Soo Cafe RALEIGH

I’ve had a horrible experience ever since I first walked into Soo Cafe. I am a minor and was looking for a job, and was graciously recommended by a friend who was employed here. When I walked in for the interview he asked me to start that very day, without any paperwork or questions about my experience or qualifications. Immediately I was suspicious.

Working there was nice at first, with friendly customers and weekly pay. One day, I received a large table that had an African American family celebrating a birthday. Before taking the table, the owner and chef, Young Jo, pulled me aside into the kitchen and told me (an African American girl) that “those people with my skin color” would likely have many complaints about their food, ask for extra accommodations, etc. He also said that it would be likely they would only order the fried chicken! I was stunned by this comment but diligently served my table. The kitchen was a bit busy that day and their food was taking a long time to come out, so one of the woman at the table asked me to cancel one of her orders as she did not want it anymore since it was taking so long. When I reported this back to him, he was very frustrated. After the table left, he pulled me into a private room with no cameras, and told me that I was not allowed to take “African” tables anymore. I asked him why this was, to which he responded, since we have the same skin color they would feel like they can ask more of me. I should’ve left after this. This was only the start of racist comments he has made!

For several weeks, we had the restaurant shut down and only opened for take out orders, since there were renovations being done. When I walked in one day, I did my daily tasks of cleaning both restrooms, and commented to him about the color of the paint in the mens bathroom. He asked me to stand against the wall and, as confused as I was, I obliged. He then commented that I probably liked the color (a reddish-brown) because It was the same color as my skin. He followed this up with asking which of my parents were darker in skin tone. I felt very uncomfortable by both of these comments but laughed it off.

It is not only to me that he has made racist comments to, but other employed there. There is only one white staff member, who happens to be the friend who recommended me. He constantly told me and once another hispanic waitress that we needed to be more like her, giving no constructive criticism to follow up. Everyone employed at Soo Cafe besides the waitresses and his family members speak little to no english. I’ve constantly overheard him yelling at and berating them, and during the time of construction, I witnessed him physically assault one of the dishwasher/janitors employed. This is not his only count of unwanted physical activity. Several of the waitresses have reported that he has touched them inappropriately, and all of the waitresses are very young! By this, I mean giving unwanted hugs, standing very close to them when speaking or giving direction, and on several occasions “accidentally” touching their breasts to which he gave no apology. He also has asked me and others very personal questions, including details about personal life at home, addresses, etc.

Now to mention the sanitary issues. I have never seen a completely clean dish at Soo Cafe. Of course this is partly a fault on the dishwashers, but all of the cups and plates we are expected to serve to customers have some sort of stain. This has affected my serving time having to pick through the shelves to fine the cleanest dish I could. There are roaches in the bathrooms, kitchen, and dining area. When filling the ice one day, I saw a roach and jumped back, dropping the bucket. I told him this and he shrugged it off and told me to get back to refilling the ice.