Server Bites Her Tongue

October 17, 2007

in Diner Stories

This story is actually coming from a waitress, and my dinner from hell, as a server.

It started at 3 pm on a Wednesday. The restaurant I worked at had happy hour from 4-7 pm and it was only IN THE BAR… not at the restaurant tables.

So this 30ish couple come in and the guy says, “Hey it’s happy hour.” I had to inform him that happy hour was only in the bar. Strike one… he didn’t like that.

So he asked me how much a draft beer would be not on happy hour pricing and I told him I wasn’t sure, let me get him a drink menu (because all the prices are in the computer, I don’t know the prices of anything). His female companion adds that she would like to know what kind of margaritas we had. I told her that I had to bring her a drink menu as well. She got all huffy and asked me, “Are you new, because you don’t know a whole lot.” I was so mad, I told her that we had 30 different margaritas and I was sorry if I couldn’t recite the ingredients of every single one to her, that’s why I offered the drink menu.

My blood boils right now, as I think about it.

So this is just the start of the party.

She ordered a raspberry margarita which she immediately hated, so I took it away from her. She ordered a soda instead. For dinner she ordered the prime rib with a baked potato with butter and sour cream.

Here’s where it gets really good.

The plate with her dinner on it had the meat, a cup of au jus, a small ramekin of horseradish sauce, and her baked potato with butter and sour cream on it.

I came back and checked on them a few minutes later and everyone was happy. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long.

I came back again a few minutes later to see how the meal was and she was pissed! She said to me, “There’s horseradish in this little cup and I thought it was sour cream and I put it on my baked potato, and now my throat is on fire… I’m allergic to horseradish.”

First let me say that if you’re allergic to something that automatically comes with your food, you should tell your server. That being said…

She asked why I put horseradish on her plate. I told her that it automatically comes with prime rib.

This is the best part………

She said, “I’ve eaten prime rib at some of the most expensive restaurants in town and have never had horseradish served with it.” I was like…….uh….yeah………..sure you have.

I was so mad that I wanted to scream back at her that every restaurant that serves prime rib, serves it with a side of horseradish. Ooooo, I was so mad.

I told my manager to have fun with her… so he told her the exact same thing that I wanted to scream, only he did it nicely.

They were just looking for a free meal and I’m happy to say that they didn’t get it that day.

{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }

Mister Whirly April 2, 2009 at 9:29 am

If you haven't had prime rib served with horseradish before, you have not had prime rib. What a moron.

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Rob April 2, 2009 at 2:47 pm

She 'confused' horseradish with sour cream?

uh huh.

Good job!

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RK April 2, 2009 at 3:41 pm

Maybe if you are allergic to a food, you should know how to avoid it…

"What do you mean there's peanuts in my chocolate sundae?…."

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jaymoney April 3, 2009 at 6:41 am

FYI:

Anyone allergic to anything must tell the server, they are not mind readers.

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Hugh April 6, 2009 at 8:34 am

I'm happy your manager stood up for you. I find that is very important in how good an establishment is. Customer's always right? Nope.

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Sympathy Given December 7, 2010 at 11:20 pm

Yes good managers are hard to find. I've had managers (not at restaurants) who will kiss the customer's butts but then turn around and can't even do their own job. I did what they were supposed to (only thing keeping me from being manager was the need of a car to make deposits at end of night) while they screwed me over. If I refused and let them at it we would've been there a lot longer so it was easier just to get the job done.

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waiter87 April 8, 2011 at 4:23 am

i feel your pain i had a lady who straight up said our bread was undercooked????? mmmm noooo every customer gets a loaf of bread when they are seated and it so happends that this lady thought it was undercooked…. there was nothing wrong with the bread than later on she complained that i've had served her too much ginger ale ummm huh??? seriously people if your not having a good day dont go out and ruin other peoples day

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john August 5, 2012 at 10:47 pm

sounds like a couple of rude clueless idiots who don't know anything about food or how to handle themselves in public

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Mel November 2, 2016 at 11:53 am

Restaurants are NEVER responsible for your food allergies. NEVER. If you have an allergy and you aren't willing to disclose that the second you order, then you shouldn't eat in restaurants, period.

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Ace November 29, 2016 at 3:24 am

What a crock of bull! First of all, horseradish does not even LOOK like sour cream! It is slightly yellowish and has a texture. Second of all, if that lady was truly allergic to it, she should've declared a medical emergency and rushed to ER (or her husband would've had to do that provided that her throat swelled up). Thirdly, people who are allergic to a particular food know VERY WELL what that food looks like and always check a hundred times whether a particular dish includes that food. This is so painfully obviously a scam for a free gift card or whatnot, I am just glad that the OP and her manager did the right thing.

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jonasgal July 10, 2017 at 4:47 pm

HOW does the server KNOW they were trying to get free food?? WHY do people assume sooo much sometimes abt people??

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