Having a ton of experience in the service industry, I can say this is not all that uncommon. You gotta get all of the employees together And sit your boss down. Tell them she’s causing problems, and hurting the customer experience. Lie to the boss if you have to, that customers have complained a few times about when you’re left alone, things are taking too long. Definitely tell them about eating off plates before they go out. That’s fucking insane. And disgusting.

But the more support you can get from other staff on this, the more powerful your complaints will be.

Having worked in the industry for 8 years i can give you advice that works but is not recommended.

First, stand your ground, tell her to go fuck herself. Its very aggressive and may get you on some kind of shit list.

Second, follow her example. When she goes to smoke, go with her. You dont have to smoke. If you can, leave with her.

Third, tell customers whose food has been eaten that "it has been eaten by 'employee"' and that youre making a replacement, heres a contact card to management to file a complaint"

If she starts commanding you as a manager, tell her shes has no authority and to do it herself, then follow her cuz shes likely gonna go take a break.

Cause problems

Having no experience in the service industry I don't have great advice so I'll just say I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope it gets better.

In gigs where politics matters more than output or social skills it can be hard to instigate change.

Is eating off of food a reportable offense to a health agency? That seems illegal or it should be.

The best would probably be to go as a group of colleagues and complain to the manager about Sarah. Tell the manager everything you wrote her.

But if the others don't want to do that, then something like that might work:

Have some (secret) friends eat at the restaurant on different nights and complain to the manager about Sarah specifically.

They shouldn't lie. But saying stuff like this might put the focus on the problem: "we waited for an hour for our food, meanwhile we saw this lady calmly smoke for 30 minutes"

You could also do the same as online reviews over some time span with a bunch of fake accounts.

Do you have any friends or family that could leave reviews or contact the manager about her? I agree that customers complaints might have more weight. Maybe have a friend ask to speak to the manager when she pulls something visable. That way your hands are clean and management has no reason to single you out.

You should go to your boss and ask others to also. Explain that you like your job and want to stay but her actions make it a harder to work there.

Take a shit on the passbar, screech like an alien in a movie and then just walk out.... or at least that was always my fantasy

Make her life a living hell. Make the company also notice, that there's something isn't just right, but it won't work if you won't make a scene. But only if they are satisfied with your work.

"she goes, or I go"