Street Food Chef - Mexican Cantina

[DerbyTup 10]

I think this small eat-in/take away is a great addition to the local Sheffield food scene.  They have a shop on Sharrow Vale Road, just up from Otto's, and another on Arundel Street.  They do a very mean burrito and other Mexican things as well.

 

The Arundel Street shop is considerably bigger than the one on Sharrow Vale Road - but there are often big queues around lunchtime because of the proximity to Hallam University - the place gets rammed with students.  The one on Sharrow Vale Road is much smaller and usually quieter.  The only thing I would say is, I think they are struggling to hold onto staff at the Sharrow Vale Road one.  They frequently don't have the full range of fillings available (I've yet to go in there and not see a "unavailable today" sticker over some menu items) and to be honest, some of the staff in there seem pretty clueless.

 

I mainly go to the Sharrow Vale shop, but I think I might have to give that one a miss because they seem to have staff problems.

 

I've had issues with them being very inconsistent with the fillings, especially the sauces.  Sometimes they put a tiny bit on, sometimes they put lashings of it on.  It makes it difficult to know what heat of sauce to order.

 

 I asked for a "regular" size one, and it was only when I got out of the shop that I realised I'd been served and charged for a "large".  

 

I went in to the Sharrow Vale shop again this week.  I asked for a "regular" burrito, with chicken and cheese.  I asked for "Habanero" salsa.  The girl said to me, "do you want that on both?"  "On both?"  I asked, "I only want one" I said.  "Oh!" she said.  And cancelled the transaction and started over again.  As she was preparing the burrito her colleague had to come out and remind her to do it a certain way, as she was obviously doing it wrong.  Then when I got the burrito home I took the foil off and it just fell apart all over the place!  She'd not rolled it properly.  Oh yes, I bought two packets of fresh chilli's as well whilst I was in there.  I was charged £3 in total.  When I got them home one of them had a price of £2.50 on it.  So I'm assuming they both should have been £2.50 and therefore the girl had undercharged me by £2.  What a disaster for them!  This girl hasn't a clue what she's doing and is potentially losing them custom and profit.

 

I hope Sharrow Vale can get their issues sorted out.  In the meantime I think I may have to travel further into town and endure the queues to get better, more consistent service and product.  

 

 

[Bargepole23 337]

9 hours ago, DerbyTup said:

I think this small eat-in/take away is a great addition to the local Sheffield food scene.  They have a shop on Sharrow Vale Road, just up from Otto's, and another on Arundel Street.  They do a very mean burrito and other Mexican things as well.

 

The Arundel Street shop is considerably bigger than the one on Sharrow Vale Road - but there are often big queues around lunchtime because of the proximity to Hallam University - the place gets rammed with students.  The one on Sharrow Vale Road is much smaller and usually quieter.  The only thing I would say is, I think they are struggling to hold onto staff at the Sharrow Vale Road one.  They frequently don't have the full range of fillings available (I've yet to go in there and not see a "unavailable today" sticker over some menu items) and to be honest, some of the staff in there seem pretty clueless.

 

I mainly go to the Sharrow Vale shop, but I think I might have to give that one a miss because they seem to have staff problems.

 

I've had issues with them being very inconsistent with the fillings, especially the sauces.  Sometimes they put a tiny bit on, sometimes they put lashings of it on.  It makes it difficult to know what heat of sauce to order.

 

 I asked for a "regular" size one, and it was only when I got out of the shop that I realised I'd been served and charged for a "large".  

 

I went in to the Sharrow Vale shop again this week.  I asked for a "regular" burrito, with chicken and cheese.  I asked for "Habanero" salsa.  The girl said to me, "do you want that on both?"  "On both?"  I asked, "I only want one" I said.  "Oh!" she said.  And cancelled the transaction and started over again.  As she was preparing the burrito her colleague had to come out and remind her to do it a certain way, as she was obviously doing it wrong.  Then when I got the burrito home I took the foil off and it just fell apart all over the place!  She'd not rolled it properly.  Oh yes, I bought two packets of fresh chilli's as well whilst I was in there.  I was charged £3 in total.  When I got them home one of them had a price of £2.50 on it.  So I'm assuming they both should have been £2.50 and therefore the girl had undercharged me by £2.  What a disaster for them!  This girl hasn't a clue what she's doing and is potentially losing them custom and profit.

 

I hope Sharrow Vale can get their issues sorted out.  In the meantime I think I may have to travel further into town and endure the queues to get better, more consistent service and product.  

 

 

They regularly have notices in the SV Road window, looking for staff.

[DerbyTup 10]

On 24/11/2019 at 18:18, Bargepole23 said:

They regularly have notices in the SV Road window, looking for staff.

It doesn't surprise me tbh.  I mean, that job must be at least one step down from flippin' burgers at MacDonald's.  At least at MacDonald's the staff are trained to do things a certain way and rotate the tasks.  From what I've seen, the staff at Street Food Chef on Sharrow Vale Road do not seem to have had any training and are just tasked with doing one thing for most of their shift.  Rolling burrito's!  Burger flipper/Burrito roller - which is best?  

 

I have a young son who was looking for some kind of work a few weeks ago.  I remember seeing they were advertising for staff one day when I went into Street Food Chef.  I took a look around and thought..."do I want my son to be working in this environment, rolling Burrito's for hours on end, in these cramped conditions, for minimum pay?".  And I thought not.  The fact they don't seem to be able to hold onto staff isn't a great sign either. 

 

How long do you think it will remain open for?  Personally I think it will be gone within 6 months, if not before.

 

(I think the other one on Arundel Street will stay open though.  That's a bigger, better space, more staff, more choice and a far better location and is busy).  

 

I'd love to help small businesses like this, be better at what they do.  I remember that series by Sir John Harvey Jones called "The Troubleshooter" where he went into businesses and diagnosed where they were going wrong and helped put plans in place to improve them.  I suppose I do that already in my line of work, but I'm not in the catering trade and therefore I'm not very knowledgeable about that.  But, here's what I'd recommend anyhow:

 

1.  Hygiene is everything.  The appearance of your premises, the appearance of your staff.  If that's not right, people won't come in, in the first place, or won't come back.

2.  Train your staff.  They should know how to do everything required of them before being let loose on the general public.  Some "on the job" training will be required, so ensure you are there to support them through that - and don't do it at the busiest times - do it when it's quieter so the trainee is not under so much pressure and you have time to devote to them.

3.  Be flexible with shift hours.  People do not respond well to being asked to do excessively long shifts.  Vary it - by day and by number of hours.  

4.  Ensure staff are given regular breaks.

5.  Vary their tasks.  Don't have them doing the same thing over and over again for an entire shift.

6.  Reward your staff fairly.  Minimum wage speaks volumes about you as an employer, in a very negative way and it's a good reason for your staff to quit and move to another job.

 

That's my little checklist off the top of my head.  I'd love to take that into places like this and just see how many of those boxes they could tick with a resounding "YES" right now?  Very few I suspect!

 

 

[Tomm06 12]

Well you sound like a right enjoyable customer. I've been a few times as I live round the corner, never had such issues.  When you spend many hours a day prepping food hundreds of times you're gonna balls up once every now and then, I've never worked in these industries but I don't doubt it will happen. There are stigmas attached to working at Mac D's to say they're a step down is just belittling to everyone.  Macdonalds staff included. You've had a couple of bad burritos, deal with it or make your own. 

[the_bloke 17]

You know the one on Arundel Street has been there for years and years right?

[DerbyTup 10]

On 29/11/2019 at 12:45, Tomm06 said:

Well you sound like a right enjoyable customer. I've been a few times as I live round the corner, never had such issues.  When you spend many hours a day prepping food hundreds of times you're gonna balls up once every now and then, I've never worked in these industries but I don't doubt it will happen. There are stigmas attached to working at Mac D's to say they're a step down is just belittling to everyone.  Macdonalds staff included. You've had a couple of bad burritos, deal with it or make your own. 

I'm usually a pretty enjoyable customer! 😀  I'm polite and courteous, I'm friendly and patient, I greet people with a smile and don't give anyone any hassle.   What I expect in return is competent service and a consistent standard of food.  That's not too much to ask is it?  Or should I be more like you and accept that they are going to balls up the service and the food from time to time?  I suppose it depends on what standards you set for yourself and others?

 

The reference to being a step-down from McDonald's is not meant as an insult.   It is well-known that McDonald's have a very thorough training programme, this is one way they ensure that the dining experience is the same in their shops, no matter where in the world you go.  My nephew worked at McDonald's a while ago, so I have some insight to this.  They are very keen on training people to a standard and to follow a process.  My point is that this doesn't appear to the case at Street Food Chef - so some staff seemingly haven't got a clue what they are doing and there's no consistency with the standard of the food being served.  

 

I do make my own burrito's btw, but sometimes it's good to just be able to go out and buy one.  If you read my OP you'll see that I am praising Street Food Chef for being a great addition to the local scene - but I'm pointing out that there are issues in the Sharrow Vale shop that isn't good for their business.  Because I want to see them continue to be successful.  In the meantime, I'll give Sharrow Vale a miss because I prefer to have a bigger selection and consistent product - which I know I will get from the Arundel street one.

[Katya 10]

I'm local to the Sharrow Vale Street Food Chef and have had no problems with them.   I am interested in whether you have passed your feedback to Street Food Chef or have just posted on here?   If  you are a good customer and want a place to succeed, I would think it would be more supportive to talk to them directly and give them a chance to fix it.