Undercover Boss (2010) s07e01 Episode Script
Buffalo Wings & Rings
(male announcer) Tonight on "Undercover Boss" Nader Masadeh, President and CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings For sure, 100%, lose the mustache.
(announcer) goes undercover in his own restaurant.
I'm ready to go.
Damn, if you're gonna work back here with me, man, you're gonna have to get the lead out of your ass.
Uh-oh.
I'll go ahead and comp this off because it took too long.
I am so sorry.
(announcer) This hot wing hotshot with a fire to succeed Fryer is stuck.
What the hell? (announcer) suits up to take center stage.
(Nader) It's getting crazy, quickly.
(announcer) Along the way, he'll find more than a few bumps in the road.
I could not physically walk on my feet.
I actually went into Wings and his exact words were, "I don't give a It's your shift, you need to figure it out.
" I'm gonna kick you straight in your little baby nuts.
(announcer) And what happens when this champion of chicken wings meets a kitchen manager who rules with an iron fist and a foul mouth? You might be the biggest d-bag in history.
(Red) The waitresses have called me, crying, on their shift.
He has no respect for anybody in that restaurant.
Fear equals respect.
Nobody walks on me.
(announcer) Find out next on "Undercover Boss.
" [upbeat rock music.]
(announcer) Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and with 5,000 employees in 65 global locations, Buffalo Wings & Rings is one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the world.
Leading this $100 million dollar-a-year wing empire is the Sauce King of Cincinnati.
(Nader) I put hot sauce on everything my chicken, my wings, my burgers.
I love it any way I can get it.
I went to the doctor the other day, and he found hot sauce in my blood.
I am Nader Masadeh.
I'm the President and CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings.
Sometimes you hear the word "Buffalo Wings & Rings" and you might think that you're talking about Buffalo Wild Wings, which is the major competitor.
We're clearly not Buffalo Wild Wings.
We're not a sports bar.
We're way better than a sports bar.
Look at our food, it's served on china.
Our menu is diverse.
We cater to a much older crowd with family and children.
As you can notice, I get very emotional.
I get very mad when somebody says "a sports bar," because we're not.
[TV static drones.]
I was born in Jordan.
[speaking Arabic.]
That's where all of my family had lived.
[speaking Arabic.]
In my family, I'm the middle child.
My father wanted us to have the best opportunities.
Great education.
Jordan is a small country.
Opportunities are limited, so we moved to the United States in 1989.
It was tough.
[sentimental music.]
It's tough being in a new school, a new environment, new language, new cultures.
I was 15 years old.
I had no friends.
I was made fun of to no end.
I tried not to share some of these things with my dad.
I mean, it's difficult enough on him and Mom to also adjust to the culture and find jobs and put food on the table.
It clearly impacted my parents' relationship and my mother left the house.
I would ask my father, "Why did we move here? I want to go back.
" And he would just nod his head and say, "Just be patient.
Things will be fine.
" [upbeat music.]
I started my career in the restaurant industry as a dishwasher at Burger King and then, shortly after, graduated to Taco Bell.
I worked alongside my dad in all of his restaurant ventures throughout high school and college.
And then, in 2003, my dad found a Buffalo Wings & Rings franchise restaurant for sale.
- Best wings, U.
S.
A.
- Buffalo Buffalo Wings & Rings [rock music.]
(Nader) Buffalo Wings & Rings started in 1984 and enjoyed some success in the '80s and '90s.
In 2004, my father asked me if I would invest in a restaurant that he could operate.
We put all of our money on the line and we bought it.
Once we started operating the restaurant and seeing the success, I just had to get involved with more.
So I asked a couple of investors, and in 2005, we bought the franchise and the concept.
When we bought Buffalo Wings & Rings, there were only four operating restaurants.
Here we are, almost ten years later, and we have 65 locations globally.
We're in Jordan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, and we soon will be in Egypt.
Across all of our restaurants, we go through about 5 1/2 million pounds of chicken annually, about 125 million gallons of sauce, and we serve 50 million wings.
That is a lot of wings, and you will see our wings flying all over the place.
And what a better way to celebrate the birth of our company, in 1984, with a Ferrari that is a 1984? [engine revs.]
I love this car.
It's the only car you could have.
It's the color of hot sauce, it's red.
I love being a bachelor, and I have somewhat of a bachelor pad.
Except when I tell people my dad lives with me, which is kind of a turnoff.
(Paul) What what you are cooking? I am making some sautéed vegetables.
And then some grilled chicken.
Ah, club sandwich.
Healthy, too.
I am clearly married to Buffalo Wings & Rings.
You gonna be okay by yourself? Yeah, I think I will.
Am I allowed to call you in case I need you? Yes.
Also I'm going to leave the keys for the cars.
Which one you want me to drive? None of them.
No? And no parties in the house while I'm gone, also.
[scoffs.]
I would for sure, 100%, lose the mustache.
- Altogether? - Altogether.
Do it.
I need to go undercover now simply because, in the next several years, I want to have over 100 locations open.
Can I change my mind? I think it's a little late.
So I have to make sure that all of the brand elements of Buffalo Wings & Rings are being executed with the utmost care.
I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
If that means shaving my head, I'll do it.
Here we go.
Whoo! Now we got to shave your mustache.
[groans.]
If that means shaving my trademark mustache, sadly enough I might cry, but I am willing to do that.
While I'm undercover, I'll be posing as "Pete," an immigrant from Lebanon.
My employees will think I'm a contestant on a reality show competing to win $200,000 to put towards franchising my hamburger restaurant into a national chain.
If I see things that are not executed properly I will do whatever it takes to correct them.
Even if that means firing myself, I will do that.
[dramatic music.]
[upbeat music.]
I am in my hometown, Cincinnati, where Buffalo Wings & Rings started.
And today, I'm going undercover with a dishwasher.
Unlike other competitors, I serve my wings on china.
And not only china, but white china.
The china has to be super clean.
Any dirtiness is gonna make the product not look right.
Hi, I'm looking for Dave.
It's been about 26 years since I have been in a dish room.
Back in my day, you just scrubbed and scrubbed.
So I'm hoping that things are much easier today.
- Dave? Hi.
- Yup.
- How are you? - I'm Pete.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- I'm a dishwasher here - Okay.
and I'm also the marketing ambassador.
So later today we're actually gonna go out in the field, and I'll show you what I do there.
- I'm excited.
- Awesome.
I've never met somebody I didn't like.
- I feel official now.
- I know.
I don't even know this guy that I'm gonna be training, and I already like him as a friend.
He's already part of the family.
Let's wash some dishes.
I'll go ahead and show you what I do.
This is basically what I come in to almost every day.
[dramatic music.]
And dishes don't stop coming back until we close.
(Nader) The dishes are stacked way high.
I mean, they're like tower-building, tall stacks of How am I going to get through all of that? So all I do is spray 'em off, and then stack 'em up like that.
And I try and fill up the rack as much as I can.
They'll fit? They will fit, yup.
And then just slide that down, and you hit the start button.
The biggest thing is to keep this machine running.
So you go ahead and get started up doing dishes here.
All right, tell me more about you, Dave.
I'm a big history buff.
Oh yeah? You like history? I love history.
All right, so I put these in between, right? (Dave) Yup.
Pete he's a little slow.
Uh, yeah.
We got more coming.
Don't worry.
Uh-oh.
You have to be able to keep up with the pace.
Okay.
[upbeat music.]
Dave is super fast.
Faster than a speeding bullet.
That's why I call him "Super Dave.
" Now, you said something about you do marketing also? Yeah, I do.
Like, I'll go to a local football game and we throw out, like, little mini footballs.
Do you watch the Bengals a lot? Usually I'm actually working during the Bengals games here, so Oh, okay.
Do you like baseball? Yeah.
Yeah.
- I'm a huge Reds fan.
- Are you really? - Yeah.
- Oh, good.
So what kind of a restaurant are you trying to open up? - A burger restaurant.
- Yeah, there you go.
Dave, what do you want to do next? You like this? You want to stick with this? I really do like it here.
I've been here for four years.
Four years? Since we opened.
And I love it here, and this is my home away from home.
I do this job and a job at Panera Bread.
- Also? - Yeah.
Why are you working two jobs then? Because I'm not getting 40 hours a week.
Oh, okay.
If I could get 40 hours a week here, I wouldn't even be working over there.
This is way better than any other job I've had.
I'm surprised to hear that Dave has another job.
Corner! (Nader) There is no reason why he can't be working here full-time.
He is the type of employee that we need.
So we have the outfit.
Uh-oh, what is that? It's, uh, our mascot.
Chef Buffalo.
Oh, I'm gonna wear this? So you're gonna wear this.
Yay! I love Chef Buffalo.
I created this mascot, and I've been itching to go inside of it and be Chef Buffalo.
[upbeat music.]
[rock music.]
(Dave) Let's do it.
- All right, look good? - Let's go.
Let's do it! Come on! Whoo! Yeah, hello! - How you doin'? - Whaddup! I want to hug you.
Aww.
- Ladies, how we doin'? - We're good.
So just bring that in and you'll get five free wings.
Thank you.
Chef Buffalo is in the house, everybody.
Want to get your picture with Chef Buffalo here? All right, let's do it.
(Nader) I couldn't be happier.
[laughter.]
(Nader) Dave's truly a brand ambassador.
You can have one too.
(Nader) He's been here four years 'cause the environment is an environment for people to succeed.
It's an environment where people can be themselves.
Oh! (Nader) I need to make sure that this is the type of culture that we have at all of my Buffalo Wings & Rings kitchens Whoo! We rocked it.
We did.
(announcer) Coming up The perfect manager is somebody who's understanding.
(announcer) one server puts down the chicken and shares her beef about a manager.
I could not physically walk on my feet, and his exact words were "I don't give a You need to figure it out.
" (announcer) And later (Red) The waitresses have called me crying.
He has no respect for anybody in that restaurant.
We've got a responsibility to create a safe place.
(announcer) the boss comes face-to-face with his worst nightmare.
I got a feeling you've probably been a guy that's been walked on a time or two in his life.
I'm gonna kick you straight in your little baby nuts.
[upbeat rock music.]
(Nader) I am in Chicago today.
And I'll be going undercover working as a server.
This store is one of our top-performing stores and with my plans to expand more in the Chicago area, and adding more locations, I would love to understand what they are doing right, so I can duplicate it everywhere.
Hi, I'm looking for Amber? - Hi, I'm Amber.
- I'm Pete.
- Hi.
It's nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
All right, well, I'm a server at Buffalo Wings & Rings here in Chicago.
And I'm basically going to show you how it works in the service industry.
- Great.
- All right.
Let's go.
Let's get started.
Thank you.
My first impression of Pete he's super adorable.
Like, "Oh, look at his little glasses!" Like, he was super cute.
You'll have to remove your jacket.
Okay.
He's, like, maybe 45ish and he's still rocking the orange fuzzy jacket.
Voila.
I mean, get out of here! That's so cool! I hope I'm 45 rocking an orange fuzzy jacket.
[laughs.]
I'll show you how to set up the pop machines real quick.
Okay.
This goes on first, and it usually just pops in there.
And then you just slide that right there.
Now, these just, like, pop in there.
- And then you twist.
- Okay.
You get to do this one.
There you go, perfect.
Perfect! Serving's not an extremely difficult job.
Basically, the way that the sections are split up, you know, you have the dining side and then you have the bar side.
Okay.
And so it's basically the exact same concept as Buffalo Wild Wings.
[dramatic music.]
This is not Buffalo Wild Wings.
If I had any hair, I would be pulling it right now.
It's a family restaurant, not a not a sports bar.
It's crazy.
Come on, get it right.
I actually worked for Buffalo Wild Wings for two years.
Typically, the maximum amount of tables you're gonna have is five.
But then I came here, where you have a nine-table section.
You have to be able to deal with pressure, which I've been known to not be amazing at sometimes.
Yeah, management gives me a hard time about that on the daily.
How is the manager? It just it depends.
There are definitely some things that I could like to see changed whenever it comes to a manager.
Sometimes they can expect a little bit too too much.
Amber, you've got a table of two.
We got our first table.
- Oh, great.
All right.
- All right.
- Hi, how are you today? - Good, how are you? I'm doing fantastic.
Thank you so much.
All right, I'm Amber.
This is Pete.
What can I get for you? Can I get the five count? Yeah, do you want to do the lunch combo? - Yeah.
- And for you, sir? I'm gonna have ten boneless wings.
All right, I'll get that in for you guys.
The lady gets a lunch combo, so what you do is you go to lunch combos.
Hey, Amber.
You've got a table of 11.
Now, when you have a table that big, do you get help or do you just go by yourself? You still just do it.
What's going on, guys? How are you all doing today? I'm sorry, guys.
Excuse my reach.
Can I start you all off with something to drink? I'll have a diet coke.
Diet coke, all right.
And for you, ma'am? Generally speaking, people have one hour for lunch.
I'll be right back.
(Nader) You have to seat them, get their drinks - We have some diets.
- All right, diet? order has to be taken.
- Cheeseburger.
- All right.
Do you want French fries, wedges? (Nader) Feed them, cash their checks.
How can you do that with one person taking 11 orders, and also another table around the corner? Hey, Amber, food's up.
Thank you so much.
Should we go run that or just have to We'll have to finish ringing this in first.
Hopefully, maybe somebody else'll be nice enough to run it for us, but if not, we'll get to it.
Why are you waiting for the server to finish up her order so she can take the order to the table? Other servers are standing around doing nothing.
Why don't you just take it to the table? Go to steak quesadilla.
Shouldn't we ask somebody to run it or should we run it ourselves? Um It's making me crazy.
That is not teamwork.
And that has to start from the franchisee down to the general manager and every staff member right below that.
Is there anything else we can grab for you? All right, you all enjoy.
All right, well, our food is up.
So I'll let you carry this one because I feel like that one is going to be more balanced for you.
But there's a trick, okay? Balance it on your shoulder.
I am a little nervous about Pete carrying the larger trays because of his lack of experience.
It makes me a little antsy in my pantsy.
All right.
Follow me.
(Nader) I am walking to the table, praying to God that I don't have a mishap, and guess what I see? The franchisee sitting at the table looking at me.
I know this franchisee and I'm trying to maintain my cool.
Ten traditional wings, barbecue sauce on the side? Okay, Cheeseburger only cheese with French fries.
So I'm trying to use the tray to hide my face so the franchisee doesn't recognize me.
All right, well, Pete, we have a delivery order today.
We technically transferred both of our tables over, so somebody else is taking care of them.
(Nader) Luckily, I am taking a delivery order right now with Amber, so my identity remains secret for the moment.
You got some books in here.
Yeah, I do.
Those are actually my school books.
I got an essay I have to have done on that in about a week, so that's exciting.
You know, I work a lot, you know, in order to pay off, like, all my student loans.
So, like, I work full-time in order for me to be able to go to school.
(Nader) Is it normal you deliver food in your own car? Yeah.
Now, this is a good car.
I have almost 200,000 miles on this car.
That's great you got that many miles out of it.
Anyways, do you have any questions? I have lots of questions, actually.
Yeah.
If you had to close your eyes and say, "A perfect manager would be like this.
" A perfect manager is somebody who's understanding.
Like, for example, being sick, you know that's not something that's accepted at our job.
[dramatic music.]
'Cause our manager, he can be very spiteful.
Spiteful about what? Like, for example, if you do something to upset him, or if you had to call in sick one day, he will literally take your shifts away from you.
Like, our turnover rate is kind of sky high.
And I would say it's a good Like, over a year ago, I got bit by something.
I had a crazy allergic reaction to it, and my foot literally blew up to the size of a balloon.
Went to the emergency room and they told me that I couldn't that I could not physically walk on my feet for three days.
And it just so happened that I had to work the next morning.
I actually went into Wings to show him the note myself.
And his exact words were, "I don't give a [.]
"what's written on that piece of paper, it's your shift, you need to figure it out.
" [dramatic music.]
(Nader) I'm extremely angry.
The management staff have to be the servant to their employees, not the other way around.
They have to set the standard, and behave in a way that they support their staff as one team.
- There you go.
- Thanks so much, guys! - Okay.
- No problem.
(Nader) No employee should feel fear.
Every employee must feel safe within our four walls.
And that falls on my shoulders, as a CEO of the company, to create that safe environment for my employees at every location.
I need to talk to the franchisee and the manager right now.
Can you step outside and chat? Right now? Employee satisfaction cannot wait.
- I'm Pete.
- Pete, Francis.
- Justin? - Hey, Pete.
What's happening? Do I still look like Pete? [dramatic music.]
[dramatic music.]
Do I still look like Pete? I thought I recognized that voice.
Well, I decided to go on a little bit of a journey.
- I see.
- Doing "Undercover Boss.
" That's why I was hooked up with Amber.
And she was a very honest person, by the way.
I commend you on hiring her.
She's a great person.
But she said a few things that concerned me.
She used some words like "insulting," "harsh.
" Buzzwords that concerned me as a CEO of the company and it should concern you as a franchisee, and it should concern you as a manager of a store that I value.
Okay.
As you well know, management and staff there's there's always a bit of friction.
It can always be better.
Which makes it a more important reason that we take care of 'em.
Justin's working hard, lots of hours.
Sometimes he gets frustrated, gets snippy with our staff.
Restaurants run on thin margins.
People have a hard time hiring servers, you know.
I totally agree with you.
But at the same time, it does not excuse certain behaviors.
So it's a two-way street.
To get respect, you've got to give respect.
I'm also not their friends, either.
So that's how I run the business.
It's a business.
But staff happiness and satisfaction is an extremely critical component for the success of all of us.
Speak to them with respect and understand the challenges they're going through.
Take their feedback and make changes.
That's it.
Okay.
I have a plane to catch.
We will continue this conversation.
- Sure.
- All right.
My staff is my number one priority.
It is extremely important that each one of them is treated with the proper respect.
Fran and I will get to a mutual agreement in establishing that culture at every location.
Today, I'm in Bardstown, Kentucky.
I'll be going undercover with the kitchen manager.
The franchisee is Sean one of our earlier franchise owners.
He just opened up his second location just this exact week.
With this franchisee opening up his second location, I'd like to learn more about their hiring practices, and are they attracting the right staff? - (woman) Hello.
- Hi, I'm looking for Wes.
Wes? (Nader) My last job with Amber was difficult.
Her challenges with the management staff was hard for me to hear.
I am hoping that I'm gonna have a much better day today.
- Hi.
- Hey, how's it going? Good.
I'm looking for Wes.
That's me.
- You must be - I'm Pete.
I'm gonna to teach you everything you need to know - back here, okay? - Okay.
Okay.
Because when it comes to this, there ain't a [.]
damn thing that I do not know how to do in these four walls, okay? Okay.
Okay, but you've got to do it exactly as I say.
- I'm gonna learn.
- Okay.
So here's your super cool gear, man.
Wow, I love it.
Change into that, and I'll meet you back up here, okay? Okay.
(Wes) Pete is dressed like a dork.
He's got the scumbag gold chain, the thick nerd glasses, and the shiny bald head.
He seems very soft, like grandma's pancakes.
We all know how soft those are.
I was a little bit intimidated by his demeanor.
He seemed a little woof! Ready to go.
What in the is taking him so long? Wes, I'm ready to go.
Damn, if you're gonna work back here with me, man, you're gonna have to get the lead out of your ass.
Let's get you in an apron.
You seem kind of slow moving so far, so I want you to pick the pace up just a little bit, okay? Okay, so basically, I am the kitchen manager back here.
You're gonna need a really strong fire to win this, and put up with me.
Okay, so we primarily do chicken, okay? Look.
One X boneless fry in bourbon medium.
That represents five boneless.
So you're gonna go in here.
Five boneless, they go in the middle.
In the flour.
Get 'em nice and breaded.
Already drop your basket.
Shake 'em off.
Lay 'em in.
Don't drop 'em in.
They go down six minutes.
All right.
This is your sauce matrix.
It shows you what every sauce is.
We want the five boneless we dropped in bourbon medium.
And the bourbon sauce is right here.
All right, so these are up.
All right, sauce 'em.
Grab the bourbon sauce.
Bourbon barbecue? Yeah.
Let me see that wrist action.
You look like a pretty lonely guy.
You probably should have some pretty good wrist action.
Yup, let's go.
Get in there.
Okay.
- That good? - That's fine.
Toss it around.
Easy.
It's not going up.
Okay, look.
The thicker sauce.
Can't have a limp wrist.
All right.
That's good.
- The next one's gonna be you.
- Okay.
Every time you drop an order, and you're done, do what you could never do on prom night: tap it twice.
I got a feeling you've probably been a guy that's been walked on a time or two in his life.
Nobody walks on me.
Can't be a bitch back here.
No, I'll try not to be.
All right, I'm gonna have you do this by yourself, okay? What do I need to do? Two tenders.
You've got 35 boneless.
You got 15 bone-in wings.
And they're right here.
You can grab 15 bone-in wings, drop 'em in here, you press number one.
- Okay.
- That's a four minute timer.
Now, after that, you're going to go over here.
You got seven orders of fries, okay? So I'm gonna task you with this.
- All of it? - It's in your hands.
All of it.
You can count on me.
[tense music.]
I'm gonna flour 'em real good.
And ten Where the hell is the boneless button? Wes leaves me alone in the kitchen.
I'm going, "Holy [.]
," what am I gonna do? I had to dig deep inside my memory to figure out how to make all those orders all by myself.
The fryer is stuck.
What the hell happened here? Why don't these things fit together right? What I Oh, I need some French fries.
Oh, here we go.
That looks like seven orders.
All right, softie.
Something is beeping.
(Wes) What do you got going on here, man? I got all kinds of stuff going on.
I would have had that out 15 minutes ago.
Where's these 15 bone-in? They aren't even down? No, what 15 bone-in? (Red) Waiting on chicken.
Well, maybe I'll just have Pete make all your food next time.
I'm sorry.
I'll keep trying.
(Wes) Whatever, man.
I'm working in the kitchen, and I see someone I recognize.
And it's Red, the franchise owner, Sean's trusted manager and girlfriend.
She's been to my office not too long ago.
I'm turning my face away, hoping that she doesn't recognize my face and blow my cover.
See if you can start saucing those wings, man.
Okay.
And try and pull the anchor out of your ass.
Okay, I will.
He's old.
He's got lead in his ass.
You definitely over-dropped on fries.
Did I put too much? Oh, yeah.
These fries are dead.
I've got to throw them away.
I am so sorry.
We know you're that.
He's [.]
up food.
He's cost us money.
He's pissed off customers.
He is [.]
up astronomically.
No, it's medium.
- Wrong bowl, Pete.
- Oh.
- Give me that [.]
.
- I'm sorry.
- Here, back up.
- Okay.
I'm taking over.
As he stands right now, I would never leave Pete in charge of my kitchen.
So now sweep up the gigantic mess you've made on my floor.
Golly.
You want this floor so clean you would have sex on it.
- On the floor? - Oh, yeah.
Sex on the floor, in the kitchen.
My floor? I would totally have sex on my floor.
Yours? I wouldn't touch it.
How's that look? Clean? I've seen better.
You got [.]
everywhere, man.
Okay, I'll continue You're like a [.]
tornado.
- I'm sorry.
- Hurricane Pete.
[laughs.]
[sighs.]
What an ass.
Is that how he talks to his employees? God, I hope not.
[dramatic music.]
All right now, Pete, I want to explain to you what's going on here.
It's about to get busy, 'cause it's nighttime, okay? - This is Zach.
- Hi, Zach.
Zach, this is Pete.
He's gonna work with us tonight.
Brad, this is Pete.
Hi, Brad.
All right, go down there and get a kid mac and cheese.
Kid mac and cheese.
Put a slit in it.
Microwave it for 30 seconds.
Now, look.
Please tell me you know how to use a microwave.
I do.
You might be the biggest d-bag in history.
I've heard it all today.
I think I've heard it all.
I've heard terms today that I've never heard before.
(Wes) Pete is a little bitch.
He's definitely made of vagina.
No, you just blew my mind with your last comment.
That's right.
(Nader) Wes' behavior is definitely a bad representation of my brand.
This is not part of the values that I installed in the company.
Brandon has a man-gina.
(Red) You can hear everything they're saying back there.
I don't like that, either.
Is he always like this? Is he always wind up? Are you on crack, or what is it? These are mainly what I get in here kids.
High school kids.
The average person that works back here I'm not going to sugarcoat it they're a dumbass.
You can't ask dumb people to do smart things.
I'm an ass[.]
.
I'm a [.]
head.
I'm harsh.
I'm over the top.
Fear equals respect.
You're going to have to rule with an iron fist, man.
(Nader) The style that he's using to intimidate.
He believes truly that's a great method of controlling the staff.
I don't agree with that.
Fear equals many things that you don't want in a work environment.
Who stole my towel? If I see somebody take my towel, I'm going to kick you straight in your little baby nuts.
You've got to pull your skirt up if you're gonna work back here.
Oh, boy.
I need a beer.
They need to know they can't [.]
around.
And if they do, there's consequences.
Hit 'em where it hurts their pocket.
(Nader) It's upsetting to me.
I'm cringing on the inside when I hear Wes speak.
I'm not [.]
around.
(Nader) It's a classic definition of a bully.
This is unacceptable.
Go on, back in the dish room.
(Nader) I can't take it anymore, and I will not allow this.
Get the [.]
out of here.
Go home.
See you, Charmin.
'Cause he's real soft.
[line trills.]
(Red) Hello? - Red, hi, it's Nader.
- Hello? Can I chat with you outside the restaurant for a minute? (Red) Uh, yes.
How are you.
[laughs.]
So what is going on? Um, I came in here today and I was working with Wes in the kitchen and is he for real or is he just putting an act on? No, that's him.
That is him completely.
He has no respect for anybody in that restaurant.
Um, he does treat his kitchen staff low, but there's no telling Wes.
I just had a mandatory meeting with my front of the house on Sunday, and I said, "Any questions or concerns that I can talk about?" One raised her hand "the kitchen.
"They talk vulgar.
They talk this.
They talk that.
" And I said, "I will address Wes.
" And I said, "But, girls, that's as much as I can do.
" I will talk to him, and we'll see how far that goes.
- It does nothing.
- No, Red.
No.
No.
No.
Not acceptable.
Sean doesn't give me the power to go over Wes.
I need to talk to Sean.
That is just Sean's not active you know, he's he tries to be active, but he's not completely active in there.
I'm surprised to hear Red battling this challenge for as long as she has been.
I imagine, just, her hands are tied.
The franchisee is not acting on it.
We've got a responsibility to create a safe place for these kids.
So they don't feel the way they do.
Yeah, they have to feel respected.
They got to feel safe.
Having experiences with some bullying as a cook, dishwasher myself, I wish somebody would have stood up for me.
And I will champion that effort to make sure none of this goes on at any of my restaurants.
If I had the authority, I would fire him tonight.
I'm taking the franchise agreement, and I'm going to rip it apart if Sean is refusing to do the right thing for his staff.
He'll do the right thing.
(Nader) After working with Wes today, I can't continue to be undercover.
I need to go back to Cincinnati and fix this right away.
[dramatic music.]
(announcer) Coming up, the boss reveals his true identity I'm not Pete.
(announcer) and puts Wes in the hot seat.
These are high school teenage kids.
I'm not their dada.
I'm not their guidance counselor.
I'm not going to allow anybody to be bullied.
[dramatic music.]
(Nader) This experience has taught me while I can't undo my own past, I can certainly change someone else's future.
But before I reward my employees for all their hard work, there is something I need to take care of first.
[dramatic music.]
- How are you? - Good to see you again.
Well, Wes, I'm not Pete.
Clearly, yeah.
My name is Nader Masadeh, and I'm the President and CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings.
Okay.
And I have been undercover for this past week in my own company.
Okay.
You know, I was a little intimidated by you.
- Oh, yeah? - When I first walked in, you were very strong.
I am that way often, but not always.
I thought that at the beginning, too, but I was a little surprised when I saw kids come in for the second shift and you still used language that I wouldn't typically use.
Brendan has a man-gina.
You on crack or what is it? Is that not allowed? These are high school teenage kids.
I'm not their dada.
I'm not their guidance counselor.
I'm their manager.
Okay.
I have asked Sean and Red to be here today.
Put 'em right here.
Please come in.
- Hi, guys.
- Hey.
Hi, Red.
Hey, Sean.
Let's see what the people that work with you every day what they think.
There was a time where he did everything I asked.
If I needed him to come in on his day off, he was there.
But because I'm opening a second store, for the past year, I haven't been around the Bardstown store like I used to be every day.
The girls' concern was how the kitchen disrespected them and how many complaints we had from our customers that could hear all of their F-bombs being dropped.
It's embarrassing.
And I don't care how many times anybody addressed it, it will never get fixed, because he doesn't want to get it fixed.
You won't never listen to anybody.
You're not going to talk to me in a bossy or degrading way.
Like you do to everybody else? (Sean) This is all new to me.
Oh, it's not new to you.
He comes up and threatens them, hollers at 'em, calls them names.
I threaten my employees? (Red) Yeah, you do.
Well, that's just mean, pointing the finger at me like that.
I do know what the Buffalo Wings & Rings culture is, and what values my company holds.
And one of 'em is a safe place to work.
Okay.
I'm not gonna allow anybody to be bullied or be uncomfortable like I was.
That is not the culture we're trying to set.
But I can see clearly you taking no responsibility in this whatsoever.
I think you're spinning that a little bit.
(Nader) Nevertheless, you're not my employee.
You're Sean's employee.
And I hate to do this to him, but Sean, it's your decision.
What do you want to do? You know, it's alarming.
It's upsetting.
Internally, I'm a person that doesn't give up on anybody.
But the problem has to be fixed.
I think I would have a better chance at success if we separate ways.
Okay, so I'm gone then? That's the decision that Sean would like to make.
(Wes) I'm not gonna change me.
I am who I am.
Sorry I'm such a scary monster.
Thank you, Sean, for making a wise decision.
I don't think he was ready to have that amount of power and control left in his hands.
(Red) I know things will improve starting tomorrow.
Thank you, guys.
- Thank you, Red.
- You're welcome.
Thank you.
Remember, we don't shake hands.
Is that what you said, Pete? Never shake hands in our family.
Thank you, Red.
[somber music.]
Dave, when I saw you washing dishes you're fast! Well, thank you, but I think you're a better marketing ambassador than I am.
- Oh, come on now.
- That was awesome.
- Whaddup! - I want to hug you.
Aww.
That was great.
When I heard you talk about you having two jobs Mm-hmm.
And how much you love Buffalo Wings & Rings, I spoke with the franchise owner, and he committed to getting you full-time hours.
He will train you to be a cook.
Dave, I don't want you working for anybody else, because you're like me.
You have hot sauce in your blood.
I'll take it.
Without a doubt.
All right.
And I know how much you love the Bengals.
I'm gonna get you club level tickets.
Wow.
I'm also gonna get you field passes.
What? You will actually witness the first kickoff from the field.
I would love that.
That's not all.
What's your other favorite team? The Reds.
I'm also gonna get tickets to the Reds versus Nationals game - at Washington, DC.
- Really? I'm gonna hook you up with flights, hotel and I know how much you love history, so I'm gonna hook you up with some tours also while you're in D.
C.
That's awesome.
Well, Dave, I wanted to thank you because you care.
Not only about the dishes, but you care about the future of Buffalo Wings & Rings.
So I want to think about your future.
I'm gonna put $20,000 in a retirement account for you.
Wow.
That's awesome.
Well, I thank you a lot.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome, buddy.
You're welcome.
(Dave) Sometimes I feel underestimated in life.
It's awesome to know that somebody else cares about what I do and that I'm not a little box in the corner in the closet.
It's amazing.
My mom always tells me that you need to find a job that you like and I've already accomplished that and it's actually paying off now.
Amber, I had a great time with you.
You are passionate.
You are dedicated to your work.
Also, I want to thank you.
You were very honest.
Yeah.
And very courageous to come out and tell me some of your struggles.
Especially with management.
His exact words were, "I don't give a [.]
what's written on that piece of paper.
You need to figure it out.
" When I heard you talking about the management issues you're experiencing at this store, I broke my cover and spoke right away to Fran and Justin.
Oh, wow.
And I'm gonna fix some of those things that you struggled with.
Okay.
I don't want to get anybody in trouble.
- No, nobody's in trouble.
- Okay.
We're all after one goal.
Yeah.
So I don't want you to worry about anything.
Thank you.
[laughs.]
Amber, I was touched by your dedication to school.
Because of you, I have set up a Buffalo Wings & Rings scholarship fund, and you will be the first recipient.
No.
[laughs.]
Yes.
That fund of money is available up to $25,000.
I don't even know what to say right now.
Thank you.
Thank you.
- You deserve it.
- Thank you.
I have one more little surprise.
Okay.
Your car has 200,000 miles on it.
- That's crazy! - Oh, my And you know I did not know that we were gonna be delivering food that day.
[laughs.]
How'd I do? - You did great.
- All right.
- You did fabulous.
- Great.
But you need to do something about that car.
I know.
I know.
I'm working on it.
Or not even worry about getting a new car.
- Because, guess what? - What? I got you a brand-new car.
- No, you didn't! - Yes, I did.
Get out of here! Wow! Are you serious right now? Wow.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
Thank you.
Today has changed my life.
I'm gonna get bills paid for.
I don't have to worry about getting my car fixed.
I don't have to, you know, stress about, you know, being able to pay for my tuition next semester.
Oh, my gosh! Knowing that I could influence someone to want to help more people in the future just like he helped me that's that's amazing.
It's amazing.
I cannot believe this just happened.
[upbeat music.]
(announcer) goes undercover in his own restaurant.
I'm ready to go.
Damn, if you're gonna work back here with me, man, you're gonna have to get the lead out of your ass.
Uh-oh.
I'll go ahead and comp this off because it took too long.
I am so sorry.
(announcer) This hot wing hotshot with a fire to succeed Fryer is stuck.
What the hell? (announcer) suits up to take center stage.
(Nader) It's getting crazy, quickly.
(announcer) Along the way, he'll find more than a few bumps in the road.
I could not physically walk on my feet.
I actually went into Wings and his exact words were, "I don't give a It's your shift, you need to figure it out.
" I'm gonna kick you straight in your little baby nuts.
(announcer) And what happens when this champion of chicken wings meets a kitchen manager who rules with an iron fist and a foul mouth? You might be the biggest d-bag in history.
(Red) The waitresses have called me, crying, on their shift.
He has no respect for anybody in that restaurant.
Fear equals respect.
Nobody walks on me.
(announcer) Find out next on "Undercover Boss.
" [upbeat rock music.]
(announcer) Headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, and with 5,000 employees in 65 global locations, Buffalo Wings & Rings is one of the fastest-growing restaurant chains in the world.
Leading this $100 million dollar-a-year wing empire is the Sauce King of Cincinnati.
(Nader) I put hot sauce on everything my chicken, my wings, my burgers.
I love it any way I can get it.
I went to the doctor the other day, and he found hot sauce in my blood.
I am Nader Masadeh.
I'm the President and CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings.
Sometimes you hear the word "Buffalo Wings & Rings" and you might think that you're talking about Buffalo Wild Wings, which is the major competitor.
We're clearly not Buffalo Wild Wings.
We're not a sports bar.
We're way better than a sports bar.
Look at our food, it's served on china.
Our menu is diverse.
We cater to a much older crowd with family and children.
As you can notice, I get very emotional.
I get very mad when somebody says "a sports bar," because we're not.
[TV static drones.]
I was born in Jordan.
[speaking Arabic.]
That's where all of my family had lived.
[speaking Arabic.]
In my family, I'm the middle child.
My father wanted us to have the best opportunities.
Great education.
Jordan is a small country.
Opportunities are limited, so we moved to the United States in 1989.
It was tough.
[sentimental music.]
It's tough being in a new school, a new environment, new language, new cultures.
I was 15 years old.
I had no friends.
I was made fun of to no end.
I tried not to share some of these things with my dad.
I mean, it's difficult enough on him and Mom to also adjust to the culture and find jobs and put food on the table.
It clearly impacted my parents' relationship and my mother left the house.
I would ask my father, "Why did we move here? I want to go back.
" And he would just nod his head and say, "Just be patient.
Things will be fine.
" [upbeat music.]
I started my career in the restaurant industry as a dishwasher at Burger King and then, shortly after, graduated to Taco Bell.
I worked alongside my dad in all of his restaurant ventures throughout high school and college.
And then, in 2003, my dad found a Buffalo Wings & Rings franchise restaurant for sale.
- Best wings, U.
S.
A.
- Buffalo Buffalo Wings & Rings [rock music.]
(Nader) Buffalo Wings & Rings started in 1984 and enjoyed some success in the '80s and '90s.
In 2004, my father asked me if I would invest in a restaurant that he could operate.
We put all of our money on the line and we bought it.
Once we started operating the restaurant and seeing the success, I just had to get involved with more.
So I asked a couple of investors, and in 2005, we bought the franchise and the concept.
When we bought Buffalo Wings & Rings, there were only four operating restaurants.
Here we are, almost ten years later, and we have 65 locations globally.
We're in Jordan, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, and we soon will be in Egypt.
Across all of our restaurants, we go through about 5 1/2 million pounds of chicken annually, about 125 million gallons of sauce, and we serve 50 million wings.
That is a lot of wings, and you will see our wings flying all over the place.
And what a better way to celebrate the birth of our company, in 1984, with a Ferrari that is a 1984? [engine revs.]
I love this car.
It's the only car you could have.
It's the color of hot sauce, it's red.
I love being a bachelor, and I have somewhat of a bachelor pad.
Except when I tell people my dad lives with me, which is kind of a turnoff.
(Paul) What what you are cooking? I am making some sautéed vegetables.
And then some grilled chicken.
Ah, club sandwich.
Healthy, too.
I am clearly married to Buffalo Wings & Rings.
You gonna be okay by yourself? Yeah, I think I will.
Am I allowed to call you in case I need you? Yes.
Also I'm going to leave the keys for the cars.
Which one you want me to drive? None of them.
No? And no parties in the house while I'm gone, also.
[scoffs.]
I would for sure, 100%, lose the mustache.
- Altogether? - Altogether.
Do it.
I need to go undercover now simply because, in the next several years, I want to have over 100 locations open.
Can I change my mind? I think it's a little late.
So I have to make sure that all of the brand elements of Buffalo Wings & Rings are being executed with the utmost care.
I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
If that means shaving my head, I'll do it.
Here we go.
Whoo! Now we got to shave your mustache.
[groans.]
If that means shaving my trademark mustache, sadly enough I might cry, but I am willing to do that.
While I'm undercover, I'll be posing as "Pete," an immigrant from Lebanon.
My employees will think I'm a contestant on a reality show competing to win $200,000 to put towards franchising my hamburger restaurant into a national chain.
If I see things that are not executed properly I will do whatever it takes to correct them.
Even if that means firing myself, I will do that.
[dramatic music.]
[upbeat music.]
I am in my hometown, Cincinnati, where Buffalo Wings & Rings started.
And today, I'm going undercover with a dishwasher.
Unlike other competitors, I serve my wings on china.
And not only china, but white china.
The china has to be super clean.
Any dirtiness is gonna make the product not look right.
Hi, I'm looking for Dave.
It's been about 26 years since I have been in a dish room.
Back in my day, you just scrubbed and scrubbed.
So I'm hoping that things are much easier today.
- Dave? Hi.
- Yup.
- How are you? - I'm Pete.
- Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
- I'm a dishwasher here - Okay.
and I'm also the marketing ambassador.
So later today we're actually gonna go out in the field, and I'll show you what I do there.
- I'm excited.
- Awesome.
I've never met somebody I didn't like.
- I feel official now.
- I know.
I don't even know this guy that I'm gonna be training, and I already like him as a friend.
He's already part of the family.
Let's wash some dishes.
I'll go ahead and show you what I do.
This is basically what I come in to almost every day.
[dramatic music.]
And dishes don't stop coming back until we close.
(Nader) The dishes are stacked way high.
I mean, they're like tower-building, tall stacks of How am I going to get through all of that? So all I do is spray 'em off, and then stack 'em up like that.
And I try and fill up the rack as much as I can.
They'll fit? They will fit, yup.
And then just slide that down, and you hit the start button.
The biggest thing is to keep this machine running.
So you go ahead and get started up doing dishes here.
All right, tell me more about you, Dave.
I'm a big history buff.
Oh yeah? You like history? I love history.
All right, so I put these in between, right? (Dave) Yup.
Pete he's a little slow.
Uh, yeah.
We got more coming.
Don't worry.
Uh-oh.
You have to be able to keep up with the pace.
Okay.
[upbeat music.]
Dave is super fast.
Faster than a speeding bullet.
That's why I call him "Super Dave.
" Now, you said something about you do marketing also? Yeah, I do.
Like, I'll go to a local football game and we throw out, like, little mini footballs.
Do you watch the Bengals a lot? Usually I'm actually working during the Bengals games here, so Oh, okay.
Do you like baseball? Yeah.
Yeah.
- I'm a huge Reds fan.
- Are you really? - Yeah.
- Oh, good.
So what kind of a restaurant are you trying to open up? - A burger restaurant.
- Yeah, there you go.
Dave, what do you want to do next? You like this? You want to stick with this? I really do like it here.
I've been here for four years.
Four years? Since we opened.
And I love it here, and this is my home away from home.
I do this job and a job at Panera Bread.
- Also? - Yeah.
Why are you working two jobs then? Because I'm not getting 40 hours a week.
Oh, okay.
If I could get 40 hours a week here, I wouldn't even be working over there.
This is way better than any other job I've had.
I'm surprised to hear that Dave has another job.
Corner! (Nader) There is no reason why he can't be working here full-time.
He is the type of employee that we need.
So we have the outfit.
Uh-oh, what is that? It's, uh, our mascot.
Chef Buffalo.
Oh, I'm gonna wear this? So you're gonna wear this.
Yay! I love Chef Buffalo.
I created this mascot, and I've been itching to go inside of it and be Chef Buffalo.
[upbeat music.]
[rock music.]
(Dave) Let's do it.
- All right, look good? - Let's go.
Let's do it! Come on! Whoo! Yeah, hello! - How you doin'? - Whaddup! I want to hug you.
Aww.
- Ladies, how we doin'? - We're good.
So just bring that in and you'll get five free wings.
Thank you.
Chef Buffalo is in the house, everybody.
Want to get your picture with Chef Buffalo here? All right, let's do it.
(Nader) I couldn't be happier.
[laughter.]
(Nader) Dave's truly a brand ambassador.
You can have one too.
(Nader) He's been here four years 'cause the environment is an environment for people to succeed.
It's an environment where people can be themselves.
Oh! (Nader) I need to make sure that this is the type of culture that we have at all of my Buffalo Wings & Rings kitchens Whoo! We rocked it.
We did.
(announcer) Coming up The perfect manager is somebody who's understanding.
(announcer) one server puts down the chicken and shares her beef about a manager.
I could not physically walk on my feet, and his exact words were "I don't give a You need to figure it out.
" (announcer) And later (Red) The waitresses have called me crying.
He has no respect for anybody in that restaurant.
We've got a responsibility to create a safe place.
(announcer) the boss comes face-to-face with his worst nightmare.
I got a feeling you've probably been a guy that's been walked on a time or two in his life.
I'm gonna kick you straight in your little baby nuts.
[upbeat rock music.]
(Nader) I am in Chicago today.
And I'll be going undercover working as a server.
This store is one of our top-performing stores and with my plans to expand more in the Chicago area, and adding more locations, I would love to understand what they are doing right, so I can duplicate it everywhere.
Hi, I'm looking for Amber? - Hi, I'm Amber.
- I'm Pete.
- Hi.
It's nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you.
All right, well, I'm a server at Buffalo Wings & Rings here in Chicago.
And I'm basically going to show you how it works in the service industry.
- Great.
- All right.
Let's go.
Let's get started.
Thank you.
My first impression of Pete he's super adorable.
Like, "Oh, look at his little glasses!" Like, he was super cute.
You'll have to remove your jacket.
Okay.
He's, like, maybe 45ish and he's still rocking the orange fuzzy jacket.
Voila.
I mean, get out of here! That's so cool! I hope I'm 45 rocking an orange fuzzy jacket.
[laughs.]
I'll show you how to set up the pop machines real quick.
Okay.
This goes on first, and it usually just pops in there.
And then you just slide that right there.
Now, these just, like, pop in there.
- And then you twist.
- Okay.
You get to do this one.
There you go, perfect.
Perfect! Serving's not an extremely difficult job.
Basically, the way that the sections are split up, you know, you have the dining side and then you have the bar side.
Okay.
And so it's basically the exact same concept as Buffalo Wild Wings.
[dramatic music.]
This is not Buffalo Wild Wings.
If I had any hair, I would be pulling it right now.
It's a family restaurant, not a not a sports bar.
It's crazy.
Come on, get it right.
I actually worked for Buffalo Wild Wings for two years.
Typically, the maximum amount of tables you're gonna have is five.
But then I came here, where you have a nine-table section.
You have to be able to deal with pressure, which I've been known to not be amazing at sometimes.
Yeah, management gives me a hard time about that on the daily.
How is the manager? It just it depends.
There are definitely some things that I could like to see changed whenever it comes to a manager.
Sometimes they can expect a little bit too too much.
Amber, you've got a table of two.
We got our first table.
- Oh, great.
All right.
- All right.
- Hi, how are you today? - Good, how are you? I'm doing fantastic.
Thank you so much.
All right, I'm Amber.
This is Pete.
What can I get for you? Can I get the five count? Yeah, do you want to do the lunch combo? - Yeah.
- And for you, sir? I'm gonna have ten boneless wings.
All right, I'll get that in for you guys.
The lady gets a lunch combo, so what you do is you go to lunch combos.
Hey, Amber.
You've got a table of 11.
Now, when you have a table that big, do you get help or do you just go by yourself? You still just do it.
What's going on, guys? How are you all doing today? I'm sorry, guys.
Excuse my reach.
Can I start you all off with something to drink? I'll have a diet coke.
Diet coke, all right.
And for you, ma'am? Generally speaking, people have one hour for lunch.
I'll be right back.
(Nader) You have to seat them, get their drinks - We have some diets.
- All right, diet? order has to be taken.
- Cheeseburger.
- All right.
Do you want French fries, wedges? (Nader) Feed them, cash their checks.
How can you do that with one person taking 11 orders, and also another table around the corner? Hey, Amber, food's up.
Thank you so much.
Should we go run that or just have to We'll have to finish ringing this in first.
Hopefully, maybe somebody else'll be nice enough to run it for us, but if not, we'll get to it.
Why are you waiting for the server to finish up her order so she can take the order to the table? Other servers are standing around doing nothing.
Why don't you just take it to the table? Go to steak quesadilla.
Shouldn't we ask somebody to run it or should we run it ourselves? Um It's making me crazy.
That is not teamwork.
And that has to start from the franchisee down to the general manager and every staff member right below that.
Is there anything else we can grab for you? All right, you all enjoy.
All right, well, our food is up.
So I'll let you carry this one because I feel like that one is going to be more balanced for you.
But there's a trick, okay? Balance it on your shoulder.
I am a little nervous about Pete carrying the larger trays because of his lack of experience.
It makes me a little antsy in my pantsy.
All right.
Follow me.
(Nader) I am walking to the table, praying to God that I don't have a mishap, and guess what I see? The franchisee sitting at the table looking at me.
I know this franchisee and I'm trying to maintain my cool.
Ten traditional wings, barbecue sauce on the side? Okay, Cheeseburger only cheese with French fries.
So I'm trying to use the tray to hide my face so the franchisee doesn't recognize me.
All right, well, Pete, we have a delivery order today.
We technically transferred both of our tables over, so somebody else is taking care of them.
(Nader) Luckily, I am taking a delivery order right now with Amber, so my identity remains secret for the moment.
You got some books in here.
Yeah, I do.
Those are actually my school books.
I got an essay I have to have done on that in about a week, so that's exciting.
You know, I work a lot, you know, in order to pay off, like, all my student loans.
So, like, I work full-time in order for me to be able to go to school.
(Nader) Is it normal you deliver food in your own car? Yeah.
Now, this is a good car.
I have almost 200,000 miles on this car.
That's great you got that many miles out of it.
Anyways, do you have any questions? I have lots of questions, actually.
Yeah.
If you had to close your eyes and say, "A perfect manager would be like this.
" A perfect manager is somebody who's understanding.
Like, for example, being sick, you know that's not something that's accepted at our job.
[dramatic music.]
'Cause our manager, he can be very spiteful.
Spiteful about what? Like, for example, if you do something to upset him, or if you had to call in sick one day, he will literally take your shifts away from you.
Like, our turnover rate is kind of sky high.
And I would say it's a good Like, over a year ago, I got bit by something.
I had a crazy allergic reaction to it, and my foot literally blew up to the size of a balloon.
Went to the emergency room and they told me that I couldn't that I could not physically walk on my feet for three days.
And it just so happened that I had to work the next morning.
I actually went into Wings to show him the note myself.
And his exact words were, "I don't give a [.]
"what's written on that piece of paper, it's your shift, you need to figure it out.
" [dramatic music.]
(Nader) I'm extremely angry.
The management staff have to be the servant to their employees, not the other way around.
They have to set the standard, and behave in a way that they support their staff as one team.
- There you go.
- Thanks so much, guys! - Okay.
- No problem.
(Nader) No employee should feel fear.
Every employee must feel safe within our four walls.
And that falls on my shoulders, as a CEO of the company, to create that safe environment for my employees at every location.
I need to talk to the franchisee and the manager right now.
Can you step outside and chat? Right now? Employee satisfaction cannot wait.
- I'm Pete.
- Pete, Francis.
- Justin? - Hey, Pete.
What's happening? Do I still look like Pete? [dramatic music.]
[dramatic music.]
Do I still look like Pete? I thought I recognized that voice.
Well, I decided to go on a little bit of a journey.
- I see.
- Doing "Undercover Boss.
" That's why I was hooked up with Amber.
And she was a very honest person, by the way.
I commend you on hiring her.
She's a great person.
But she said a few things that concerned me.
She used some words like "insulting," "harsh.
" Buzzwords that concerned me as a CEO of the company and it should concern you as a franchisee, and it should concern you as a manager of a store that I value.
Okay.
As you well know, management and staff there's there's always a bit of friction.
It can always be better.
Which makes it a more important reason that we take care of 'em.
Justin's working hard, lots of hours.
Sometimes he gets frustrated, gets snippy with our staff.
Restaurants run on thin margins.
People have a hard time hiring servers, you know.
I totally agree with you.
But at the same time, it does not excuse certain behaviors.
So it's a two-way street.
To get respect, you've got to give respect.
I'm also not their friends, either.
So that's how I run the business.
It's a business.
But staff happiness and satisfaction is an extremely critical component for the success of all of us.
Speak to them with respect and understand the challenges they're going through.
Take their feedback and make changes.
That's it.
Okay.
I have a plane to catch.
We will continue this conversation.
- Sure.
- All right.
My staff is my number one priority.
It is extremely important that each one of them is treated with the proper respect.
Fran and I will get to a mutual agreement in establishing that culture at every location.
Today, I'm in Bardstown, Kentucky.
I'll be going undercover with the kitchen manager.
The franchisee is Sean one of our earlier franchise owners.
He just opened up his second location just this exact week.
With this franchisee opening up his second location, I'd like to learn more about their hiring practices, and are they attracting the right staff? - (woman) Hello.
- Hi, I'm looking for Wes.
Wes? (Nader) My last job with Amber was difficult.
Her challenges with the management staff was hard for me to hear.
I am hoping that I'm gonna have a much better day today.
- Hi.
- Hey, how's it going? Good.
I'm looking for Wes.
That's me.
- You must be - I'm Pete.
I'm gonna to teach you everything you need to know - back here, okay? - Okay.
Okay.
Because when it comes to this, there ain't a [.]
damn thing that I do not know how to do in these four walls, okay? Okay.
Okay, but you've got to do it exactly as I say.
- I'm gonna learn.
- Okay.
So here's your super cool gear, man.
Wow, I love it.
Change into that, and I'll meet you back up here, okay? Okay.
(Wes) Pete is dressed like a dork.
He's got the scumbag gold chain, the thick nerd glasses, and the shiny bald head.
He seems very soft, like grandma's pancakes.
We all know how soft those are.
I was a little bit intimidated by his demeanor.
He seemed a little woof! Ready to go.
What in the is taking him so long? Wes, I'm ready to go.
Damn, if you're gonna work back here with me, man, you're gonna have to get the lead out of your ass.
Let's get you in an apron.
You seem kind of slow moving so far, so I want you to pick the pace up just a little bit, okay? Okay, so basically, I am the kitchen manager back here.
You're gonna need a really strong fire to win this, and put up with me.
Okay, so we primarily do chicken, okay? Look.
One X boneless fry in bourbon medium.
That represents five boneless.
So you're gonna go in here.
Five boneless, they go in the middle.
In the flour.
Get 'em nice and breaded.
Already drop your basket.
Shake 'em off.
Lay 'em in.
Don't drop 'em in.
They go down six minutes.
All right.
This is your sauce matrix.
It shows you what every sauce is.
We want the five boneless we dropped in bourbon medium.
And the bourbon sauce is right here.
All right, so these are up.
All right, sauce 'em.
Grab the bourbon sauce.
Bourbon barbecue? Yeah.
Let me see that wrist action.
You look like a pretty lonely guy.
You probably should have some pretty good wrist action.
Yup, let's go.
Get in there.
Okay.
- That good? - That's fine.
Toss it around.
Easy.
It's not going up.
Okay, look.
The thicker sauce.
Can't have a limp wrist.
All right.
That's good.
- The next one's gonna be you.
- Okay.
Every time you drop an order, and you're done, do what you could never do on prom night: tap it twice.
I got a feeling you've probably been a guy that's been walked on a time or two in his life.
Nobody walks on me.
Can't be a bitch back here.
No, I'll try not to be.
All right, I'm gonna have you do this by yourself, okay? What do I need to do? Two tenders.
You've got 35 boneless.
You got 15 bone-in wings.
And they're right here.
You can grab 15 bone-in wings, drop 'em in here, you press number one.
- Okay.
- That's a four minute timer.
Now, after that, you're going to go over here.
You got seven orders of fries, okay? So I'm gonna task you with this.
- All of it? - It's in your hands.
All of it.
You can count on me.
[tense music.]
I'm gonna flour 'em real good.
And ten Where the hell is the boneless button? Wes leaves me alone in the kitchen.
I'm going, "Holy [.]
," what am I gonna do? I had to dig deep inside my memory to figure out how to make all those orders all by myself.
The fryer is stuck.
What the hell happened here? Why don't these things fit together right? What I Oh, I need some French fries.
Oh, here we go.
That looks like seven orders.
All right, softie.
Something is beeping.
(Wes) What do you got going on here, man? I got all kinds of stuff going on.
I would have had that out 15 minutes ago.
Where's these 15 bone-in? They aren't even down? No, what 15 bone-in? (Red) Waiting on chicken.
Well, maybe I'll just have Pete make all your food next time.
I'm sorry.
I'll keep trying.
(Wes) Whatever, man.
I'm working in the kitchen, and I see someone I recognize.
And it's Red, the franchise owner, Sean's trusted manager and girlfriend.
She's been to my office not too long ago.
I'm turning my face away, hoping that she doesn't recognize my face and blow my cover.
See if you can start saucing those wings, man.
Okay.
And try and pull the anchor out of your ass.
Okay, I will.
He's old.
He's got lead in his ass.
You definitely over-dropped on fries.
Did I put too much? Oh, yeah.
These fries are dead.
I've got to throw them away.
I am so sorry.
We know you're that.
He's [.]
up food.
He's cost us money.
He's pissed off customers.
He is [.]
up astronomically.
No, it's medium.
- Wrong bowl, Pete.
- Oh.
- Give me that [.]
.
- I'm sorry.
- Here, back up.
- Okay.
I'm taking over.
As he stands right now, I would never leave Pete in charge of my kitchen.
So now sweep up the gigantic mess you've made on my floor.
Golly.
You want this floor so clean you would have sex on it.
- On the floor? - Oh, yeah.
Sex on the floor, in the kitchen.
My floor? I would totally have sex on my floor.
Yours? I wouldn't touch it.
How's that look? Clean? I've seen better.
You got [.]
everywhere, man.
Okay, I'll continue You're like a [.]
tornado.
- I'm sorry.
- Hurricane Pete.
[laughs.]
[sighs.]
What an ass.
Is that how he talks to his employees? God, I hope not.
[dramatic music.]
All right now, Pete, I want to explain to you what's going on here.
It's about to get busy, 'cause it's nighttime, okay? - This is Zach.
- Hi, Zach.
Zach, this is Pete.
He's gonna work with us tonight.
Brad, this is Pete.
Hi, Brad.
All right, go down there and get a kid mac and cheese.
Kid mac and cheese.
Put a slit in it.
Microwave it for 30 seconds.
Now, look.
Please tell me you know how to use a microwave.
I do.
You might be the biggest d-bag in history.
I've heard it all today.
I think I've heard it all.
I've heard terms today that I've never heard before.
(Wes) Pete is a little bitch.
He's definitely made of vagina.
No, you just blew my mind with your last comment.
That's right.
(Nader) Wes' behavior is definitely a bad representation of my brand.
This is not part of the values that I installed in the company.
Brandon has a man-gina.
(Red) You can hear everything they're saying back there.
I don't like that, either.
Is he always like this? Is he always wind up? Are you on crack, or what is it? These are mainly what I get in here kids.
High school kids.
The average person that works back here I'm not going to sugarcoat it they're a dumbass.
You can't ask dumb people to do smart things.
I'm an ass[.]
.
I'm a [.]
head.
I'm harsh.
I'm over the top.
Fear equals respect.
You're going to have to rule with an iron fist, man.
(Nader) The style that he's using to intimidate.
He believes truly that's a great method of controlling the staff.
I don't agree with that.
Fear equals many things that you don't want in a work environment.
Who stole my towel? If I see somebody take my towel, I'm going to kick you straight in your little baby nuts.
You've got to pull your skirt up if you're gonna work back here.
Oh, boy.
I need a beer.
They need to know they can't [.]
around.
And if they do, there's consequences.
Hit 'em where it hurts their pocket.
(Nader) It's upsetting to me.
I'm cringing on the inside when I hear Wes speak.
I'm not [.]
around.
(Nader) It's a classic definition of a bully.
This is unacceptable.
Go on, back in the dish room.
(Nader) I can't take it anymore, and I will not allow this.
Get the [.]
out of here.
Go home.
See you, Charmin.
'Cause he's real soft.
[line trills.]
(Red) Hello? - Red, hi, it's Nader.
- Hello? Can I chat with you outside the restaurant for a minute? (Red) Uh, yes.
How are you.
[laughs.]
So what is going on? Um, I came in here today and I was working with Wes in the kitchen and is he for real or is he just putting an act on? No, that's him.
That is him completely.
He has no respect for anybody in that restaurant.
Um, he does treat his kitchen staff low, but there's no telling Wes.
I just had a mandatory meeting with my front of the house on Sunday, and I said, "Any questions or concerns that I can talk about?" One raised her hand "the kitchen.
"They talk vulgar.
They talk this.
They talk that.
" And I said, "I will address Wes.
" And I said, "But, girls, that's as much as I can do.
" I will talk to him, and we'll see how far that goes.
- It does nothing.
- No, Red.
No.
No.
No.
Not acceptable.
Sean doesn't give me the power to go over Wes.
I need to talk to Sean.
That is just Sean's not active you know, he's he tries to be active, but he's not completely active in there.
I'm surprised to hear Red battling this challenge for as long as she has been.
I imagine, just, her hands are tied.
The franchisee is not acting on it.
We've got a responsibility to create a safe place for these kids.
So they don't feel the way they do.
Yeah, they have to feel respected.
They got to feel safe.
Having experiences with some bullying as a cook, dishwasher myself, I wish somebody would have stood up for me.
And I will champion that effort to make sure none of this goes on at any of my restaurants.
If I had the authority, I would fire him tonight.
I'm taking the franchise agreement, and I'm going to rip it apart if Sean is refusing to do the right thing for his staff.
He'll do the right thing.
(Nader) After working with Wes today, I can't continue to be undercover.
I need to go back to Cincinnati and fix this right away.
[dramatic music.]
(announcer) Coming up, the boss reveals his true identity I'm not Pete.
(announcer) and puts Wes in the hot seat.
These are high school teenage kids.
I'm not their dada.
I'm not their guidance counselor.
I'm not going to allow anybody to be bullied.
[dramatic music.]
(Nader) This experience has taught me while I can't undo my own past, I can certainly change someone else's future.
But before I reward my employees for all their hard work, there is something I need to take care of first.
[dramatic music.]
- How are you? - Good to see you again.
Well, Wes, I'm not Pete.
Clearly, yeah.
My name is Nader Masadeh, and I'm the President and CEO of Buffalo Wings & Rings.
Okay.
And I have been undercover for this past week in my own company.
Okay.
You know, I was a little intimidated by you.
- Oh, yeah? - When I first walked in, you were very strong.
I am that way often, but not always.
I thought that at the beginning, too, but I was a little surprised when I saw kids come in for the second shift and you still used language that I wouldn't typically use.
Brendan has a man-gina.
You on crack or what is it? Is that not allowed? These are high school teenage kids.
I'm not their dada.
I'm not their guidance counselor.
I'm their manager.
Okay.
I have asked Sean and Red to be here today.
Put 'em right here.
Please come in.
- Hi, guys.
- Hey.
Hi, Red.
Hey, Sean.
Let's see what the people that work with you every day what they think.
There was a time where he did everything I asked.
If I needed him to come in on his day off, he was there.
But because I'm opening a second store, for the past year, I haven't been around the Bardstown store like I used to be every day.
The girls' concern was how the kitchen disrespected them and how many complaints we had from our customers that could hear all of their F-bombs being dropped.
It's embarrassing.
And I don't care how many times anybody addressed it, it will never get fixed, because he doesn't want to get it fixed.
You won't never listen to anybody.
You're not going to talk to me in a bossy or degrading way.
Like you do to everybody else? (Sean) This is all new to me.
Oh, it's not new to you.
He comes up and threatens them, hollers at 'em, calls them names.
I threaten my employees? (Red) Yeah, you do.
Well, that's just mean, pointing the finger at me like that.
I do know what the Buffalo Wings & Rings culture is, and what values my company holds.
And one of 'em is a safe place to work.
Okay.
I'm not gonna allow anybody to be bullied or be uncomfortable like I was.
That is not the culture we're trying to set.
But I can see clearly you taking no responsibility in this whatsoever.
I think you're spinning that a little bit.
(Nader) Nevertheless, you're not my employee.
You're Sean's employee.
And I hate to do this to him, but Sean, it's your decision.
What do you want to do? You know, it's alarming.
It's upsetting.
Internally, I'm a person that doesn't give up on anybody.
But the problem has to be fixed.
I think I would have a better chance at success if we separate ways.
Okay, so I'm gone then? That's the decision that Sean would like to make.
(Wes) I'm not gonna change me.
I am who I am.
Sorry I'm such a scary monster.
Thank you, Sean, for making a wise decision.
I don't think he was ready to have that amount of power and control left in his hands.
(Red) I know things will improve starting tomorrow.
Thank you, guys.
- Thank you, Red.
- You're welcome.
Thank you.
Remember, we don't shake hands.
Is that what you said, Pete? Never shake hands in our family.
Thank you, Red.
[somber music.]
Dave, when I saw you washing dishes you're fast! Well, thank you, but I think you're a better marketing ambassador than I am.
- Oh, come on now.
- That was awesome.
- Whaddup! - I want to hug you.
Aww.
That was great.
When I heard you talk about you having two jobs Mm-hmm.
And how much you love Buffalo Wings & Rings, I spoke with the franchise owner, and he committed to getting you full-time hours.
He will train you to be a cook.
Dave, I don't want you working for anybody else, because you're like me.
You have hot sauce in your blood.
I'll take it.
Without a doubt.
All right.
And I know how much you love the Bengals.
I'm gonna get you club level tickets.
Wow.
I'm also gonna get you field passes.
What? You will actually witness the first kickoff from the field.
I would love that.
That's not all.
What's your other favorite team? The Reds.
I'm also gonna get tickets to the Reds versus Nationals game - at Washington, DC.
- Really? I'm gonna hook you up with flights, hotel and I know how much you love history, so I'm gonna hook you up with some tours also while you're in D.
C.
That's awesome.
Well, Dave, I wanted to thank you because you care.
Not only about the dishes, but you care about the future of Buffalo Wings & Rings.
So I want to think about your future.
I'm gonna put $20,000 in a retirement account for you.
Wow.
That's awesome.
Well, I thank you a lot.
- Thank you.
- You're welcome, buddy.
You're welcome.
(Dave) Sometimes I feel underestimated in life.
It's awesome to know that somebody else cares about what I do and that I'm not a little box in the corner in the closet.
It's amazing.
My mom always tells me that you need to find a job that you like and I've already accomplished that and it's actually paying off now.
Amber, I had a great time with you.
You are passionate.
You are dedicated to your work.
Also, I want to thank you.
You were very honest.
Yeah.
And very courageous to come out and tell me some of your struggles.
Especially with management.
His exact words were, "I don't give a [.]
what's written on that piece of paper.
You need to figure it out.
" When I heard you talking about the management issues you're experiencing at this store, I broke my cover and spoke right away to Fran and Justin.
Oh, wow.
And I'm gonna fix some of those things that you struggled with.
Okay.
I don't want to get anybody in trouble.
- No, nobody's in trouble.
- Okay.
We're all after one goal.
Yeah.
So I don't want you to worry about anything.
Thank you.
[laughs.]
Amber, I was touched by your dedication to school.
Because of you, I have set up a Buffalo Wings & Rings scholarship fund, and you will be the first recipient.
No.
[laughs.]
Yes.
That fund of money is available up to $25,000.
I don't even know what to say right now.
Thank you.
Thank you.
- You deserve it.
- Thank you.
I have one more little surprise.
Okay.
Your car has 200,000 miles on it.
- That's crazy! - Oh, my And you know I did not know that we were gonna be delivering food that day.
[laughs.]
How'd I do? - You did great.
- All right.
- You did fabulous.
- Great.
But you need to do something about that car.
I know.
I know.
I'm working on it.
Or not even worry about getting a new car.
- Because, guess what? - What? I got you a brand-new car.
- No, you didn't! - Yes, I did.
Get out of here! Wow! Are you serious right now? Wow.
Okay.
Thank you.
Thanks so much.
Thank you.
Today has changed my life.
I'm gonna get bills paid for.
I don't have to worry about getting my car fixed.
I don't have to, you know, stress about, you know, being able to pay for my tuition next semester.
Oh, my gosh! Knowing that I could influence someone to want to help more people in the future just like he helped me that's that's amazing.
It's amazing.
I cannot believe this just happened.
[upbeat music.]