Table Of ContentFORKED
FORKED
A New Standard for American Dining
Saru Jayaraman
1
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© Saru Jayaraman 2016
First Edition published in 2016
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To the 11 million restaurant workers nationwide.
To my children, who say they want to be
‘ROC star’ restaurant workers when they grow up.
And to everyone who works to make this
industry better for all of us.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction: Why We Are Forked 1
2. Casual and Family- Style Restaurants: Tipped
Over the Edge 27
The Olive Garden 40
Vimala’s Curryblossom Café 52
3. Fine Dining: The Great Service Divide 65
Craft 71
The Capital Grille 78
4. Mexican Food: Climbing the Ladder 87
Taco Bell 89
Chipotle 100
5. Burgers, Bills, and No Benefits 119
McDonald’s 126
In- N- Out Burger 135
CONTENTS
6. A Tale of Two Sandwiches 147
Subway 147
Zingerman’s 159
7. The Coffee Café: A Place for Debate? 173
Starbucks 174
Manifesto Café 186
8. Diners: Change Is Possible 195
Denny’s 196
Florida Avenue Grill 206
9. Conclusion: The Road from Here 213
Index 225
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book was most definitely a team effort. First, many thanks to
everyone at ROC: our amazing restaurant worker members and
leaders; the many fabulous restaurant employer members who
partner with Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), many of
whom are profiled in this book; board members of Diners United,
the new and growing group of consumers who are paving the way
for a new kind of consumer movement; our donors and funders,
especially the Ford Foundation for helping to launch this book; and
our board, allies, executive team, and staff all over the country. For
research assistance, connections to subjects, and general support,
many thanks to Christina Fletes, Teofilo Reyes, Mike Rodriguez,
Michaela Allen, Graham Kovich, ROC Michigan members, Dania
Rajendra, Alex Galimberti, Lauren Jacobs, Kennard Ray, and pro-
fessors and students at the University of California, Berkeley, the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the University of
Georgia. For fabulous and creative thinking around the book and
getting the word out, many thanks to Ariel Jacobson, Maria Myotte,
and Elspeth Gilmore, and ROC’s filmmaker and creative genius
