Are you guilty of anything on the list?
Those who have worked in hospitality share a special bond. It is only they who have been on the front lines of obnoxious customer hell. And while most diners are perfectly lovely, it often only takes one to ruin an entire shift/day/week/make you go home and cry in the shower.
The Washington Post recently spoke to Darren Cardosa, a veteran waiter who has been in the industry for over 25 years, as well as running a blog called The Bitchy Waiter. When it came to a fairly experienced opinion on what is irritating not just about diners, but restaurants in general, Cardosa had a lot to say.
Here’s what drives service staff up the freaking wall, according to someone who’s been living it for 25 years:
Some people want empty plates cleared immediately and others don’t, and you can never win.
This is a customer preference thing, and waitstaff get reprimanded by customers for not doing it their preferred way at least once a shift.
“With clearing only one person’s plate, all that’s going to do is make the person who is still eating feel uncomfortable, make them feel as though they should stop eating so their plate can be cleared too.”
But then….
“I remember at least once before leaving a plate in front of someone who had finished eating, because their companion had not, and then being asked to take the plate out of their way. It was as if I wasn’t doing my job, even though I thought I was.”
They hate when you want to change tables.
“I wish customers would just take the table we gave them. There’s usually a really good reason for it, and I don’t think people understand that.”
They hate picking up your dirty napkin for you.
“I’ve always hated it for two reasons. The first is that I hate having to pick up someone’s napkin that they’ve been using, and having to refold it, because I don’t want to touch their napkin. But I don’t think that the customers necessarily wants my hands all over their napkin anyway.”
Top Comments
When I was 8 1/2 months pregnant my husband and I and 2 friends went out to dinner. We were led to a high bar table with backless bar stools. My husband said, are there any other tables free? And was told no (there were free tables everywhere). I tried to make it work, but was standing and just leaning on the table within 10mins.
Anyway, when the waiter came to take the order hubby said apologetically, sorry, my wife can't sit/stand here all night so we're going to leave. Miraculously a normal table suddenly became available.
the only time i change the menu item is when I say no chips please. other than that i'll order exactly what's offered. if something has coriander i wont order it