About Us

Dinner from hell for Gregg Rottler

My wife and I have dined at thousands of restaurants throughout the years. While most experiences have been pleasant ones, on occasion we’ve endured a dining disaster. We’ve had food and beverages spilled on us, seen other patrons make boors of themselves, been subjected to waiters with an attitude, witnessed parents turn dining rooms into children’s playrooms,  been served inedible food, watched roaches crawling on our table, and so on. It’s very frustrating to pay lots of money to have a lousy time.

I knew that we couldn’t be the only diners who’ve experienced calamities in restaurants. I also knew that servers inevitably experience their own hellish episodes whether they be from fellow staff, accidents, or demanding and abusive customers. I’m always amazed at how well waitstaff are able to maintain their composure in a pressure cooker atmosphere.

So I came up with the idea of launching a website where both diners and servers could share their horror stories, thereby offering cathartic relief and providing entertainment for others. Additionally, I thought that the website might help to bridge the chasm that exists between diners and servers by allowing both sides to see things from the other’s point of view. And so Dinners From Hell was created and became published online in January 2007, followed soon afterwards by our other site, Flights From Hell.

I hope that you enjoy the stories we offer, and will share your own experiences as well!

– Gregg Rottler