What shoes do chefs wear?

I wear crocs, There the most compy that iv worn, wear what feels nice and that you can stand on your feet for 8-14 hours and are very non slip.  If it doent fall in to those catagories then forget about them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by youngchef11 

But you are actually allowed to wear any shoes you want? It is all personal choice yes?

That really depends on the restaurant and the Chef, most are pretty accommodating, some do have specific dress requirements
 

comfortable, non-slip, and water proof.

All but one place that I have worked would let us wear whatever shoes we wanted.  That being said, give up the idea of wearing dress shoes.  Even sneakers would seem comfortable, but it is truly best to get a shoe specifically designed for kitchen work.  They come in all styles now, but it has to be slip resistant (which sneakers are not).  And you really need a good cushion to support your feet.  

You are young and durable now, but your older self will truly thank you for protecting your feet.

Some places will want specific shoes, but in my experience most don't care and if they do care it's only that your shoes are slip resistant. Slip resistant is a really, really good idea whether it is required or not.

I'd higly recommend restaurant specific shoes. They are designed to be easy to clean, comfortable to stand in for long periods, slip resistant, and easy to remove quickly. I can't stress how important the last two are. I've personally dumped a hotel pan full of boiling water into my shoe, and if I wasn't wearing kitchen clogs that I could pull off immediately, I probably wouldn't be working in a kitchen anymore. Slip resistance has saved me a few times as well. Cleanability will also be a big issue. Scrubbing the menagerie of different kitchen gunks out of the little crackes and crevices in most shoes is an exercise in futility.

I know a lot of people that like Crocs. I haven't used them so I can't speak for them. Wal-mart has Tredsafe clogs that are as cheap as it gets and will work, but are uncomfortable without insoles and wear out fast. My favorites are Klogs brand. They're the most comfortable that I've used and wear really slowly, making them good bang for the buck. They'll set you back about $50 or so and can be found at uniform stores and restaurant supply stores.

Good luck.

I wear Dansko and I find them to be the most comfortable and durable. Expensive though

i wear welders boots... steel toecap, oil resistant, puncture resistant soles/uppers , electrical resistant soles, non slip, go up 1/3 of my lower leg. with thick socks they are the most comfortable and safe shoes ive ever worn.

dont even slip if somone empties a hot fryer on the floor (again)

well i'm still in school but some of the students have already got some diff shoes so i was curious...i think my feet will be begging for me to chop them off at the end of the night regardless but i want to find as comfortable as i can...i'm leaning toward crocs but not sure yet.

I like Kingston Mcknight clogs.  Also expensive, but my feet didn't hurt like when i used to wear much cheaper shoes.

Must be closed toed and slip resistant.  Crocs were a BIG no no, if something spills and they have the holes in the tops you will burn your foot.  I am a big fan of Rockports, had my last pair for 3 years and worth EVERY dollar.

worth every cent.............

Birkis clogs are great and worth every cent . These are the shoes I wear, nothing special but very comfortable.

Alspro clogs.  90 bucks anywhere they sell Birkenstocks.  Best shoes I've ever had for a kitchen, nice and nonslip, and hard enough to stop a knife when your idiot fry cook drops his knife point down.

most hotels these days require steel toes as unions are very safety concious, but most other places are flexible. My choice is blundstone boots made in austrailia. very durable, comfortable, slip on. steel toe is an option. http://www.blundstone.ca/

I've worn a couple of different shoes and clogs over the years, all slip resistant and 'professional' however, the BEST thing I ever did was get the Triad insoles that Dr. Scholl (sp?) sells. Relatively inexpensive and you don't take out the existing insoles.

These little miracles have saved my knees and my back and kept me from screaming when my 5:00am~11:00pm days were too much for these old bones

Im all for clogs. Dansko i have worn for a few years and absolutely love them especially when they are broked in typically when you buy them ask if there is any " industry discount" a lot of places will do 10-15% the others i have used lately is the swedish equivilent brasko since funny enough its impossible to find dansko in denmark.....where they originated. just my thoughts i had started off with cheap shoes and tried some others but clogs feel the best and i like to be able to slip them off slightly and strech my feet while i prep. 

IMHO, your feet have to last the rest of your life. As such, I will not buy shoes in any self service store nor over the internet without having tried them on in the presence of a trained shoe professional. That generally means someone well past their 30s and they are darned difficult to find!

For me, size 13A, any shoe that has a list price under $100 does NOT make the cut to even try on, in my nearly 60 years of buying my own shoes I have never found a pair that works on my feet under $150. That is me, not anyone else.

I will not risk foot damage for the sake of saving a few dollars!

Birkenstocks (Alton) work for me, they may not for anyone else.

Croc's actually make's a "kitchen' specific shoe.. They're completely closed in with no hole or vents... They're freaking hot inside!

Comfortable ones.

i have worn crocs for the past 8 years (not the same pair of course), i'm thinking of changing over to breki's. yes the outlay of money is alot at first. but at the end of the day you have to pay for quality.

Like with meat r  fish or produce "you get what you pay for''

.....

now that's just silly..

anyone can see that they're not treadsafe

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchenschel 

Croc's actually make's a "kitchen' specific shoe.. They're completely closed in with no hole or vents... They're freaking hot inside!

yeah. they made my feet smell and peel very badly only after a week of wear. I ended up cutting triangular holes out of them with a knife.

Have any of you Dansko wearers noticed a decline in quality within the past 2 years??  I stopped buying them after my last pair.  They were clearly not as comfortable as the numerous pairs I had in the past and the staples started pulling out of them after a few months.  I switched up to Sketchers non-slips and they are actually comfortable as hell, but they are heavy, heavier than Danskos.