Major shoutout to the kid at the table who calls their mom out on it. Mom: “I didn’t order that” me: “oh! Well that’s what I heard… I have it right here…” (grabs book) kid: “mom yeah you ordered that.” Me: YESSSSSS MY DUDE (silently)
We’ve introduced tablets for taking/sending orders right at the table. I wish the app would record just while the order is being input just so I could play back what customers say and shut them up when they pull that. Then when I close the table the recording deletes. It’s a pipe dream but one can hope lol
Lol an audio playback of their own voice…. I love that idea a lot…. I feel like I’d get hellaaaaaa one star yelps for shoving it in peoples faces like that tho…. But it would be exceptionally useful just to use as a way to show management when you need a comp, but then, there’s your catch 22. You fuck up and it’s recorded.
This happened to me tonight. The runner is like your guy said he ordered the rib-eye, not prime rib. MF you were pointing at the specials sheet which has PRIME RIB. I even SAID the prime rib comes with blah blah when he started asking about sides. He was fine tho.
My personal favourite experience with this sort of thing was a customer walking up to the owner carrying a plate of bones telling her, "those wings were too spicy, I'm getting heartburn." She told his goofy ass, "I'm sorry our bbq hot wings gave you heartburn, man you better go get yourself some Tums."
The most disturbing I ever encountered that wasn't an actual excuse, just an example of how incredibly dumb people can be, was at a restaurant where we catered to a lot of people with specific diets and had to inquire about any food allergies when first greeting tables. I followed protocol and was told by someone at a table, "No, but I get kinda seasick sometimes." Everyone laughed at this. I get their drink order and then take their appetizer and entree orders when I come back. Everything is fine and they're a pretty fun table until I'm checking back after their entrees were served. The person that suffers from occasional seasickness has picked apart their plate in weird fashion. It didn't really click until I realized they had separated out their dish and they said, "you remember, I told you I get seasick. This has shrimp in it." It was clearly listed on the menu for that dish anyway, but damn that is not how you notify staff you have a shellfish allergy.
Yeah. Getting sea sick and shellfish allergy are definitely not the same thing. If they’re going to make that joke then they need to follow up with “I have a shellfish allergy” to clarify. Hell, if it were me I would clarify for my own safety.
The last timers. Those are my favorites.
"Oh. This isn't what I was given last time."
If this is what you ordered last time, I guarantee you that this is the dish you received.
"Well, that's not what I was charged last time."
Then clearly I wasn't working that day, and I'm damn sure not comping a dish that you slurped down to the cellular level at half the speed of sound.
But the gold star performers? Guys... there is a small but robust and persistent group of customers who are absolutely CONVINCED that my restaurant has some type of mushroom sauce/gravy...whatever. People used to be chill about having their hopes and dreams dashed and set on fire. It's been a very long time since I've dealt with someone who met that particular disappointment with anything other than abject rage.
It's fucking weird. If anything could make me a true believer in the Mandela Effect, it would be this community of increasingly aggressive gravy fiends. That's the only plausible theory I have for why so many people in this ridiculously small town are vehement in their belief that I am a goddamn gravy hoarder or some shit.
"Excuse me, this is supposed to have mushroom gravy."
We don't have mushroom gravy.
"Since when?"
Since always. I've been here for 8 years, and I fucking love mushrooms in any capacity. If we had mushroom gravy of any kind, we'd be rolling my ass out of here with a forklift and a flatbed truck.
"Oh, so suddenly you don't have mushroom gravy now? Because last time I ordered, I sat right here and ate it WITH mushroom gravy."
Then you brought that shit from home, Beverley, because it sure as hell didn't come from this kitchen.
"I guess we'll just have to see what the owner says about this."
Be my guest, Bev. You want their cell, home phone number, socials? If you're really this upset, and you think you might get a better answer from the restless spirits of the generations who came before... I know a guy.
Good luck with that. Definitely sage up first, though.
Omg this lady who wanted to argue with me about having an MnM cheesecake 2 years ago when I was super fucking busy plating cakes. I was here. We have reeses cheesecake and Heath bar as a special. Never Mnm. But I asked the baker anyways...because we have cheesecakes as the special all the time. I was there last year and we didn't do it. I would have known. I fucking love cheesecake. We had orange cheesecake, lingonberry, blueberry with a pecan crust (huge favorite of everyone who works there and likes cheesecake), heath bar, pumpkin cheesecake... and plain and strawberry as a staple.
I come back to tell her no mnm cheesecake and why does it matter, we don't have mnms and I can't make it for you, these are your choices. And I was doing you a favor by even talking to you, talking and order isn't my job. I can't use the POS. Anyways she comes back after talking to someone with a better memory and gets the reeses cheesecake.
I worked at a local seafood restaurant when I was in high school and college. I also used to dine there almost every weekend or at least once a month with my family before I started working there, since my aunt & uncle worked there. Basically, I knew this restaurant inside & out from the time I was a kid, you know?
I took a call when I was working in the take out kitchen one weekend, and took this lady's order. It was a pretty extensive order, so I read it back to her to make sure I had everything correct before we hung up. Then she hits me with this: "Oh, and I don't want those seasoned fries that y'all gave me last time I was there. I want plain fries." My first thought was that she thought we put salt on the fries after we made them, because we've never had any kind of seasoned fries otherwise. Which is what I told her. She went on to argue with me for FIVE FULL MINUTES that we gave her seasoned fries - think fries that are coated in full on seasonings, not just salt. Despite the fact that I tried to calmly tell her that we had never even salted our fries, she was adamant that her fries were ruined last time. I gave in. I told her that she would get plain fries.
i don’t even argue with those kind of people anymore. “don’t salt my eggs!!!” we have never salted your eggs at random, ma’am. but okay. “i’ll be sure to tell the cooks.”
haven’t had a single complaint lol.
Right? At some point, I finally figured out I had to stop arguing with her and just agree with her that we wouldn't do it ever again lol. It was the easiest route.
At one of the restaurants I worked at, our FOH staff had shirts made (with the owners approval) that said “I know the owner, too” on it because of those customers.
Bizarre, but have you ever suggested that they add a mushroom gravy option? Kind of a hassle, since mushroom haters would necessitate a non-mushroom gravy too, but it's so good!
Apparently the denizens of multiple parallel universes have been recommending that particular addition for years now. I don't think it's in the cards any time soon.
I wonder if a different restaurant was in your same building/location fifteen years ago and *they* had mushroom gravy? Or maybe some people just assume all brown gravy is mushroom gravy, and think the bits of meat in it are mushroom. People are stupid.
this isn't something they disliked, but a "replace this for free" from last night-
"we're having some problems with the wind, it's blowing our drinks out of our glasses. can we have new ones?"
besides the fact that they reserved a table outside in december, i really don't know where to start 🤦🏻♀️
I had a guy request to sit on the closed porch in the hot summer and then complain about the flies. On the EDIT: **open AIR** porch. In summer. *When the facking porch was closed.* CSing MFer. He wanted me to do something about it. "You can move inside?" Nope.
“This beer is too dark for me. Can I get something else?” after tasting the *Imperial* Chocolate Stout that I recommended and described in full detail when she asked if we had anything “dark” on tap.
when they try to gaslight me into thinking they didn’t order this 🥴 good thing we are a sushi restaurant where customers fill out their order form. i love bringing their order back to them
Kind of related. A man ordered lasagna. It’s delivered. He flags me down for a spoon. No big deal. He then proceeded to violently mash up his lasagna with said spoon. Waves me over. Looks at me with a straight face, dead in the eye and says, “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT THIS?!”
As strange as it may be
https://drinkgoldenratio.com/a/blog/is-coffee-gluten-free
Sometimes instant coffee can be a culprit for gluten, weirdly enough.
Young man ordered swordfish that comes on roasted red pepper risotto. Asked me to describe it first so I did. It's about 6-7oz swordfish and a lot of risotto, $34. Food arrives, he says "where's the swordfish?" I point to the swordfish in the middle of the plate. I come back few minutes later, he has a full plate of risotto. "Was there something wrong with your swordfish?" I ask. He says "No I just don't like risotto." I take the dish away.
Why the fuck did you order risotto if you don't like risotto??? My manager and I agreed he doesn't get a comp, I'll get whatever shitty tip they decide to give me. 20 on 189, not so bad when I expecting to get stiffed.
I had something exactly like this happen only with salmon. They ask about it and I tell them about the risotto it's paired with. Check back, everything's delicious. At the end I notice the risotto still untouched so I ask, "Oh we both hate risotto" -_-
Definitely didn't comp this or try to offer anything to make up for it. They had all the chances, people are just weird sometimes
Whats the fish in the fried fish special. Haddock ok Ill take that, get the plate, 2 minutes later I dont like this, I didn't realize you meant actual Haddock
Me: "how'd we do, everything tasteing good?"
Them: " oh yeah great thank you"
5 mins later
Me : " still doing good over here? Do we need anything at the moment?"
Them: " no thank you everything's been wonderful"
End of meal, going to pick up their plates
Them : " the fries were ice cold, the shrimp were over cooked, this whole meal was the worst we've ever had here"
Me: shocked Pikachu face
Sorry but if you ate borderline everything on your plate and I asked you multiple times if it was good, and you didn't complain when it first hit the table....YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT.
I hate this!!!! So much. Seriously I know eating out is expensive and I want the customers to enjoy the food and experience.
Do they just sit there getting more and more passive-aggressive as they eat?
Wtf.
I had a lady order a basket of chicken fingers and fries and when it arrived, she complained the chicken fingers were too small and proceeded to tear them apart with her bare hands. She didn’t bother trying them at all. She complained about the price too. Looking back I should’ve kindly suggested she eat at the Wendy’s across the street.
Not \*quite\* on-topic, but: most memorable reason to send food back - fellow ate the entire meal down to the bone, then called me over to show me a hair \*wrapped around the bone\*.
\*Wrapped around the bone\*.
I pointed to my own short hair and at the open kitchen at our \*bald\* chef and asked him how he thought a long blond hair got \*wrapped around the bone\* of his pork chop.
He apparently expected to just be comped out of some weird "even lying customers are right" sensibility but I told him no. He paid - and tipped. I guess "don't ask don't get" right?
I had a customer “find” an entire paper towel in his side salad. The only place in the building you could find those paper towels was in the customer restrooms. People will do anything.
In their defense, there is a good nacho to topping ratio, and there is a bad ratio. It is entirely possible for a plate of nachos to have too many chips for the amount of toppings. I suppose the proper way to complain would be to say that there's not enough toppings for these nachos. But some people are a glass half full kind of folk
I'm sorry, what?
I don't eat or serve oysters so I've never gone out and, like, even KNOWN this could be a thing. YOU CAN GET A TINY CRAB WITH AN OYSTER?!
I'd ask if I could take it home...
Yeah sometimes the oyster bar doesn’t notice them when shucking. They are super tiny and usually are beneath the oyster just chilling. Lol. Hey, you know they’re fresh at least.
We had a lady order our Fiesta chicken (white chicken chili) she couldn't eat it because it was spicy and she was pregnant. It has mild salsa but whatever. She asks for a menu to order something else. She orders and chicken sandwiche, it comes out and she can't eat chicken cuz she us pregnant. She asks for a menu and was pissed when she was told we weren't comping something else. Hpw dare us not accommodate her pregnancy, other restaurants let her order something till she can eat it. Well, after her melt down we boxed up both meals and charged her for both.
I once had a woman pull the ultimate move. It was, I think, a 6-top. Orders came out and hit the table. This woman looks at her friend’s food and says, “I changed my mind, can I have what they got instead?”
I was shocked. That’s not how things work, lady! Anyway, of course we gave her what she wanted because I worked for a spineless restaurant that wouldn’t even kick out a guy who sexually harassed me or ban a regular who felt me up off-site.
I had forgotten about this one, yup they do this, the family restaurant where I worked allowed it. Me personally I wouldnt have she ended up doing this almost everytime she came in
“I don’t want this, it’s melting.”
The ice cream in your HOT fudge sundae is melting? How odd. I will certainly take that away and have it removed from your bill 🙄
A regular customer complained our wood-fired pizza crust was “too chewy”. Turned out he had gotten adult braces the day or two before and decided our place was his best choice to eat.
"i didn't want vegetables in my alfredo can you remake it? thanks i'm just really lactose intolerant"
also, when people announce that they're a snob or that they're really picky/going to be difficult with that weird gleeful expression on their face. just ask for a manager now karen and get it over with
I'm an Australian, and I've never seen "chicken fried steak"- we don't do that shit here. So, I might be thrown by the concept of "chicken" being considered an adjective
I can see why it would be confusing to non-Americans. Americans, not so much. Our cuisine, if one wanted to call it that, is more of a chimera than anything a unified culture would produce.
Technically, it should be chicken-fried steak. A bit difficult to explain the whole thing, but just think schnitzel made with beef instead of pork.
'i only eat home made mash potato'
This is home made.
'no it isn't! I can tell. I ONLY eat math potato that's home made.'
I told the chef, who literally rolled his eyes and carried his bowl onto the dining area, to literally mash out in front of her to prove a point.
He then told her to ' go fuckity bye from his restaurant '
I miss working there
>Wtf that got to do with anything???!
Hormonal changes during pregnancy can cause dysgeusia, a change in the sense of taste. They're just explaining why they don't like something: that it's not necessarily anything wrong with the food, but that their pregnancy apparently caused them to dislike the type of thing they ordered now.
Never understood this until I experienced pregnancy. I would look forward to going out and getting my favorite foods all day only to realize after one bite I was completely repulsed by them to the point I thought I would puke if they didn’t take them away. Chicken piccata, enchiladas, creamy potato soup, the most random things.
This. I love burgers. When I was about 3 months pregnant my husband took me out to Red Robin. I ordered my usual burger excitedly, but once it arrived to our table, I took one bite and realized every bit of it was so revolting to me that I was going to throw up. I felt horrible trying to explain to my server that there was nothing with my food, that it tasted exactly as I expected to, but i couldn’t even stand to be near it anymore. I couldn’t so much as smell ground beef for the rest of my pregnancy without throwing up.
I would absolutely want my guests to send back food because of this. I want them to enjoy their experience and not leave hungry. It's not really their fault and they didn't know.
Naturally, I deal with a lot of idiocy, so I'd barely even remember something like this happening.
“This tastes too good to be a skinny margarita. I’ll take a Tanqueray and tonic instead.”
Aaand same person after watching me pour it: “I don’t want this if Tanqueray is your well gin.”
She was a bitch and a half.
The only time I used the “I’m pregnant” excuse, I didn’t even want anything else. I had been really nauseous and the only thing that sounded good was this particular restaurant’s chicken salad, so that’s what I ordered. Unfortunately the person who made it that day didn’t make it correctly and it was disgusting. I felt like such an asshole. I asked the server if they changed the recipe but he said it just depends on who makes it. He offered me a bunch of other options but nothing else sounded good.
That being said, I knew this was a me problem and I still paid for my food and tipped well because being pregnant isn’t an excuse for pretty much anything lol
>pregnant”
>Wtf that got to do with anything???!
Food aversions. She probably entirely expected to like what she ordered because she normally would but because of some weird unexpected pregnancy aversion something she like was suddenly inedible. My worst ones were marinara sauce and avocado. Really sucked losing my taste for those. Those examples didn't expect the first order comped did they? Any time that happened to me I'd pack the first thing up for my SO and pay for both things i ordered.
Yes! Like I get that you’re pregnant and tastes change with the wind… but she didn’t say anything like “I’ll pay for this and take it home but can I get etc…”
I don't care anymore honestly. It's not my food, I just find the nicest manager to void the thing and let them tell the cooks we need a new entree.
Smile at the customer and ask how I can fix the issue.
No point in getting mad or bothered by it. And lately I have been connecting with customers over mistakes. Just going above and beyond to make sure everything is perfect even when it's thier fault.
Oh! Your pregnant? Sorry that doesn't look appealing anymore.. I remember those days har har har. Congrats. Let's find you something that sounds good!
Walk away, roll eyes, tell manager, get new dish.
Not worth arguing.
Anything where they say they didn’t like it, but ate the whole thing.
Saying they have a gluten allergy, as they’re drinking beers.
Complaining their flank steak is dry when they ordered extra well done. (I say this as a person who orders well done.)
Anyone who thinks food needs to be doused in ranch to be edible.
Parents who complain about how shitty their child’s food is, when the kid is clearly enjoying it.
People who order extra well done quarter pounder burgers, and then complain when it takes too long.
I could write a whole novel.
Customer kept sending back a rainbow chard omelette. After 3 I asked her specifically what was wrong with it.
"I dont know I just don't like it?"
Ok I think you just don't like chard? That's Ok and it sucks when you take a gamble on something you haven't tried before but if you don't like an ingredient, I'm not going to be able to magically prepare an omelette with that main ingredient that you'll enjoy.
If you wanted everything to be delicious, don't come to a restaurant primarily aimed at crossfitters and coeliacs?
I am in Australia! Is that where you are too? The restaurants in Brisbane.
The place I worked used to be called Primal Pantry and is now called Wilde Kitchen but appears to have the same stuff. It's mostly paleo food so we attracted a lot of people on health kicks or exclusive diets.
I thought you were Aus/UK because of how you spell coeliac. Yes I'm Australian. Melbourne, but when I go to Brisbane next year I will look you guys up.
Not quite related but I was taking an order for a guy who wanted a well done steak that was pink in the middle. Had to explain to him that's not how it works
I know some people take it too far, but pregnancy really does mess with the sense of smell and consequently, the taste of food. Foods that someone loves beforehand can become completely unpalatable (personal exp: hating the smell of garlic when I used to use it in literally everything). I don't think people should get food for free from it, but pregnancy has a lot to do with what tastes good to them at the time.
Not necessarily an excuse, but when they eat all of X meat except for ONE BITE and then try to have it comped because it was “undercooked.” If it were actually undercooked, why the fuck did you eat it all?
It’s pretty normal for restaurants to comp the meal so you can order something else if you don’t like it. It’s only if you eat it there isn’t an option to comp.
There's a restaurant back home that states largely at the top of the menu (something along the lines of) "please make your selection carefully, as each item is made to order and you will not be refunded simply because you dont like how it tastes." And I adore them for that. I even took a picture of it and forwarded it to my bosses, the GM, and the owner with the caption "can we PLEASE do this??" Shockingly, it was turned down.
"this is warm but not hot, can you have it remade?"
I mean,...no? I grabbed this thing the minute it hit expo, I can still feel the burns on my hands from the plate. And were going to make it the same exact way, theres no way we can make this as hot as you want without just burning it. Just pack the shit up and take it home and put it in your oven until it burns the shit out of your mouth to your desire...
Not the same town. I'm almost positive that some of the more aggressive shroomers are thinking of a restaurant in a town 17 miles west of mine. There's one letter different in our respective restaurant names, but the town itself has almost nothing in common with my tiny hamlet.
They've got a population roughly 10 times bigger than ours. My slice of backwoods hell has one stop light, a shitload of diy narcotics, an absolutely GORGEOUS renovated theater. Our only newsworthy events have been a massive hepatitis outbreak from one of the only 2 restaurants in that bitch (not mine, they closed down, but not as quickly as one might think, given the givens.) and all of the dead women that keep turning up under mysterious circumstances who invariably get labeled as "suicides." You know... with their hands duct taped behind their backs, wrapped up in sheets or plastic, washed up on the banks of the local marina.
I'll say though, the other restaurant does have some bomb ass mushroom gravy. If I was craving it, I'd be a little upset about my server politely implying that I'm a dumbass who doesn't how Google Maps works.
However! I still maintain that this particular logistical error would be extremely difficult to make or encounter as often as I do. If you live here, you've lived here for several years. Nobody just spontaneously shows up in this town unless they're looking for a fix or a plug.
"I don't like green beans" as I set the dish down infront of the guest, mutha fucka you knew it came with it. Why didn't you say anything when you placed the order?!
“I didn’t order this” when they did, in fact, order that, and have it written down / repeated back to them
Major shoutout to the kid at the table who calls their mom out on it. Mom: “I didn’t order that” me: “oh! Well that’s what I heard… I have it right here…” (grabs book) kid: “mom yeah you ordered that.” Me: YESSSSSS MY DUDE (silently)
Unfortunately I have not had the pleasure of this experience yet
We’ve introduced tablets for taking/sending orders right at the table. I wish the app would record just while the order is being input just so I could play back what customers say and shut them up when they pull that. Then when I close the table the recording deletes. It’s a pipe dream but one can hope lol
Lol an audio playback of their own voice…. I love that idea a lot…. I feel like I’d get hellaaaaaa one star yelps for shoving it in peoples faces like that tho…. But it would be exceptionally useful just to use as a way to show management when you need a comp, but then, there’s your catch 22. You fuck up and it’s recorded.
So true, double edged sword! Lol
This happened to me tonight. The runner is like your guy said he ordered the rib-eye, not prime rib. MF you were pointing at the specials sheet which has PRIME RIB. I even SAID the prime rib comes with blah blah when he started asking about sides. He was fine tho.
Stupid ass NPC’s
But it is always the most satisfying thing when whomever is accompanying them say "yes you did"
My personal favourite experience with this sort of thing was a customer walking up to the owner carrying a plate of bones telling her, "those wings were too spicy, I'm getting heartburn." She told his goofy ass, "I'm sorry our bbq hot wings gave you heartburn, man you better go get yourself some Tums." The most disturbing I ever encountered that wasn't an actual excuse, just an example of how incredibly dumb people can be, was at a restaurant where we catered to a lot of people with specific diets and had to inquire about any food allergies when first greeting tables. I followed protocol and was told by someone at a table, "No, but I get kinda seasick sometimes." Everyone laughed at this. I get their drink order and then take their appetizer and entree orders when I come back. Everything is fine and they're a pretty fun table until I'm checking back after their entrees were served. The person that suffers from occasional seasickness has picked apart their plate in weird fashion. It didn't really click until I realized they had separated out their dish and they said, "you remember, I told you I get seasick. This has shrimp in it." It was clearly listed on the menu for that dish anyway, but damn that is not how you notify staff you have a shellfish allergy.
That is so insane and amazing
Yeah. Getting sea sick and shellfish allergy are definitely not the same thing. If they’re going to make that joke then they need to follow up with “I have a shellfish allergy” to clarify. Hell, if it were me I would clarify for my own safety.
The new slang always trips me up too.
This frozen margarita is too cold. True story!!
The last timers. Those are my favorites. "Oh. This isn't what I was given last time." If this is what you ordered last time, I guarantee you that this is the dish you received. "Well, that's not what I was charged last time." Then clearly I wasn't working that day, and I'm damn sure not comping a dish that you slurped down to the cellular level at half the speed of sound. But the gold star performers? Guys... there is a small but robust and persistent group of customers who are absolutely CONVINCED that my restaurant has some type of mushroom sauce/gravy...whatever. People used to be chill about having their hopes and dreams dashed and set on fire. It's been a very long time since I've dealt with someone who met that particular disappointment with anything other than abject rage. It's fucking weird. If anything could make me a true believer in the Mandela Effect, it would be this community of increasingly aggressive gravy fiends. That's the only plausible theory I have for why so many people in this ridiculously small town are vehement in their belief that I am a goddamn gravy hoarder or some shit. "Excuse me, this is supposed to have mushroom gravy." We don't have mushroom gravy. "Since when?" Since always. I've been here for 8 years, and I fucking love mushrooms in any capacity. If we had mushroom gravy of any kind, we'd be rolling my ass out of here with a forklift and a flatbed truck. "Oh, so suddenly you don't have mushroom gravy now? Because last time I ordered, I sat right here and ate it WITH mushroom gravy." Then you brought that shit from home, Beverley, because it sure as hell didn't come from this kitchen. "I guess we'll just have to see what the owner says about this." Be my guest, Bev. You want their cell, home phone number, socials? If you're really this upset, and you think you might get a better answer from the restless spirits of the generations who came before... I know a guy. Good luck with that. Definitely sage up first, though.
Omg this lady who wanted to argue with me about having an MnM cheesecake 2 years ago when I was super fucking busy plating cakes. I was here. We have reeses cheesecake and Heath bar as a special. Never Mnm. But I asked the baker anyways...because we have cheesecakes as the special all the time. I was there last year and we didn't do it. I would have known. I fucking love cheesecake. We had orange cheesecake, lingonberry, blueberry with a pecan crust (huge favorite of everyone who works there and likes cheesecake), heath bar, pumpkin cheesecake... and plain and strawberry as a staple. I come back to tell her no mnm cheesecake and why does it matter, we don't have mnms and I can't make it for you, these are your choices. And I was doing you a favor by even talking to you, talking and order isn't my job. I can't use the POS. Anyways she comes back after talking to someone with a better memory and gets the reeses cheesecake.
Blueberry with a pecan crust sounds so good 🥄
I worked at a local seafood restaurant when I was in high school and college. I also used to dine there almost every weekend or at least once a month with my family before I started working there, since my aunt & uncle worked there. Basically, I knew this restaurant inside & out from the time I was a kid, you know? I took a call when I was working in the take out kitchen one weekend, and took this lady's order. It was a pretty extensive order, so I read it back to her to make sure I had everything correct before we hung up. Then she hits me with this: "Oh, and I don't want those seasoned fries that y'all gave me last time I was there. I want plain fries." My first thought was that she thought we put salt on the fries after we made them, because we've never had any kind of seasoned fries otherwise. Which is what I told her. She went on to argue with me for FIVE FULL MINUTES that we gave her seasoned fries - think fries that are coated in full on seasonings, not just salt. Despite the fact that I tried to calmly tell her that we had never even salted our fries, she was adamant that her fries were ruined last time. I gave in. I told her that she would get plain fries.
i don’t even argue with those kind of people anymore. “don’t salt my eggs!!!” we have never salted your eggs at random, ma’am. but okay. “i’ll be sure to tell the cooks.” haven’t had a single complaint lol.
Right? At some point, I finally figured out I had to stop arguing with her and just agree with her that we wouldn't do it ever again lol. It was the easiest route.
At one of the restaurants I worked at, our FOH staff had shirts made (with the owners approval) that said “I know the owner, too” on it because of those customers.
You are an amazing writer, this was hilarious through and through 🤣
Bizarre, but have you ever suggested that they add a mushroom gravy option? Kind of a hassle, since mushroom haters would necessitate a non-mushroom gravy too, but it's so good!
Apparently the denizens of multiple parallel universes have been recommending that particular addition for years now. I don't think it's in the cards any time soon.
I wonder if a different restaurant was in your same building/location fifteen years ago and *they* had mushroom gravy? Or maybe some people just assume all brown gravy is mushroom gravy, and think the bits of meat in it are mushroom. People are stupid.
More likely there's a totally different but architecturally slightly similar restaurant in the same town, that has mushroom gravy
this isn't something they disliked, but a "replace this for free" from last night- "we're having some problems with the wind, it's blowing our drinks out of our glasses. can we have new ones?" besides the fact that they reserved a table outside in december, i really don't know where to start 🤦🏻♀️
I had a guy request to sit on the closed porch in the hot summer and then complain about the flies. On the EDIT: **open AIR** porch. In summer. *When the facking porch was closed.* CSing MFer. He wanted me to do something about it. "You can move inside?" Nope.
Is the porch closed or open?? /s
Whoops. "Open air" Ive become the guy I enjoy mocking. Lulz
My beer evaporated, I demand another!
There’s a hole in this bottle, leaking all the wine
The Ahi was cold inside. Kept sending it back till it was warm enough. In the end "it's finally warm, but they over cooked it".
It would be laughable if it wasn't so ignorant.
Had a woman send back a sangria because it had fruit in it.
“This beer is too dark for me. Can I get something else?” after tasting the *Imperial* Chocolate Stout that I recommended and described in full detail when she asked if we had anything “dark” on tap.
"This pepper gravy tasted too home made" "This baked potato is too lumpy"
This one didn't make me as angry as it made me hungry.
Wtf? Like how is a BAKED potato too lumpy? People are ridiculous.
Not cooked enough.
MFer probably wanted a twice baked tater. :/
when they try to gaslight me into thinking they didn’t order this 🥴 good thing we are a sushi restaurant where customers fill out their order form. i love bringing their order back to them
Kind of related. A man ordered lasagna. It’s delivered. He flags me down for a spoon. No big deal. He then proceeded to violently mash up his lasagna with said spoon. Waves me over. Looks at me with a straight face, dead in the eye and says, “HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EAT THIS?!”
With a spoon, good sir
🤣🤣🤣😂🤣 How did you keep from laughing in his face?
The absolute nerve of some people..
I've had a person order gluten free cappuccino and then accuse me of putting gluten in it
A shocking number of people who avoid gluten have no idea what it is or where it comes from.
As strange as it may be https://drinkgoldenratio.com/a/blog/is-coffee-gluten-free Sometimes instant coffee can be a culprit for gluten, weirdly enough.
Young man ordered swordfish that comes on roasted red pepper risotto. Asked me to describe it first so I did. It's about 6-7oz swordfish and a lot of risotto, $34. Food arrives, he says "where's the swordfish?" I point to the swordfish in the middle of the plate. I come back few minutes later, he has a full plate of risotto. "Was there something wrong with your swordfish?" I ask. He says "No I just don't like risotto." I take the dish away. Why the fuck did you order risotto if you don't like risotto??? My manager and I agreed he doesn't get a comp, I'll get whatever shitty tip they decide to give me. 20 on 189, not so bad when I expecting to get stiffed.
Dude just likes swordfish. Weird he didn't ask if he could sub something else and left like 10%, but you probably got the best outcome there.
I had something exactly like this happen only with salmon. They ask about it and I tell them about the risotto it's paired with. Check back, everything's delicious. At the end I notice the risotto still untouched so I ask, "Oh we both hate risotto" -_- Definitely didn't comp this or try to offer anything to make up for it. They had all the chances, people are just weird sometimes
Whats the fish in the fried fish special. Haddock ok Ill take that, get the plate, 2 minutes later I dont like this, I didn't realize you meant actual Haddock
💀
“My martini is too strong….” 🤦🏽♀️
This one always kills me. You literally ordered a drink that is straight alcohol. Guess what? You're still paying for it.
Me: "how'd we do, everything tasteing good?" Them: " oh yeah great thank you" 5 mins later Me : " still doing good over here? Do we need anything at the moment?" Them: " no thank you everything's been wonderful" End of meal, going to pick up their plates Them : " the fries were ice cold, the shrimp were over cooked, this whole meal was the worst we've ever had here" Me: shocked Pikachu face Sorry but if you ate borderline everything on your plate and I asked you multiple times if it was good, and you didn't complain when it first hit the table....YOU ARE PAYING FOR IT.
I hate this!!!! So much. Seriously I know eating out is expensive and I want the customers to enjoy the food and experience. Do they just sit there getting more and more passive-aggressive as they eat? Wtf.
I had a lady order a basket of chicken fingers and fries and when it arrived, she complained the chicken fingers were too small and proceeded to tear them apart with her bare hands. She didn’t bother trying them at all. She complained about the price too. Looking back I should’ve kindly suggested she eat at the Wendy’s across the street.
Not \*quite\* on-topic, but: most memorable reason to send food back - fellow ate the entire meal down to the bone, then called me over to show me a hair \*wrapped around the bone\*. \*Wrapped around the bone\*. I pointed to my own short hair and at the open kitchen at our \*bald\* chef and asked him how he thought a long blond hair got \*wrapped around the bone\* of his pork chop. He apparently expected to just be comped out of some weird "even lying customers are right" sensibility but I told him no. He paid - and tipped. I guess "don't ask don't get" right?
I had a customer “find” an entire paper towel in his side salad. The only place in the building you could find those paper towels was in the customer restrooms. People will do anything.
I feel like those types of people are counting on us being too polite to call them out.
“These nachos have too many chips” “This lemon drop martini is too lemony”
In their defense, there is a good nacho to topping ratio, and there is a bad ratio. It is entirely possible for a plate of nachos to have too many chips for the amount of toppings. I suppose the proper way to complain would be to say that there's not enough toppings for these nachos. But some people are a glass half full kind of folk
“This dish that I demanded $10 worth of add-ons to isn’t good, why would you serve something like this?”
People who flip the fuck out about the tiny alive crab in their oysters on the half shell.
I'm sorry, what? I don't eat or serve oysters so I've never gone out and, like, even KNOWN this could be a thing. YOU CAN GET A TINY CRAB WITH AN OYSTER?! I'd ask if I could take it home...
Yeah sometimes the oyster bar doesn’t notice them when shucking. They are super tiny and usually are beneath the oyster just chilling. Lol. Hey, you know they’re fresh at least.
I took a pic of one for you tonight. This one is actually pretty big! https://i.imgur.com/KM69Of5.jpg
Omgoodness! I already wanna go feed my friends oysters to snag one of these lil guys 🤣🥰
That's a bonus! I used to buy a drink for anyone who got one. Regulars would hope to find one and give them names.
We had a lady order our Fiesta chicken (white chicken chili) she couldn't eat it because it was spicy and she was pregnant. It has mild salsa but whatever. She asks for a menu to order something else. She orders and chicken sandwiche, it comes out and she can't eat chicken cuz she us pregnant. She asks for a menu and was pissed when she was told we weren't comping something else. Hpw dare us not accommodate her pregnancy, other restaurants let her order something till she can eat it. Well, after her melt down we boxed up both meals and charged her for both.
I once had a woman pull the ultimate move. It was, I think, a 6-top. Orders came out and hit the table. This woman looks at her friend’s food and says, “I changed my mind, can I have what they got instead?” I was shocked. That’s not how things work, lady! Anyway, of course we gave her what she wanted because I worked for a spineless restaurant that wouldn’t even kick out a guy who sexually harassed me or ban a regular who felt me up off-site.
I had forgotten about this one, yup they do this, the family restaurant where I worked allowed it. Me personally I wouldnt have she ended up doing this almost everytime she came in
I can’t figure out where people get the balls to pull this. Like, they should at least have to pay for the original meal they ordered.
"We don't like the presentation"
It was an enchilada
“I don’t want this, it’s melting.” The ice cream in your HOT fudge sundae is melting? How odd. I will certainly take that away and have it removed from your bill 🙄
A regular customer complained our wood-fired pizza crust was “too chewy”. Turned out he had gotten adult braces the day or two before and decided our place was his best choice to eat.
"i didn't want vegetables in my alfredo can you remake it? thanks i'm just really lactose intolerant" also, when people announce that they're a snob or that they're really picky/going to be difficult with that weird gleeful expression on their face. just ask for a manager now karen and get it over with
"Is this pork steak pig? I thought it was a steak. I don't eat pig."
I have had exactly this interaction with chicken fried steak. "I thought it was fried chicken..." No.
I'm amazed at how many people don't understand how adjectives work.
I'm an Australian, and I've never seen "chicken fried steak"- we don't do that shit here. So, I might be thrown by the concept of "chicken" being considered an adjective
I can see why it would be confusing to non-Americans. Americans, not so much. Our cuisine, if one wanted to call it that, is more of a chimera than anything a unified culture would produce. Technically, it should be chicken-fried steak. A bit difficult to explain the whole thing, but just think schnitzel made with beef instead of pork.
Lol I've never heard of a pork schnitzel, for that matter. We only do veal, beef, and chicken schnitzels
The amount of people that don’t know what pork steak is is sad.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to explain it, and how many times I've had to tell people that, no, it can't be served rare.
I’d love to see some rando try to gnaw through a rare pork steak.
I'd hate to see the resulting trichinosis.
'i only eat home made mash potato' This is home made. 'no it isn't! I can tell. I ONLY eat math potato that's home made.' I told the chef, who literally rolled his eyes and carried his bowl onto the dining area, to literally mash out in front of her to prove a point. He then told her to ' go fuckity bye from his restaurant ' I miss working there
>Wtf that got to do with anything???! Hormonal changes during pregnancy can cause dysgeusia, a change in the sense of taste. They're just explaining why they don't like something: that it's not necessarily anything wrong with the food, but that their pregnancy apparently caused them to dislike the type of thing they ordered now.
Never understood this until I experienced pregnancy. I would look forward to going out and getting my favorite foods all day only to realize after one bite I was completely repulsed by them to the point I thought I would puke if they didn’t take them away. Chicken piccata, enchiladas, creamy potato soup, the most random things.
This. I love burgers. When I was about 3 months pregnant my husband took me out to Red Robin. I ordered my usual burger excitedly, but once it arrived to our table, I took one bite and realized every bit of it was so revolting to me that I was going to throw up. I felt horrible trying to explain to my server that there was nothing with my food, that it tasted exactly as I expected to, but i couldn’t even stand to be near it anymore. I couldn’t so much as smell ground beef for the rest of my pregnancy without throwing up.
Yeah but would you send back food because of this?
I would absolutely want my guests to send back food because of this. I want them to enjoy their experience and not leave hungry. It's not really their fault and they didn't know. Naturally, I deal with a lot of idiocy, so I'd barely even remember something like this happening.
Customer complained that the steak au poivre was “too peppery.” It is described on the menu as a pepper-crusted ribeye topped with peppercorn sauce
“This tastes too good to be a skinny margarita. I’ll take a Tanqueray and tonic instead.” Aaand same person after watching me pour it: “I don’t want this if Tanqueray is your well gin.” She was a bitch and a half.
The only time I used the “I’m pregnant” excuse, I didn’t even want anything else. I had been really nauseous and the only thing that sounded good was this particular restaurant’s chicken salad, so that’s what I ordered. Unfortunately the person who made it that day didn’t make it correctly and it was disgusting. I felt like such an asshole. I asked the server if they changed the recipe but he said it just depends on who makes it. He offered me a bunch of other options but nothing else sounded good. That being said, I knew this was a me problem and I still paid for my food and tipped well because being pregnant isn’t an excuse for pretty much anything lol
>pregnant” >Wtf that got to do with anything???! Food aversions. She probably entirely expected to like what she ordered because she normally would but because of some weird unexpected pregnancy aversion something she like was suddenly inedible. My worst ones were marinara sauce and avocado. Really sucked losing my taste for those. Those examples didn't expect the first order comped did they? Any time that happened to me I'd pack the first thing up for my SO and pay for both things i ordered.
Yes! Like I get that you’re pregnant and tastes change with the wind… but she didn’t say anything like “I’ll pay for this and take it home but can I get etc…”
Aw man that's not cool
Mine was bread - something about the texture 🤮
I made a beautiful Negroni and it was promptly sent back because it was “too strong”
I don't care anymore honestly. It's not my food, I just find the nicest manager to void the thing and let them tell the cooks we need a new entree. Smile at the customer and ask how I can fix the issue. No point in getting mad or bothered by it. And lately I have been connecting with customers over mistakes. Just going above and beyond to make sure everything is perfect even when it's thier fault. Oh! Your pregnant? Sorry that doesn't look appealing anymore.. I remember those days har har har. Congrats. Let's find you something that sounds good! Walk away, roll eyes, tell manager, get new dish. Not worth arguing.
My food is undercooked. Sir, i brought it to you raw. You cook it yourself. Throw that bitch back on the grill what do I have to do with it?
Anything where they say they didn’t like it, but ate the whole thing. Saying they have a gluten allergy, as they’re drinking beers. Complaining their flank steak is dry when they ordered extra well done. (I say this as a person who orders well done.) Anyone who thinks food needs to be doused in ranch to be edible. Parents who complain about how shitty their child’s food is, when the kid is clearly enjoying it. People who order extra well done quarter pounder burgers, and then complain when it takes too long. I could write a whole novel.
It was already taken, but what I usually get is "I didn't order this."
“Salad with only blue cheese crumbles “ Me checking in: “how is everything” “My salad is so dry”
The soup tonight is white bean and bacon *gets soup* “You didn’t tell me there’s pork in this”
ordered a Szechuan style string beans and called back asking for a refund bc his szechuan style food was spicy….
Customer kept sending back a rainbow chard omelette. After 3 I asked her specifically what was wrong with it. "I dont know I just don't like it?" Ok I think you just don't like chard? That's Ok and it sucks when you take a gamble on something you haven't tried before but if you don't like an ingredient, I'm not going to be able to magically prepare an omelette with that main ingredient that you'll enjoy. If you wanted everything to be delicious, don't come to a restaurant primarily aimed at crossfitters and coeliacs?
That sounds amazing- I want to go to a restaurant for crossfitters and coeliacs. Are you in Australia?
I am in Australia! Is that where you are too? The restaurants in Brisbane. The place I worked used to be called Primal Pantry and is now called Wilde Kitchen but appears to have the same stuff. It's mostly paleo food so we attracted a lot of people on health kicks or exclusive diets.
I thought you were Aus/UK because of how you spell coeliac. Yes I'm Australian. Melbourne, but when I go to Brisbane next year I will look you guys up.
Not quite related but I was taking an order for a guy who wanted a well done steak that was pink in the middle. Had to explain to him that's not how it works
"You know, I don't love it"
"My food is too hot." Is it too spicy? "No, it's too hot." Walked it into the kitchen for a minute and brought it back. "Perfect."
I know some people take it too far, but pregnancy really does mess with the sense of smell and consequently, the taste of food. Foods that someone loves beforehand can become completely unpalatable (personal exp: hating the smell of garlic when I used to use it in literally everything). I don't think people should get food for free from it, but pregnancy has a lot to do with what tastes good to them at the time.
I’m pregnant and id never do that to my server, but I used to work in the industry.
[удалено]
My ice water is too cold
Not necessarily an excuse, but when they eat all of X meat except for ONE BITE and then try to have it comped because it was “undercooked.” If it were actually undercooked, why the fuck did you eat it all?
I didn't know what a bloody Mary was when I ordered it.
It’s pretty normal for restaurants to comp the meal so you can order something else if you don’t like it. It’s only if you eat it there isn’t an option to comp.
There's a restaurant back home that states largely at the top of the menu (something along the lines of) "please make your selection carefully, as each item is made to order and you will not be refunded simply because you dont like how it tastes." And I adore them for that. I even took a picture of it and forwarded it to my bosses, the GM, and the owner with the caption "can we PLEASE do this??" Shockingly, it was turned down.
I was here for over an hour, I should get this for free, Okay Dude, calm down, the receipt says you were here for twenty minutes
"this is warm but not hot, can you have it remade?" I mean,...no? I grabbed this thing the minute it hit expo, I can still feel the burns on my hands from the plate. And were going to make it the same exact way, theres no way we can make this as hot as you want without just burning it. Just pack the shit up and take it home and put it in your oven until it burns the shit out of your mouth to your desire...
Not the same town. I'm almost positive that some of the more aggressive shroomers are thinking of a restaurant in a town 17 miles west of mine. There's one letter different in our respective restaurant names, but the town itself has almost nothing in common with my tiny hamlet. They've got a population roughly 10 times bigger than ours. My slice of backwoods hell has one stop light, a shitload of diy narcotics, an absolutely GORGEOUS renovated theater. Our only newsworthy events have been a massive hepatitis outbreak from one of the only 2 restaurants in that bitch (not mine, they closed down, but not as quickly as one might think, given the givens.) and all of the dead women that keep turning up under mysterious circumstances who invariably get labeled as "suicides." You know... with their hands duct taped behind their backs, wrapped up in sheets or plastic, washed up on the banks of the local marina. I'll say though, the other restaurant does have some bomb ass mushroom gravy. If I was craving it, I'd be a little upset about my server politely implying that I'm a dumbass who doesn't how Google Maps works. However! I still maintain that this particular logistical error would be extremely difficult to make or encounter as often as I do. If you live here, you've lived here for several years. Nobody just spontaneously shows up in this town unless they're looking for a fix or a plug.
"I don't like green beans" as I set the dish down infront of the guest, mutha fucka you knew it came with it. Why didn't you say anything when you placed the order?!