Random Restaurant Employees Recount Their Ridiculous Customer Requests, And They Deserve Way More Tips (28 items)

• (#26) Kale, Kale, Kale

  From u/i_am_a_toaster:

  When I waited tables, it was before the whole "Kale is a SUPERFOOD" thing, and I worked at an IHOP where they would put a sprig of kale on every plate as garnish. I didn't even really know it was edible. I thought it was, you know, just a green thing to make the plates look fancy or whatever. A man came in one day and ordered something that came with a side, and he asked if he could have kale. I was like... the garnish? Yes, the garnish. He just wanted a bunch of kale. I was really confused but put a bunch on the plate for him and it made him happy, so... there we go. He was years ahead of his time.
• (#7) Corona With Lime

  From u/[deleted]:

  Early 2000's.

  Working in an Italian restaurant, this one cat insists he needs lime juice for his meal. As we're an Italian restaurant, we don't have any on hand for our menu items, but the bar should have some. Thinking out loud I mention that the kitchen doesn't have any, but the bar throws those into bottles of Corona, so I might be able to get some there.

  Customer: Are you going to charge me for that?

  Me: No, I think I can get a garnish for you.

  So I come back with the lime and he looks confused.

  Customer: Where's the Corona?

  Me: I'm sorry - you said you wanted the lime? Did you want to order a Corona as well?

  Customer: Yeah I want one, you said you wouldn't charge me.

  Leading into a back-and-forth wherein he's upset I didn't bring him a free Corona with his free lime, because he misunderstood me.
• (#13) Lobster Bisque

  From u/erikarew:

  I had a customer ask what region the lobster was from in our lobster bisque, because he was allergic to shellfish but only from a certain ocean. All I could think as we had to call the head chef at home to ask about lobster source regions was that maybe the guy could...not eat the bisque.
• (#2) Substitute A Side For A Meal?

  From u/GiveHerTheWorks:

  Some old woman got mad at me because I told her that I wouldn't substitute the side on her meal for ANOTHER MEAL. Like she wanted $16 Meal A, and for her free side, she wanted $18 Meal B, but with absolutely no upcharge.

  She was like "Wow really, you're not going to do that for me? Are you serious?!" I was busy and didn't have time to play stupid games so I just said "No, I'm not going to do that for the price of one meal. You can order both meals if you'd like." She started up again until her daughter was like "Mom KNOCK IT OFF."
• (#24) Mysterious Man Of The Alabama Crimson Tide... Who Is He?

  From u/kefkaeatsbabies:

  I had a regular at my bar who spoke with a thick Southern accent, always wore an Alabama Crimson Tide shirt or some variant, would only drink beers from the South (N*ked Pig Pale being his go to) which I kept in stock just for him, and would sit at the bar, bet the horse races, regale us with tales from his youth, get a little too drunk and leave to take care of his mother. He was there every single day except Thursdays. He demanded we keep Alabama beer in stock and always wanted replays of old Crimson Tide games on TV. It got to the point i started downloading them into a drive and playing them for him, since espn U is only good for so much.We all thought he was wild but he was nice enough.

  This went on for an entire year. Our entire staff knew him and he was pretty well liked. We had to ask him to leave once or twice because he decided to impress someone or would win a couple races and start drinking scotch and get a little out of hand, but he was generally really polite and respectful.

  One day he just stopped coming in. One of the older ladies who worked at the track had his phone number, since she had the habit of saving him race books for the tracks he liked, so she called him a few times. Nothing.

  About a month later the Police showed up to ask some people at the bar about him, if they might know where he is. We all told them what we knew but apparently not a word of it was true. His name wasn't Scott, he wasn't from the South and his mother had been dead for quite a while. Turns out he had seduced an older, southern lady with his charms and wiles, created an entire life with her for her money (supposedly), then disappeared with the money and the lady turned up dead. Police said it was from natural causes but the timing was so odd they still needed to find him to question him.

  He came back in for a single drink about 4 months later and he left an envelope for our 3 bartenders he liked and the lady who held racing books for him. $1500 in each. I served him and asked my manager at the time what she thought I should do. She asked if I felt uncomfortable; I said no and since cops aren't great for business at a horse track we just decided to leave it be. I walked back out and he had left, leaving a simply written "thanks for being a friend" on a napkin with $704.50 in cash under it. The $4.50 was for the beer; and my rent, as he had asked about many months before in a random conversation, was $700 at the time. Dunno if he remembered or if it was just a coincidence.

  He was gone and I never saw him again, and his phone number is now out of service. I think about him a couple times a week at least.
• (#25) Sit With Me

  From u/throwawayheyheyhey08:

  I also had a regular that would insist you sat and ate with him. Management complied but I think mostly it was because he came in at odd hours, like lunch at 3 pm, when someone was usually wrapping up sidework and about to be cut anyway. He’d order for you both. He was a nice older gay man who loved to talk about the history of the town. I loved him! I often wonder what happened to him. He’d been coming in for years and years. You did have to dump the iced tea and make a new batch for him.

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