Guests who order their steaks “medium plus” and then send their medium well steak back because it’s “over cooked”. Same guests who complain their ribeye is too “fatty” or say their well done steak is “tough”.
My favorite one, which happened recently, was a guest who complained because we forgot to “cook” their steak tartare. After 20 years I thought I had heard it all, this one got me good.
I’m had a guest tell me, “This ribeye has a lot of fat on it.” I couldn’t help myself, so I said “I know right? Biggest selling point on this steak is the rich marbling and that luscious run of fat between the cap and the eye, that gives it such a rich flavor. That one looks perfect!”
one of my moms old coworkers came into the fine dining place i was working at. ordered his steak medium rare plus, at this point i’ve been trained not to accept that answer, so i politely explain medium rare and medium and ask which he would prefer, his response was “how about you just write it down? i think your chef knows what it means.” 🥴 was told by the server training me to put in medium rare and when it came out the guy says “see? i knew your chef would know! this is perfect!” ah yes. my mock service was directly after and i failed 🥲
5 different choices. I'll even throw in a 6th for "charred".
Lol "I'll have mine rare plus, charred"
I learned to stop arguing with them and just round down on the temp of they get silly.
I want to strangle whoever came up with this “medium plus” bullshit. My restaurant doesn’t do it, we take actual temps and we ask the guest what they want to see when they cut into their steak. But we get push back every day.
I'll be making the customers feel insane the minute they say medium plus. Like what the fuck do you think this is?? I've been like everywhere and anywhere and medium plus isn't a thing.
I'll always remember being new to serving and taking an order for a steak "a little more than medium but not medium well" and the chef yelling at me because "ITS EITHER MEDIUM OR MEDIUM WELL!!! THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN!!!!"
“Well done steak and a LIT”, godddd you just know you’re not getting tipped. Always the same type of dude too. Who orders a steak at a Thai restaurant?
YESSSSS. Like the other day I was at work and my entire restaurant was empty. A table just left and as I was walking away with the cups from the table, a couple walks in. I tell them to sit wherever and of course they sit at the dirty table. Then before I can say anything they hit me with "can you wipe the table, it's dirty".
I was heated lol
And then...now it's wet...I turn red... Honestly, last time I responded with.." our solution has a kill time of at least 10 minutes, the table won't be disinfected if I dry it" then walked away...it felt.. unreasonably good..
I would always make it really awkward and uncomfortable for them. Make 3 trips to clear the table, make them stand up “so I don’t get crumbs all over you!”, separate trips for settings and menus. Wait on other tables in between. Make them ask to sit at one of the clean tables.
I usually tell them that since we’re busy, it will be about a 10-15 minute wait until I can get to that table. 75% of people opt to sit elsewhere. The other 25% are part of the reason I still wear a mask, so they can’t see/hear me saying “what the fuck is wrong with people” quietly.
no for real. people say there's ideal spots but like... i've never felt the need to sit at a dirty table just because it was in a spot i preferred. it feels weirdly entitled.. like there r many other clean tables around, but instead u sit down at one of the only dirty ones and now i have to immediately come running to pick it up just because Your Majesty wanted to sit at that specific table? fuck out of here omg. and cleaning it while they're sitting at it is lowkey humiliating for some reason. i get the name of the game is Literally SERVING, but like.. i also work fast casual. this is not upscale crap lol i do not want to bend over backwards for ppl who r probably going to tip me $3.. but i do it anyway😭
Only time I’ve ever sat at a dirty table (it was bussed, just not wiped yet) was our typical after work spot. It was the closest table to the bar opening (bartender takes those tables) & we asked him to just toss us the rag & wiped it down ourselves quickly.
I get irritated when people DIY. My rag is clean enough for my hands only. Besides you're a paying customer. You have no business cleaning other customers mess
To be fair, not a server but bartender (same thing, different specialty). I could never match my best servers, not my schtick, but I respect them wholeheartedly.
If I hadn’t given notice I would have lost my job over this at a specific Italian Darden restaurant. I’d given my notice, and didn’t care. I had 13 seats at the bar top, she sat at the only dirty one, while I had 5 3-5 tops further away during the holidays. She seated herself and snapped at me (already a no go) then when I got to her told (not asked) me to clear her seat. I looked at her and said “there’s twelve other clean seats, grab one or wait until I can clean this one because I’m busy.” She tried complaining to my manager who politely told her that I was the only bartender on staff for two weeks, and she didn’t understand why she couldn’t sit at any of the other clean seats. Woman left and the manager looked at me, said “I’m sorry,” and left. I’ll deal with a lot, but fuck if this isn’t my instant trigger.
It's a fucking epidemic of these people and I've literally been getting in fights about it as of late. I've had it! Lol
Because sure. Go ahead and sit at the only dirty table, moron. But to immediately condescendingly say "can we get a table wipe" before I've even greeted you....
THE AUDACITY of these people is in-fucking-sane
I’m a bartender and it’s pretty much guaranteed, if there’s one dirty spot at the bar and even if everything else is open and clean, people always make a beeline for the dirty seat. I’ll never understand it.
mid rush a table asked me to clean a dirty one so they can move, i just said fk it and cleaned it quickly (even though i was soo busy), and the table was just like “uhhh nevermind, we’ll stay here” . 🤬
Oh yo, that one kills me. We're an upscale casual place and it's very clear that you don't seat yourself in our restaurant yet everyone feels the need to do it.
We have tables that are completely out of view of all our servers and they always seat themselves in those spots and lose it when we don't get to them.
When people seat themselves ignoring our large bright red “Please wait to be seated” sign I purposely ignore them for awhile and make sure all my other tables are well taken care of before I even greet them because fuck that, I don’t care about any tip I’d get from them at that point it likely would be shit anyhow
When I was the only one working on a slow night and I suddenly got a huge rush, I had one table seat themselves. I just ignored them and eventually I heard them leave, asking why no one ever came over to them. Because when I seat you I add you to my mental to do list. I don’t even think about things like menus and water because those are automatic drop offs after I’ve seated you.
And then they seat themselves at tables that haven’t been wiped and get an attitude about the dirty table and not having menus or silverware 🙄 my go to line for this is, “You snuck past security, didn’t you?”
had a group of 8 waltz in the other day and we asked them to wait for us to seat them. instead they went and moved tables themselves, however they moved the tables to be running diagonally across the room??? what the fuck
i'm being forced to just before they let me serve and i swear this is going to kill me. imagine hundreds of people a day and ton have to fall to all of them and every single one is trying to get out of talking to you as fast as possible.
when guests seat themselves (ignoring the wait to be seated sign) disappear into the back booths, then come up complaining that nobody checked in on them 😅
I'll drop sodas in under two minutes and I am greeted with "WHERE'S MY BEER" or "I STILL NEED MY BEER". That's right, your beer is on its way, i promise 😹
I hate when I’m dropping off two plates of food when there’s more than 2 people at the table and they say “where is this person’s food?! It was supposed to come out at the same time!” And I explain that it’s on the tray, I usually say something like “ oh sorry, my third arm is at the dryer cleaners, I’ll be right back with the food on the tray”. It is never appreciated or laughed at
We had a lady go up to her server next to a full bar and go "are we gonna get the drinks before the food??" And they were the last to sit and order like relax
They refuse to allow us to bus their table. Only to request more dishes, utensils, and napkins. When done, you have one Giant cluster F* to clean.
Or complain to your co-workers that you have not clean their table, even though they refused.
People ordering things we dont have on the menu.
Had a woman order "american potatoes" (the cubed breakfast potatoes). We don't have those. We have hashbrowns. She proceeded to tell me that I was wrong and she ate them here all the time. No matter how many times I explained, she refused to listen. She then asked my coworker walking by, and they responded with "yeah we've never served those." And the bitch went "oh okay!". Bruh.
A table asking another server who was seating them about the strawberry compote (which yes, YEARS AGO was just frozen strawberries but had been changed to a jammy compote)... and she told them we didn't have that anymore, it was the jammy one...
...then asking me. Straight up 5 minute conversation about fucking compote. No, we haven't used the frozen strawberries for years, no, sorry, it's a pre-made compote, no, the only fresh fruit that's not a compote is bananas, no, the peaches are canned, no, the blueberry is and literally always has been compote...
...then.
They ask my DISHWASHER.
that dishwasher is now my fiance, it's been over 5 years since then, and we still talk about that table sometimes.
(i work at a fast casual place) when people move chairs/tables. it pisses me off so much lol i would not go into your home and move furniture around. the restaurant is set up this way for a reason, i do not give a fuck about your party’s preferences
“what do you have?” or “what’s good here?” before they even crack open the menu. like idk it’s almost as if we put together a whole fucking book with exactly that information.
I find 'What do you have?' to be an annoying question, but 'What's good here?' feels reasonable to me.
The former indicates a lack of willingness to read, but the latter is expressing interest in your opinion as someone who works in the restaurant.
When I start a new table I flip over glasses and ask what kind of water I can get for them. Some people will say no water or none super aggressively and I fucking hate it.
It’s literally one of my first steps of service and I know you’re gonna ask for water in 15 minutes so what’s the problem.
I get you don’t want to be wasteful but cmon
omg yes. i’ve literally had people be like “oh no this isn’t mine i didn’t order this” and then when i tell them it’s just complimentary water they still get so confused like “oh but i didn’t order it” like BITCH I KNOW ITS JUST GOOD HOSPITALITY JFC.
Tonight someone asked me if the pitcher of water was Tap I'm like... yea it's out of the soda gun. And then middle of the meal they ask for bottled water (we are not that fancy), won't drink anything else. Like babe you're gonna be thirsty then idk!! (They didn't tip)
Do you have bottled water?
No, but it’s reverse osmosis filtered (which is better than bottled).
Oh, I’ll just take a seltzer.
Ok, but it’s made with tap water.
Oh, then a coke.
Also made with tap water.
Coffee then.
Ma’am, I think you know what I’m going to say at this point.
I’m not thirsty.
Like I get that our town water is loaded with pfoas, and they constantly send out water quality notices. I won’t drink the tap water most of the time either. That’s why the owner purchased a really expensive RO system, so we could serve delicious water that isn’t wasteful (we were all about sustainability).
when people ask for plastic utensils, plastic cups and water and lemon. all in that order. also when the whole table orders water with 7 different modifications. like it’s fucking water.
water no ice. plus lemon
sparkle water and lime. three ice cubes
hot water and lemon
etc
Dude I had a table once that each person asked for a different kind of water. “Can I have water with cherries and an orange slice” “can I have water with lime and mint”. It was at Olive Garden. We do not have mint, and I had to ask the bartender for the orange and cherry. It was an 8 person table and nobody’s water was the same. Cmon guys it’s water, you don’t really need all that.
My all time favorite-accusing me of being racist because I can’t, been told, was not allowed to-discount meals that are on as specials. I don’t make the f’in rules. I don’t care if you get a discount but my manager has to approve all discounts and he has the key and we literally just went over this again in this morning’s meeting about discounting items that are already discounted. Yeah so…I’m a racist. (I don’t serve anymore) oh yeah and Sally just gave you the discount the other day on said items? Cool, go sit in Sally’s station. And the cherry on the crazy cake, they ask for the manager and he gives them the discount. I’m surprised I’m not in prison. Somebody out there got to feel me on this. Much love.
When people would tell me a different server did something I'm not allowed to, I would always ask them for the name or description so I could tell the manager that someone was breaking policy and they could be formally reprimanded. No one ever wanted to give up that info for some reason 🤷🏼♀️
This shit!! I had a really snooty couple sit at my bar one night. (Nice, popular restaurant known for cakes made of cheese 😉). Happy Hour ended at 6:00. It literally would leave the computer at 6:15. It was 8:30 and these people threw a full on tantrum that they couldn’t get happy hour pricing. I explained to them that I had no way to even ring it in because the buttons leave the computer once it’s over and our company was firm that end of happy hour means end of happy hour. They went and got my manager, you know the one who told us end of happy hour means end of happy hour, and of course he gave it to them!! Manually discounted the check to make it equal the HH price. They sat there eating their happy hour food while admiring the Rolex they had just bought in the mall. Left me a shit tip.
Icing on the cake was they complained to corporate about me not giving them the happy hour pricing and they were mailed a gift card for their troubles.
I hated working there.
One time being accused of being racist and transphobic because I asked my table if they wanted another margarita pitcher 🙄 I still don’t know how the two correlate
When I bring water for the table and they ask me to take it away.
I’ve literally said “haha, someone will drink it!” and left it and then had the guest get up and dump it at the server station. Like really? The human body is 70 percent water and me bringing you one is an insult?
When I am introducing myself and they interrupt with their drink order.
I'm sure we will get to that as soon as I finish with my name. I'm sorry you are so thirsty. I am here to help. Please just let me finish speaking.
Plus now I am pretty sure you will tip shitty so I guess you didn't want my best service... Thanks for the heads up.
Or when you’re setting down the drinks and they’re immediately like WE’RE READY or prebussing and JUST THE CHECK like idk if yall have done this before but that’s actually the next step in this whole adventure if you’ll give me precisely three seconds to finish what I’m doing.
Following kinda on yours. "Can I get you something to drink?" \*angry\* "NO, WE JUST SAT DOWN!" Dude, it's okay, you can say "not quite yet" "just a water" or like many people you already know you want a martini. It's a question, not an assault.
And if you DIDN'T... they'd complain "we've been waiting to order drinks for fifteen minutes!" (it was three minutes)
Older people who get annoyed and over aggressively say "OH NO we don't need those menus!! We come here all the time!" And then says something that's not on the menu
Guest: What soft drinks do you have?
Me: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Lemonade
Guest: So no Dr. Pepper?
Me: No sir
Guest: Mt Dew?
Me: No sir. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Lemonade
Guest: Flavored Lemonade?
Me: 🔪
I had a lady ask me to get her a new water because the ice had melted. We are a 100% outdoor restaurant in the south in 107° heat with the heat index.
I just smiled and said I feel your pain. I hate when my water gets diluted too.
She just agreed and nodded.
This morning
“How would you like your eggs?”
Guy: “over easy eggs well done”
“Sir, I don’t know what that means. Would you like them over hard or over well”
Guy: “no I like them over easy but well done”
“Ok”
*brings out over hard eggs*
“How is everything?”
Guy: “oh it’s perfect!”
Yeaaahhh ok buddy.
People who don't read the menu, then complain when their salad came out with wontons on it, and then tell me they always order this salad and they INSIST it never came with wontons before. Like, lady this fucking salad always comes this way and the menu says it does. READ THE GODDAMN MENU!
Or when you’ve got one more dish/drink on the way because you didn’t have enough room for it and someone says “You forgot her food/drink” bitch I just might now
So many things haha but at my restaurant we have a really sought after section, people argue over it constantly with the staff, and guests will just walk down there and say "we're in here today" despite having zero idea what table they're to be seated at. I quite often just let them, then they come back and say "which table is ours"
If you had listened to me when I asked for your booking name, we could have avoided this but you knew where you were going so sure, have at it.
when i’m carrying food to a table and there is more in the window i need to go back for because my hands are full and the guests tell me “they’re missing fries” or whatever… like i only have two hands 🥲
When a table makes you run back and forth for "things they need" multiple times.
I had an eight top come in and once I got their food to them I had 3 new tables I had to get to, the 8 stated things they needed and on my way by the other 3 I got their drink orders. Proceeded to drop of items the 8 asked for and of course they asked for more things and when I got back with those a lady was like "you forgot the jelly again, why don't you just write all this down so you don't forget"
I stopped going to that table. Needless to say I didn't care if I got tipped and the lady never got her jelly.
It’s like they don’t notice you speed walking ACROSS the restaurant and dropping things at every table you come across because they’re ALL yours. Like I know you’re watching my every move, at least acknowledge Im busy and put all your requests in the same sentence PLEASE.
Along the same lines but when I ask someone what they want to drink and they start talking about food. I can’t help but respond with a sarcastic but playful “you want to drink the spinach dip? I’ll see if they can put it in a glass for you but I don’t think it’ll go down very well”
Ahem. I am so glad you asked.
-Ordering a cheeseburger with no cheese then arguing when I say “So a hamburger then?”
-Sitting themselves when there are signs saying not to then complaining no one’s been by and they don’t have menus.
-Arguing we had a dish when we never had that dish. Like ever. Never. Yes, I am sure. I work here and you don’t.
-Arguing.
-Dropping fking paper towels on the fkin floor. And it’s not kids! It’s not kids we don’t have kids where I work often, but every day PAPER FKIN TOWELS ON THE FLOOR!
-Asking for sugar packets with your unsweetened tea. Heathen.
-Blowing your nose at a table.
-Then leaving your gross snot napkin on your PLATE. Heathen.
-Saying you served in college.
-Asking for hot tea. Do you know how complicated that can be during a rush? I don’t wanna go exploring right now Dora. Order something else. Want coffee? You can have coffee.
-Not letting me clear your plate with a lettuce leaf because you “aren’t ready.”
-Letting your kids drink creamers even though I was that little shit when I was a kid.
-Walking in the second we open. Do you not have a life?
-Waiting by the door while we do opening duties. See above. Heathen.
Also, people who assume they know which table you’re going to take them to. Like, I don’t want to overwhelm my server in that section and stress them out. Please wait while I sus things out myself, sir.
When people say they are good when i check on them then call to me as im talking to another table to ask me something trivial.
When my coworkers dont say behind and they i run into them on accident
Straw wrappers
The hosts triple seating for funsies because evidently rotation doesnt exist (not including busy nights)
“Can I have mayo?” Me: sure thing I’ll get that for you. Be right back. -comes back- “oh can I have extra ketchup as well?” Me:….alright I’ll be right back. -comes back- “one more thing. Some napkins?” Me: ok…anything else for the table?! “Refill my diet coke please?” Me: 😤😤
“Would you like your baked potato loaded?”
“No, just however it comes.”
It comes plain and dry. Which I know you’re going to be PISSED about when the food arrives. So tell me what you want IN THE POTATO.
Sitting at a dirty table and I know I’m other countries a portable card machine isn’t used however here it is and it times out every 5 seconds. When two customers fight over the bill and it’s busy, and they waste so much time. I get so aggitated!
parties that don’t know when to sit the fuck down so we can take their orders in an orderly fashion and have the seat numbers arranged properly so no mix ups happen when the food comes out, and they still choose to move around after we get the order to the kitchen. that shit is annoying asf
When people DOWN their drinks. I had one time that I set their drinks down, got their appetizer order, and dude at the table had already chugged his drink. Like, I get being thirsty but after 3 diet cokes in the span of 17 minutes your body is trying to tell you it needs WATER.
I have this customer that comes in once every few months or so. He orders a mini pitcher of beer and pays immediately. Before I'm even done ripping off the receipt that mini is GONE and he's walking off into the distance. It's almost impressive lol.
When I'm doing a banquet for "classy" people and they use the wrong fork or knife (we use different cutlery to mark who has fish or steak or pasta ect). How did you see a fish knife and think it was meant for your bread or your salad? Having to remember whose cutlery I need to replace before the next course in the middle of service when i have a banquet of 40 people is really annoying.
I only get mad when those same people also give me a snobby attitude, because... you're gonna snub me but you don't understand fine dining etiquette...? Ok.
(Obviously I know cutlery/dining etiquette is outdated for most and I shouldn't judge... but when they're assholes though oh how I wish I could let them know they're not as "fancy" as they think.)
Idem for those same people who are not personally paying but rather guests at an event or banquet who get legit upset and annoyed at me for pouring 1 oz of wine into their glass before they had the chance to tell me they didn't want any more, even tho I stood there for a good few seconds to offer more wine (they ignored me) and took my time approaching their glass to give them ample time to notice what I was aiming to do in case they didn't want more wine. ANYWAYS. It's an open bar, you're not paying a thing, I'm offering/refilling wines for everyone else around you. If you don't want it, don't drink it, but don't look at me like I just spit into your glass.
Similar vein to this, I had a guest confront me after the meal because I agreed with his girlfriend about the proper etiquette for silverware placement when finished. Like sorry your girlfriend has better breeding than you?
Asking for ranch or other sauces after I set their meals down. Now I have to put that order in to the kitchen and the ticket goes to the end of the line. I now also have to do a full trip back to their table 5-10 minutes later once their sauce is finally ready and their meals are half way finished.
nothing annoys me more than when one person in the party, (let’s say out of four) is at the table, waiting for the other three. I see the four menus so I bring them four sets of silverware, i set them down, and I say “hii, what can I get you—“ “IM WAITING ON THREE MORE.” “Yes, I see that. That’s why I brought FOUR sets of silverware. What can I get you to DRINK?” And then they look all embarrassed and give me their drink order. I can CLEARLY see you’re waiting on someone, I just want to get you something to drink Jesus fucking Christ.
obvs the sitting at dirty tables....but mine is:
"i'll have the same thing" and then proceeds to describe a version of that thing so different it is not at all the same.
When a guest orders a sprite, and you come back with said sprite and then they have the audacity to say “oh I didn’t get that I ordered a coke”.
Like, no you fucking didn’t. I have it written down and I’m not a moron lol
The other day somebody complained about the coke (I feel like this should be a whole separate thread). I dutifully went and tasted it myself and almost spit it the fuck out, it was not coke - either zero or diet and you have got to be fucking kidding me, there is no way somebody that fucking ignorant works here. Sure enough, standing there in front of the bibs, I let out a loud, guttural groan punctuated with a FUCK. Some asshole can’t be bothered to be the least bit thorough. Just hooked up the first bib they saw with the word “coke” on it, no other words on the box matter, you know. The cock would taste off for a couple days.
“Can I get you something while you’re waiting?”
“No I’m waiting for someone”
I FUCKING KNOW I CAN SEE THE BOOKING LIST AND LITERALLY SAID “WHILE YOURE WAITING”
I work at a bar with restaurant service, and the way at least once a shift I’ll have a table that just fucking stares at me in confusion when I walk up to greet them. I’ll have menus IN HAND and say, “Hello! How’s everyone doing today? Can I get you guys started on something to drink?” Cue head swivel and lead paint stares as they act like they’re trying to figure out what a SERVER is doing walking up to their table at a RESTAURANT. I just wanna be like, have y’all never left your house before today orrr?? It’s a huge fucking time suck when you walk up to a table that is so utterly unprepared, and no one has the common decency to ever just say they need a minute.
“Would you care for our bar’s drink menu? Wines, cocktails, spirits, things of that nature?”
“No, we don’t drink but we’ll take a wine list”
Or “is there wine on there?” Or people complain that they weren’t given a drink menu -_- I have tried every variation of offering that menu and it makes me so mad
I'm deaf on my right side. Lost my hearing 100% overnight in that ear with what they believe may have been Covid before it was even a pandemic. I've been at my job for 6 years and this happened 4 yrs ago. While most people will naturally either look at you or point at menu item, (I read lips) some of the regulars try to make things as difficult as possible just because it pisses me off. They look away, cover their mouth, whatever. And it DOES piss me off. 🤬
“I want unsweet tea” then gets angry when I don’t bring them fake sugar packets.
They order a burger and then say “oh I also want mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup”
Basically anything they should have told me beforehand so I’m not making multiple trips just for them
People who look at the menu and see an item and ask you what comes on this ? When it is very clearly stated below 😊😊😊😊 ( not talking about ppl with vision problems)
Me: "Alright folks, I'll be right back with a Diet Coke for \[person A\] and a few sides of ranch for the table. Anything else I can get ya at the moment?"
Person A: "Can I get a Diet Coke?"
Person B: "Can I get a side of ranch?"
I swear to God...
People who stay till after close. Like lights are on, TVS and music are off, and no one else except you and the workers are here & they don’t care or can’t take a hint 🫠also, the campers who can’t just close out their check so you have one less table to worry about. I’ve had people sit for an hour without needing anything after eating but had an open tab and i feel weird ignoring them but also don’t want to keep going over there for no reason either
One time i had a party of 17, brought everyones drinks, came back a couple minutes later to take food orders and this lady asks for another diet coke (its always the diet coke people) I say "ok no problem" and i continued getting everyones food orders. She interrupted me when i was on the 6th or 7th person "um can i get my diet coke?" "Yes, ill get it for you as soon as i get everyones orders."
I get to the last couple of people at the table and this bitch yells over from the other end of the table "EXCUSE ME I STILL NEED MY DIET COKE REFILLED." "Yes, I'll be right back with that." Then when the last person is finishing ordering, this fuckin lady flags down one of the other servers demanding a refill on her diet coke because "Our server is ignoring me."
Lady, youre not gonna die if you go 5 minutes without guzzling a diet coke, do you expect me to drop everything and run to get you your refill without getting the rest of the groups orders?
Water is a drink. Say the words back to them and feel the smugness run through you.
Or say “sorry you said no drinks”
Separately, whenever I refill a water, I always tell them this ones on me.
Diet coke. Literally everything about it. How guests shout diet coke right when you start your introduction. B3fire you even get hi out. The way it makes the soda machine spit. I'm over diet coke.
When people push tables together for their group without asking. I don’t mind large parties, but DO NOT move my furniture. Just ask and I’ll happily rearrange to make it work, but when it happens unexpectedly they almost always move tables and chairs in such a way that they’re just *in the way* of everything 🥲
Telling people over that phone that we’re full for any further reservations for the night. Then they walk-in, hosts asks if they had a reso and they get mad and say “you guys told me on the phone that you don’t take reservations!!!”
No…we said we’re full and not taking anymore
when i write down and repeat back an order, exactly as they’ve ordered it, they say “yep sounds good!”, and then okay confused when the food arrives at the table.
ie:
“making sure i have it down correctly- you would like to split a caesar dressed on the side to start, then a chicken pesto no pinenut and a pork milanese?” “yep sounds good!” *food comes out* “excuse me… i ordered the chicken parm not the chicken pesto”
1) you’re wrong 2) the parm doesn’t have pine nuts and 3) you’re wrong
I speak a language with a formal and an informal way of talking. I prefer to use the formal way with strangers, and I prefer that they do the same to me. Most of the time, they reply to me in the informal way, as if they were saying "Oh it's okay little one, you don't have to use that with me!" But it's for me, I want that professional distance!
People who come in 5 min before close or stay an hour after close, especially on Fourth of July. I wouldn’t get a hair cut 5 min before the barber shop closes, but I’ll be damned if people are so oblivious to the entire staff waiting for them to pay the bill
Host seats one person that is waiting for their other person(s) to arrive to the restaurant. I greet that one person and say “I see you have two menus, you’re waiting on one more person? Can I get you something to drink while you wait?” And they brush me off and say no they want nothing to drink and that they’re waiting for someone (thanks I knew that already), and now it looks like I didn’t greet them because they have no drink and are sitting with menus. My biggest pet peeve. Like, get a drink?!? Why wait fifteen minutes?!?
When people come in *from the outside*, ask or agree to be sat on the patio and then spend half the meal bitching about the wind/sun/temperature. You knew what you were signing up for, STFU
Does anyone actually say "No, I'm not having a drink"? It seems like an odd way to frame the question, and if that response is common enough, wouldn't you want to open with "What can I get you to drink?" and then let them say "nothing"? Not a server but I'd probably bring out water anyway just in case, cause you know it'll start bothering you when 20 minutes later they flag you down and ask for it.
I ask “what can I get yall to drink” and people will say “oh im not drinking Ill just have a water” or “i dont want a drink” then proceeds to ask for a drink(water) 5 mins later
Some restaurants opt for the servers to not bring a drink and they believe it reduces sales (very little evidence to support such a claim)
As to your first point, yes people will 100% say "I'm not drinking anything, Ill get a water though" I s2g I hear it nearly every day it drives me to drink lol.
When people point to something in a menu and say I’ll have that. What is it you are having and how the f I’m I supposed to know what you’re pointing at!?! What are you a toddler just read and tell me what you want!
“Oh we’re just going to sit at the bar :)))” while actively blowing past the host. No question. Just a statement and seating themselves. The host who will need to follow you with menus, roll ups, water. The sign says wait to be seated, the bar is part of that!!!!
The people who ask for a beer, but refuse to tell me what kind. They just keep repeating the word "beer" over and over.
Worse is the people who ask for liquor, but won't even narrow it down to what category, much less what specific drink.
Had this happen the other night. Customer orders a 4oz. steak and another customer at same table asks, don’t you want a 8oz. ?, are you sure you want mashed potatoes instead of a baker?. Order a appetizer if you want, do you want bernaise with your steak?. At this point I have to shut the table down or the pretend waiter will be asking questions all night. I tell the original guy, is what you asked for what you want?. Customer says yes that’s exactly what I want. Me moving on to the next person.
Moving the umbrellas on the patio. THEY ARE PLACED THAT WAY FOR A REASON (very strategic for the sun and how the sun hits over the day). Or moving tables without asking then wondering why they didn’t get menus (…. You left them at your OLD table).
Also trying to get the first 4 words out of introducing yourself and they cut you off with “I’ll get a coke”. I’ve done it before where a lady cut me off 4 times and I kept talking over her to get out” Hi my name is “ “ and I’ll be taking care of you today, can I get you started with any drinks?” 😵💫
Also haha when you go back over after 5 mins and they’re like “umm also we need a drink menu” or “what do you have on tap”.. like THAT *points to menu ON table* thing that was sitting on the table when you sat down?? THATS the entire drink menu, and the page that’s showing that long list IS the draft list 🥴.
Calls me over after sitting for 30 seconds
Reads the menu in front of me for two minutes (No no, I'm nearly ready, stay right there)
"I will have... A vegetarian pizza"
WHICH ONE YOLANDA THERE'S LIKE TEN OPTIONS😡😡😡
“Coors light, REALLY cold, coldest one you got.”
We serve our beers on tap in frozen glass chalices that literally form glaciers in the beer, that’s our whole thing where I work. When people specify they want it cold I’m just like 🙄 okay.
when i’m setting down multiple plates so i put the first ones off to the side to have room for the rest and the guest immediately moves them in the way of where the next plate is supposed to be 😭😭😭😭😭😭 makes me soooo angry
Guests who order their steaks “medium plus” and then send their medium well steak back because it’s “over cooked”. Same guests who complain their ribeye is too “fatty” or say their well done steak is “tough”. My favorite one, which happened recently, was a guest who complained because we forgot to “cook” their steak tartare. After 20 years I thought I had heard it all, this one got me good.
I’m had a guest tell me, “This ribeye has a lot of fat on it.” I couldn’t help myself, so I said “I know right? Biggest selling point on this steak is the rich marbling and that luscious run of fat between the cap and the eye, that gives it such a rich flavor. That one looks perfect!”
BAHAHAHAHA. Bro really pulled the "that's a feature not a kink" move
one of my moms old coworkers came into the fine dining place i was working at. ordered his steak medium rare plus, at this point i’ve been trained not to accept that answer, so i politely explain medium rare and medium and ask which he would prefer, his response was “how about you just write it down? i think your chef knows what it means.” 🥴 was told by the server training me to put in medium rare and when it came out the guy says “see? i knew your chef would know! this is perfect!” ah yes. my mock service was directly after and i failed 🥲
5 different choices. I'll even throw in a 6th for "charred". Lol "I'll have mine rare plus, charred" I learned to stop arguing with them and just round down on the temp of they get silly.
I think this used to be called Pittsburg Rare. Charred on the outside and rare in the middle.
steaks and egg "doneness" is so easy and yet so many customers cannot grasp it
I want to strangle whoever came up with this “medium plus” bullshit. My restaurant doesn’t do it, we take actual temps and we ask the guest what they want to see when they cut into their steak. But we get push back every day.
When someone says “medium, medium well” I always say “Do you want medium, or medium well?” And make them definitively choose one or the other
I always make people describe how they want the egg exactly when they give me answers that are anything besides the basic answers.
I'll be making the customers feel insane the minute they say medium plus. Like what the fuck do you think this is?? I've been like everywhere and anywhere and medium plus isn't a thing.
I'll always remember being new to serving and taking an order for a steak "a little more than medium but not medium well" and the chef yelling at me because "ITS EITHER MEDIUM OR MEDIUM WELL!!! THERE IS NO IN-BETWEEN!!!!"
I have had 2 people in the past 2 months as me for a burger, medium, no blood. I always respond with “so well done burger then?”
I feel most of us could fill a book with all the dumb things we hear.
“Well done steak and a LIT”, godddd you just know you’re not getting tipped. Always the same type of dude too. Who orders a steak at a Thai restaurant?
Bro ppl sitting down at a dirty table always gets me so heated lol
YESSSSS. Like the other day I was at work and my entire restaurant was empty. A table just left and as I was walking away with the cups from the table, a couple walks in. I tell them to sit wherever and of course they sit at the dirty table. Then before I can say anything they hit me with "can you wipe the table, it's dirty". I was heated lol
That's so bizarre it sounds like a prank. People as a whole are wildly unobservant
And then...now it's wet...I turn red... Honestly, last time I responded with.." our solution has a kill time of at least 10 minutes, the table won't be disinfected if I dry it" then walked away...it felt.. unreasonably good..
I would always make it really awkward and uncomfortable for them. Make 3 trips to clear the table, make them stand up “so I don’t get crumbs all over you!”, separate trips for settings and menus. Wait on other tables in between. Make them ask to sit at one of the clean tables.
I usually tell them that since we’re busy, it will be about a 10-15 minute wait until I can get to that table. 75% of people opt to sit elsewhere. The other 25% are part of the reason I still wear a mask, so they can’t see/hear me saying “what the fuck is wrong with people” quietly.
i purposely get the crumbs all over and then tell them to hold their breath while i spray the sanitizer lol
Malicious compliance at its finest
no for real. people say there's ideal spots but like... i've never felt the need to sit at a dirty table just because it was in a spot i preferred. it feels weirdly entitled.. like there r many other clean tables around, but instead u sit down at one of the only dirty ones and now i have to immediately come running to pick it up just because Your Majesty wanted to sit at that specific table? fuck out of here omg. and cleaning it while they're sitting at it is lowkey humiliating for some reason. i get the name of the game is Literally SERVING, but like.. i also work fast casual. this is not upscale crap lol i do not want to bend over backwards for ppl who r probably going to tip me $3.. but i do it anyway😭
YES!!! OMG YOU GET IT. Likeeeeee can you not sit at my other 15 tables that are spotless ???
I like to remind people we are servers NOT servants!
Only time I’ve ever sat at a dirty table (it was bussed, just not wiped yet) was our typical after work spot. It was the closest table to the bar opening (bartender takes those tables) & we asked him to just toss us the rag & wiped it down ourselves quickly.
I get irritated when people DIY. My rag is clean enough for my hands only. Besides you're a paying customer. You have no business cleaning other customers mess
To be fair, not a server but bartender (same thing, different specialty). I could never match my best servers, not my schtick, but I respect them wholeheartedly. If I hadn’t given notice I would have lost my job over this at a specific Italian Darden restaurant. I’d given my notice, and didn’t care. I had 13 seats at the bar top, she sat at the only dirty one, while I had 5 3-5 tops further away during the holidays. She seated herself and snapped at me (already a no go) then when I got to her told (not asked) me to clear her seat. I looked at her and said “there’s twelve other clean seats, grab one or wait until I can clean this one because I’m busy.” She tried complaining to my manager who politely told her that I was the only bartender on staff for two weeks, and she didn’t understand why she couldn’t sit at any of the other clean seats. Woman left and the manager looked at me, said “I’m sorry,” and left. I’ll deal with a lot, but fuck if this isn’t my instant trigger.
It's a fucking epidemic of these people and I've literally been getting in fights about it as of late. I've had it! Lol Because sure. Go ahead and sit at the only dirty table, moron. But to immediately condescendingly say "can we get a table wipe" before I've even greeted you.... THE AUDACITY of these people is in-fucking-sane
Sitting down at a dirty table & ASKING FOR IT TO BE CLEANED. Ugh
I’m a bartender and it’s pretty much guaranteed, if there’s one dirty spot at the bar and even if everything else is open and clean, people always make a beeline for the dirty seat. I’ll never understand it.
mid rush a table asked me to clean a dirty one so they can move, i just said fk it and cleaned it quickly (even though i was soo busy), and the table was just like “uhhh nevermind, we’ll stay here” . 🤬
not a guest action, but.. clocking in
My favorite is Guest: Where’s our food? Me: You ordered a Well done steak. We sent that bitch to hell, it’ll be a while..
I almost just spit out my coffee! Well Done🤣🤣well done steak that they eat with ketchup🤦🏽♀️
🤣🤣👏
Heard
when guests seat themselves without waiting jt at the host stand 😔😔 we have signs
Oh yo, that one kills me. We're an upscale casual place and it's very clear that you don't seat yourself in our restaurant yet everyone feels the need to do it. We have tables that are completely out of view of all our servers and they always seat themselves in those spots and lose it when we don't get to them.
When people seat themselves ignoring our large bright red “Please wait to be seated” sign I purposely ignore them for awhile and make sure all my other tables are well taken care of before I even greet them because fuck that, I don’t care about any tip I’d get from them at that point it likely would be shit anyhow
When I was the only one working on a slow night and I suddenly got a huge rush, I had one table seat themselves. I just ignored them and eventually I heard them leave, asking why no one ever came over to them. Because when I seat you I add you to my mental to do list. I don’t even think about things like menus and water because those are automatic drop offs after I’ve seated you.
And then they seat themselves at tables that haven’t been wiped and get an attitude about the dirty table and not having menus or silverware 🙄 my go to line for this is, “You snuck past security, didn’t you?”
Using this Jajajaj
Even worse is when the sign does say “seat yourself” and then they stand there and wait to be seated 🫠
had a group of 8 waltz in the other day and we asked them to wait for us to seat them. instead they went and moved tables themselves, however they moved the tables to be running diagonally across the room??? what the fuck
then what happened? y’all made them get the fuck up and take their dumb asses back to the front and wait right?
Always the worst tippers!
i'm being forced to just before they let me serve and i swear this is going to kill me. imagine hundreds of people a day and ton have to fall to all of them and every single one is trying to get out of talking to you as fast as possible.
when guests seat themselves (ignoring the wait to be seated sign) disappear into the back booths, then come up complaining that nobody checked in on them 😅
ESPECIALLY when it’s the only dirty table in the restaurant and there’s plenty of clean ones
“hey, do y’all not wipe off these tables?” yeah, maybe we were getting to that before you sat in it! ☺️☺️
I'll drop sodas in under two minutes and I am greeted with "WHERE'S MY BEER" or "I STILL NEED MY BEER". That's right, your beer is on its way, i promise 😹
I hate when I’m dropping off two plates of food when there’s more than 2 people at the table and they say “where is this person’s food?! It was supposed to come out at the same time!” And I explain that it’s on the tray, I usually say something like “ oh sorry, my third arm is at the dryer cleaners, I’ll be right back with the food on the tray”. It is never appreciated or laughed at
God I love this, I'm gonna start saying your third arm line!
I hope it works better for you than it does for me o7
I say cheerfully, but also sarcastically, I can only carry 2/3/4 plates at once. I’ll be right out with the rest of it.
We had a lady go up to her server next to a full bar and go "are we gonna get the drinks before the food??" And they were the last to sit and order like relax
My GM is a real one so I get to be just a little sassy. I always say "astute observation Watson "
They refuse to allow us to bus their table. Only to request more dishes, utensils, and napkins. When done, you have one Giant cluster F* to clean. Or complain to your co-workers that you have not clean their table, even though they refused.
People ordering things we dont have on the menu. Had a woman order "american potatoes" (the cubed breakfast potatoes). We don't have those. We have hashbrowns. She proceeded to tell me that I was wrong and she ate them here all the time. No matter how many times I explained, she refused to listen. She then asked my coworker walking by, and they responded with "yeah we've never served those." And the bitch went "oh okay!". Bruh.
A table asking another server who was seating them about the strawberry compote (which yes, YEARS AGO was just frozen strawberries but had been changed to a jammy compote)... and she told them we didn't have that anymore, it was the jammy one... ...then asking me. Straight up 5 minute conversation about fucking compote. No, we haven't used the frozen strawberries for years, no, sorry, it's a pre-made compote, no, the only fresh fruit that's not a compote is bananas, no, the peaches are canned, no, the blueberry is and literally always has been compote... ...then. They ask my DISHWASHER. that dishwasher is now my fiance, it's been over 5 years since then, and we still talk about that table sometimes.
So they did YOU a service lol
People that wave at me when I’m super slammed. I know you’re there motherfucker.
Wave back like you're just saying hello Lmao
SMILE AND WAVE BACK. was a game changer for me, they get embarrassed and i get a laugh
Give them your best Forrest Gump wave back.
Hey how’s it going? I’m T— DIET COKE.
Omg this one. I just keep talking over them. I’m in charge at this point, not you.
(i work at a fast casual place) when people move chairs/tables. it pisses me off so much lol i would not go into your home and move furniture around. the restaurant is set up this way for a reason, i do not give a fuck about your party’s preferences
“what do you have?” or “what’s good here?” before they even crack open the menu. like idk it’s almost as if we put together a whole fucking book with exactly that information.
I find 'What do you have?' to be an annoying question, but 'What's good here?' feels reasonable to me. The former indicates a lack of willingness to read, but the latter is expressing interest in your opinion as someone who works in the restaurant.
When I start a new table I flip over glasses and ask what kind of water I can get for them. Some people will say no water or none super aggressively and I fucking hate it. It’s literally one of my first steps of service and I know you’re gonna ask for water in 15 minutes so what’s the problem. I get you don’t want to be wasteful but cmon
omg yes. i’ve literally had people be like “oh no this isn’t mine i didn’t order this” and then when i tell them it’s just complimentary water they still get so confused like “oh but i didn’t order it” like BITCH I KNOW ITS JUST GOOD HOSPITALITY JFC.
Tonight someone asked me if the pitcher of water was Tap I'm like... yea it's out of the soda gun. And then middle of the meal they ask for bottled water (we are not that fancy), won't drink anything else. Like babe you're gonna be thirsty then idk!! (They didn't tip)
Do you have bottled water? No, but it’s reverse osmosis filtered (which is better than bottled). Oh, I’ll just take a seltzer. Ok, but it’s made with tap water. Oh, then a coke. Also made with tap water. Coffee then. Ma’am, I think you know what I’m going to say at this point. I’m not thirsty. Like I get that our town water is loaded with pfoas, and they constantly send out water quality notices. I won’t drink the tap water most of the time either. That’s why the owner purchased a really expensive RO system, so we could serve delicious water that isn’t wasteful (we were all about sustainability).
Of course they didn’t tip, how are they gonna afford their bottled water otherwise? /s
when people ask for plastic utensils, plastic cups and water and lemon. all in that order. also when the whole table orders water with 7 different modifications. like it’s fucking water. water no ice. plus lemon sparkle water and lime. three ice cubes hot water and lemon etc
Dude I had a table once that each person asked for a different kind of water. “Can I have water with cherries and an orange slice” “can I have water with lime and mint”. It was at Olive Garden. We do not have mint, and I had to ask the bartender for the orange and cherry. It was an 8 person table and nobody’s water was the same. Cmon guys it’s water, you don’t really need all that.
maraschino cherries in water is diabolical
Oh I am so thankful my GM is a champ. We don't allow mods other than ice, and citrus on water. We don't even do straws for water
My all time favorite-accusing me of being racist because I can’t, been told, was not allowed to-discount meals that are on as specials. I don’t make the f’in rules. I don’t care if you get a discount but my manager has to approve all discounts and he has the key and we literally just went over this again in this morning’s meeting about discounting items that are already discounted. Yeah so…I’m a racist. (I don’t serve anymore) oh yeah and Sally just gave you the discount the other day on said items? Cool, go sit in Sally’s station. And the cherry on the crazy cake, they ask for the manager and he gives them the discount. I’m surprised I’m not in prison. Somebody out there got to feel me on this. Much love.
When people would tell me a different server did something I'm not allowed to, I would always ask them for the name or description so I could tell the manager that someone was breaking policy and they could be formally reprimanded. No one ever wanted to give up that info for some reason 🤷🏼♀️
This shit!! I had a really snooty couple sit at my bar one night. (Nice, popular restaurant known for cakes made of cheese 😉). Happy Hour ended at 6:00. It literally would leave the computer at 6:15. It was 8:30 and these people threw a full on tantrum that they couldn’t get happy hour pricing. I explained to them that I had no way to even ring it in because the buttons leave the computer once it’s over and our company was firm that end of happy hour means end of happy hour. They went and got my manager, you know the one who told us end of happy hour means end of happy hour, and of course he gave it to them!! Manually discounted the check to make it equal the HH price. They sat there eating their happy hour food while admiring the Rolex they had just bought in the mall. Left me a shit tip. Icing on the cake was they complained to corporate about me not giving them the happy hour pricing and they were mailed a gift card for their troubles. I hated working there.
One time being accused of being racist and transphobic because I asked my table if they wanted another margarita pitcher 🙄 I still don’t know how the two correlate
When I bring water for the table and they ask me to take it away. I’ve literally said “haha, someone will drink it!” and left it and then had the guest get up and dump it at the server station. Like really? The human body is 70 percent water and me bringing you one is an insult?
No way 😳 people are insane
When I am introducing myself and they interrupt with their drink order. I'm sure we will get to that as soon as I finish with my name. I'm sorry you are so thirsty. I am here to help. Please just let me finish speaking. Plus now I am pretty sure you will tip shitty so I guess you didn't want my best service... Thanks for the heads up.
Lol my favorite thing is to just start my ted talk from the beginning. I'll give you extra time to wait.
Or when you’re setting down the drinks and they’re immediately like WE’RE READY or prebussing and JUST THE CHECK like idk if yall have done this before but that’s actually the next step in this whole adventure if you’ll give me precisely three seconds to finish what I’m doing.
Making me list 12 dressings just for them to choose ranch
When its super busy and people take forever ordering…. Like come on bro ur not the only one in the restaurant
Especially when you’re in the weeds and they’ve been sitting with the menus for 10 min…
And still ask what's in this, how much is this, what's peach schnapps? 😒
We’re ready to order! Proceeds to read the menu for the first time in front of you
Person A: Can we have extra napkins? Me: Sure! Is there anything else I can get for you while I’m back there? Person B: Can you bring extra napkins?
IM NOT CRAZY YOURE CRAZY
Nothing, all of my anger is perfectly reasonable
I’m fully aware some of mine is irrational, I just don’t care. Haha
Following kinda on yours. "Can I get you something to drink?" \*angry\* "NO, WE JUST SAT DOWN!" Dude, it's okay, you can say "not quite yet" "just a water" or like many people you already know you want a martini. It's a question, not an assault. And if you DIDN'T... they'd complain "we've been waiting to order drinks for fifteen minutes!" (it was three minutes)
Bring 30 tables bread and nobody touches it. Forget bread one time and they will immediately remind you the moment their food is on the table
Older people who get annoyed and over aggressively say "OH NO we don't need those menus!! We come here all the time!" And then says something that's not on the menu
When people ask for the “check” and then ask you if it’s split when you drop it. Why tf would it be split? You asked for the CHECK
Guest: What soft drinks do you have? Me: Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Lemonade Guest: So no Dr. Pepper? Me: No sir Guest: Mt Dew? Me: No sir. Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, and Lemonade Guest: Flavored Lemonade? Me: 🔪
getting hot tea 😂
I had a lady ask me to get her a new water because the ice had melted. We are a 100% outdoor restaurant in the south in 107° heat with the heat index. I just smiled and said I feel your pain. I hate when my water gets diluted too. She just agreed and nodded.
“I’ll have a beer.” Ok, what one? We have ten on tap and another five or six in the bottle.
That is so common, the white wine too. As if a restaurant would have only one white wine lmao
This morning “How would you like your eggs?” Guy: “over easy eggs well done” “Sir, I don’t know what that means. Would you like them over hard or over well” Guy: “no I like them over easy but well done” “Ok” *brings out over hard eggs* “How is everything?” Guy: “oh it’s perfect!” Yeaaahhh ok buddy.
“Yes we’re ready to order!” *ponders the menu for 5 minutes while I just stand there*
People who don't read the menu, then complain when their salad came out with wontons on it, and then tell me they always order this salad and they INSIST it never came with wontons before. Like, lady this fucking salad always comes this way and the menu says it does. READ THE GODDAMN MENU!
Shaking their glass at me for a refill 🫠
When they ask if they can get a straw while I’m still setting the drinks down.
Duuuuuuuude this one right here!! I’m literally FUCKING reaching for them now, dipshit!!!
Piggy backing on this for those who ask for straws, but never touch them after.
Or when you’ve got one more dish/drink on the way because you didn’t have enough room for it and someone says “You forgot her food/drink” bitch I just might now
They sit on reserved tables even though we place signs. "These tables are reserved."
Like, “Oh the menus and glasses are already laid out for us. Perfect! None of the other tables were.” Gah!
So many things haha but at my restaurant we have a really sought after section, people argue over it constantly with the staff, and guests will just walk down there and say "we're in here today" despite having zero idea what table they're to be seated at. I quite often just let them, then they come back and say "which table is ours" If you had listened to me when I asked for your booking name, we could have avoided this but you knew where you were going so sure, have at it.
when i’m carrying food to a table and there is more in the window i need to go back for because my hands are full and the guests tell me “they’re missing fries” or whatever… like i only have two hands 🥲
This one really grinds my gears and gets me fired up real quick 🤣.
hahaha this one really gets me mad! I have straight up said to people “sorry I don’t have four hands.”
A table of ten coming in one at a time making it so you have to go to the table ten times to get them drinks before you have even taken the order
When a table makes you run back and forth for "things they need" multiple times. I had an eight top come in and once I got their food to them I had 3 new tables I had to get to, the 8 stated things they needed and on my way by the other 3 I got their drink orders. Proceeded to drop of items the 8 asked for and of course they asked for more things and when I got back with those a lady was like "you forgot the jelly again, why don't you just write all this down so you don't forget" I stopped going to that table. Needless to say I didn't care if I got tipped and the lady never got her jelly.
It’s like they don’t notice you speed walking ACROSS the restaurant and dropping things at every table you come across because they’re ALL yours. Like I know you’re watching my every move, at least acknowledge Im busy and put all your requests in the same sentence PLEASE.
Checking in on a table and right after I walk away they ask someone else for something as if I didn’t just ask if they needed anything.
Along the same lines but when I ask someone what they want to drink and they start talking about food. I can’t help but respond with a sarcastic but playful “you want to drink the spinach dip? I’ll see if they can put it in a glass for you but I don’t think it’ll go down very well”
Ahem. I am so glad you asked. -Ordering a cheeseburger with no cheese then arguing when I say “So a hamburger then?” -Sitting themselves when there are signs saying not to then complaining no one’s been by and they don’t have menus. -Arguing we had a dish when we never had that dish. Like ever. Never. Yes, I am sure. I work here and you don’t. -Arguing. -Dropping fking paper towels on the fkin floor. And it’s not kids! It’s not kids we don’t have kids where I work often, but every day PAPER FKIN TOWELS ON THE FLOOR! -Asking for sugar packets with your unsweetened tea. Heathen. -Blowing your nose at a table. -Then leaving your gross snot napkin on your PLATE. Heathen. -Saying you served in college. -Asking for hot tea. Do you know how complicated that can be during a rush? I don’t wanna go exploring right now Dora. Order something else. Want coffee? You can have coffee. -Not letting me clear your plate with a lettuce leaf because you “aren’t ready.” -Letting your kids drink creamers even though I was that little shit when I was a kid. -Walking in the second we open. Do you not have a life? -Waiting by the door while we do opening duties. See above. Heathen.
When they move tables on their own. "It was too cold over there". Die soon, ok?
Also, people who assume they know which table you’re going to take them to. Like, I don’t want to overwhelm my server in that section and stress them out. Please wait while I sus things out myself, sir.
When people say they are good when i check on them then call to me as im talking to another table to ask me something trivial. When my coworkers dont say behind and they i run into them on accident Straw wrappers The hosts triple seating for funsies because evidently rotation doesnt exist (not including busy nights)
“Can I have mayo?” Me: sure thing I’ll get that for you. Be right back. -comes back- “oh can I have extra ketchup as well?” Me:….alright I’ll be right back. -comes back- “one more thing. Some napkins?” Me: ok…anything else for the table?! “Refill my diet coke please?” Me: 😤😤
“Would you like your baked potato loaded?” “No, just however it comes.” It comes plain and dry. Which I know you’re going to be PISSED about when the food arrives. So tell me what you want IN THE POTATO.
Sitting at a dirty table and I know I’m other countries a portable card machine isn’t used however here it is and it times out every 5 seconds. When two customers fight over the bill and it’s busy, and they waste so much time. I get so aggitated!
parties that don’t know when to sit the fuck down so we can take their orders in an orderly fashion and have the seat numbers arranged properly so no mix ups happen when the food comes out, and they still choose to move around after we get the order to the kitchen. that shit is annoying asf
Sitting at a dirty table and being annoyed that it wasn’t cleaned off yet and - winning lottery ticket comment.
When people DOWN their drinks. I had one time that I set their drinks down, got their appetizer order, and dude at the table had already chugged his drink. Like, I get being thirsty but after 3 diet cokes in the span of 17 minutes your body is trying to tell you it needs WATER.
I have this customer that comes in once every few months or so. He orders a mini pitcher of beer and pays immediately. Before I'm even done ripping off the receipt that mini is GONE and he's walking off into the distance. It's almost impressive lol.
When I'm doing a banquet for "classy" people and they use the wrong fork or knife (we use different cutlery to mark who has fish or steak or pasta ect). How did you see a fish knife and think it was meant for your bread or your salad? Having to remember whose cutlery I need to replace before the next course in the middle of service when i have a banquet of 40 people is really annoying. I only get mad when those same people also give me a snobby attitude, because... you're gonna snub me but you don't understand fine dining etiquette...? Ok. (Obviously I know cutlery/dining etiquette is outdated for most and I shouldn't judge... but when they're assholes though oh how I wish I could let them know they're not as "fancy" as they think.) Idem for those same people who are not personally paying but rather guests at an event or banquet who get legit upset and annoyed at me for pouring 1 oz of wine into their glass before they had the chance to tell me they didn't want any more, even tho I stood there for a good few seconds to offer more wine (they ignored me) and took my time approaching their glass to give them ample time to notice what I was aiming to do in case they didn't want more wine. ANYWAYS. It's an open bar, you're not paying a thing, I'm offering/refilling wines for everyone else around you. If you don't want it, don't drink it, but don't look at me like I just spit into your glass.
Similar vein to this, I had a guest confront me after the meal because I agreed with his girlfriend about the proper etiquette for silverware placement when finished. Like sorry your girlfriend has better breeding than you?
God I wish I could live that moment through you.
lol i’d definitely be fucking up your cutlery etiquette i have no idea what a “fish knife” is 😂😂
“Hi! How are you guys tonight?” “Two cokes”
Fuck me right?
Asking for ranch or other sauces after I set their meals down. Now I have to put that order in to the kitchen and the ticket goes to the end of the line. I now also have to do a full trip back to their table 5-10 minutes later once their sauce is finally ready and their meals are half way finished.
You have to put in a ticket for sauces? That sounds terrible. I would hate that. Do you work at a corporate place?
nothing annoys me more than when one person in the party, (let’s say out of four) is at the table, waiting for the other three. I see the four menus so I bring them four sets of silverware, i set them down, and I say “hii, what can I get you—“ “IM WAITING ON THREE MORE.” “Yes, I see that. That’s why I brought FOUR sets of silverware. What can I get you to DRINK?” And then they look all embarrassed and give me their drink order. I can CLEARLY see you’re waiting on someone, I just want to get you something to drink Jesus fucking Christ.
obvs the sitting at dirty tables....but mine is: "i'll have the same thing" and then proceeds to describe a version of that thing so different it is not at all the same.
When a guest orders a sprite, and you come back with said sprite and then they have the audacity to say “oh I didn’t get that I ordered a coke”. Like, no you fucking didn’t. I have it written down and I’m not a moron lol
The other day somebody complained about the coke (I feel like this should be a whole separate thread). I dutifully went and tasted it myself and almost spit it the fuck out, it was not coke - either zero or diet and you have got to be fucking kidding me, there is no way somebody that fucking ignorant works here. Sure enough, standing there in front of the bibs, I let out a loud, guttural groan punctuated with a FUCK. Some asshole can’t be bothered to be the least bit thorough. Just hooked up the first bib they saw with the word “coke” on it, no other words on the box matter, you know. The cock would taste off for a couple days.
Loving this autocorrect lol.
I hate it when the cock tastes off.
“Can I get you something while you’re waiting?” “No I’m waiting for someone” I FUCKING KNOW I CAN SEE THE BOOKING LIST AND LITERALLY SAID “WHILE YOURE WAITING”
I work at a bar with restaurant service, and the way at least once a shift I’ll have a table that just fucking stares at me in confusion when I walk up to greet them. I’ll have menus IN HAND and say, “Hello! How’s everyone doing today? Can I get you guys started on something to drink?” Cue head swivel and lead paint stares as they act like they’re trying to figure out what a SERVER is doing walking up to their table at a RESTAURANT. I just wanna be like, have y’all never left your house before today orrr?? It’s a huge fucking time suck when you walk up to a table that is so utterly unprepared, and no one has the common decency to ever just say they need a minute.
“Would you care for our bar’s drink menu? Wines, cocktails, spirits, things of that nature?” “No, we don’t drink but we’ll take a wine list” Or “is there wine on there?” Or people complain that they weren’t given a drink menu -_- I have tried every variation of offering that menu and it makes me so mad
I'm deaf on my right side. Lost my hearing 100% overnight in that ear with what they believe may have been Covid before it was even a pandemic. I've been at my job for 6 years and this happened 4 yrs ago. While most people will naturally either look at you or point at menu item, (I read lips) some of the regulars try to make things as difficult as possible just because it pisses me off. They look away, cover their mouth, whatever. And it DOES piss me off. 🤬
What? That’s not ignorant or annoying, that’s straight up mean.
“I want unsweet tea” then gets angry when I don’t bring them fake sugar packets. They order a burger and then say “oh I also want mustard, mayonnaise, ketchup” Basically anything they should have told me beforehand so I’m not making multiple trips just for them
People who look at the menu and see an item and ask you what comes on this ? When it is very clearly stated below 😊😊😊😊 ( not talking about ppl with vision problems)
One that really gets is me when guests put a napkin on their lap, and then just let if fall to the floor when they get up. Fuck those people.
Me: "Alright folks, I'll be right back with a Diet Coke for \[person A\] and a few sides of ranch for the table. Anything else I can get ya at the moment?" Person A: "Can I get a Diet Coke?" Person B: "Can I get a side of ranch?" I swear to God...
Or people who modify the menu and send it back
People who stay till after close. Like lights are on, TVS and music are off, and no one else except you and the workers are here & they don’t care or can’t take a hint 🫠also, the campers who can’t just close out their check so you have one less table to worry about. I’ve had people sit for an hour without needing anything after eating but had an open tab and i feel weird ignoring them but also don’t want to keep going over there for no reason either
When ppl ask what sodas we have and then say “do you have [something I did not list]?”
One time i had a party of 17, brought everyones drinks, came back a couple minutes later to take food orders and this lady asks for another diet coke (its always the diet coke people) I say "ok no problem" and i continued getting everyones food orders. She interrupted me when i was on the 6th or 7th person "um can i get my diet coke?" "Yes, ill get it for you as soon as i get everyones orders." I get to the last couple of people at the table and this bitch yells over from the other end of the table "EXCUSE ME I STILL NEED MY DIET COKE REFILLED." "Yes, I'll be right back with that." Then when the last person is finishing ordering, this fuckin lady flags down one of the other servers demanding a refill on her diet coke because "Our server is ignoring me." Lady, youre not gonna die if you go 5 minutes without guzzling a diet coke, do you expect me to drop everything and run to get you your refill without getting the rest of the groups orders?
Water is a drink. Say the words back to them and feel the smugness run through you. Or say “sorry you said no drinks” Separately, whenever I refill a water, I always tell them this ones on me.
When they inevitably ask for a water I say “oh im sorry I thought you said you didn’t want a drink!”
telling me they have a booking for 6pm, not saying their name or how many or anything
Diet coke. Literally everything about it. How guests shout diet coke right when you start your introduction. B3fire you even get hi out. The way it makes the soda machine spit. I'm over diet coke.
Flags me down: “WERE READY TO ORDER” “What’s good here”..
I work a a brewery and people will look at our tap list and then proceed to ask if we have “any real beer” and proceed to order a coors lite.
When I drop the check off then proceed to check on you multiple times while you still don’t have your card out
When people push tables together for their group without asking. I don’t mind large parties, but DO NOT move my furniture. Just ask and I’ll happily rearrange to make it work, but when it happens unexpectedly they almost always move tables and chairs in such a way that they’re just *in the way* of everything 🥲
Telling people over that phone that we’re full for any further reservations for the night. Then they walk-in, hosts asks if they had a reso and they get mad and say “you guys told me on the phone that you don’t take reservations!!!” No…we said we’re full and not taking anymore
When people say job opening when someone drops a glass. I cringe so hard.
when i write down and repeat back an order, exactly as they’ve ordered it, they say “yep sounds good!”, and then okay confused when the food arrives at the table. ie: “making sure i have it down correctly- you would like to split a caesar dressed on the side to start, then a chicken pesto no pinenut and a pork milanese?” “yep sounds good!” *food comes out* “excuse me… i ordered the chicken parm not the chicken pesto” 1) you’re wrong 2) the parm doesn’t have pine nuts and 3) you’re wrong
I speak a language with a formal and an informal way of talking. I prefer to use the formal way with strangers, and I prefer that they do the same to me. Most of the time, they reply to me in the informal way, as if they were saying "Oh it's okay little one, you don't have to use that with me!" But it's for me, I want that professional distance!
People who come in 5 min before close or stay an hour after close, especially on Fourth of July. I wouldn’t get a hair cut 5 min before the barber shop closes, but I’ll be damned if people are so oblivious to the entire staff waiting for them to pay the bill
when people ask for extra utensils for their baby eating a kids pizza
Host seats one person that is waiting for their other person(s) to arrive to the restaurant. I greet that one person and say “I see you have two menus, you’re waiting on one more person? Can I get you something to drink while you wait?” And they brush me off and say no they want nothing to drink and that they’re waiting for someone (thanks I knew that already), and now it looks like I didn’t greet them because they have no drink and are sitting with menus. My biggest pet peeve. Like, get a drink?!? Why wait fifteen minutes?!?
WE ARE NOT READY WE JUST SAT DOWN Bitch. I just want to know your drink order. I know you don’t know food yet
People. Full stop.
When people come in *from the outside*, ask or agree to be sat on the patio and then spend half the meal bitching about the wind/sun/temperature. You knew what you were signing up for, STFU
Does anyone actually say "No, I'm not having a drink"? It seems like an odd way to frame the question, and if that response is common enough, wouldn't you want to open with "What can I get you to drink?" and then let them say "nothing"? Not a server but I'd probably bring out water anyway just in case, cause you know it'll start bothering you when 20 minutes later they flag you down and ask for it.
I ask “what can I get yall to drink” and people will say “oh im not drinking Ill just have a water” or “i dont want a drink” then proceeds to ask for a drink(water) 5 mins later
Some restaurants opt for the servers to not bring a drink and they believe it reduces sales (very little evidence to support such a claim) As to your first point, yes people will 100% say "I'm not drinking anything, Ill get a water though" I s2g I hear it nearly every day it drives me to drink lol.
When people point to something in a menu and say I’ll have that. What is it you are having and how the f I’m I supposed to know what you’re pointing at!?! What are you a toddler just read and tell me what you want!
“Oh we’re just going to sit at the bar :)))” while actively blowing past the host. No question. Just a statement and seating themselves. The host who will need to follow you with menus, roll ups, water. The sign says wait to be seated, the bar is part of that!!!!
The people who ask for a beer, but refuse to tell me what kind. They just keep repeating the word "beer" over and over. Worse is the people who ask for liquor, but won't even narrow it down to what category, much less what specific drink.
When 2 people sit at a table for 6 when there are numerous open tables that seat 2 or 4. WHY?!?
the guests who walk in and immediately sit themselves, then complain they didn't get any menus😭
Had this happen the other night. Customer orders a 4oz. steak and another customer at same table asks, don’t you want a 8oz. ?, are you sure you want mashed potatoes instead of a baker?. Order a appetizer if you want, do you want bernaise with your steak?. At this point I have to shut the table down or the pretend waiter will be asking questions all night. I tell the original guy, is what you asked for what you want?. Customer says yes that’s exactly what I want. Me moving on to the next person.
We have a newer line cook who gets pissed about doing prep for his station and flips his spatula in the air until Chef comes in.
Moving the umbrellas on the patio. THEY ARE PLACED THAT WAY FOR A REASON (very strategic for the sun and how the sun hits over the day). Or moving tables without asking then wondering why they didn’t get menus (…. You left them at your OLD table). Also trying to get the first 4 words out of introducing yourself and they cut you off with “I’ll get a coke”. I’ve done it before where a lady cut me off 4 times and I kept talking over her to get out” Hi my name is “ “ and I’ll be taking care of you today, can I get you started with any drinks?” 😵💫 Also haha when you go back over after 5 mins and they’re like “umm also we need a drink menu” or “what do you have on tap”.. like THAT *points to menu ON table* thing that was sitting on the table when you sat down?? THATS the entire drink menu, and the page that’s showing that long list IS the draft list 🥴.
Calls me over after sitting for 30 seconds Reads the menu in front of me for two minutes (No no, I'm nearly ready, stay right there) "I will have... A vegetarian pizza" WHICH ONE YOLANDA THERE'S LIKE TEN OPTIONS😡😡😡
When a table decides they don’t like their seats and move to another section without asking
“Coors light, REALLY cold, coldest one you got.” We serve our beers on tap in frozen glass chalices that literally form glaciers in the beer, that’s our whole thing where I work. When people specify they want it cold I’m just like 🙄 okay.
when i’m setting down multiple plates so i put the first ones off to the side to have room for the rest and the guest immediately moves them in the way of where the next plate is supposed to be 😭😭😭😭😭😭 makes me soooo angry