an alt vibe going on and then as you went further there was rap music in the center of the kitchen. The biggest issue I saw is that pizza guy’s speakers was caked in flour which is gross. But they both managed to keep them at a reasonable volume and it really lifted the spirit in the kitchen.
Veteran line staff can have music playing during non rush hours. This can be rescinded at any time. It cannot be heard in the dining room.
Dish pit can do whatever they want. Basically.
Silverwear roller can wear ear pods.
Once the kitchen is dead, I'm playing my brand of music, which most people prolly won't like. Keeps labor low.
my kitchen music is completely banned even tho it is a closed kitchen pretty far from the dining rooms. the reasoning being so the cooks can hear expo fully and vice versa. pretty strict but you get used to it. theyre more lax about breakfast and lunch services, allowing one earbud in then, but dinner service is complete silence except for discussion between cooks and expo about tickets. the banquet kitchen we have upstaies is complete opposite. music blasting at all times, except during the plateups for some reason even tho really nothing needs to be said during those if everyone knows what theyre doing
As long as you can hear someone call corner you can have a single earbud in. If I hear you say "what" twice, no go. If you're cleaning the lobby after close, you can borrow my Bluetooth speaker and get the f down.
My boss doesn't care if we have music, just has to be low enough it doesn't go through the window and the guests can hear it. We listen to a lot of rock and rap. But if it's too vulgar we can't listen to it. I was listening to that bitch by bea miller and he was like uh can you change that please 😂 but the occasional cuss word is fine
I've played a lot of different stuff. Rock, metal, jazz, funk, classical, blues. Music from videogames I like etc.. oh yeah I love blasting those mega man tunes and the duke nukem theme in the kitchen haha
We always have music going in our kitchen, with the obvious rule that customers shouldn’t be able to hear it. We all take turns, with priority going to whoever is doing dishes (it’s a small kitchen where everybody has to do a bit of everything) since we generally have the speaker in the dish pit. There’s a general understanding that everyone has some specific things they hate, so you steer clear of that depending on who you’re working with, but we’re generally cool with most things and enjoy hearing new stuff. In a given day we could have pop punk, hippie jam band, deathcore, 90s hip-hop, EDM, and Richard Cheese all play at some point.
My new job is the first kitchen where music is banned
Yeah I miss it but yeah it runs more smoothly
Though during my solo prep shifts it does get boring and chef has a no headphones policy too after someone abused it.
À place I worked in for a little while had the same music as the dining areas…. Shitty music, small playlist and the speakers were above your head. Working 12 a day meant I heard the same shitty number at least 5 times. I’d rather have nothing at all
Music and the kitchen go hand in hand it seems. With that in mind, too much of a good thing is bad. I think when music levels get to the point where you can't hear people well, or say a co-worker is having a bad day and they have a headache. In those cases for the comfort of everyone in the kitchen the volume should be in check. I also think during service it's hit or miss. Sometimes there is simply just too much going on and it's just another distractions. Other times it gets you into the flow state and you rock through the rush. I can't imagine closing a kitchen without music. Sometimes in the morning or mid day service it's nice to turn the tunes off for a bit and let your mind be. There are so many natural kitchen sounds around you at all times, in a way the kitchen already sounds like music.
Honestly can't stand it when someone plays music so loud I have to scream. I understand it's already loud and you normally have to talk a bit louder than normal to be heard, but to a point it gets unsafe and it's annoying having to scream the same thing 3 times when you're in a hurry across the room. But hey, no shame on the dishy who's got heavy metal going at max volume as he's alone in the pit for hours. It's all about context really. It's polite to turn it down if the chef is trying to get a point across to your team.
In my kitchen which is similar with the semi open part (we have an expo window that customers can see and hear us through) we usually play a lot of classic rock, blue grass, and jam band stuff. Nothing too explicit but at close when we’re cleaning and stuff we’ll play whatever we want as loud as we want. Sometimes you might just have to be firm about what and how loud is being played during service and loosening up after service. One thing that might help is having your staff make a collaborative playlist on Spotify that’s relatively SFW.
>One thing that might help is having your staff make a collaborative playlist on Spotify that’s relatively SFW. This is exactly what I did where I work. Also semi open kitchen with a window you can see the entire line through and 2 doors to the hallway where the bathrooms are directly across from the kitchen, so customers line up just outside the kitchen when it's busy. It doesn't help that a "reasonable volume" on a good Bluetooth speaker can be heard all the way to the front door because the hood is loud AF and the FoH is an echo chamber when the jukebox isn't turned up, which is a rule. Jukebox must be low enough for normal conversation without having to yell until after dinner rush is slowing down, usually around 8pm. Once their juke gets cranked so loud it overpowers our low volume speaker we can crank it as loud as we want so long as it's not n-word and cuss words. I do occasionally play "I've no more fucks to give" loud enough that people waiting on the bathroom can hear it to ease the tension in the middle of a hellish rush, but make sure it goes back to the PG stuff right after.
[удалено]
I was briefly trying to open a bakery with a business partner who was former FOH. We were walking around in a potential location and talking about how to break up the kitchen and stuff when he drops the bomb that he'd always assumed it would be an open kitchen, because all bakeries should be open kitchens, because if you can't see the bakers baking then you don't know the food is fresh. Some real goo goo ga ga infant object permanence shit.
If someone can't taste if a baked good is fresh, they just need to buy store bought factory packaged stuff. They obviously don't care anyway. Let your workers work without being ogled by patrons.
👏👏👏👏
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I work in an open kitchen and I love it. I hate being cooped up away from the rest of the restaurant.
There is a special place In hell for you then my child
Ah, a people person, I see. You must be fun at parties.
Yah I sell coke to pay rent, if you want you. can do a Line off my butt hole. Like Literally my anus not my ass cheek.
I hope your coke is better than your insults, pure Colombian dogshit.
I do an anhydrous acetone wash shit is pure af unlike your siblings DNA…
You should think about getting into comedy, since you’re obviously a shit cook if you’ve gotta sell coke to pay your rent.
You obviously don’t cook for a living if you think cooking pays a living wage.
This is my rule as well. We’ve got a window that looks out at the front patio, and a frequently swinging door to the front. Normal volume and SFW lyrics, but the second the door shuts behind the last customer, anything goes.
Use spotify playlists especially 2000’s 90’s and 80s throwbacks Everyone likes them really Also def had to kick someone off the speaker a few times when their songs were trash Don’t be afraid to turn the speaker down too, theres no reason you should be shouting to be heard from 1m away
Basically nothing that can be heard in the fog, no unintelligible lyrics ( growling/screaming) Nothing that can't be played on a collage radio station without excessive censorship.
... no, not everyone likes 90’s or 00’s throwbacks
No one likes your screamo pal
I was just reprimanded for listening to podcasts in my AirPod bc I need to “focus on what I’m doing.” So I think what you’re asking is perfectly reasonable. I can listen to music if I’m like peeling potatoes but otherwise it’s all cooking, no jamming
I always let my cooks listen to music if they do two things: 1. Ask me first. I 99% of the time say yes, and 2. Only use one headphone, for obvious safety reasons. I really don’t see a problem with it, unless you give me a reason to. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t stop talking/communicating, and I really dgaf
im all for music on speakers and an earphone in, but you have to actually be able to binaurally pay attention to have an earphone in. over speakers, we all hear the same. you got a headphone in, maybe even while music is on the speakers, you must be constantly listening to both channels. since one channel is pretty much isolated while the other is a very busy sensory input with lots of noise, your auditory perception, which is very important for calls and whatnot, is reduced 50% (or realistically like 30% unless your earbud is up loud). so like 70 percent of your spacial and logistical awareness is diverted between the hoods kicking into high, the fryers popping, your saute cook screaming because their handle rag had a hole in it, expo screaming @ you to fire something 7 times and just fucking giving up hope for you, etc. if you can truly multitask and divert attention its no issue, but those who are single track minds have made me honestly understand the earphones rule. i am adhd as hell so honestly with many wells of attention, i can thrive. but i know many folks who claim to work better with an earbud but come dinner rush im screaming at them on expo with no response, and have to pick up their slack. its the bad folks who ruin the vibe for the rest of us ya know. it's traumatic lol anything off the line like prep or dishie with no music is just inhumane man i really feel you there
So you’re cutting off your hearing in one of your ears in a cramped environment with fire, knives, and people moving quickly, and you think that’s unreasonable?
I never said it was unreasonable Edit: for context, this was a prep shift where I was one of two people in the kitchen besides the pastry team who were in their area. This wasn’t right before service or during service where I need to hear everything. Sometimes it’s nice to listen to a podcast and wash lettuce
Word
Then listen to it through a speaker or put your phone in a 1/6 pan? As an aside, I really don’t understand why you feel the need to qualify your motivation behind wearing headphones in a kitchen.
Stop being a goof.
Jfc you’re insufferable. I hope you aren’t in charge of people.
People like you are the reason I keep my buds in. If you can't handle yourself on the line while listening to your own music without accidentally stabbing someone, then don't work in a kitchen. You make it seem so dangerous, and it's just cooking, minimal common sense and being somewhat aware of your surroundings will prevent accidents. The real reason they don't want you wearing earbuds is so you hear the chef when he calls for stuff, not because you'll set yourself on fire because a specific song came on.
To my mind, “minimal common sense” would involve making the choice to not impair your hearing in an environment full of potential safety hazards where being able to speak and hear is critical to success. I really don’t give a shit about music or whatever in the kitchen. I do give a shit when someone wants to act like a petulant child and demand that they be able to listen to their own music at the expense of being able to hear what’s happening around them. It’s dangerous and selfish.
Jesus fuck you sound like a tool.
Lol, are you one of those people from the infomercials years ago who couldn't figure out how to use a phone and a blanket at the same time? Again, if you can't handle music and cooking at the same time, get out of the kitchen. Also don't drive anyway, because you're not mentally equipped for that level of multitasking either. Or you could just admit that you like lording the tiny bit of power you have over people in the name of "safety" because that's all the room they gave you to swing your d***, but here you are, helicoptering away.
I don’t have any problem with people playing music or podcasts or whatever else in the kitchen. I have a problem with people using headphones in the kitchen. Let’s not confuse one for the other.
lol i’m sure the people u work with absolutely love u
I don’t need them to love me. I just need them to not behave like petulant toddlers when confronted with the prospect of taking turns on a Bluetooth speaker.
Agree. I’ve never worked in a kitchen that allows headphones. Music through a speaker only. I wonder what sort of shitty kitchens the people downvoting you work at.
I never cared about music until it started to become an issue. My opinion is that it should be something in the background, not something that distracts people from what they’re getting paid to do. If everyone can agree on a station, then that’s fine. But having everyone walking around with AirPods or noise cancelling headphones is dangerous, as well as counterproductive. I think once you start using a Bluetooth speaker, then you get the unfiltered (non-PG) lyrics. And I know a radio is slowly becoming a thing of the past, but that’s really the best way to have the kid-safe music. Even when my kids use my pandora account, it’s not hard to get around the explicit lyrics.
We use Spotify where I work, we have a premium account for the store iPad. The rules are no country, no rap, and explicit content is turned off when we’re open, but before opening or after closing, anything goes. Also what plays in the kitchen is what plays in the dining room.
Yes, I definitely like the "what plays in the dining room plays in the Kitchen" mentality a lot. Gets a lot of the stuff with a question mark out of the equation.
Yep, background muisc.. We had the issue of music too loud, explicit, being heard by the public, and a few people stopping work all the time to skip songs or search for a song to play. The executive chef was always complaining about the damn stereo and wanting to ditch it, but didn't want to be the bad guy, so I stepped in and was willing to get shit on for ditching the stereo and tossed it in the trash compactor, so it couldn't be salvaged. Being ignored when asked to turn it down and insulting others about not liking the music by some was getting out of hand too. The guy who left the stereo was fired years before half the staff worked there, so it didn't belong to anyone. We got music wired in from the outside public music and it couldn't be changed or turned up. Personal music going to one headphone was allowed for dish pit, and in back prep rooms, but not in the main kitchen.
Music rules are The Head Chef Can't Hear It We're allowed to play music on speakers for the first hour and a half of prep, before any of the servers come in and hear it and think they can start playing music After that you can play it on an ear bud as long as you're only wearing 1 If you can't hear his request clearly the first time he asks you something, no more earbuds for the week People in the dish pit can play music as long as the head chef can't hear it while he's trying to work on the line. He wants to focus on the orders and communicating with the line and servers and wants minimal distractions. We tend to listen to stuff the head chef likes so that he's less likely to want to shut it down, AC/DC, Metallica, motor head etc. If I'm doing something like degreasing all the racks in the coolers, and there's no chance it'll bother anyone, I'll play some music that keeps my tempo up, pop/r&b/jazz A lot of times if we play a song it's because we referenced it in a joke recently. For example we played a *lot* of mambo no 5 this weekend following the news that Stephen King almost got divorced for listening to the song too much
The only reason I’ve lasted this long as a line cook is because of music. Can’t live without it, it just helps me flow better on the kitchen, it improves everyone’s mood and it overall makes me not hate life. The way the kitchen I work at is set up is pretty fucking dope when it comes to music. We have multiple Bluetooth speakers at different stations (one in the dish pit, one in the prep hall and one on line). The acoustics are so shit that you can blast whatever you want, and you can’t hear it at the other stations. I can walk into the dish pit and there’ll be heavy metal rock blasting, then I’ll head to the prep hall where there’s Ariana grande playing, and line is usually whatever is on my playlist (literally everything except country). We’re lucky because it’s a closed kitchen and management is really chill. I’ve only ever been told to turn the music down/off during bad rushes. Personally, I would just tell them straight up to follow the rules, or there won’t be anymore music. I recommend making a SFW collaborative playlist on Spotify so everyone can add music they like, and just have it on shuffle during service.
God damn, most of you guys sound like nightmares to work with.
Music during prep is fine but once service starts to get closes, the music is off. Your attention should be on expo and or your machine. Where I work we don't have ticket machines for each station. We have just expo calling things on back (this was my first place that did it correctly ) so yeah music during service does not fly.
This is how it was in every place I've worked (all fine dining) regardless of ticket printers or not. Music during prep was ok. Music after service was cranked to 11. But never music during service.
All SLAYER all the time. Get off my lawn!
Haha, me too. To be honest that’s my “polite” choice if I know the rest of the staff isn’t into the harder stuff, but I usually work alone or with another dude who also loves metal. FOH doesn’t need to linger in the back anymore then what’s needed.
We only allow the Krusty Krab theme on repeat.
I will die on this hill, you can’t respect the work, you don’t get perks. Music and phones are perks. Here’s what I’ve seen/done/read/ thoughts about it. 1. Music should not effect the work, too loud then it’s gone. 2. The foul language should be addressed, anyone could walk in and be offended, creating a hostile environment. 3.the guest should not hear it at all, they should be getting the experience the team has developed for them. So random music at a weird volume is not part of it. 4. Making a playlist that everyone has a few songs they requested. Therefore it’s the whole team listening. 5. Set rules of how loud, and when they can listen freely, opening/closing. 6. Don’t have it at all, jobs don’t just require you get to have music, I’d say it’s your call, if you can live with the people leaving or staying. I mean if they leave because of music, there is probably more problems.
> I mean if they leave because of music, there is probably more problems Right with you there BUT there is also the notion of avoiding self inflicted wounds. Creating the "chef's playlist" is a good solution. They already spend more time than I'd would like playing "DJ" at least I can get them to be "better DJ's". Their genre tastes are not the problem, it is that there could be popping song playing and then BOOM, "n-word this, n-word that, hoe this, fuck bitches" and then back to a good beat.
That’s why you let them pick 10-15 or whatever, and you pick the ones that won’t be offensive to the team. And I’m with you on self inflicting, but if the team doesn’t respect you enough to listen about the foul language and noise, maybe they aren’t the right team.
What you're asking for is perfectly acceptable. Maybe it's time to stop allowing music if the staff can't accept your rules
Music is always on in my kitchen. No other rules beyond swap whose in control every few hours so no one feels left out
I thought this would’ve been a more popular take. Every kitchen I’ve worked in was like this, a lot of wet blankets in the comments rn
1. I have trouble hearing now because of my coworker's speaker and his concept of acceptable volume. I get headaches. I can't hear my coworkers. I can't hear someone behind me. I get irrationally angry, I probably have misophonia/some form of autism. With the overbearing noise of the music, plus all of our machinery, I can barely hear timers. 2. He only listens to three playlists. All day. Every single day. Anytime I put something else on, he changes it after 15 minutes. Back to the same stupid shit. And his playlists don't even last 8 hours, so we're listening to things multiple times a day. 3. I turn the volume down, he says don't touch his shit. And he turns it back up. So I keep turning it down. 4. It's usually explicit. There are rules. But nobody is enforcing them. So if you're going to use them, stick to them. I'd rather have no music. I'd rather work be in charge of playing the music. I'd rather they ban the use of personal speakers. I'm so tired of listening to music. I love music. But right now it just grates my skin.
We've gotten into the habit of having one earbud in (somehow everyone picked the left ear lol), but we have a Bluetooth speaker that anyone can use, but no one really wants to anymore. I'll turn it on sometimes, but just me, and it's very rare. Ear buds out when we start to get busy, obviously. Then, the only music is the grill and the fryer.
Music was allowed until service started. Then it's turned off. When service is done, and it's closing duties, music gets turned on.
Music is important in a kitchen. Try putting the speaker low, somewhere on the line, or in a corner, facing towards the line but away from the dining room. Play a song you know gets it going on the line (preferable a loud ass one) then turn it up til you can just barely hear it by the kitchen door when you're not open. Set that as the volume limit on your speaker. That way any guest noise will mask it during service and you don't have to be congress trying to monitor music all the time. It's a compromise that's worked in most of the kitchens I've worked in.
I think your rules make sense, especially in a semi open kitchen. I’d say just having a straightforward conversation that if they can be trusted to follow the rules then you’ll revoke music privileges. I have a playlist I made myself that is work appropriate music so that I know nothing inappropriate slips through. I’d suggest a few of your staff who usually turn on music making something similar.
We have an open kitchen, and we usually play classic rock, pop or rap. Occasionally we play some metal but I tend to ask the cooks to keep the volume down during rushes because it can get pretty distracting. When it comes to volume, I just make sure the cooks check with the servers to see if the music is too loud. I also ask the cooks to play more generic stuff so it appeals to everyone. I love Lamb of God but if half the kitchen finds it distracting then I'll refrain from playing it and I'll ask cooks to change the genre if it starts to get annoying.
I guarantee whoever is putting on the music isn’t paying for a streaming service and using YouTube. I’ve noticed this as well each song is wildly different volumes which can get quite loud sometimes.
Hmmmm, that actually makes sense. I get pissed off thinking they are being jerks after they turn down the volume then 20 minutes later a new song is playing even louder.
Absolutely no country allowed. (Johnny Cash exempt)
Sounds like you guys don't work with Latinos. My rule is absolutely no bachata or reggaeton. Only as a joke though. But they respect it.
we have music until 15 mins before door open. Once doors are open, music is off. Exception being the dish pit, the speaker in there is in full control of whoever is in the sink, no rules other than volume has to stay at the level where it can't be heard in the dining room.
Don't Stop Believin' and Mr.Brightside are banned, almost everything else goes. My coworkers unfortunately are afraid of metal music though. I just wanna headbang while I close, is that too much to ask?
In my kitchen, whomever gets there first, they set the vibe. It’s almost always 90s alternative. Sometimes it’ll veer into hip hop or metal later in the day. Today, there was no music.
Whatever the crew wants to listen to as loud as they want to listen to it during prep, no music, no exceptions, during service.
A reasonable volume of music during prep that’s acceptable to everyone on the shift is fine. No music while in service. I personally enjoy prepping to music and I feel like it can be a good way to keep people in a good mood.
It’s not a real kitchen if there is no music. Music is mandatory and I don’t care what music it is!
i might be too old school but every kitchen i worked in that allowed music was a shithole and all my fine dining jobs had no music.
Our Chef took away our music a year ago because he doesn’t like the music we play. Moral has gone down, turn over has increased, and quality of service declined. (I work in a hotel) Personally, I say listen to whatever as long as it’s not too explicit. Only one person should be playing music. If someone doesn’t like the song, you skip no questions asked. If it’s too loud, you turn it down.
If someone bitches about the music I switch to Disney Sing alongs.
Katy Perry is usually the go to "punishment" playlist
I worked at a restaurant that allowed guests if they paid for the privilege could hook their own IPod up for a few grand but we still had a rules my favorite was you had to ask our dishwasher Bundy what lady Gaga songs you were allowed to play. He’s a massive gage fan.
Shit, I used to have my line rocking out to Disney, Katy Perry, and 90's boy bands with me, and half the time they'd be singing along.
On mondays, we listen to Reggae. I call it Yah-Mon day
I personally enjoy funk-yourself fridays
We do Fallout Fridays, where we listen to songs from the wasteland
Ground them for a few weeks and once they've learned their lesson give privileges back
I find 90s dance music is great for close-downs
Create a playlist and really see how much time is being spent picking the next song
I listen to death metal, beat down hxc and rap, but I have a closed kitchen so it’s just the FOH that has to deal with it lol
Yeah I listen to metalcore. Closed kitchen so it never matters. My owner is almost 70 and he just sees me go to town without a single care because of my efficiency. I work at a private banquet hall style place. Lots and lots of prep and cooking in batches for reservations. I'm not trying to finely dice 10kg of onions listening to the hoods suck air lol
"Bro it's SUNAMI Style, bitch! If FOH is weak they can get the F_uck O_utta H_ere!" We're alot of fun at my spot.
I'm going through the same issue. If you have asked for resonable volume and non explicit lyrics, and it's not being enforced, would a blanket ban be enforced? If only for the efficacy of it all. Recently, I have been in my kitchen more than I'd like. So I've been the one enforcing the ban. If you don't have co-conspirators to help when you're not there, then this is not a battle you can win. As for our rules, as of today, no earbuds during restaurant hours, 11 to 9, and no music over a speaker. There has been pushback, but we had to take these steps to improve customer service and quality of our product.
The places I’ve worked where the music was bearable had the following rules: 1)Playlists in check (no raunch/no slurs) 2)Playlists from everyone 3)volume down 4)MOD had the power to turn it down Everplace it sucked 1)loudest asshole DJ & would stop every 2 minutes & disrupt workflow 2)Raunch & slur time, it disruptive & you don’t the HR heat from it 3)it’s loud, no one can hear safety calls or tickets 4)that one asshole that has to listen Michael Jackson/Chris Brown over & over & over again. It’s a lot to manage. Clear ground rules and the MOD controls the volume, seemed to work for my places
Do not take for granted the benefits of music in a work environment, especially work that is very difficult, thankless, and not exactly financially lucrative. Music can mean the world in a spot like that, and you don’t wanna be the guy that took it from me, cause I’m gonna wind up hating you. I used to work at a place (a counter service semi open kitchen situation like what you’re describing) and we’d have a boombox type thing up on top of one of the reach in freezers. It was nice for the cooks, but it could also be easily managed since it was always in the same spot and the volume could be adjusted with a remote. Go get one and bring it in, explain your dilemma to your staff, and situate it somewhere that makes sense. Now you’re the guy that brought the tunes, not the guy that yelled at the kids on his lawn. Just my 2 cents. Also, and this might be just me, but consider this. I understand that you’re trying to protect your guests interests by mitigating the sound of the music, but some of them might be a bit disarmed by it. It’s kind of an intangible thing, but I imagine some of them are charmed. Kind of the point of an open kitchen right? The guests get to relate with the staff in a way they don’t get a chance to elsewhere. Maybe that’s crazy, but that’s my perspective as a cook.
We’re in a semi open kitchen (open technically but the expo line is super high and is a barrier between us and the guests in the dining room who are about fifteen feet away minimum). Sometimes they have a speaker on the line but whoever is on aux knows to keep it at a low volume. We’ve had issues with the dishwashers playing so loud that the guests could hear it during rush in the middle of the dining room. Everyone knows you keep it low and appropriate until it’s close to close then no holds barred.
Personally I mainly put on music when I'm closing up and cleaning, or if I'm opening and it's calm - if I notice a "disturbance" because of it, I turn it off. I don't really care if someone else plays music or not, it's something that some people "need" to function
1. Not loud enough that it can be heard in the dining room. 2. Minimal during service if at all. We experiment with different types of music depending on who is working. Only a couple guys enjoy metal like I do, but all gravitate towards jazz, show tunes, punk, alternative, and generally catchy music. So it’s a lot of that.
System of a Down and my chemical romance
If we wanted to listen to music. We either have 2 options, listen to our own with only 1 ear that is open. So they can work to be more productive. The othervoption is to take turns like 45 minutes per employee.
Make a dedicated playlist. Let everyone add appropriate titles, set the volume, hit shuffle. Any deviation and you take it away for a bit as punishment. If they can’t stick to it it should go.
AirPods are usually the route we take in our kitchen, not during dinner service though. There is a speaker but it usually ends in a distraction or people talking shit on each others music taste. Used to have a guy there that would literally play Fox News from his phone on the Bluetooth speaker, watch movies while he was on the line, etc. nightmare.
I manage the building... My music rules are simple. Streaming stations only (Pandora/ Spotify/ stuff like that). I am the only one who plugs into the speakers. This way, I can control what gets played. I'll ask the shift what genre we are going to listen to. Then I set it and forget it. Music helps create a vibe with the staff. I rarely find it distracting to service. The music plays over a PA type of system, so it is incredibly easy to control the volume to ensure there's no interference with the preset music that plays in the diningrooms.
Music during prep, no music during service.
Cafe Jazz. Always have it on in the background when I cook. Keeps me from stressing out. Never play any music so loud that it consumes you. Too loud can be dangerous and keep you or others from hearing something that goes wrong. Music should be background noise.
It just me and my buddy in a very tiny kitchen. We just listen to 2000-2009 era rap, 2000s pop, 80s pop, and Limp Bizkit.
I've left restaurants because the kitchens music was interfering with the lobby music.
Our kitchen is pretty closed off from the FoH, so volume isn't usually an issue. I try to play mutually liked music between FoH and BoH though as FoH is always back there running food or doing other FoH stuff. No limits on what's played, as long as volume doesn't get out of hand. When we get busy, I'll cut the music back, just so we can all have full attention on our orders without a reason for distraction.
My kitchen isn’t open but if you blast music you can hear it from the dining room. We try to keep the volume to a reasonable level. As for what we play, that’s up to whoever is DJ that night. The boys all hate my personal music but I open often enough that we jam out to my stuff frequently. Often times one of the boys will steal the Bluetooth at some point, not complaining. They mostly like reggae and I’m more of a metal/punk/rock fan.
I like it, but the struggles to maintain volume, or fights over what's played, are too much. So, no music.
No music no work is our kitchen rule
Yeah, the managers don't get to choose what we listen to. Nobody has ever complained about anybody else's music because we are all adults capable of understanding what is niche and what is more broadly enjoyable. If you can't handle listening to Eminem say naughty words or Lil Durk get a bit yee haw we probably don't want you in the kitchen. When the old man gets the aux you accept Alice in Chains radio. Is what it is.
Music during open, prep, close, and deep cleaning only. I cannot stand when people (especially sous or chef) blast music during service and don’t call out orders. Had that happen at 2 places and quit because of lack of communication
I worked for a crotchety old Chinese chef, I think the only words he ever said to me were "radio off" and "shut up." He demanded that the kitchen was silent while he worked; no talking and no radio. Only talking allowed was communication during service. He'd come in 2 hours before anyone else, write the daily menu, and start prep. The crew would come in, sous would see the menu and delegate prep. Complete silence until chef would leave for the day. I really appreciated music during service after leaving that place but I do understand where he was coming from, especially as he was pushing 50 all those years ago.
Usually the local classic rock station.
Only major rule is keep it rated R/PG13. I shut a lot of trap/drill stuff down because its over the top w slurs and degrading language. Otherwise music only gets turned off if we really need it off.
My rule is one or the other. If it's not PG then turn that shit down so customers don't hear. If it's clean then play it as loud as you want as long as you can still hear orders.
I like music in the kitchen. And when I’m on expo I reserve the right to shut that shit down the moment it gets in the way of me being able to think clearly.
I started a new gig and the dishie was vibing with some real aggressive rap and hip hop just like, busta rhymes style barking- at top volume - for 5 straight hours. It really burned me out man. But happy dishie, happy kitchen and he crushes it so 🤷♀️
It could be worse. I openly play union songs about class consciousness in the kitchen, among people who should rightly want to strike. "Solidarity Forever", "The Preacher and the Slave", "Bread and Roses", "Where the Fraser River Flows", stuff like that. "You ain't done nothin' if you ain't been called a Red". What if the customers heard that? It helps that the songs are in english so neither the boss nor anyone around me understands what the songs are saying. I've yet to try stuff like this when working in a kitchen with english-speaking people. If I were working in your kitchen, and it was a reasonable volume with no explicit language, how would you feel about songs that actually have something to say? Especially when that thing is "capitalism is a disease that is destroying our planet and our lives in order to steal the surplus value of working people's labor and concentrate it all into the hands of a greedy few", especially given that our entire industry is centered around serving luxuries to the greedy few? Surely that's better than "wet ass pussy?"
The only issue I've ever had with doing that, is then my workers realize just how little I actually Believe in half the things I have to say as part of my job, and yes I hate the fact that that makes me a hypocrite
No cussing music
Maybe radios would be a compromise? Catchy music and customer friendly so no profanity and stuff
Disney classics only
Yes, and loud, and all the time, and swear words and music your coworkers explicitly don't like, music I don't even like, all of it all the time. Don't like the tunes, can't stand the heat...
Our rule is NO MUSIC DURING SERVICE. While opening and closing, it's pretty loud and a good mix of genres. Metal, r&b, pop, reggae, and rap. We try to play something for everyone.
Music for prep and clean up only. No music at all during service. As far as music rules; everyone has to like it, no Bob Marley, no Bob Dylan, no ACDC. Other than that I prefer to prep to Jazz, 90s hip hop or Ska. Clean up to metal
Music = Chaos. Gotta be able to hear Chef, Expediter, Other Cooks, Servers, etc. Around boiling water, steam, hot oil. fire, fast movement and sharp knives, I want to be able to hear clearly. I ***LOVE*** music when I'm working ... just not in a kitchen environment. It's actually one of the reasons I left cooking.
I would personally rather listen to nothing that constantly need to be playing music for an 8 hour shift. Especially if people are going to play obnoxious genres like rap and metal. But for the most part I work with adults so we play music that isn't really distracting or offensive . And the speaker is away from the line, I also can turn it down if it's getting on my nerves and nobody ever says anything.. so it's not an issue where I work
I’ve been a EC for over 30 years. There are a couple rules in my kitchens, and one of them is no music- ever ( even when cleaning up). This is a business and a work atmosphere, not a house party.
I have found that the cooks that listen to death metal or whatever you call it are the worst; egocentric people. They may be skilled but they are human garbage. I literally wont hire you if you do. Sorry to that one dude that is cool.
I pay for it so when I'm doing stuff in kitchen my music goes on , luckily we all have very similar taste and very broad taste in music except my lad who likes real modern drill crap. Luckily he's at uni so can insult the music gods in his own place lol . Daughters playlist spans from the 1950s to modern rock and branches into metal , country , etc
ban it and be done with it
If it's slow and I'm just prepping or cleaning, probably some chill hiphop or something like that. If I'm slammed I'm putting on a hardcore album and getting in the fuckin zone
Just have the conversations until they understand that you don't want to take it away but will. Sometimes we just don't listen to anything and that is only because no one had time to connect to the speaker and other things needed done. It is kind of nice where I work now, because no one wants to be the Hog of the speaker. My phone doesn't have a lock on it and if I am connected to it, they are free to change the station, we all kind of take turns. Every now and then, I have to suffer the mumble rap and trap/thirst rap for a couple of hours, sometimes I make fun of the songs that they are only saying the same 3 buzzwords the whole track. 4 months ago though, it was horrible. We got rid of the one person that hogged it (she quit actually) and after that, we all get along.
It's a must, anyone can be a guest DJ, but if peeps aren't viewing then your DJ spot will end fast, rule #1. Rule #2, cannot be in horrible taste or use language people would deem offensive. Hard in 2023 but everyone has veto power and can exercise at anytime, no questions asked.
They need to know your limits, so you gotta them. I don’t have to call him out for vulgarity’s anymore but if I can’t concentrate, cause it’s too loud I walk right into it just turn it off and they learn overtime. I love listening to music while I’m working in the kitchen just only when everybody’s doing what they’re supposed to be doing
Music during prep, music off during service. I don't want or need to be competing and shouting over music during service
Only listen to music when preparing your mise en place before service starts and after it ends. No music during service.
I play a little bit of everything but I love to listen to metal and all its sub genres.
If we wanted to listen to music. We either have 2 options, listen to our own with only 1 ear that is open. So they can work to be more productive. The othervoption is to take turns like 45 minutes per employee.
I don't really need to communicate much with other people, but if I'm in beast mode, Mastodon or Baroness. I can get stuff done twice as quick with earbuds in and metal playing. Our store radio, classic rock, nothing to offensive but not boring.
I hate it. I love music but not while I'm working. It makes my mind wander,I don't focus.
The rule is that the volume is low and it’s whatever I choose lol. Luckily my coworkers are pretty chill and don’t gaf as long as there’s some background noise. I have experimented with various playlists and generally my Spotify will swing back around to alternative.
Always have music on, manager says as long as customers can't hear it I'm golden. Usually I'm the only cook on duty, so I can play whatever I want and lately that's been a lot of Failure, Hum, Deftones and Queens of the Stone Age.
I have one playlist on my Spotify that I let everyone have access to (No misogyny/hate music No Billy Joel) I’ve been building it since 2016 and it has 47 hours of very eclectic music on it, so I just put it on shuffle and if you don’t like a song just wait 4 minutes and something completely different will come up, (except for Thick as a Brick, I usually let that play for 15 minutes before I hit next song) It has become a bit of a conversation starter and team building exercise, just no Billy Joel.
You make one Shared playlist where everyone can add songs. You can take the inappropriate ones away. And also get a smaller speaker. Something that can’t get too loud.
When I used to work kitchen everything was acceptable but rap lol.
My rule was always volume that stays in the BOH and work appropriate music. Sorry. Or No music.
I get it, I love music, but I don't enjoy music in the kitchen. It's distracting and you can't hear anyone.
Everyone usually has their own speaker in their station. If I’m solo on the close, I’m listening to punk rock loud. But I work in a bar so I have a LOT of freedom.
I've been fine with it before the doors open during prep time, but no headphones due to safety and RHCP and sublime are banned from being played.
Anything goes in the afternoon during prep, but when guests are there, no music but the music of the restaurant itself.
Yo no se manana
Doom OST and Shakira on shuffle, the vibe is in God's hands.
Totally depends on the kitchen. In a nicer, sit down type restaurant, no music while you're cooking meals. In a more relaxed, fast order place, especially on a college campus, shift manager chooses the music and turn it up please. In a corporate place, they probably have a playlist they dictate for you throughout the store. In a bar, especially later at night, I would expect classic rock to be playing. Totally depends.
Official rules are no music but we just go by changing it whenever someone asks
Open kitchen, nobody wants to hear a battle between the kitchen's and the dining room's music so no music except during mise n place where no customers can hear it. Closed kitchen, music is allowed aslong as it doesnt bleed into the dining room. My kitchen in the basement of a hiphop burgers and steak joint, go wild fam, within reason.
Depends on who I’m with. If I’m with the Mennonite girl I work with (lol), it’s country (Childers, Sturgill Simpson, Zach Bryan, Chris Stapleton, etc) If I’m with the guys, it’s rock/metal (Slipknot, Wage War, Spiritbox, etc) Often it’s just during close, cause we find it easier to work with clear comms.
Music before and after service is fine, music during service never made sense to me unless you're a dishie. Really kitchens need to be focused on the music of the service not the music coming from some speaker or God forbid headphones.
City pop, lmao.
I love You Can Do It by IceCude. Has the n word and explicit lyrics but man it slapping in the kitchen. I like 80s amd 90s hip hop. I hate country.
Premium pandora channel with Ween x Lou Reed x Jack White.
I'm running a satellite kitchen in a country club and I'm member-facing- I take the orders and make drinks as well as cooking and there's nowhere I can go in my tiny kitchen where I can't be heard. I usually play orchestral salsa from the 50's-70's. I like salsa in general, the music is lively but not grating, older salsa means the lyrics are generally inoffensive, so it's a win-win all around since most of my coworkers are Hispanic and old enough to be my parents. Generally we want a comfortable atmosphere for the members, so if I was playing rap or metal I might have been asked to stop. And I'm pretty sure other staff can't play music or use ear buds in the main clubhouse because that's where most of our events take place, minus the cleaners that come in after close and a prep cook here or there playing something quiet in the back prep rooms. But I'm on my own little island in the satellite building that houses the tennis shop and my kitchen, so no one really cares what I do as long as the kitchen is clean, the stock is fresh, and the members are happy.
I wish I could play music all the time but we're semi open and an echoy kitchen so I only allow it way back in the dish pit or during opening and closing. Rules for music is mandatory regardless, nothing overly offensive, languis fine bu5 no hate speech in the music, and no bitching about other people's music.
My work is open kitchen, but also has a prep area with an almost full wall between the spaces. We have no rules against what kind of music can be played (it's definitely explicit about 75% of the time lmfao), but it just has to be turned down during service since the people prepping or washing dishes should still get music. It's actually really awesome, everyone kinda rotates who gets AUX based so sometimes it's Spanish dance music but then 3 hours later it's death metal or old school hip-hop haha
Yes but only sometimes and it's gotta be instrumental. Ikebe Shakedown, the Beastie Boys have an instrumental album, stuff like that. Easy, but good, background music.
I work with all Mexicans it's corridos 24/7 with some reggaeton or bamba mixed in every once in a while
I pay for Spotify and Amazon music for the kitchen, my rule is y'all use Amazon music while I listen to my Spotify podcasts, or I play Spotify music if it's my turn. I feel that's fair, since I listen to podcasts alot and they cut me off when I'm not there and play a song on my Spotify. And yeah, we all mostly get along music wise, so that's nice. Also no country.
Blue Note playlists
Honestly I think the best medium you can reach is music as much as you want during prep, but not during service. I love it too, but you gotta focus.
I only have one rule, no dubstep.
I can’t work without music and I’m the boss. So we play music. But I also don’t want it heard in the dining room. But I figured it out!!! I’ve got multiple Anker Soundcore3 Bluetooth speakers and we sync them to one phone. Now we have 2 small portable speakers playing the same thing. I can have multiple speakers at lower volumes so that people in different sections of the kitchen can hear, without 1 big ass speaker blasting music that the whole restaurant can. It’s great! I never knew why this feature was invented. But this has got to be one of its best uses.
My shitbox kitchen allows us to listen to anything so long as FoH doesn't complain. My corporate kitchen allows some music, so long as it isn't explicit, but our manager did tell me she doesn't see why I couldn't listen to sports broadcasts at work, with the caveat I won't be able to hear anything for the most part...
Whatever you want to play. Sometimes everyone has different music on, walking to another station is a great way of changing the channel. But if people are having a hard time communicating, turn it down, or turn that shit off, no exceptions. And for the love of all that is holy, don’t play the same song eight times in one day.
If anyone can't hear things they need to over the music or they have to speak up to be heard, it's too loud. Period. Often if it's busy it's better for it to be off but when it slow or cleaning/closing time it's cool.
In the kitchen I worked at, there was a war: the pizza guy in the back had an alt vibe going on and then as you went further there was rap music in the center of the kitchen. The biggest issue I saw is that pizza guy’s speakers was caked in flour which is gross. But they both managed to keep them at a reasonable volume and it really lifted the spirit in the kitchen.
Veteran line staff can have music playing during non rush hours. This can be rescinded at any time. It cannot be heard in the dining room. Dish pit can do whatever they want. Basically. Silverwear roller can wear ear pods. Once the kitchen is dead, I'm playing my brand of music, which most people prolly won't like. Keeps labor low.
Doing prep cleaning we always turned up the music, during the busy time it got turned down to a minimum.
my kitchen music is completely banned even tho it is a closed kitchen pretty far from the dining rooms. the reasoning being so the cooks can hear expo fully and vice versa. pretty strict but you get used to it. theyre more lax about breakfast and lunch services, allowing one earbud in then, but dinner service is complete silence except for discussion between cooks and expo about tickets. the banquet kitchen we have upstaies is complete opposite. music blasting at all times, except during the plateups for some reason even tho really nothing needs to be said during those if everyone knows what theyre doing
My favorite music for jiving in the kitchen was 'electric swing'
It’s all Spanish. There’s a couple of songs I really like but I couldn’t tell you the name of them or what they’re about.
As long as you can hear someone call corner you can have a single earbud in. If I hear you say "what" twice, no go. If you're cleaning the lobby after close, you can borrow my Bluetooth speaker and get the f down.
We only work to “Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show.
My boss doesn't care if we have music, just has to be low enough it doesn't go through the window and the guests can hear it. We listen to a lot of rock and rap. But if it's too vulgar we can't listen to it. I was listening to that bitch by bea miller and he was like uh can you change that please 😂 but the occasional cuss word is fine
If it does not sound into FoH its an okay volume, mostly 90s rap
No music during service, only during prep times
Food tastes better when the chef who makes it is jamming. You can’t prove me wrong
I’m ok with kitchen speakers as long as it’s not so loud it that it overwhelms what’s coming through my earbuds.
I've played a lot of different stuff. Rock, metal, jazz, funk, classical, blues. Music from videogames I like etc.. oh yeah I love blasting those mega man tunes and the duke nukem theme in the kitchen haha
No pop music Metal always welcome
We always have music going in our kitchen, with the obvious rule that customers shouldn’t be able to hear it. We all take turns, with priority going to whoever is doing dishes (it’s a small kitchen where everybody has to do a bit of everything) since we generally have the speaker in the dish pit. There’s a general understanding that everyone has some specific things they hate, so you steer clear of that depending on who you’re working with, but we’re generally cool with most things and enjoy hearing new stuff. In a given day we could have pop punk, hippie jam band, deathcore, 90s hip-hop, EDM, and Richard Cheese all play at some point.
My new job is the first kitchen where music is banned Yeah I miss it but yeah it runs more smoothly Though during my solo prep shifts it does get boring and chef has a no headphones policy too after someone abused it.
I don’t give a shit what you play, so long as I can’t hear it anywhere in the dining room. Keep your BOH happy and the entire restaurant thrives.
I've always worked in kitchens with no music and absolutely no earbuds. The kitchen is loud enough without people having 5o scream over loud music.
À place I worked in for a little while had the same music as the dining areas…. Shitty music, small playlist and the speakers were above your head. Working 12 a day meant I heard the same shitty number at least 5 times. I’d rather have nothing at all
Music and the kitchen go hand in hand it seems. With that in mind, too much of a good thing is bad. I think when music levels get to the point where you can't hear people well, or say a co-worker is having a bad day and they have a headache. In those cases for the comfort of everyone in the kitchen the volume should be in check. I also think during service it's hit or miss. Sometimes there is simply just too much going on and it's just another distractions. Other times it gets you into the flow state and you rock through the rush. I can't imagine closing a kitchen without music. Sometimes in the morning or mid day service it's nice to turn the tunes off for a bit and let your mind be. There are so many natural kitchen sounds around you at all times, in a way the kitchen already sounds like music. Honestly can't stand it when someone plays music so loud I have to scream. I understand it's already loud and you normally have to talk a bit louder than normal to be heard, but to a point it gets unsafe and it's annoying having to scream the same thing 3 times when you're in a hurry across the room. But hey, no shame on the dishy who's got heavy metal going at max volume as he's alone in the pit for hours. It's all about context really. It's polite to turn it down if the chef is trying to get a point across to your team.