8 Things That Piss off Your Waiter ...

I spent several years in my late teens and early twenties as a waitress, so I know first-hand the difference between a table full of good customers and a table that’s just going to piss a waiter off. Sometimes even the table with the best, most polite customers can be the worst, though, so I think perhaps people piss off their waiters without meaning to. To help you avoid that, here’s a list of 8 things that piss off your waiter — so you can try avoid doing them!

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Asking for Nutrition Information

I can barely remember my own birthday, let alone how many calories or grams of fat are in a particular drink, not to mention an entire menu. Waiters and waitresses don’t know either, so don’t ask them. If you want to know how badly you’re breaking your diet with that Bloomin’ Onion at Outback, check the website yourself before you order.

Request Hot Tea

Though most waiters don’t mind making a cup of hot tea when they’re not busy, it makes them crazy to have to do it during rush hours. Why? Because it’s one of the only drinks they can’t prepare ahead of time. They have to heat the water, gather all of the stuff, and bring it out. And that, my dear, takes a lot of time. If it’s the busy dinner or lunch rush, order coffee or something else instead.

Make Them Run Unrealistically

It’s okay to ask your waiter for more napkins, or extra tartar sauce, or another glass of water… if you do them all at once. But don’t make requests every three seconds, and make your poor waiter run like a mad man. This will REALLY piss your waiter off.

Blame Them for the Hostess’s or Chef’s Mistakes

If you asked for non-smoking, and got sat in the smoking section, or if your rare steak shows up done medium, it’s not your waiter’s fault, so don’t blame him. Ask him nicely to correct the problem, and he will, gladly. But don’t take it out on him, or his tip, if the hostess or chef makes an error.

Being Just Plain Rude

As a general rule, it’s awful to be rude to anyone, but why would you ever want to be rude to your waiter, who holds, in his hands, the very food you’re about to eat? Be polite. Be gracious. Be as nice as you can, because one day, you might be a waiter, too… and also because if you piss off your waiter, he may just spit in your food… or worse. Or he may just make sure you get the old coffee instead of the fresh.

Famous Quotes

Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of penetration.

Niccolò Machiavelli

Let Your Children Run Wild, or Try to Order on Their Own

Please, for the safety of the other diners and the staff, and their own safety, don’t let your kids run wild in the restaurant! Also, don’t let shy, quiet Janie order her own meal. She’ll whisper, the waiter won’t hear her, and you’ll end up ordering for her anyway. Both of these things, but especially the former, will really piss off your waiter, and possibly everyone else in the restaurant!

Ask to Split the Bill after It’s Been Delivered

If you and the six friends you brought to the restaurant with you want to split the bill, ask the waiter BEFORE you order, or at least before he brings the bill! It makes a lot of extra work if he has to go back and re-calculate everything over again.

Tip Less Because of a Coupon

Just because you used a coupon that gave you half off your meal doesn’t mean the waiter worked half as hard to serve you, so tip on the amount you would have paid, not the discounted amount. Don’t piss off your waiter by stiffing him if your meal is comped, either.

In all of the years I was a waitress, I can’t tell you how many times people did these exact things — and how many times, even as patient as I am, how they made me mad! Now that this list is out there, though, hopefully we all know how to keep from pissing our waiters off… right? Right! And hey, if there are any current or past waiters out there, please share your stories! What did customers used to do to piss you off?

Top Photo Credit: toxel.ro

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Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge

I was a waitress for 6 years in two different countries and I can say there's a lot more than just that. In the end, if you are a picky person - tip more. If you're a jerk, stay at home. As for the kids ordering, as an experienced waitress and a mother, I can say that this depends. If you're not busy and you don't have the patience to let a kid build their learning skills and confidence by ordering their own food, you're in the wrong industry. If it's lunch rush or friday/saturday night, then the parent should order for the child.

I waitress at a place in England where people (and celebs) prepay £400 and tip nothing. Thanks. I'm there all day and MIGHT leave with £10 worth of tips overall. In another place a family spent over £300 and tipped £10, whatever happened to the decency of a 10% tip?

Why not when you have free time you boil some water and put it in a sealed pot (or a thermos haha) so it stays hot. We do at work and it stays hot forever :)

I completely agree with this post as I've been in the industry for 11 years the last 5 being a bartender and have experienced everything mentioned. One thing that bugs me is water. First of all, don't order it if you're not going to drink it. Secondly, you look very cheap when you ask for "a lot of lemons" so you can squeeze them in and add a pack of sugar to make lemonade, I call this version ghetto-ade. Most places carry lemonade now and you're out to enjoy yourself so do yourself a favor and live a little. Spend the extra $1.75 on the real deal ;-) Also, just because the other two or three people with you order it doesn't mean you have to as I've seen the ordering of this bland (and free) beverage set off chain reactions. Coffee can be annoying sometimes too so here's my little trick. Assuming you have a large group (or not as this will work for any number of people) and they want both regular and decaf just give them all decaf. They won't know the difference and I'm a coffeeholic so ill attest to that haha. Also, who the hell needs caffeine at 10pm anyway. This saves my brain frustration from remembering who drinks what so at least this way I know I can play off the brew. Some might call this dishonest so before you go into it, honestly who am I hurting? If anything I'm allowing you to sleep when you get home. I don't get much coffee ordered through my side of the bar but when I was a server, especially at an olive garden, it was practically the beverage of choice. That is of course aside from the water (with lemon) :-p

This is so true, I'm a waitress and these are the most annoying things ever!!

Although I do understand people can be very rude to waiters and sometimes its unknowingly! No one enters a restaurant determined to piss a waiter off! Spitting in someones food is totally outrageous! I have never even heard of it before and really the answer to rudeness is not to fight back with rudeness! Like they say two wrongs dont make a right! Plus i do not understand why you cannot ask your waiter for hot tea? If you are going to eat at a restaurant you will want to get the full service and not alter your order because of rush hour. Its the restuarants job to maintain rush hour instead of asking the customers to alter their choices...Also if a parent asks their "shy" daughter to order then all they are trying to do is make her independent. They don't wanna order for her all her life so i guess if the waiter senses the girl is shy he should be supportive! These two things i don't agree with all...

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