It is not uncommon for people in the service industry to be the recipients of rude comments. However, sometimes the tables are turned, and it is the customers who are left reeling from disrespectful conduct by waitstaff. Keep reading to hear some stories from Redditors who experienced mind-blowing nasty comments and rude attitudes from servers that left them saying, “Check, please”!
1. This Waitress Was Cooked
I was in Kansas City at this too-hip restaurant that consisted of little more than a bar, a stage for the jazz band, and a few tables. I was in from out of town visiting friends from college and was sitting at the bar with them for about an hour, waiting for a table to open up. When one finally did, the waitress came over to get us more drinks and talk about the menu, which was all prix fixe.
All of the items were based around meat, and I was a fairly strict vegetarian. I had reservations about going to the restaurant in the first place. I told the waitress very politely that I was a vegetarian and asked if they could make me anything. If not, I was perfectly happy just to nurse my martini for the rest of the night. About 15 minutes later, one of the chefs came out and sat at the table.
The first words out of her mouth were, "So one of the waitresses came in to tell me that some dorky-looking [gay slur] wanted us to make him a vegetarian meal". Well, there was something that the waitress didn’t know. I replied, "And what did you say to her"? The chef said, "Well, first I told her not to call my best friend that name".
Yeah, my best friend from college was one of the chefs, and the waitress unknowingly had talked trash about me to her.
2. He Was Not A Rice Guy
I went to dinner with a friend and her family at one of their favorite restaurants. They are white, and I am East Asian. The waiter came over to take our order, asked everyone what they wanted, then looked at me and said, "Let me guess…rice"? There was a big laugh from him and crickets from everyone else. I never went back to that place again.
3. He Got Fresh With Me
My wife and I were at a Mexican place a few years back. We had finished our meals, and the waiter came over and said to my wife, "Ma'am, I'm obligated by policy to offer you an after-dinner mint, but please don't think I personally am making any judgment on your obviously pleasant and fragrant breath". He then placed a single mint by her plate, turned to me and said, "Here", and emptied his apron pocket of about a hundred mints straight into my lap.
I've never tipped a rude server so much, but we were laughing for the rest of the evening.
Flickr, Marco Verch Professional
4. She Wasn’t Foolin’
I went to Buddakan in Philadelphia with a group of friends. I was sitting next to a chubby girl. The waitress came and was taking orders. When it was the chubby girl's turn to order, she took her time contemplating and ordered a salad and water. The waitress muttered under her breath— but loud enough where I heard it clearly as did the girl—"Uhh, who are you fooling’”?
The chubby girl’s face turned bright red, and those close by that heard it were all shell-shocked. No one said anything because they didn’t want to embarrass her any further. Needless to say, I never went back.
5. Her Response Had No Leg To Stand On
My grand uncle was a Navy Seabee in his younger days, and before he passed, I took him to a Seabee reunion at the Naval base in our state. On the way home, we stopped at some random joint to get food. My uncle ordered a whole rotisserie chicken. When the waitress brought it to him, he noticed that it was missing a drum stick.
My uncle got the waitress's attention and told her his chicken was missing a leg. Without missing a beat, she said, "You gonna eat it or dance with it"?
6. Amped Up And Ready To Go
When I was about 15 years old, I had spent the summer working in the machine shop my dad worked in. I wanted to buy a new bass guitar and amp, so my dad got the owner to hire me for the summer so I could save the money to buy the stuff. At the end of the summer, I had worked hard, put in extra hours, and made a fair amount of money. My dad also put in some cash since he thought I wouldn't make it through the summer working while my friends all had the summer off.
My dad and I went to the music store in town. He had a few things to do in the same area, so he told me he would be back in about an hour. I walked into the store and made a bee-line for the bass section. I stood and looked at the ones I really liked and asked the salesman if I could try out a few basses and amps. He acted like he didn't hear me and walked away.
I followed him and said, "Excuse me, but can I try some stuff out"? His reply was devastating. He looked at me and said, "Son, this is not a jam space or a free for all for kids". I was crushed and went outside to wait for my dad. He pulled up, got out of the truck, and asked, “Where's your new gear”? I told him what happened, and he was pretty upset as well. We both went back in, and I pointed out the ones I wanted and why I liked them.
I saw the same salesman now staring at us. He walked over and asked, "Anything I can help you two with"? My dad smiled and said, "Yeah, I'm looking for a jam space where kids can have a free for all". The salesman tried to pull his foot out of his mouth but only made himself sound worse. My dad then asked me how much money I set aside to buy the gear.
I told him I had about $1,600 in my savings, not including the cash he gave me earlier. My dad looked at the salesman and said, "You work on commissions, right"? He replied, "Ahhhh yah". My dad looked at me, laughed, and said, "Well I guess it's Kraft Dinner for you tonight", and we left. He drove me an hour and a half into the city that day to make sure I got what I deserved for working hard all summer.
7. You’re Fired!
I was the nightlife coordinator for Caesars Entertainment. As a result, most of the managers and higher-ups knew me. However, unless I was at one of the nightclubs, the employees usually didn’t know who I was. I went to eat at one of the new restaurants with a bachelorette party and decided to wait for them by the bar. I ordered a drink.
About five minutes later, a bartender walked over to me and said I needed to move because I was sitting there with one drink, and she could be getting other customers. This was a sit-down bar, and she had singled me out. I told her, "I'm waiting for some friends", to which she replied, "I don't give a hoot. You're sitting here alone with one drink. I have more important groups I could be waiting on. Move".
I told her, "Tell you what. Get your manager to make me move, and I'll gladly step away". At that point, she grabbed two security guards and the manager, all of who knew me very well. She said, "I told him to get up and move, and he told me he’s not going to unless you tell him". The manager replied, "Probably because he could fire me. That's [the] nightlife coordinator for the four properties". She was stunned. I looked at her and told her, "You're fired".
8. Wigged Out!
I was at dinner with my parents and a group of their friends. The waitress was being extremely rude. She did things like saying to our one overweight friend, "Are you SURE you want two entrees? I'm NOT wrapping it up"! Not only that, but one member of our party was undergoing chemo at the time and was wearing a wig, which wasn’t obvious.
At one point during the meal, the waitress made a snide comment to her. Our friend stopped, put down her utensils, and pulled the wig off of her bald head. She looked directly at the waitress and said, "Don't mess with me. I'm sick", then went back to her meal. It was wonderful.
9. Wait A Minute!
I was at a restaurant, and after being seated for 20 minutes and not having a waiter come by, I went over to the serving station. The server was sitting around talking, and it was evident that their conversation wasn't going to end any time soon. I was polite and just asked, "Could I order"? Twenty minutes wasn't an exaggeration either. I was on lunch break with a co-worker, and she was getting pretty ticked off. The server said, "Do you want to wait a minute? God"!
10. Mama Mia, What A Jerk
My brother and I were adopted from Korea, and my parents are straight-up white. When I was eight and my brother was about eleven, we went to an Italian restaurant. The waiter was yelling at us like we couldn't speak English. My dad was a very conservative, laid-back kind of guy. He looked the server in the eye and said, "Racist enough? That's my daughter you're yelling at who reads English at a college level, [and] can speak it and understand it just fine without you yelling in her ear, thanks. You can tone it down". Our meal was free after that.
11. She Neither Inspired Nor Nurtured My Human Spirit
I went to Starbucks and ordered a mocha or something similar. The barista told me that it was a “girly drink”. I went to pick it up, and when I was at the front counter, she was right next to me. She walked all the way to the other side of the counter to set it down instead of just handing it to me. Thinking she was joking, I laughed and said, “Oh, I have to walk all the way over there"? The barista looked at me with a straight face and said, "You look like you could use the exercise". I wasn’t overweight.
12. He Was Hitting On My Honey
It wasn't anything the waiter said, but his actions were loud and clear. My boyfriend, my friend, and I went to a bar and grill that was pretty nice. The waiter came to take our order. He started with my boyfriend and was very friendly with him. When it came around to me, he took my order in a rush. When our food came out, I got mine last. Then, the waiter came around to check on us and specifically asked my boyfriend if the steak was cooked right and if he liked it.
He didn't ask anyone else, just him. When the time came to box up the leftovers, the waiter tossed my box onto my food and helped to box my boyfriend’s food. I even sat there to see if he would do the same for me—not that I expected him to—and he walked away after helping my boyfriend. Everybody just looked at each other, and we started laughing.
13. He Wasn’t Dressing Away With It
I was at an expensive, newer restaurant in town celebrating both my mom's birthday and Mother’s Day with the rest of my family on her side. I wasn't too hungry, and nothing on the menu looked too appetizing, so I ordered a Caesar salad. When I finally received it—the last of all the plates to arrive—the lettuce was insanely limp, and the entire salad was slightly warm. The now-warm dressing was lacking in any flavor whatsoever.
We explained this to our waiter, and his reply blew me away. He told me: "We make our own in-house Caesar dressing here; it might not be the Kraft dressing your family is used to". Unfortunately for him, my mom was eight hours fresh from a 20-hour flight, would get a bee in her bonnet about poor service at the best of times, and held a Master's Degree in law from Harvard. That day, he knew regret.
14. I Was Anything But Calm
I used to work at a country club, and I remember on my first day, my boss strictly advised that if you dropped a glass or a plate—anything that could or would shatter—to tell everyone to stay away from the area and stay seated until the mess was cleaned up. A week or so later, I was walking between a few tables and had a couple of glasses of water. I got one of them to the table and greeted an older couple.
When I went for the other, it fell to the floor and shattered. Panicked, I continued to say, "I'm so sorry, please forgive me…wait just one moment, and I'll get this cleaned up"! The older man laughed and said, "It's all good. I'll be right back anyway. Need to hit the men's room"! Right then, I saw my boss staring me down, and in a panic, I yelled, "SIT DOWN AND STAY CALM".
Luckily, he looked at me and burst out laughing. He said, "Alright then. I'll wait. My bladder ain't that bad yet". My boss and all my coworkers thought it was the most hilarious thing they'd seen, but it was pretty rude, and my friends still don’t let me live it down.
15. Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Several years ago, my family went to the local Denny's. There was a black family ahead of us. It was a dad, a mom, and a little girl. They weren’t badly dressed, and although not dressed up, it was clear they weren’t a bad crowd. The restaurant was also almost entirely empty customer-wise. They waited for 25 minutes for someone to seat them. They finally got tired of waiting and left to go to the place across the street.
As soon as they walked out the door, someone came to seat us. We left for the restaurant across the street.
16. Done In By Her Comment
I like my steak medium-rare. I'm not terribly picky about it, but once, the steak I got was pretty much past well-done. It was also completely dry, so I complained. I told the waitress, "Excuse me; I ordered this steak medium-rare. It's pretty close to burnt". I was blown away by her answer. The waitress, who was young and pretty, just gave me this confused look and said, "Well, what do you want me to do? We can't uncook the steak"!
17. She Got My Goat
Sometimes, after a long day in the service industry, you don't even notice that you've become a little bit rude. One day, I had a customer ask me, "Excuse me, sir, what's ‘goat cheese’”? I paused for a moment to see if she was joking, then replied, "Why...it's cheese...made from the milk of a goat. Earthy and a bit tart".
I couldn’t help it, but the way I said it was a bit condescending. I was always very proper and well-spoken at a fine dining table, and it just seemed so snooty. The owner was right behind me. At the end of the shift, she told me that I needed a break from serving tables. She was right.
18. Blue Jean Baby
I was meeting a very prominent and highly respected public figure at a nightclub. He had told my group that the dress code was casual, so we were mostly wearing jeans with dress or polo shirts. When we got there, the host looked us up and down as though we were the dirt off his shoe and said—in the poshest, most stuck-up tone I had ever heard—"I believe you'll have trouble finding a table here wearing....dungarees", and he started to walk away. But the story didn’t end there.
Then, we told him who we were there to meet, and the guy nearly pooped himself.
19. Here’s A Tip—You’re Rude!
My mother and father met while working as a waiter and waitress in NYC back in the 1940s. Forty years later, in the 80s, they were out to dinner with a bunch of friends. The waiter was rude and/or inept, and the food was cold. The evening was only saved by good friends and good conversation. My dad was in charge of the check.
He collected money from everyone and figured on a 12–13% tip, as he thought the waiter might have been having a bad night and the cold food was not his fault. My dad left the money with the check, and they all left. The waiter chased my dad out to the parking lot. He held out the tip he was given and said, "Do you really think this is fair, or do you not get out often and don't know how to tip"?
My dad looked at the waiter and said, "Well, I was a waiter for many years, and yeah, I know how to tip. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, figuring you were just having a bad night. But you're right, this amount is not right". My dad took a $10 bill from the waiter’s hand and continued, "Now it's right". Then, he got into his car and left.
20. Too Hot To Handle
I was at a Thai place. The waiter told me I couldn't handle a dish because it was too spicy for a white person. I ordered it anyway, and it was apparent he asked the kitchen to make a mild version. When I asked why he did that, he repeated that I was too white. I had tried getting that dish full strength, but every time I try to do so, they either refuse or secretly make it mild, and I know it should be spicier because my friend worked there.
21. No Dessert For You!
My then-boyfriend—now husband—was looking for a place to take his parents for their 50th birthdays. We had been to this one place before and loved it. Several other relatives were coming, too, so we made a reservation for 12 people. The trouble started early on when we were seated at a table that was actually several short tables thrown together.
The space was too cramped for our numbers. The tables were pushed so close to the wall—no more than a foot or so away—that the larger men in the family were all forced to sit on the other side of the table, and even the smaller people felt cramped. If the place only had this tightly packed front room in which to seat us, the poor seating would have been understandable.
However, the restaurant also had a back room large enough to accommodate us, as well as an outdoor area suitable for a party of our size. What was merely an uncomfortable situation then became obnoxious. After about 15 minutes, the owner approached us and asked if we could all shift down a little so he could take one of the short tables and give it to someone else.
Since we were already squished and had begun eating the bread, enjoying our drinks, and using the place settings, my boyfriend’s father said politely but firmly, “No”. The owner started arguing with us, even sitting himself down at the table in a chair briefly vacated for a bathroom trip, to persuade us to move. He was getting pretty exercised. Eventually, he stalked away, muttering, “I just thought you could help me out”.
After that, my boyfriend’s aunt left the table to talk to the owner, basically telling him that we were there for a special occasion and would appreciate it if he didn’t speak rudely to the birthday boy. He wasn’t impressed and told her that if she didn’t like it, we could all leave. We probably should have taken his advice. Our poor server tried mightily to salvage the evening, but his boss could be heard muttering things about us under his breath whenever he passed our table.
On several occasions, he started in with members of our party about how we could sit more compactly. Towards the end of the disaster that was dinner, the owner came over one last time and tried to make peace. He soothingly admitted to my boyfriend’s mother that we had all gotten off to a bad start and that he may have been at fault but could not end it like that.
But he wasn’t quite done being a jerk yet. Within 30 seconds of his apology, he followed up with something to the effect of, “But if you had just squeezed a bit tighter like I asked you to, we all would have been much happier”. When it came time for dessert, my boyfriend asked the server if it would be possible for his parents’ desserts to have candles put in them and if the rest of us could order dessert.
The server was midway through taking our dessert orders when the owner pulled him away, shaking his head vigorously. The owner returned to tell us that there were simply too many people waiting for tables and he couldn’t serve us dessert. Furious, we paid and walked out the door. Performing for the group of people waiting to be seated, the owner called after us in a saccharine voice, “Have a wonderful evening”.
My boyfriend’s father replied, “We’ll never have one here again”. The owner said, “Never come back to my restaurant”, and slammed the door behind us.
22. An Unfavorable Night
It was almost the end of the night, and the bar I was at was clearing out. I asked for a glass of water. The bartender nodded, walked down to the other side of the bar, and started taking their drink orders. I stood there, waiting, while he continued to serve other people. I finally got him again and said, "Hey, I am the designated driver and would just like a glass of water".
He replied, "Yeah, I heard you, but you aren't gonna make me any money. You are asking for a favor, and I only do favors for my friends".
23. Bumping Up The Wrong Tree
I had just left the hospital, and some friends picked me up to get a bite to eat. I had a third-degree ACL tear in my knee, so I was limping around wearing this hip-to-ankle leg brace—you couldn't miss it. We grabbed a table, and I was on the outside next to the walkway with my bad leg tucked safely under the table and my good leg "protecting" me on the outer edge.
Our waiter was this curt, unfriendly dude who was basically glaring the whole time. Eventually, when he brought our food—after slamming plates down roughly—he managed to hit my bad knee under the table while reaching to put food down on the far side. I hurt, so I yelled, "Ow", pretty much in his ear since he was leaning in front of me.
The dude didn’t even react. My friend picked up on it and said, "Uh, you just hit her". That’s when he got even ruder. The waiter just walked away. So, my friends decided that the server would get a $1 tip on each person's bill. I am not an advocate of tipping badly, but after having a fairly bad day end with being whacked on my already injured leg, I was okay with it given the circumstances.
My one awesome friend wrote a note on her receipt explaining WHY he was getting a lousy tip. Then we got up and slowly made our way outside. At that point, the waiter chased us down to defend his honor. He seemed outraged and said, "I didn't kick a girl with an ACL injury"! I replied, "Uh, yes, you did. That would be me".
I was exhausted and kind of shocked that it was even a question. My friends stepped in to relate the story of how I even yelled, and he was totally oblivious. He said, "Well then, I'm sorry". But there was just something weird about his apology. He sure as heck didn't sound sorry. He turned angrily and went back into the restaurant. As he went in, another couple was leaving, and they overheard everything.
Looking at my leg, the woman said, "He kicked you?! I passed by him inside earlier, and he elbowed me and didn't say a word"!
24. She Was Out Of Her Noodle
I hadn't eaten in 36 hours, and being a teenager, I was so hungry I might have eaten my own hand. So, I went to a little Chinese place in the food court I would always go to and ordered two orange chickens and an order of noodles. The waiter told me, "No, I'm not going to give that to you. Childhood obesity is a serious problem, and I'm not going to help with it". What made it worse was that she was pretty overweight, and I was skinny.
25. Raw Deal
My evening began with my steak being undercooked. I enjoy a good rare steak as much as the next person, but the inside wasn't cool and red. It was cold and purple. I sent it back twice, and when it came out the third time, it was still undercooked. I told the waitress to forget it. I was done. Everyone else was done eating, and I was filled up on bread at that point.
She kept harassing me, telling me what a fine steak it was and just to tell them how I wanted it cooked. When I told her I wasn’t interested, she got rude. She told me she was cutting me off after only having two drinks. I finally told her to leave me alone as I was done talking to her. She returned five minutes later and said something like, “You’re stuck with me. This is my table”.
I was just trying to ignore her—but then she escalated it even further. A few minutes more, and that's when she said, "Do you want me to get the chef out here? He's 6' 3". I said, "Why, is he going to kick my behind and force the steak down my throat"? At that point, she tried to walk away, but I was beyond mad, so I stood up and said, "Yeah, get his [behind] out here, and I'll shove this raw steak [in it]". She left and didn't come back. The chef didn't come out either.
The manager came over, apologized profusely, and offered to get me a new steak and card for a free meal, but I had no intention of ever going back there to eat. Without a doubt, it was the worst experience I’ve ever had at a restaurant. I always treat wait staff very nicely, and I tip well. I’ve done their job, and I know how much it sometimes sucks, so I can easily forgive a waitress that is in a bad mood or not very friendly. Her reaction, though, to a valid complaint was way over the line.
26. At The Tipping Point
I was from Wisconsin and was on a bus trip with a bunch of Canadians. We were showing them around—our mall, our cheese, etc. We stopped at TGI Friday's for lunch. I ordered an $8 salad and a Coke. My bill, with tax, was about $12. Our table had fewer than eight people, so gratuity wasn't included. I could tell something was weird because the dude wasn't bringing me refills on my Coke, even though we were there for over an hour.
After eating, I got my check and paid with a $20 bill. Everyone else got their bills back with their change and left to get on the bus. I waited around because my bill didn’t come back with any. I waited for half an hour until my squadron commander came in to see why I was still sitting at the table by myself. I told him the waiter hadn't brought me any change.
My squadron commander went to talk to the waiter and who finally returned with my change. I didn't leave a tip. I'm not sure why he treated me that way.
27. Hidden Figures
My wife and I went to a fairly nice restaurant with friends, but we only brought cash. We were calculating a very generous estimate of the total as we were ordering to ensure we would be able to cover it. When we got the bill, it was significantly higher than we had estimated. It was still within our cash budget, but just barely.
It turned out that they had recently increased the price on almost everything on the menu but failed to have new menus printed. That would have been nice to know before we placed our orders rather than when the bill was on the table. We gave the waitress all the cash we brought with us, which unfortunately left her an embarrassingly minor tip.
As we were getting ready to leave, the waitress came up and called me every possible insult within the reasonable vicinity of "cheap", "fake", and "loser" due to the tip. She was ranting at me for a good five minutes in front of our friends and other patrons, and, fortunately for us, the manager. I felt bad about the tip before she had said anything.
However, once she did, I kindly pointed out that her tip would also have been the entirety of the $40 in price increases that she had failed to mention. The manager then walked up and fired her on the spot. His apology to us was that the next meal for us and the rest of our group would be on him, with no limit. Needless to say, none of us have gone back there since then.
28. We Didn’t See Eye To Eye
I took a good friend of mine out on a dinner date in an attempt to cheer her up. She had lost her eye and had just gotten out of the hospital. She was really depressed over everything, and her depth perception was so far gone that you'd think she was tipsy or not trying. We got to the place, and she instantly noticed almost every waiter staring at her.
She was clinging to my arm, trying to dodge the stares. We got our seats, and our waiter came, took our order, brought us our stuff, and went about his duty. About halfway through the meal, my friend accidentally knocked her drink over. Our waiter walked up and said something so terrible, my blood ran cold. He told her, "Try to be more careful, cyclops". I was furious, but before I could breathe a word, she got right in the waiter's face and exclaimed, "I would hit you for that, but I'd probably miss", and stormed out.
I walked out afterward, didn't pay, and never went there again. I then took her to the place down the street, kindly told the manager about her condition and what had happened at the last place, and we were treated like kings. We got our meals half off—but I paid in full—and told our waiter that everything after the half-off price was his tip.
29. Double The Trouble
I was out to lunch with a new boss at a company I just got hired for. The waitress asked if we wanted two bills or just one. My boss said one. She came back five minutes later, cleared the table, and asked us again if we wanted two bills or one. My boss said, "We said we'd just like it all on mine". She left and came back with two bills.
She was an excellent server, just a little frazzled with the lunch rush. My boss, however, was a jerk. He looked at her with an "I'm going to mess with you" look on his face and said, "Didn't we ask for one"? She said she thought two. He replied, "No, we said one. Now, how much should I tip you"? She shyly started feeling the heat and shrugged out, "Whatever you like".
My boss PRESSED her for an answer and said, "Tell me what to put; you decide what I should give you. It's up to you". She kept shying away and said what most people tip and how she can't choose. He finally said, "Tell me a number, and whatever you say, I will give it to you". She said, "So I could tell you 100 dollars"?
He looked at her like she was an idiot and said, "Yes, but tell me, did you earn a $100 tip with this service today? If you feel you deserve $100 and this was a $100 service, then yes, I'll give you $100 if you believe you earned it". This went on until he smiled and said, “It’s fine, you can go". I'm sure he didn’t tip her anything. It was the most uncomfortable moment at a restaurant ever.
30. All Bets Were Off
The worst for me happened at a Burger Bar in Vegas. We had terrible service all night. After the waitress brought our food, we never saw her again. We didn't get drink refills, we didn't get the side of ketchup my friend asked for, and for a full 25 minutes after we had finished eating, we still had not received the bill.
I finally flagged down a passing waiter and explained that we were waiting for the bill so we could leave. I told him we had been waiting for a long time with no sign of the waitress. He let out a disapproving noise and simply said, "I'm not your waiter", then walked off.
31. The Night Was A Wash
I was at a restaurant, and our waitress hadn't come around to refill our drinks since we got there. Someone else brought us our food, and I couldn’t eat unless I had something to wash it down with. Our server kept walking by our table and didn't acknowledge me when I politely tried to get her attention. She was also waiting on the table diagonal from us and kept helping them every couple of minutes and playing with their baby.
So, when she walked by again, I was aggravated. My food was getting cold, and I was thirsty. So I finally got her attention. She acknowledged me—but my ordeal wasn’t over yet. I said, “Yeah can I get..." before she interrupted me. She then said, “You know what, one minute". She even put her finger in my face. The next thing I knew, she was refilling drinks to the table with the baby and carrying on a conversation. I found someone else to get me my drinks, and that's the first time I never left a tip.
32. Meet The Chef
When I was 23, I landed my first position as an executive chef. I was recruited as part of a team to turn around a failing sports bar and restaurant in a busy college town. I decided to go check the place out the night after I got hired. None of the staff had met me yet as I was recruited via a phone call. So, I walked into this place with a pretty female friend of mine and waited almost 20 minutes to be seated when the place was about half empty.
I was pleasantly greeted by a grumpy, overworked, and under-experienced server. She said, "Heeyyyy, I’m Lisa. You want anything to drink"? I thought to myself, "This is gonna be good". I jokingly told her, "Ohh yes, one glass of Louis XIII, please". She replied, "Ummmm, excuse me? I'm pretty sure we don't have that". I laughed and said, “It’s okay, I’m only kidding. Two mojitos, please". I heard her curse at me and call me a name under her breath as she walked away.
When she returned with our drinks, I inquired as to whom she was referring with her previous statement. She said, "How DARE you?! Who do you think you are?! Where do you get off"?! I told her, "Miss, please, I'm not here to make trouble, but that was very rude and inhospitable". She cursed at me and my date, saying she didn’t care and that I wasn’t her boss.
At that point, I put on my mental demon face and asked for the owner by name. She swallowed the near-instant fear in her throat, stormed off to the back, and promptly returned with him. He began, "Hello, sir, what seems to be the problem"? I told him, "No problem at all! I just wanted to take a minute to formally introduce myself before I begin work tomorrow"!
I thanked him for his time and hospitality and told him that I could not wait to start work and asked him to please make sure that all his staff would be present in the morning, particularly this gem of a server. He smiled and thanked me and told me he looked forward to working with me. I glanced at my now exceedingly nervous server and winked.
33. No Winner At This Chicken Dinner
I ate at a family diner one day. After waiting nearly 30 minutes for my meal to come out, I made a disturbing discovery. I noticed that the middle of my chicken was still raw. I politely asked the waitress to send it back because I didn't want to get sick. She stormed off and yelled at the chef that I "didn't think the meal was good enough and refused to eat it".
She then came back and said the chef couldn't cook it anymore without burning the outside portion. They refused to cook me a new piece and didn't even take it off my bill. Needless to say, the health department received a complaint.
34. Say Cheese Please
I was at this place and had ordered a plain hamburger sub. Instead, I received a cheeseburger sub, so I said, "I ordered a plain hamburger". The server told me, "No, you didn't. You ordered a cheeseburger sub". I replied, "I assure you, I've been lactose intolerant my whole life. I'd never order a cheeseburger sub even as an accident". He said he could take care of it for me and took the sub—right in front of me—and started scraping off the cheese with a butter knife.
35. Roll With It
I was eating inside for the first time at my usual sushi take-out place. When my order came up—ten minutes after my sister's meal—it was totally wrong. I asked the waitress what she had given me because I couldn't even recognize the roll. She told me the name and left. I looked it up on the menu, and it was $12.95! The roll I ordered was $5.00.
I called her over and told her she had given me the wrong roll. She said, "It's already been made". When I looked at her in disbelief and asked her to take it back as I hadn't touched it at all, she walked away. She avoided our table while we sat absolutely fuming at the ridiculousness of it all—and then it got worse. When I finally flagged her down again and more forcibly asked her to take it away, she said, "It's your fault", and walked away again.
The sushi chef saw that I was upset, and he started to talk to our waitress in Japanese. She pointed at me and started yelling. It was not pretty. Finally, I blew a gasket and demanded that she take the roll away and that we'd like our bill to pay for the sushi that we actually ordered. As we went up to the counter to pay—right by the sushi chef's area—he handed over the roll I actually ordered.
He was very polite, and I told him that if he'd kindly put it in a take-out box, I'd happily pay for it. I looked the waitress in the eye and said, "I'll pay for the two rolls that I ordered and nothing more". She handed over the bill and tried to charge me for the $12.95 roll. I lost it, and so did my sister. We RAGED at her. It was incredibly awkward for everyone around us, so when we went to walk out the door, the entire store was staring at us.
36. Go Suck An Egg!
A few days after my mother had gotten out of surgery, we went to this new breakfast place. The waitress came over. Since my mom was on a restricted diet and could only eat soft, mild foods, she asked for just two poached eggs. The waitress said, "That's boring, you don't want that. I'll make you my special scrambled eggs. Everyone loves them", and proceeded to walk back to the kitchen.
She came back a half hour later with these runny, scrambled eggs with cheese covered in spices and spinach and God knows what else. My mom took one look at them and politely asked the waitress to take them back. It turned out the waitress was the owner, and she refused to take them back. So, my mom and I refused to pay and started to walk out.
The owner followed us out, saying that we were crazy for not loving her eggs and yelling that she would sue us for not paying.
37. Put A Cork In It
I've worked in the restaurant business all my life and have worked in just about every position. Therefore, I have a pretty easy time relating to servers and bartenders when I go out. I rarely get bad treatment, but I do get a little bent out of shape when they try to pull some nonsense, and I usually call them on it.
I was once at a nice steakhouse in Nantucket. I ate there pretty frequently and always sat outside at the bar where my friend was the bartender. I have a nice wine collection, so I would bring a bottle with me every time and have it with dinner. Typically, a corkage charge would be added, about $10 or $15, for opening your bottle for you. My friend would never charge me this.
I would give half a glass to my bartender friend and send a glass back to the chef, who was also a good friend. One evening I came in with some friends and sat at my regular table. As usual, I brought a couple of bottles with me. We asked our waitress to bring us some glasses and open our first bottle. She got the glasses, and as she began to open the bottle, the new sommelier came running over and stopped her. I had no idea what I was in for.
She then told us we couldn't bring our own vino, that the restaurant has never done that, and no restaurants allow that because it is unlawful. I told her I had done it for years at this restaurant—and many restaurants—and that a corkage fee was charged. She told me she's never heard of a corkage fee and that it is against the law!
I asked her to bring me a copy of the wine list. She did, and I pointed to the last item on the list. It said, "A corkage fee of $15 will be charged for any patrons bringing their own". She said that it was a mistake and it was against the law. I finally told her that I owned a restaurant down the street and was quite familiar with the drink laws.
At that point, my friend, the chef, came out to our table to say hello. She tried to plead her case to him a bit, but he cut her off, told her to go into the office, and that he would be back there to talk in a minute. He apologized to us. We just laughed about it and had a lovely dinner. From then on out, the new sommelier avoided me like the plague anytime I came in.
38. C’est La Vie
When I was a kid, I was with my mom and her friend taking a day trip to France. We decided to eat at a restaurant. I am English and was taking French in school at the time, so I had some basic French skills. I gave our orders in very broken French. The waitress took our order, and we waited 20 minutes. People had come, sat down, ordered, and received their meals within that time, so we were getting mad.
Thirty minutes later, we mentioned that we hadn’t received our order yet. We finally got our meals 40 minutes in. As we were leaving, I heard the waitress calling us “English pigs”, which was ironic because I have some French blood in my veins, as did my mom, and her friend was Swedish.
39. He Was Rude No Matter How You Slice It
In college, I ordered pizza delivery from a local joint. The guy on the phone asked if I wanted to pay by credit card or cash. I said I'd pay by card. Most of the places there would have a card swipe in the delivery car, so I didn't even give it a second thought when he didn't ask for my card number on the phone. When the delivery guy got to my house, I gave him my card.
He stared at me for a second. What he said next was seriously unforgettable: "Where do you want me to swipe it, my rear"? I was so shocked that I just stood there staring at him. My girlfriend, who was dying for some pizza and didn't want to argue, went and grabbed some cash while I just stood there dumbfounded with the pizza boxes in my hand.
40. Lo Mein Losers
We ordered Chinese food for delivery from a place called Empire. The food was terrible, to begin with, but more notably was their blatant lack of humanity. We ordered for delivery, and we waited for some sixty-five minutes after they told us it would take only 25. They also messed up our order, taking our money for a dish we ordered but never received.
They refused to acknowledge our mistake and claimed the extra money was a tip. When we called the restaurant, the manager claimed it was our problem, even though we asked them to confirm our order, and we had six witnesses. When we tried to negotiate, he swore at us, called us names, and told us to take a hike. They were just terrible people.
41. I Was Left Shaken, Not Stirred
I went to a local bar/restaurant place on a Friday night and ordered a pomegranate martini. The waitress, who came off as very impolite, gave me a strange look but kept to herself. During the night, I accidentally knocked over a male friend's brew. I told him to pick out another one, and I would order it when the waitress came back. She came over, and I asked for the beer my friend wanted.
She joked, saying, "Finally switching to the good stuff"? I told her I was buying it for the guy next to me. She returned, put the drink down in front of him, and while placing a straw in the glass, opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. My friend, thinking she had said something, asked her to repeat it. She said, "I was gonna bring two straws for you, but I figure his [pointing to me] lipstick will just show which side is his".
No one laughed. It was obvious she had gone too far. I try to let stuff like that bounce off me, and I did. The meal concluded, and we left. We went back a week or two later and got the same waitress. She was taking drinks orders and got to me. I was driving that night, so I just asked for water. She "joked" back, saying, "No pomegranate martinis tonight"?
I told her I just wanted water and tried to wave her off. She then proceeded to push me, "Gonna drink like a real man tonight, hmm"? I felt my temper snap, but instead of screaming in this woman’s face, I just shook my head, grabbed my jacket, and walked out. It takes a lot to get to me, especially about my sexuality, but she just struck a nerve. I haven't been back there since.
42. My Irish Eye Were Smiling
I was on holiday with my girl in the Canary Islands. All the restaurants had a greeter outside to hustle for customers. Most were on the charming side of aggressive but would offer free drinks, so people let it slide. One guy asked us to come in for dinner as we were passing by. I said we were only going for a stroll, would think about it, and maybe come back later when we were hungry, which was true.
He asked where we were from. I told him Ireland, and he said a few lines in Gaelic, and we had a chuckle. So, on the way back, he asked us again, and I told him we would keep looking. He grabbed me by the elbow and whispered into my ear, "Pog mo thoin, do you know what that means"? It means kiss my behind in Gaelic. I was going to give him some choice words, but my girl was already dragging me away.
We finally chose a restaurant with a sweet view of the water as the sun was setting, but you could also see the restaurant where this jerk was hawking. I was fuming but didn't want to ruin my girl's night, so I kept quiet. Before the starter had come out, we heard a commotion. We looked down onto the street to see the same greeter jostling a dude in a Gaelic football jersey.
This Irish dude pulled the sweetest dragon punch I had ever seen. The greeter went through a table. It was glorious. The funniest thing about it was that the greeters from the other restaurants started to clap and cheer, as did some of the people from the restaurant it happened outside of.
43. Condescending To The Core
Once, I got not one but many rude—albeit sophisticated—remarks from a waiter. My parents gifted me dinner for two in the most exclusive restaurant in Milan. I met my girlfriend directly there. I came straight out of the university, attired in the most popular way—backpack, sneakers, etc., while my girlfriend was waiting for me, all dressed up like Lady D. Just looking at the other guests, it occurred to me relatively quickly that I had committed a major etiquette fail.
Indeed, to express his deep disappointment in my dressing choices, the waiter effectively and productively humiliated me for the whole dinner, but with very aristocratic manners. For example, the gentleman is supposed to taste the vintage before approving it. But when he brought our wine, he said, “I suppose that in this case, it is madame who tastes it isn't it”? He then poured the drink into my girlfriend’s glass.
44. Childish Remarks
My wife and I went out to dinner with some friends of ours to a new restaurant we had heard great things about. Boy we were in for a surprise. We sat down, and it turned out the waitress was an old friend of my wife's from high school. They hadn't seen each other since graduation, which was about 15 years at that point. So, the two of them were catching up and asking the usual questions like, "Do you have any kids"?
My wife and I had made a concerted effort not to have kids. We didn't want any. So, when my wife responded with a simple "No", to her question, her friend looked at me with a very confused look on her face and said, "What? Are you shooting blanks or somethin'"? I wanted to smack her.
45. She Got Her Just Desserts
My husband and I went out on a dinner date. The waitress was training a waiter and explained it to us as we were ordering. Everything was fine until we got our food. It was over-seasoned, and we didn't want to finish it, but we tried because we were hungry. Afterward, when we asked for the bill, she asked, "Would you like any desserts"? We said, “No, thank you”.
Then, she turned to her trainee and said, "They never want dessert", with this fake smile because she knew she was being rude. It was the first time I've wanted to talk to a manager because I believe you shouldn't say that to a customer. She could have said that once we left or were out of our hearing range. We never went back.
46. This Service Was Crummy
We went to a Buffalo Wild Wings and were seated. We were ignored by three different servers. One came close to us, wiped a crumb off a table, then turned around and walked away. We sat with our menus for 20 minutes, got up, and walked out. The twit at the hostess station chirped, "Thanks! Come again"! We replied, "Thanks! We never got waited on"!
47. True Brew Jerk
Several years back, my mom went on a tour of the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO. At the end of the tour, they would give you free samples of brew. When asked what she wanted—without even thinking—she made a serious mistake. She asked for a Miller Lite. He gave her a dirty look, filled the glass up halfway with water and halfway with brew, slammed it down, and called her a nasty name.
48. Stupidity Drove Her To Do It
I once went to meet up with some friends at an Asian restaurant. I was 23, but unfortunately, I looked like I was 16 or 17, which was semi-awesome. When I got there, the lady told me they didn’t serve underaged kids without adults. I got that often, so all I did was flash her my driver’s license. For some reason, she thought it was fake. What she did next was seriously deranged.
She ended up grabbing it, cutting it up in front of me, and phoning the authorities. When officers showed up, they ran my license. They told the hostess that it was real. I ended up getting a free meal, and the manager asked me if I would like the girl to be fired. I told her no because I don't hold grudges against people's stupidity.
49. If That Don’t Beat All
I decided I wanted to take my boyfriend out to dinner while he was in town. Everything was fine until the server brought the check. I got out my credit card and handed it over. The server pointed to my boyfriend and said to me, "Does he beat you too"? I guess it is somehow barbarous for a male to allow a female to pay on a date.
50. Tired Of Jive Talkin’
I was a server for a long time. I learned most of what I know about waiting tables from an older guy who took me under his wing when I got my first server job. It was at a really nice, expensive restaurant, and new servers were expected to back waiter for a few weeks before they were trusted enough to take tables themselves.
I was back waitering for this guy when a party of eight came in. There were four couples celebrating something. Cocktails were flowing, and appetizers disappeared. The waiter I was shadowing was making the rounds and taking orders. He had already discussed the night's specials in detail and sold a few $40+ entrees—before he got to “the loud guy”.
This guy had a few drinks in him and, much to the chagrin of his visibly embarrassed wife, had decided to impress everyone with how awesome and knowledgeable he was. So, of course, he asked the server to repeat all the specials, which he did. The dude then started drilling down to specific ingredients, even asking what kind of herbs were in the Béarnaise sauce.
This was at 8 PM on a Friday night. The server I was shadowing and I had three other tables of four already seated. I was doing what I could, but he was trapped at this eight-top. The loud guy kept asking stupid questions and wanted to chat. Finally, the server said, "Sir? I'm sorry, but I have other tables that need my attention. May I take your order"?
The loud guy freaked out, saying how rude he was. The server looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't realize I was here to entertain you". But that’s not all he did. He then started disco dancing like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. He boogied around the whole table and said to me, "Get this guy's order", before pelvic-thrusting his way back to the kitchen, leaving the eight-top table speechless.
Sources: Reddit, ,
