The Krusty Krab has its loyal employees, but the restaurant has also had other characters joining the fun, though they didn’t last long. SpongeBob SquarePants was created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg and made its debut on Nickelodeon in 1999. The show has become the most successful Nicktoon to date, surpassing popular shows like Rugrats and Hey Arnold!, as well as one of the longest-running American animated series, with over 10 seasons and counting.
SpongeBob SquarePants follows the daily adventures of the title character – a sea sponge that looks like a kitchen sponge – and his friends and a couple of enemies in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. SpongeBob is often accompanied by his best friends Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks, his neighbor and coworker Squidward Tentacles, his greedy boss Mr. Krabs, and Plankton, Mr. Krabs’ long-time enemy. Viewers have seen SpongeBob go through a variety of adventures, many of them set at his workplace, The Krusty Krab, owned by Mr. Krabs and located across the street from Plankton’s The Chum Bucket, which has only made their rivalry even bigger.
Although the Krusty Krab is quite famous in Bikini Bottom and is hardly ever empty, the restaurant doesn’t have a big crew, in big part due to Mr. Krabs’ greed, as he surely wouldn’t be willing to pay two more people for the work that one of his employees can do. The Krusty Krab, then, only counts with the help of Squidward, who is usually at the cash register (reading magazines rather than working), and SpongeBob, whose main job is fry cook but also works as a janitor when needed. However, there have been a couple of times where the Krusty Krab has had other employees, even if just for a couple of hours, and sometimes as a replacement for Squidward or SpongeBob. Here’s every character who has worked at the Krusty Krab.
SpongeBob SquarePants
The first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants saw the show’s hero applying for the job of fry cook at the Krusty Krab, but he wasn’t welcomed with open arms. Mr. Krabs and Squidward didn’t want him around, so they decided to have some fun and sent him on a fool’s errand. While SpongeBob looked for a hydro-dynamic spatula, the Krusty Krab was invaded by hungry anchovies, who created a lot of chaos. SpongeBob arrived with the new spatula and cooked a ton of Krabby Patties, after which the anchovies left. Mr. Krabs decided to hire SpongeBob as a fry cook, and even though he has been fired a couple of times since then, SpongeBob has managed to keep his job even if he’s clearly underpaid.
Squidward Tentacles
Squidward joined the Krusty Krab before the first episode of SpongeBob SquarePants. In season 5’s episode “The Original Fry Cook”, a young, long-haired Squidward was shown working at the Krusty Krab alongside a very different fry cook (more on him later). One bad day, a pineapple fell from a boat and landed next to his house, and a sponge later moved into said pineapple – and the rest is history. Squidward works as a cashier, though he spends most of his time reading magazines and imagining what his life would be like if he was a dancer. Squidward has occasionally worked as a fry cook when SpongeBob hasn’t been around. Squidward doesn’t really make an effort to be a good employee, and it’s most likely because SpongeBob, with all his hard work, hasn’t had a raise, so it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t work at all, he’s still getting paid.
Patrick Star
Patrick Star is best known for being the laziest citizen in Bikini Bottom, but he has worked at the Krusty Krab a couple of times, in different roles and under various circumstances. He was first hired in season 1’s episode “Arrgh!” but was fired immediately after. He properly joined the crew in “Big Pink Loser” and in “Squilliam Returns” he was hired as hat-taker when Squidward turned the Krusty Krab into a fancy restaurant. Patrick took SpongeBob’s job in “Bummer Vacation” but as an unpaid intern as SpongeBob was forced to take a break. In “That’s No Lady”, Patrick disguised himself as “Patricia”, and began working at the restaurant as a waitress. He also worked as the bouncer to the secret Krusty Krab, was forced to work there to pay for all the Krabby Patties he owed, and was used by Mr. Krabs to bring more customers by having him fall into different things.
Gary the Snail
SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary has also worked at the Krusty Krab a couple of times. He served as a waiter for the secret Krusty Krab, worked as a referee when a hockey team practiced in the frozen restaurant, was the “cleaner of the ick” when an itchy fungus spread across Bikini Bottom (and covered the Krusty Krab), a fry cook in “A Pal for Gary” and “Gary’s Got Legs”, and served in sentry duty to stop Plankton from infiltrating the restaurant.
Pearl Krabs
As the heiress of the Krusty Krab, Pearl Krabs has also worked there occasionally. She took over the restaurant during the summer in the episode "Bossy Boots”, where she implemented her ideas to turn the restaurant into a “hip” place for teenagers. Pearl turned the Krusty Krab into the Kuddly Krab, but it ended up going back to what it was. She has also cooked Krabby Patties and manages the restaurant when her father can’t, for whatever reason.
Sandy Cheeks
Sandy Cheeks spends most of her time at her Treedome, making all types of experiments and inventing tons of things, but she has also worked at Bikini Bottom's most famous fast-food restaurant, though not exactly in traditional roles. At the end of “Karate Choppers”, Mr. Krabs decided to put her and SpongeBob’s karate skills to good use and hired them as patty-choppers, and she made a new Krabby Patty in season 11’s episode “Krabby Patty Creature Feature”.
King Neptune
Perhaps the most famous and important (though not the most skilled) employee the Krusty Krab has had is King Neptune. He challenged SpongeBob to a patty-making competition and lost, thus becoming SpongeBob’s apprentice at the Krusty Krab, where he would use his magic to burn the patties when he got frustrated. It’s unknown what happened after that episode, but SpongeBob can brag about teaching King Neptune how to cook.
Le Schnook
Le Schnook is the chef of the restaurant appropriately named Fancy! and who arrived at the Krusty Krab through the Chef’s Exchange Program, which took SpongeBob to Fancy!. Schnook wanted everything in the Krusty Krab to be as fancy as in the restaurant he came from, which didn’t go well with Mr. Krabs’ cheap tendencies. Schnook’s demands almost left Mr. Krabs bankrupt, and when the exchange program came to an end, he handed Mr. Krabs a long bill for his services. Luckily for Mr. Krabs, SpongeBob saved the place by bringing all of Fancy!’s rich customers to the Krusty Krab.
Karen Plankton
When Karen, Plankton’s computer wife, was replaced with Karen 2, Mr. Krabs took her to the Krusty Krab after finding her on the street. He then hired her as the cashier and made Squidward the new janitor, but when Plankton and Karen 2 arrived, the two computers had a fight, with the original Karen as the winner. Plankton took her back to The Chum Bucket and Squidward resumed his role as a cashier.
Stanley S. SquarePants
SpongeBob isn’t the only SquarePants to have worked at the Krusty Krab. His cousin, Stanley S. SquarePants, worked there briefly, as he has a tendency to destroy everything he touches – he burned the cash register (and Mr. Krabs’ precious money) and broke SpongeBob’s spatula, which enraged him. Stanley’s destructive tendencies gave Mr. Krabs an idea: he sent him to the Chum Bucket, which he immediately exploded.
Mrs. Puff
Mrs. Puff worked once at the Krusty Krab in season 7’s episode “Summer Job”. In it, Mrs. Puff smashed through the front door of the Krusty Krab with her boat, and in order to pay for the damage, she started working as a cashier, while Squidward was sent on vacation and SpongeBob was assigned to look over her. Unfortunately, she wrecked the restaurant again and ended up in jail once more.
Larry the Lobster
Larry the Lobster is best known for working out at the beach, showing off his muscles and strength, and for working as a lifeguard, but he has also been part of the Krusty Krab crew. Larry disguised as Mr. Krabs in “The Check-Up” to prevent the Krusty Krab from being shut down and he took on Mr. Krab’s job as manager when he went on vacation.
Other Krusty Krab Employees
The Krusty Krab has had other minor characters as employees as well, whether temporary or before the events of the show began. First off is Jim, the original fry cook who worked alongside the young Squidward mentioned above. Jim created the Jim Patty, which was more popular than the Krabby Patty, but he quit his job as Mr. Krabs wasn’t paying him what he deserved and obviously refused to pay him more. Jim became rich, and his departure from the Krusty Krab cost Mr. Krabs a lot of money.
Other minor characters who have worked at the Krusty Krab are Charles, and old fish who helped maintain the place when everyone else got trapped in the Bikini Bottom Triangle; Richard, a small, green fish who wanted to apply for a job at the Krusty Krab but was too shy, leading SpongeBob and Squidward to think he was the hash-slinging slasher; and three unnamed teenagers who took on SpongeBob and Squidward’s jobs when they went on strike and constantly cheered on Mr. Krabs. Every single employee of the Krusty Krab has brought their own type of chaos to the place, and SpongeBob SquarePants continues to be its most valuable and hard-working employee.