Employee speaks out on Toowoomba Rashays close

A former worker at a nationwide chain has spoken up over the conditions staff worked under at one of its Queensland stores, claiming rarely a day went by without something going wrong.

Just weeks after Toowoomba’s Rashays shut its doors, a former employee has launched shocking allegations about the condition of the store and its operations.

Speaking on anonymity, the former employee worked for nine months at the Garden City location.

One day before the Toowoomba store opened, the employee was asked to come in and see the place, learn the systems and sign contracts.

“On that day they actually told us, we’ll be opening tomorrow, will you be able to work?” they said.

The employee said they regularly worked 50-60 hour weeks with little training or support.

Rashays

“We were constantly running out of supplies for meals but couldn’t afford to order from Roumky (Rami’s supply chain), so almost daily I or the kitchen manager would have to go to Woolworths in Grand Central to buy milk or pasta or any sort of substitute and try to match the taste of the packaging to avoid complaints,” they said.

“Rarely did a day go by without something going wrong.”

Often the food ordered from Sydney would “come rotten by the time it arrived”, they claimed.

Their time ended at the restaurant following multiple bouts of sickness, which required them to take time off work.

The employee then received a termination letter stating they had “showed a lack of commitment”.

Three days later, they were offered a casual position.

The employee, who was waiting on superannuation payments, said they described the feeling as being “backed into a corner”.

Popular Youtuber Friendlyjordies at Rashays in Sydney.

The restaurant franchise came under fire in the past month, after popular Youtuber Friendlyjordies released an episode investigating “Australia’s garbage food”.

A large portion of the video was committed to critiquing Rashays.

Rashays founder, podcaster and entrepreneur Rami Ykmour, personally responded with outrage in his own videos.

“Everyone who works in the hospitality industry understands that things get messy at the end of the night,” he said.

“Another rumour I hear is microwaves, I feel like breaking every single microwave that exists in this world,” he said.

Founder of Rashays Rami Ykmour responds to rumours of frozen food and microwaves.

“You know nothing, shut the hell up, stop slandering the business.”

In terms of the use of microwaves, the lasagnes were delivered frozen and were heated in a “little oven”, the worker said.

Other menu items like the mashed potato were heated using a microwave.

The Chronicle’s own Facebook post over the closure and Mr Ykmour’s outrage drew almost 1000 polarising comments over the quality of the store.

Rashays was founded by Rami and Shannon Ykmour in Western Sydney in 1998.

According to its website, the franchise has almost 40 locations across Qld, NSW, and Victoria.

Rashays was contacted for comment.