About Shiftdrink
After a hard night in the restaurant business, we have a tradition called the “shiftdrink.”
When the doors close and the staff has finished sacrificing itself in the name of hospitality, we drink. The shiftdrink is a way to celebrate surviving another night slingin’ hash and to bond with fellow waitstaff and our dysfunctional restaurant family.
In the spirit of this tradition, three waiters from TAO Restaurant in New York founded Shiftdrink in 2006. The mission was to create an online community exclusively dedicated to restaurant workers networking and finding jobs. In just two years, our membership has grown to over 5,000 and continues to grow. Our weekly job postings have an audience of thousands, industry professionals looking for the latest and greatest job opportunities. Whether or not you work in the business, Shiftdrink is a great way to stay informed about where to eat and drink in the city. The site is owned and operated by restaurant workers, so you know you’re going to get it straight—no bull. We’ve been featured in New York Magazine, Eater, and The Gothamist.
Winston Gitonga, CEO
If Winston is not home babysitting, he is usually either at the Restaurant serving Peking Duck or at Shiftdrink’s offices screening endless You Tube videos. With the emergence of the Interent, Winston combines his zeal for entrepreneurship and fourteen years of experience in food service to put together the team behind Shifdrink. Winston loves to play with his daughter, snowboard, and come up with new exciting recipes for sweet Italian sausages, Chinese noodles, and Scotch.
Warren Peace, Managing Editor
Warren’s feet are sore from too many years in the restaurant business. He lives in New York City where he is working on his first novel, Getting Lucky, a coming-of-age story set in the seedy underworld of Greyhound buses and late 90’s porn. He has no wife, no kids, and does not work lunch.
Gary Schenk, Marketing Director
Well first lets say “it’s good to be Gary”. When Gary is sober you may find him sitting at the poker tables. But mostly he is sipping down bourbon and is probably talking with some beautiful woman. Gary really enjoys his time alone and understands why he is still single. After 20 years (Yeah that’s right) of being in the restaurant business he really doesn’t like people any more.
Jose Arenado, Lead Developer
After 15 years working in some of the best and worst restaurants in the country, Jose left to pursue his lifelong interest in computer programming. Besides developing da intrawebz for ShiftDrink, he runs a small web development studio, Quo Vadimus Interactive. He still enjoys drinks before, during, and after shifts.
