We had a lot of fun
talking about tipping recently, so I thought it would be nice to supplement our discussion with details from this funny
article in Reader's Digest about all the things your waiter doesn't want you to know.
Here are my five favorite items on the list:
- When soup gets sent back for being too cold—and a customer is being a jerk about it—employees in the kitchen sometimes run the spoon under hot water. That way, the soup appears hot... maybe even shockingly hot for that uppity customer.
- Not everything "homemade" actually is. It could come from anywhere—a bakery down the street or even Costco.
- If you're arguing at your table and the staff starts hovering around nearby to refill salt shakers and the like, it probably means they're eavesdropping.
- If you accidentally take the receipt you filled out, leaving a blank one at the restaurant, your server will not see any tip. Also, I learned from YourDailyTip (warning: bad language ahead) that if you add incorrectly on your check and come up with a total that reflects a smaller tip than the one you wrote down, most restaurants make the waiters accept this smaller tip.
- You should send your water back if you experience what one waiter termed "the touchdown"—when the water pitcher touches your glass as the server refills it. Because then it probably touched a lot of people's glasses, and that's a lot of germs.
There's also a short list of server lingo at the end of the article. For example, a
drive-by is when a waiter basically makes up an excuse to visit a table, like refilling water. Usually because a customer is hot.
Check out the article and tell us: Which are your favorite secrets? Are there any missing from the list?Image Source
We had a lot of fun talking about tipping recently, so I thought it would be nice to supplement our discussion with details from this funny article in Reader's Digest about all the things your waiter doesn't want you to know.
Comments (40)
im a waitress, and i am honest with everything around there. if i dont like something i will tell them. cause i dont eat seafood and im not gonna say i love the fish if i dont haha.
i thing i am one of few honest ones.
you can ask me all the questions i want, or even call me a liar, but you dont know me.
i have many regulars for the simple fact that im honest
lol
1. but it's OK to not want cold soup right? as long as you are not rude, shouldn't they be cool about that? 2. that is the cook and the restaurant lying, not the waiter, who, even if he/she knows, is put in a very awkward position, 3 lol, let them listen. glad I'm that interesting! 4 that sux and is very unfair! 5. I don't remember ever having this happen. Most of my wait staff are always gREAT
@quietmeteorshowers@xanga - and you get excellent tips from me
@And_I_love@xanga - haha thanks!
I can confirm all but the first one about the soup-- didn't know people did that :/ Seems kind of silly to me to expect people to eat chilly soup when it IS supposed to be hot. What's so hard about heating the soup more?
When I worked at a certain world house of flapjacks, we had what was called "Pittsburgh Clam Chowder." It was what was left over of the day before's potato soup and the day before that's clam chowder. ha.
I've heard that complaining in fast food joints is a pretty good way to end up with a McSnotburger.
I learned something. I get drive-bys all the time.
interesting some of them i didnt know
but what you really should know: waiting tables is hard work. if the restaurant is busy and your service is mediocre, it's because we're overwhelmed, not inattentive.
yes, waitstaff do nasty, unprofessional things sometimes, but customers OFTEN give us serious grief (and bad tips) for things we have no control over.
From the article, I especially liked--
1. We’re not allowed to tell our customers we don’t like a dish. So if
you ask your server how something is and she says, “It’s one of our
most popular dishes,” chances are she doesn’t like it.
—Waitress at a well-known pizza chain
--So true. That is an important secret code everyone should be privy to.
9. I knew one guy—he was a real jerk—he’d go to Costco and buy this
gigantic carrot cake for $10 and tell us to say it’s homemade. Then he
sold it for $10 a slice.
--This is why you should beware the house wine. You are likely paying more per class then the whole giant bottle cost.
@FracturedOne@xanga - LMAO!
this is really great and interesting information!
I've heard of 1 and 2! Hmm... What about the chef spitting in a burger if you complain about a pickle and ask them to take it out?
ya i've heard about all what you have said and adding up more i have also heard that waiters will mix up what ever the customers have left back in their plates( it may be soup, sauce etc) to the food stuff in the hotel kitchen if there are more rush in the hotel in order to compensate the insufficiency.
try not to argue with them if you want a clean meal. i try to avoid eating outside
Haha. Drive-bys.
It's always peeved me when the pitcher touches my glass! I always think to myself.. "Are these waiters even trained?!"
This is an awesome post. :p I love this list, and I'm going to bookmark that article to show my friends. Lol! Its just pretty cool. Plus, its some interesting information to know. And it might come in handy!
Like with number one. If you actually wanted your soup to be heated up, or new soup that actually is hot, then be nice about it. :p I rarely hand food back, though. It just makes more work for the kitchen and I'm afraid they'll spit in it. You never know when someone back there is having a bad day already, anyway! o.o;
I would think that someone would figure out that the soup itself wasn't hot, though, when there is no steam or heat coming from the bowl itself. o.o;;
Yes, this was a great article.
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LOL a drive-by
These were all stupid. I've worked as a waitress for 4 years. Actually when people complain about the soup we put in in the microwave till its boiling.
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4. If someone orders a frozen drink that’s annoying to make, I’ll say,
“Oh, we’re out. Sorry!” when really I just don’t want to make it. But
if you order water instead of another drink, suddenly we do have what
you originally wanted because I don’t want to lose your drink on the
bill.
—Waitress at a casual Mexican restaurant in Manhattan
This one is so WRONG! If it were to ever happen to me, I would be speaking to owner/manager right away. It is so obvious if you suddenly have it when I order a cheap or free drink you were being a lazy bitch.
I ordered smoothies at a Jack-in-the-box once, and the guy two guys working proceeded to bitch and moan about how annoying they are to make. The machine to make them is UNDER the menu and right behind the counter so I heard everything they said, made sure to get ALL names and then asked for the manager who was in back, she wasn't happy. Both got wrote up for it. She basically asked if they were fucking stupid to bitch with the customer standing right there.
I don't care if there is a part of your job that you don't like, we all have them, just suck it up and do it, and if you must complain don't do it in front of customers. Also don't be a lazy ass and try to avoid making something and lie about not having it, you are BOUND TO GET CAUGHT in that one.
@prettyboy78@xanga - it's always funny to see them caught in the act though =]
5 is not 30, and I don't think this belongs on Dollarish.
Haha drive by.
I figure most waiters don't say bad stuff about a product, so I usually ask what their favorite choice is, or what they like best out of 2.