Rich is a loser waiter who gets promoted to manager, which isn't all it's cracked up to be when you have a boss like Cleon “Slammin'” Salmon, former heavyweight boxing champion.

Cleon loses a bet to the Yakuza and needs to come up with $20,000 in one night, so he forces Rich to come up with the money, “or else”.

To make the record amount of money for one night at The Slammin' Salmon, Rich motivates his waitstaff with a series of increasingly lavish prizes (Norah Jones tickets, a spa getaway, and $10,000 cash) for the waiter to sell the most that night. Havoc ensues as they each try to one-up each other.

Mia has her face burned first by overly hot soup, and then by an overly alcoholic drink that was set ablaze. Connor, having recently been fired from CFI: Hotlanta for getting a nose job on his nose that was a crucial plot point, runs into the cast of CFI: Hotlanta, who treat him like dirt. Tara experiences a series of moral dilemmas as she tries to care for her injured colleagues with minimal medical training, all while being stiffed by her biggest customer, Nutella. Donnie was just hired as a busboy and must somehow learn quickly on the most challenging night. Nuts can't find the time to take his medication, and transforms into Zongo, his zany alter ego. Rich swallows a $450,000 engagement ring and has to pass it naturally before dessert is served.

Despite the many setbacks, the team makes $19,017, which is still short of the $20,000. Luckily, they discover that Cleon didn't account for the USD to Yen exchange rate, so they only needed to make $170 in the end. Cleon even decides to give all $19,017 to the waitstaff.

Throughout the movie, a series of B-list celebrities appear, including Olivia Munn, Will Forte, Vivica A. Fox, Lance Henriksen, Sendhil Ramamurthy, and Morgan Fairchild (the only actress to play herself).