by Molly Thomson

The restaurant industry offers evening hours, flexible scheduling, and an element of performance that appeals to those in the entertainment industry, which is why so many singers and actors started out taking drink orders and sweet-talking unruly customers.
While it’s difficult to fathom the likes of Lady Gaga or Mariah Carey serving anyone, a slew of celebrities waited tables between going to auditions or recording their demos just to scrape by.
Here are 12 celebrities who have restaurants-to-riches stories.
Madelaine Petsch worked at a hookah lounge
Before getting the part of biting, cherry-lipped Cheryl Blossom on “Riverdale,” Madelaine Petsch worked as a waitress at a hookah lounge, among other odd jobs. It definitely sounds like a far cry from the retro, wholesome allure of Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe.

Amy Adams waitressed at Hooters
That’s right: the trilling, dreamy Princess Giselle worked at Hooters after high school. “It was a great job out of high school and I was a hostess at first, and then I waited tables for a while, and it was great,” she told Entertainment Tonight. “It was a great way for me to earn money for college.”

Chris Rock scraped shrimp at Red Lobster
“I used to scrape shrimp into the garbage can and then load up the dishwasher,” he has said on stage. “I never got a raise, I never got a promotion. They kept me in the back.” Word to the wise: if Chris Rock blesses your restaurant, put him front and center.

Lady Gaga waitressed at a diner on the Upper West Side
She was one of the only students at Sacred Heart in New York City who had a job after school, and she used her earnings to buy a Gucci purse.
“I was so excited because all the girls at Sacred Heart always had their fancy purses, and I always had whatever,” she told New York Magazine. “My mom and dad were not buying me a $600 purse.” She can probably afford a few now.

James Franco practiced accents at McDonald’s
The star worked at a McDonald’s drive-thru in Los Angeles after dropping out of UCLA, and he used to practice foreign accents on female customers.
“When I needed McDonald’s, Mcdonald’s was there for me,” he wrote in an essay for the Washington Post. “When no one else was.”

Jennifer Aniston charmed customers at a burger joint
She was likely much better at remembering orders than her bumbling “Friends” character, but Aniston says she still wasn’t exactly adept.
“I wasn’t a good waitress,” she told Marie Claire, “but I was told that I was very nice and charming, so people liked me anyway.” She reportedly dropped a few Alpine burgers in customers’ laps — Swiss cheese, mushrooms, and all.

Chris Pratt worked at Bubba Shrimp Co
Before he was discovered, Pratt lived in a van with his “good buddy Zeb” and worked as a waiter at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Hawaii. In fact, the restaurant was where Pratt was recruited for his first big role as the lead in “Cursed Part 3.”

Mariah Carey says she hated her waitressing job
When Mariah Carey first moved to Manhattan she worked as a waitress, but Carey has said in interviews that she “had a bad attitude.” “I had this real bad attitude,” she was reported as saying in the unauthorized biography “Mariah Carey.” “Why am I here? I want to be in the studio. I want to be singing. I want to be doing my thing.”

Kristen Wiig waitressed for the stars at Universal Studios
The “Saturday Night Live” alum-turned breakout movie star used to serve the stars instead of delight the masses. In an interview with The Guardian in 2011, Wiig revealed that she used to waitress in the refectory at Universal Studios.
She still runs into stars from time to time, confused as to why she recognizes them. “And then I’ll remember: oh yeah, I used to serve you a Cobb salad,” Wiig said.

Rachel McAdams worked at McDonald’s for years
The beloved actress worked at McDonalds “for a good three years” in her youth. “My sister and brother worked there,” she told Glamour. “My sister was my manager!” As for her work ethic? “I was not a great employee; I broke the orange juice machine one day.”

Nicki Minaj says she was fired from Red Lobster
Like Chris Rock, Minaj also worked at Red Lobster — but she says she was fired from her waitressing gig after she flipped the bird to a couple who walked off with her pen. “It was the principle,” she told GQ.

Chelsea Handler was a dependable waitress at Morton’s Steakhouse
Handler learned perseverance and work ethic from waitressing. “I was never the best waitress, but I was always the person people called when they needed a shift covered because I would always say yes,” she wrote.
“Whether that was a result of wanting to be liked from years of rejection in high school, or whether it was wanting to be dependable and reliable after years of being the opposite, I just wanted people to feel that they could count on me.” She carried this with her into improv, where despite her fears, she always showed up.

https://www.insider.com/celebrities-who-used-to-work-at-restaurants-2018-3#madelaine-petsch-worked-at-a-hookah-lounge-1