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Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery

Is this your company?

This could be such an amazing place to work but unfortunately, it’s sucks the life out of you daily. - Team Lead Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery Employee Review

2.0
8 Jul 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I love my coworkers so much, I love the customers, too! Great location and very bike-able.

Cons

Experience isn’t valued; gaslighting is constant; incredible employees are worn down and silenced, your ideas aren’t actually wanted; reactive and thoughtless decisions made by “leadership” are implemented on the fly with very little explanation but buy-in is expected; growth at swamp is a myth, it’s a carrot to dangle at the “yes” people. (Also don’t ask any questions, just be quiet and do what you were told to do, ok, otherwise it’s pushback and they don’t like pushback.)

Explore other reviews about Swamp Rabbit Cafe & Grocery

5.0
17 Apr 2024
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I’ve been with Swamp for about 6 years and it’s by far the longest and best experience I’ve had with a company in my 16 years working in food service and hospitality (you will not find a better job in Greenville for the same pay and chill environment). I am not in a management role but they do give percentage based pay raises every year which equates to a very competitive wage if you stick around. My wife has also been working here for 6 years and is currently 28 weeks pregnant. Management has been amazing with flexibility during her pregnancy as well as offering maternity leave and (since we’ve been there over 5 years) we get one month PAID sabbatical which is an absolute blessing with the new baby! We have never had issues with any management being unfair about pregnancy or having a flexible schedule. The owners have children as well as most management and that is very much reflective in how they relate to their employees home life. Free staff meals and a very available HR department. I’ve eaten enough stecca bread to last a lifetime but still take them up on the occasional HR/upper management question which has always been received very well and acted on swiftly whether it’s a question about your W4 or just need to talk to somebody! Never has HR turned me down all the years I’ve been employed with the Swamp. The owners are amazing and work very hard to get the best local food available to our community. Sure, Swamp has grown ALOT over the years but they still do everything they can for the community and invest so much back into the regions farms/outreach groups. I’ve had the privilege of working with multiple non profits over the years as well as the average local shopper during my time here. They really do care about the community and all of their employees. Swamp Rabbit Cafe is an amazing place to work!

Cons

Not really a con but Swamp can be very weather dependent so if it’s a beautiful day outside you can guarantee a busy work day!

2.0
26 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

This company attracts the best people you will ever meet in your life. For a time, it will feel like you are part of a great community doing great things. They do a great job of convincing you at first that they really care about their employees and the community.

Cons

The only reason I'm even giving 2 stars is because of the people you will work with. The employees work their bodies to near death and disability, trying to not only do their own jobs to the best of their ability, but also support their teammates, as the company remains severely understaffed in nearly every department. When disability is expressed, there is little to no accommodation, because the job still needs to get done. Ironically, the level to which you will need to do some of the positions due to being grossly understaffed, often worsens, or brings people to the point of, disability. They use everyone to the point where there is nothing left, and then once you are no longer able to produce to the same level, they punish you for it - despite the fact that the conditions of the job is what took it from you in the first place! You will catch management talking trash about the employees (and fellow management) that they so-call "value" and care about, and express retaliation against them if they don't drink the kool-aid and act like everything is perfect and fine. The company and employee meetings are an absolute joke. Most of the time they are coming down on employees for things that were the result of company structure, poor scheduling, lack of benefits, understaffing, and harsh working conditions. And ALL of these things are within their power to fix, they just don't. They just take away more and more over time. The Swamp 101 meeting with the owners is completely tone deaf. The owners care more about the fact that, and I quote: "customers don't realize that we are not only the owners, but also the FOUNDERS of this company." They both looked visibly agitated when they expressed this. Seriously? Who cares? Shouldn't your first priority or concern be that you are trying to be a force for good in the community? That's what we all thought it was about. No one cares about lifting you up and making you the star of the show. Local businesses like this should be about everyone in the community, caring about the environmental impacts, keeping the money local and keeping small businesses alive. The owners only seem to care about themselves, and will barely even talk to their employees. It felt like we didn't even exist to them, though they are walking around all the time. They also interrupt service constantly for their coffee and food, as if we weren't working hard enough to now have you throwing us off with your weird orders and demands in the moment. Not only this, but they also bring their children into the kitchens and cafe, which is a huge safety hazard and disrupts the work flow. It is an incredibly toxic and demanding environment, regardless of how physically fit or mentally stable you are. You are guaranteed to lose the rose-colored glasses you walked in with. I watched my teammates regularly get punished for not pushing themselves to the state of burnout, and nearly everyone who leaves or transfers to another department has been upfront about the reasons being burnout, all due to understaffing and harsh working conditions. I watched a couple of people experience panic and anxiety attacks and nearly pass out - including one of the managers in cafe. Mental health issues were rampant as a result of the job, and you would regularly hear people talk of suicide or self harm due to the pressure they experienced each day. And it's not that they hadn't been expressing their concerns to management, they just went unheard. The current system just keeps burning everyone out, which forces them to stay and be miserable or leave in hopes of something better. Corners are cut in every department to keep up appearances, and save money on labor. Labor costs are something you will hear a lot about in time - despite how fast the company is growing, how much they tout their success, and how much money the company is raking in. They are able to do this because they are taking advantage of every little ounce of their employees' hard work ethic, physical and psychological capacity and soul. They continue to take valuable benefits away that first attracted their employees, and that become incredibly important due to the working conditions they will be subjected to. Many employees relied on their free meal benefit, and had to resort to whatever scraps were left when they finally got on break - if there was anything left. The pay is not enough to sustain someone to keep their pantry stocked and, to be honest, you won't have enough energy or life or care left in you to prep your own meals - even if you did have the money. I can confidently say - after working in multiple departments, that overall it is a horrible place to work, and most likely you will be dreaming about another job in a few months. Hopefully this will save some poor souls from losing theirs, and they won't fall for the illusion that the rest of us did.

2
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