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Working in the hospitality industry can be as challenging as it is rewarding. Sure, you get to meet a constant stream of new and interesting people while on the job… but some of your customers are going to be nightmarish to serve. Not to mention that your job itself probably means lots of stress and tough hours.

‘Chef and Hospitality Memes’ is a popular public group on Facebook that skips the sunshine and daisies and shows the truth about working in hospitality, with a comedic twist. We’ve collected some of the community’s freshest, funniest, and most relatable memes to serve you, so go on, scroll down, and have a taste of quality humor.

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Image credits: Robert Palmer

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Image credits: Chris Maness

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Image credits: Jaspur Magnus Tausen

While a bit of stress can be a positive thing, too much of it too frequently can harm your physical, emotional, and mental health. According to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, one of the most important aspects of managing your stress in a professional kitchen is to identify your unique stressors.

For example, one person might handle the heat and the noise of the kitchen extremely well but have trouble dealing with lots of orders, or vice versa. Once you know the core issues, it’s easier to address them.

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Image credits: Saneqkia Ricks

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Image credits: Matthew Oliver

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Image credits: Chris Maness

Something else that helps keep stress at bay is being organized and disciplined. You can create a to-do list for yourself, keep your workstation tidy, and separate larger tasks into more manageable ones to stay calm.

Meanwhile, the more efficient you are with your decisions and actions, the more on top of your tasks you’ll be and the less overwhelmed you’ll feel.

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Image credits: Chris Maness

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Image credits: Michael May

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Image credits: Chef Memes

At the same time, it’s important to take care of your health if you want to perform well at work. That means eating well, staying hydrated, getting plenty of sleep, getting enough movement, disconnecting from work, spending time with your loved ones, doing things that you love (besides work), etc.

The better your physical and mental well-being, generally, the better you’ll perform in a professional setting.

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Image credits: Chris Maness

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Image credits: David Taylor

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Image credits: Tito Raps Teevee

The hospitality industry is much bigger and wider than you might realize. It includes jobs that you probably have in mind right now, like cooking food and waiting on guests.

However, it also encompasses areas such as tourism, travel, recreation, sports, wellness, and entertainment, plus event planning, hotels, bars, nightclubs, theme parks, beverage services, etc.

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Image credits: Virginia Richardson

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Image credits: Liam Telfer

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Image credits: Michael May

And though there can be big differences depending on the specific niche you work in, your job will almost inevitably revolve around interacting with and providing services to lots of customers in some way.

Naturally, that means that you should know how to stay calm, cool, and collected under pressure while also finding a diplomatic way to tackle any problematic customers that you (inevitably) run into.

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Image credits: Tito Raps Teevee

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Image credits: Josh Cosby

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Image credits: Tito Raps Teevee

Knowing how to communicate well and work in a team are good ‘soft’ skills to have, no matter your job. But they become more and more essential the more fast-paced and stressful your day-to-day tasks are. If your job involves tons of pressure, then you, inevitably, need to find a way to work well in those conditions (or look for a job that better suits your skill set, needs, and temperament).

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Image credits: Michael May

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Image credits: Chef Memes

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Image credits: Josh Price

At the time of writing, the ‘Chef and Hospitality Memes’ group boasts 400.4k members from around the world. This is up from the 356.6k members the group had on Facebook in January 2025, the last time we covered their active community. Currently, the community is run by the ‘Support Local Businesses’ digital marketing agency.

Honestly, it’s no wonder that the group has seen so much success over the years. Its content is focused on incredibly relatable topics and niches, from food and cooking to the stress and challenges people face at work. After all, we all need to eat, and most of us reading this probably have a job that can be very tough at times. And what’s relatable tends to be what goes viral.

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Image credits: Freza Freza

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Image credits: The Chef's Circle

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Image credits: Craig Carr

Another factor that is a big part of the ‘Chef and Hospitality Memes’ group’s popularity is the focus on quality humor.

Though internet memes don’t necessarily have to be funny to spread, posting hilarious images that your audience resonates with and has a strong physical reaction to certainly helps. If your joke lands well, it can be very powerful.

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Image credits: Chef Memes

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Image credits: Robert Palmer

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Image credits: John Bonhan

It’s natural that you want to return to the (digital) place where you felt like you had a good time and laughed a lot. If the community sharing all of that awesome content is friendly, warm, and inviting, it’s only a plus.

Human beings are hardwired for social behavior and empathy, so it’s only natural to want to belong to some sort of community. If you don’t have many chances to connect with other people face-to-face, you can always try doing that online.

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Image credits: Chris Maness

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Image credits: Alexandria Kanevsky

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Image credits: Chris Maness

Have you ever worked in the hospitality industry before, dear Pandas? What was your experience like? What would you say were your most and least favorite parts of this type of work?

What advice would you give anyone who’s completely new to working as a chef or server and might be feeling a bit overwhelmed at the moment? We’d love to hear your thoughts—share them in the comments below.