Pros
Owner and management cares about their employees, which is a nice feeling. Pay (through tips) is pretty great for the area - you can typically rely on a minimum amount each night. Benefits for all full-time employees is also really nice for the service industry. The organization is very giving in the community and does a great job of instilling that in their employees.
Cons
Management, though well meaning, don't really do a good job of listening to complaints and criticism from service staff. Sometimes it felt like they're thinking we're brats for complaining because we make good money. The reservation system needs to be updated, based on when times get blacked out, because the dining room does not reflect what the people in the office tell customers even remotely - especially at the beginning of the shift, and on Saturdays, or pretty much every day in December when they open the dining room at 2 because it's "full" after that. Easily the biggest con is the lack of support staff for the servers. I have never had so many steps of service with literally zero help. Typically at fine dining restaurants you see several different people throughout the service: someone to fill water, someone to give bread, someone to run food, someone to prebus, etc. That doesn't happen at AB. You do it all, which sometimes you can handle, but if you want to give perfect service to all of your tables when your section is full, it's physically not possible. And it's completely upto your fellow server whether they have time, or whether they feel like helping. The "server assistants" (bussers) have never assisted servers. They fold napkins and chat for the first hour of service until they have to bus their first table. I get "server assistant" is a nicer word than busser, but it's kind of a joke of a term.
