San Francisco restaurant’s $50-an-hour dishwasher job posting draws plenty of interest
By Andrea Nakano
In San Francisco, minimum wage is currently $19.61 an hour, what an average dishwasher would take home. But one San Francisco restaurant is offering more than double that amount to lure the best dishwasher in the city.
Alexis Meyer is one of thousands of people interested in the dishwasher position at Pho De Nguyen in the city’s SoMa neighborhood. The hourly wage was posted on Instagram, and the post definitely caught her attention.
Her reaction? “Sounds like a dream come true,” she replied.
Meyer was the second candidate to be called in on Friday for an in-person interview. Chef Phong Nguyen says the job is physically demanding. They have to be fast, thorough and able to work on the restaurant’s busiest nights, Fridays and Saturdays.
“Being able to stand on your feet for 8 to 12 hours a day,” Nguyen said. “A lot of us are doing four 10s or 12-hour shifts.”
With a DJ on hand on those nights, it’s like a party in the dining room and in the kitchen. Phong says he has posted a dishwasher wanted ad every six months, but it didn’t really catch on until he advertised that the job pays at least $50 an hour.
“It’s the Bay Area where labor is so hard to find,” he said. “You have one of two options. You either turn and burn all your employees or you try to make it livable.”
So how can a restaurant in SoMa offer a high wage for an entry-level position? Phong says it’s simple, instead of the server taking home all the tips, he’s spreading the wealth.
“It’s nothing out of the ordinary,” he said. “I think it’s just out of the ordinary because it takes mom-and-pop restaurant offering that.”
Good news for Meyer. She got a call back to work an 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift since the restaurant serves until 3 a.m. While the current dishwasher opening may soon be taken, Chef Phong is planning for this location to be open 24/7 which will probably mean another position will be posted soon again.
“We’re hoping for our business to grow,” he said. “For our dishwasher to have a full-time position on the line. Then continue on finding that dishwasher again. Rinse and repeat.”
