Dinners From Hell offers true stories about restaurant dining disasters written by diners, servers and chefs.

We've all had those dining experiences when things went dreadfully wrong. Perhaps it was a social blunder, an obnoxious customer, a waiter or waitress with an attitude, a temperamental chef, an embarrassing faux pas, or a food or beverage incident. Find out what others have had to endure by reading stories about dinners gone bad.

Customer Demands Free Food

June 10, 2016 Diner Stories

I have worked as a server for almost 4 years now at various restaurants in various parts of Florida. I’m generally not surprised or fazed when people demand things for free when there’s no merit for it. You have to have thick skin in this business, especially on the front lines as a server.

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Selfish Parents Disrupt Dining Experience

May 29, 2016 Kid Stories

My wife and I dined at an upscale restaurant later at night, around 9:30. The host was going to seat us near a table that had a lot of kids. We requested and received a table further away from the kid’s table so our dinner could be a more quiet and romantic one.

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Frustrated by Server’s Failure to Communicate

May 9, 2016 Food & Drink Stories

Me and an old boyfriend went out to eat one night at a chain family style restaurant. I ordered myself chicken fingers with honey dill sauce and Caesar salad. The server never mentioned any issues with my order and proceeded to bring out our drinks. Honey dill sauce is a chicken finger dip made from […]

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A Novel Complaint

April 22, 2016 Diner Stories

“Table one wants to see a manager.” As a restaurant manager, my lap is a proverbial dumping ground where servers regularly invite grumpy and entitled customers to sit. In the prevailing I don’t get paid enough to deal with this shit culture which permeates the service staffs in most eateries, the feces usually rises to […]

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Restaurant Owner Erupts over Prepackaged Food Remark

April 8, 2016 Food & Drink Stories

This is Australia. The Land of Milk and Honey. And angry Greek restaurant owners.

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Ten Reasons Why Your Server Thinks You’re a Douche

March 15, 2016 Dining Hell Commentary

Intentionally screwing with the people who have access to your food makes about as much sense as lighting a cigarette while filling up your gas tank. However, there never seems to be a shortage of culinary warriors who insist on running face-first into a wall of pretense every chance they get. Whether motivated by ignorance […]

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Why Your Restaurant Loyalty Program Probably Sucks

February 16, 2016 Dining Hell Commentary

Corporate restaurant marketing departments understand that the quickest route to their customer’s wallets is through their stomachs while simultaneously appealing to their vanity. The primary job of a restaurant marketer is to sit in an office cubicle six states removed from where you work while devising ways to extract as much money from your customers […]

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Ten Things to Consider When Dining Out on a Holiday

February 7, 2016 Dining Hell Commentary

Ah, the holidays… Simultaneously the bane and windfall of every restaurant calendar year. Primarily populated by enthusiastic amateurs whose dining habits make pigs in a trough appear cultured, as well as employees who would rather be anywhere other than serving them, holidays are viewed by most restaurant workers as a time to hunker down for […]

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Peculiar Phone Call

February 4, 2016 Illness/Medical Stories

One day last summer I was working as usual at a seafood themed restaurant/pub. Being responsible for the place when the owner isn’t there, I carry the restaurant’s phone with me while I work.

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Rolling the Dice on the Culinary Front

January 17, 2016 Diner Stories

When desperation is all that’s left, gambling usually kicks in.

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Silent Waiter Stands Over Table

January 8, 2016 Server Stories

This particular story occurred a few years ago when dining at a now-defunct Asian restaurant in College Station, Texas. My roommate and I were grabbing some dinner one Friday night before meeting friends to have drinks out. The particular restaurant we were at wasn’t anything fancy or special, but had been around a while and […]

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Waiter Chides Cheapskate Customer

January 3, 2016 Server Stories

When I was in grad school, another student and I from the same lab group went out to a local Chinese restaurant for lunch. It was a nice place – a bit higher end than your typical takeout joint. At the end of the meal, I was paying cash and he was using a credit […]

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