Michael Cruz Romero
Corona
Summary
Versatile Back of House Team Member with progressive experience at every level from dishwasher to kitchen manager. Understands total restaurant operations and food preparation techniques that result in satisfied and loyal customers. Thrives in bustling restaurant settings and models energy and enthusiasm with constant focus on food safety.
Customer-focused Front of House Team Member with several years of experience in every front area. Warm and detail-oriented food service professional with exceptional listening skills and memory to best engage customers and present and sell menu options. Committed to building immediate rapport with diners and maximizing restaurant sales.
Well-rounded Bartender committed to providing guests with genuine hospitality and delivering exceptional services in bar area. Talented and skilled multitasker comfortable juggling competing priorities. Polished in concocting specialty cocktails and adding inspiration to new menus.
Reliable Barista quickly masters new concepts and skills. Passionate about helping customers and creating satisfying experiences. Strong history of providing top-notch service and support. Exceptional communication skills with proven track record of building client rapport.
Overview
5
5
years of professional experience
Work History
Bartender/Server
Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse
Brooklyn
11.2025 - 12.2025
- Roll as a server/side work as a server: roll ups every night (if there's time in the morning as well but mostly done at night).
- Wipe down sauce bottle being soy and vinegar sauce before restaurant opens and as side work while closing.
Food Service Worker
Din Tai Fung
New York
10.2024 - 11.2025
- I work at the back of the house, I make appetizers, I make boba drinks, and kitchen support, we also take care of expo where the main food comes out but they haven’t put me on there due to the fact that they don’t wanna teach me, but even without learning expo, appetizers and boba making is crazy enough, especially with kitchen support.
- Appetizers: we have to make cucumber salads, seaweed, soy noodles, Woodear, baby back ribs, large gingers and white rice cup, all are made from the prep team that are more in the back of the kitchen, all we do is stock our station up with items we need and we prep take out for online deliveries and we make sure it’s a lot because we get a lot of take out order but not as much as we do when we get done in orders.
- Boba: on boba side and more, we need to make boba for boba drinks, cream top for boba drinks, garnishes for boba drinks, black and green tea for boba drinks honey water syrup and creamer with water syrup for our boba drinks, matcha for matcha drinks, stock our different flavored syrups for our boba drink which are, litchi, passion, peach and Mango, we also have simple syrup that goes into almost every drink we make, we make our own sea salt and juice our own orange, lemon juice for our orange juice and honey lemonade, we juice lime juice but for the bar, refill our own ice, heavy cream, still water (pana), sparkling water (Pellegrino) and cream top to go.
- [we also make employee drinks and appetizers but those come after because we wanna make sure our guest that come in and dine get their boba drinks and appetizers first and the employees get their drinks and appetizers after and sometimes they wait awhile because both sides are always packed with tickets and we wanna make sure they go out as fast as possible for no delays at all, sometimes they wait up to almost an hour because of how hectic it gets].
- Kitchen support: kitchen support is filling up water cups, carafes, (now we do) soda cups and tea pots for the servers to serve for they’re guest at they’re tables.
- [It can also get a little hectic because you can have all water cups and carafes filled up on both sides and they will be all gone in the matter of 10-15 mins tops, that’s why they’re slays someone on there constantly stocking up the water cups and carafes for the servers because they don’t have time to fill up waters when that have to serve they’re guest they’re food and appetizers and boba drinks that they order].
- Din Tai Fung is a Taiwanese restaurant where managers chefs and ever staff make sure is up to par, it’s a place where I’ve never heard or worked at before and is not like any other place, this restaurant is extremely fast pace and constantly has you on your toes making sure everything is right for the customer when they order they’re food/drinks.
Food Service Worker
Duck Island Cafe & Bar
Brooklyn
08.2025 - 10.2025
- I was there for 3 months doing all sorts of things being foh and boh, I would be there at times at 8 am till 8 pm meaning I was opening and closing taking care of the restaurant and cafe, when working and the chef is being and I'm taking order, I will go and take order and make the orders myself to make sure the guest experience is 10/10 and there being no delays.
- I like to make sure everything is in place, cleaned, stocked and ready for when inspection would come through.
- Duck island would like to host events, partnering up with a company called fadora and a award nominated and award winning chef Sherry Pocknett where In 2023, she received the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast. She is the first Indigenous woman to be honored by the James Beard Foundation.
- Duck island cafe & bar like to host roller derby events where with all the 3 events we've had, have brought in hundreds maybe thousands or people due to it being at lefrak center where it's a big place where everyone can hang out and chill and order food either from the events being hosted or from duck island itself.
- Duck island sells Caribbean bowls/salads, sandwiches, burgers, fries, pizza, tenders, pastries, breakfast sandwiches, ice cream, popsicle with or without alcohol, candy, chocolate, chips being doritos, lays takies, drinks being soda, coffee, cold brew, ice tea, lemonade, wine, champagne, liquor, tequila, whisky, rum, scotch, Hennessy, beer, mixed drinks like aperal sprits, Palomas.
- Duck island cafe & bar overall was a place where people can bring friends or family to hang out and chill, either inside or outside with the outdoor seating.
- Purslane cafe was the same thing but the food was more different, it was just sandwiches like broccolini and prosciutto fig sandwich and breakfast sandwiches all three being made in big batches, same drinks, same alcohols just more smaller and only outdoor seating, and purslane cafe host a lot of weddings at least 3-4 times a week.
- While working I would work at both locations one day duck island the other purslane, doing both the same thing, taking guest, making drinks, heating up food if I was at purslane or making food if I was at duck island, I would do inventory, do deliveries taking things from duck island to purslane to restock them with anything they needed.
- Closing was a lot different, it would clean the coffee pots that would make the coffee, restock on anything that was used, note down anything that was low so that way my manager can order, taking chairs from outside and tables and locking them up with chains, setting up the security system, counters ting the register and putting what was made in profit and leaving what needs to be in the register with an exact amount, splitting tips with we do get especially in cash.
- I would do a lot more at duck island after closing foh I would move onto the back and wash the dishes, clean the grill, clean kitchen counters, sweep thoroughly so no food or crumbs are there overnight and bring unwanted guest, scrub and mop to get all the grease and oil stains out and off the floor, scrub and clean the sink of grease and oil so that way it looks clean for the kitchen staff and chefs for the next day and from there I can take out all the trash, recycling and cardboard, replace them with new bags and put any mix batches or drinks and pastries so they can be used the next day, and from there I can go clock out and go home.
- The good thing is was able to play music doing all of this but what would sick is that I would be left alone for more than half of the day but overall the job was pretty amazing.
- Duck island cafe & bar and purslane cafe are 2 cafes that are located at prospect park, both being cafe and bars, the work was easy, nothing to complicated, easy to manage and run, people are nice, workers are sometimes nice, but the area and the vibe/energy is amazing especially since it's at a park.
Food Service Worker
Dos Toros
New York
01.2024 - 08.2024
- Dos toros was new to me but everything in there was familiar to me, I knew how to work almost everything due to my experience, there were a couple things I didn’t know how to use but eventually I learned, dos toros was the first job where it would get crazy busy outta nowhere due to the fact people like the food a lot, we served chicken, steak, braised chicken, pork and chorizo, black and pinto beans, rice and farro, onions and peppers, guacamole, crushed chips, tomatoes, shredded cheese, raw onions, taqueria sauce and lettuce.
Food Service Worker
olives
New York
09.2023 - 01.2024
- Coffee is something that was very new to me and had no idea how to do but with a month in I learned how to make all sorts of caffeinated beverages like, coffee, lattes, cappuccino, mocha, hot chocolate, Americanos, it was a lot of different drinks but I learned a lot not all of it, we also had orange juice but that was very easy to make.
- Sandwiches were made by the chefs and my job was to wrap them in waxed paper so that way customers wouldn't have to wait for their food to be made, all we have to do is put the sandwich they choose to eat in a bag with a napkin and done.
- Soups were also made by chefs but it would be two different soups every day of the week following a cycle, and how we would serve them is in a little cup either small or large, with the topping that comes with them, it would be a little scary cause the way we would do it would be in a way we could easily burn ourselves but as long as we were careful then we were fine.
- Drinks were stored in the fridge that is in front of our store, restocking the fridge whether it be water, soda, sparkling water, orange juice, even beers.
- We would also have salads, fruit salads, grains depending on the day it is.
- Register I would be on all the time when it came to work at olives, taking order for customers especially the rush hour, it was hard at first but within 2 weeks of being there I learned it very quick.
- Closing I did everything I worked there making sure everything was clean, like the orange machine, coffee machine and coffee pots, counters, cabinets, putting any desserts or any leftover food that need to stay away, a lot of food that didn't stay would go in the trash but I would take some and a chef that would stay and clean the kitchen and floor would take some too so that way no food would go to waste.
Food Service Worker
dig
New York
03.2023 - 06.2023
- Preparation of food for the customer, chicken & chicken breast, sweet potato, carrots, rice & ferro, Mac & cheese.
- Porter I would start off by filling two sinks one with soap and one with sanitizer and the third sink being water, making sure the sanitizer temperature and how high the sanitizer was, I would wash dishes and utensils, pots and pan, 100-200-300 pans for airfryers, sometimes it would be hard to clean them because they would have a lot of stuck food on them but other than that it was fine.
- Line I would take care of customers order whether what base they wanted to protein to even the register and bagging their food.
- Pass I would go and change the food when it runs out or refill it especially when it was super busy, whether it be rice or chicken I would go and change it all, it would be super hot but as long as I would get the job done it was fine.
- Closing at time would close but not all the times, I would sweep and scrub the floors, take all the pots and pan that are out and take it to the sink to be washed, move stoves and cabinets and fridges to get garbage that isn't accessible while sweeping, put away and food or unprepared food so that it won't go bad the next day.
- Sorting the walking and our supplies every morning, whether it be bowls, lids, napkins, to meat, fish, sauces, it would be hard cause most of the things come when no one is there like 4 or 5 in the morning, and when I would come, everything would be melting and leaking everywhere to the point it would take me very long to finish sorting the walk in but I would finish it and sweep and clean the floors.
Food Service Worker
Corona Eats
Corona
09.2020 - 02.2023
- Ensured that each customer received outstanding service by providing a friendly environment, which included greeting and acknowledging every customer, maintaining solid product knowledge and all other aspects of great customer service.
- Cleaned and closed food nightly, communicated with a store manager regarding supplies and machine maintenance.
- Stored food in designated containers and storage areas to prevent spoilage.
- Cleaned and sanitized work areas, equipment, utensils, dishes, or silverware.
- Prepared daily food items, and cooked simple foods and beverages, such as hot dogs, Italian food, burgers, sandwiches and side orders using proper safety precautions and sanitary measures.
- Frequently switched between positions as food prep, cashier and waiter mid shift to support changing needs of the food truck.
- Creating and reading orders to communicate to the chef and placing food items and beverages on trays to provide to customers.
- Served food to customers at their tables and made sure that the tables and settings were clean and would provide customers with an excellent dining experience.
Skills
- Knowledge of supplies, equipment, and/or services ordering and inventory control
- Ability to follow routine verbal and written instructions
- Ability to read and write
- Ability to understand and follow safety procedures
- Ability to safely use cleaning equipment and supplies
- Ability to lead and train staff and/or students
- Ability to lift and manipulate heavy objects
- Knowledge of food service lines set-up and temperature requirements
- Skill in cooking and preparing a variety of foods
- Knowledge of food preparation and presentation methods, techniques, and quality standards
- Knowledge of different types or alcohols
- Knowledge of measurements and counts when making drinks
Timeline
Bartender/Server
Arirang Hibachi Steakhouse
11.2025 - 12.2025
Food Service Worker
Duck Island Cafe & Bar
08.2025 - 10.2025
Food Service Worker
Din Tai Fung
10.2024 - 11.2025
Food Service Worker
Dos Toros
01.2024 - 08.2024
Food Service Worker
olives
09.2023 - 01.2024
Food Service Worker
dig
03.2023 - 06.2023
Food Service Worker
Corona Eats
09.2020 - 02.2023