There’s Nothing Like That Smell
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant, you know the smell.
It’s not just food. It’s adrenaline and ambition. A mix of garlic, fryer oil, sanitizer, perfume, and a dash of stress-induced perspiration.
It’s the scent of showtime.
When I walk into a restaurant on a Friday night, the energy hits me like espresso to the soul.
Tickets printing. Ice scooping. Servers speed-walking like Olympians. Managers pretending to look calm while mentally calculating table turns.
It’s chaos — but it’s our chaos.
And I’ll never stop loving it.
Hospitality People Are Built Different
I’ve worked in restaurants for most of my life.
I’ve been a busser, a bartender, a GM, a marketer, and a VP — and no matter how far I’ve climbed, I’ve never stopped being part of that tribe.
Restaurant people aren’t like normal humans.
We measure time in covers and comps.
We consider coffee a food group.
We can have a meltdown, a breakthrough, and a laugh — all in the same shift.
And somehow, through all the insanity, we thrive.
The Friday Rush: A Symphony of Controlled Chaos
There’s a moment every Friday where it feels like the entire restaurant might combust.
The line’s packed, the bar’s five deep, and the host stand looks like an airport terminal.
But if you step back, you’ll notice something beautiful — a rhythm.
The expo calls, the cooks answer, the servers glide, and the guests? They’re oblivious, sipping wine under the illusion that this all just “flows.”
It’s a symphony — messy, loud, and imperfect — but every note is earned.
You Can’t Bottle That Energy (But You Can Try)
I’ve consulted for hundreds of restaurants, and I always tell clients:
You can’t manufacture passion.
You can’t automate culture.
And you definitely can’t fake Friday night energy.
It’s the heartbeat of the industry — the moment when every system, every personality, and every ounce of teamwork gets tested.
That’s when the real hospitality shines through.
When your team’s exhausted but still smiling.
When the kitchen’s on the brink but still pushing.
When you’re so far behind that you just start laughing — and somehow, that laughter brings everyone back together.
That’s the magic.
The Beautiful Mess Behind the Curtain
Guests see candlelight, cocktails, and conversation.
What they don’t see is the chaos behind the curtain:
- The sous chef swapping pans mid-sentence.
- The host negotiating with a table like a hostage negotiator.
- The bartender making six martinis with one shaker.
It’s organized madness — and every person in that building is holding the line together.
That’s what hospitality is.
Not perfection.
But persistence.
You Don’t Survive This Industry — You Belong to It
People ask me all the time, “How did you stay in restaurants this long?”
The truth? I didn’t stay — it stayed in me.
Even now, running creative projects and consulting through Kuypers Creative, I can still hear the expo printer in my dreams. I still count covers subconsciously when I walk into a full dining room.
Once you’ve worked a Friday rush, you’re changed.
Your DNA has been marinated in adrenaline and teamwork.
You’ve seen people at their best and their worst — often within the same shift — and you’ve learned to love them anyway.
The Lessons You Can’t Learn Anywhere Else
Restaurant life teaches you things no MBA ever will:
1. Leadership under pressure.
If you can manage a kitchen during a double shift, you can run any company on Earth.
2. Empathy on demand.
You’ll serve people on their worst days and best nights — and learn how to read both instantly.
3. Grace in chaos.
When things go wrong (and they will), you learn to adapt, smile, and say, “We’ll make it right.”
4. Humor as survival.
If you can’t laugh through the panic, you won’t last. Period.
Hospitality Is a Calling, Not a Career
You don’t choose this life for the schedule, or the pay, or the predictable weekends (lol).
You choose it because there’s something magical about feeding people, connecting with strangers, and creating moments that matter.
It’s art in real time — no rehearsals, no retakes, no edits.
Just pure human connection, night after night.
That’s not just work. That’s purpose.
At Kuypers Creative, We Still Smell Like Service
At Kuypers Creative, everything we do comes from that energy — that “Friday rush” mentality.
We build brands that feel alive.
We help restaurant operators remember their why.
We blend tech, marketing, and storytelling — but always through the lens of hospitality.
Because you can teach someone design.
You can teach them analytics.
But you can’t teach them how to care like a restaurant person.
That’s something you either have — or you don’t.
Final Thought: It’s Still the Best Job in the World
The hours are long. The margins are thin. The stress could power a small country.
But the friendships, the stories, the laughter, the lessons — they’re priceless.
So yeah, it smells like panic and Parmesan.
It sounds like ticket printers and cheers.
It feels like exhaustion and purpose in the same heartbeat.
And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Because no matter where I go, no matter what I build —
I’ll always love the smell of a Friday rush.
About Kuypers Creative
At Kuypers Creative, we turn real restaurant stories into marketing that connects, converts, and makes people feel. Because behind every great brand is a team that once survived a Friday night rush.
👉 Visit KuypersCreative.com or connect with Robert W. Kuypers on LinkedIn.
