Restaurant Stories from Hell

[lurkernomore]

another complaint of hers - many of her managers were pervy dudes who were on lots o' drugs. Bad combo.[/QUOTE]

I got hired at a Brigham's (ice cream) in Boston when I first went away to college. When the manager was giving me the tour of the restaurant he showed me his office. He actually said to me "this is where you come when you are bad or very good". ewww...needless to say, I went to another restaurant

[aliysiah]

Originally Posted by caitlin1214

An open letter to all Starbucks customers: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/wdc/54550251.html

That's funny, the Frappuccino part. If that's true then I'm done with Starbucks, whoever wrote that must have been very angry or had a bad day. -_-; I'll stick with the other coffee places for now on.

[Fetish]

I dont personally have any experiences however I thought I would share this anyway.

My db and I used to be regulars at this one restaraunt called Madisons and we frequently had the same waitress. One sunday night she was closing the bar and let all the other employees go home early while she closed the restaraunt. She locked the doors, cashed out and went to do her routine bathroom check before leaving. When she got to the basement, there was someone hiding in the corner. They stabbed her about 12 times with a kitchen knife before lighting her body on fire and fleeing the place. The smoke alarms went off and the police and fire trucks pulled up, only to find her dead body lying in the basement.

They never found the killer. They spoke to employees who could not provide them with any information. They did not have any motives either. The cash box still remained intact, nothing was stolen. It was mysterious because this woman was such a nice, polite and respectful lady. All the employees were shocked that it was her out of all people that this happened to. Even my db and I were in disbelief, knowing what kind of a person she was and how long we had gotton to know her. She had grown on the people - the employees, the customers, even the owner so much that he couldnt bear to keep it open. She had worked there for 6-7 years. He shut the restaraunt down. She left behind a husband and their dog.

I was looking into this story and that restaraunt has a strange history. Another waitress was murdered there a couple decades ago, by a professional football player over an escalation that got out of hand. He shot her in cold blood.

[cfred]

Eek, so many stories...
I have not spit in food, or seen anyone do anything really gross. I think it is more common for the waitstaff to do stuff to mess with the customer psychologically (like take extra time to do something the customer asked for, or push an order back...)
I think people tend to want their dining experience very catered to their liking without realizing that this takes some mind reading abilities on the waitstaff's part. We are meant to be entertainers, therapists, servants (and this is subjective as well as many people expect different things.)
I have been snapped at, condescended to, stiffed on tips, and yelled at. Sometimes, people come in the restaurant in a bad mood and it is clear that they will not be having a good time.
I like waiting on tables because it is interesting and I meet all sorts of great people. I am glad to have waitressing experience though as it gives me some compassion when I eat out... and makes me a good tipper!

[caitlin1214]

We used to joke about what we would do to annoying people's drinks. Nothing to endanger people's health, mind you, but . . . say . . . "forget" that certain drinks don't come with whipped cream.

[caitlin1214]

It bugged me when people would suddenly remember they wanted an iced latte.


It was never when I was just starting to pull the shots. (It would have been easy then. I could have switched cups.)

They would always remember at the most inconvenient times. I would have already made the drink and called it to the customer.

[yeliab]

Wow, that sofa king Sucks!! The nerve of those people!!

What's the double whamy - you had to pay for the bill!!! WTF!! I think the restaurant should absorb the cost! Not You!! GEEZ!!!

Originally Posted by candypants1100

i had a table of 8 people. a family. like a mom, dad, and their six (yes, six) kids. they were very demanding- they asked for mustard on the burger and i brought them mustard in the bottle because really, its just easier to let people put their own condiments on. they flipped out at me, saying they wanted it to come ON their burger. then they freaked out because the ketchup ran out (it was over half full when they sat, but each kid got fries, and used way too much ketchup on their fries and hence, ran out). i quickly brought them their new bottle and they snatched it out of my hand without a thank you. literally, it was just one thing after another. when the bill came, they took it without a thank you or anything, and i went to a new table that had just sat to take their drink order, and the family got up and left. i walked over to their table to start cleaning it and collect the bill, and what do you know...they WALKED OUT WITHOUT PAYING THEIR $120.00 BILL!!!!!!!!!! are you asl;dkfjals;kdfja;lksdfja kidding me?! so, of course, that had to come out of my tips, and i was written up for it (three write ups and you're fired). wow, people. if you can't afford to go out to eat, DON'T.

[yeliab]

Yikes!! Caitlin you have really great stories here and at the Retail thread!!

Originally Posted by caitlin1214

An open letter to all Starbucks customers: http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/wdc/54550251.html

[ShopGirl647]

OMG ... keep it coming...

I don`t have any horrible restaurant stories yet but I do work with this girl and whenever we have our monthly department lunch (about 10 ppl) at a restaurant which is paid for by our boss, she would choose a dish and literally request to change the ingredients in it. The waitress or waiter would recommend another dish that would closely resemble what she describes but she would insist on having that particular dish but without this and that and please add this and that. This causes her to take forever to order. Oh my, I always wonder if the wait staffs ever did anything to her food.

[flashy.stems]

ohh i have a good restaurant complaint.
i was at one of my fave restaurants for my 4 year anniversary with my bf (ex...) and we sat in a special booth with curtains. the waitress, an older woman around 55, came to collect our plates after the first course, and she asked how the food was. my boyfriend replied with, 'it was so good, i could lick my plate!' the woman, to my HORROR, replied.. 'well, sonny, you can do a lot of licking of other things if you'd like.. i can just close these curtains"

i was disgusted.

bf didn't get laid that night..

[yeliab]

Originally Posted by flashy.stems

ohh i have a good restaurant complaint. i was at one of my fave restaurants for my 4 year anniversary with my bf (ex...) and we sat in a special booth with curtains. the waitress, an older woman around 55, came to collect our plates after the first course, and she asked how the food was. my boyfriend replied with, 'it was so good, i could lick my plate!' the woman, to my HORROR, replied.. 'well, sonny, you can do a lot of licking of other things if you'd like.. i can just close these curtains" i was disgusted. bf didn't get laid that night..

[flashy.stems]

it was HORRIBLE, i tell you, HORRIBLE!!
my bf just kind of stared at her.. and i sat there with my mouth wide open, and my face super red!!

[stephc005]

my aunt is the worst customer to ever serve. we always avoid going out with her because it's so embarrassing, and i pity the waiter/waitress for having to deal with her.

1 time we went out to dinner for my grandfather's bday. my aunt insisted on bringing her nephew (her brother's son) who is incredibly whiny and rude. he was about 10 and insisted on wanting crabs for dinner. he didn't eat them...just played with them and their shells. at the end of the meal, my aunt took the wooden mallet they give you to break the shells. she just took it off the table and put it in her purse. she just giggled when my mom looked at her like she's crazy.

my aunt is also notorious for using coupons- like get a free appetizer when you buy an entree. so she gets the entree and uses the free appetizer as her daughter's dinner.

she also orders 1 meal to split for every 2 people for her family of 5.

she also orders 2 baked potatoes as her 2 side dishes whenever possible so she can take 1 of the potatoes home. she'll box up 1 potato and all the butter on the table. 1 potato and half a stick's worth of butter...

she also asks for extra bread so she can take it home for the next morning's breakfast.

for a party of 6 adults, she tips 15% and raves how great of a tip it is.

she questions the waiter like crazy about everything on the menu and can never make a decision until her husband yells at her.

she always requests a bowl of lemons and then uses the back of a knife to juice the lemon wedges into her glass of water.

she eats so slowly and wants to stay around chatting until the restaurant closes.

[divadivine682]

Girl, get me started!!! I've been a bartender/server for 6 years and the stories I could tell would have this whole forum peeing in their pants!!!

Lets just say this: NEVER BE RUDE TO YOUR SERVER!!! No good can come of it.

[krisluvspurses]

Originally Posted by aliysiah

That's funny, the Frappuccino part. If that's true then I'm done with Starbucks, whoever wrote that must have been very angry or had a bad day. -_-; I'll stick with the other coffee places for now on.

I loved the Starbucks letter and can totally relate! I worked at Starbucks for two years. And this letter is right on with he type of people you have to deal with. The worst is customers who come in talking on their cell phones. Once, I was working the register, and I actually had a guy in line, talking on his phone, tell me to "hold on a sec". Must have been an important conversation, but good grief, don't get in line then! My mouth dropped...and I ignored him and asked the person behind him if I could help them. It was really busy at the time and honestly, I don't know what happened to the cell phone guy. I don't know if he left or got back in line or what.

And, BTW Frappuccinos really are a pain in the a** to make.