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.

Little Girl Distressed Over Dead Lobsters

September 12, 2012 Kid Stories

Back when I was two years old my family and I were staying at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire for vacation. My family decided to eat at a restaurant near the ballroom casino that is no longer there anymore. It’s a different restaurant now. It was a seafood place and my grandmother decided before we were […]

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Slow Service & No Ice

September 9, 2012 Server Stories

My friend and I were at a burger place (think Brooklyn). We were repeat customers; never had a bad experience. We walked in the place, sat down, and a few minutes later we decided to move to the outside tables. The server seemed annoyed about this but he was still fine. We probably waited 10 […]

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Kid Knocks Down Potted Plant

September 7, 2012 Kid Stories

Two friends and I went to “Pepper’s” one day right before the dinner rush. We were seated in a booth and one of my friends had the misfortune of being back-to-back to a girl (about age 6) who was practically bouncing off the walls of the booth she shared with her mother, who was basically […]

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Awesome Bartender Outshines Shoddy Server

August 30, 2012 Server Stories

Last year a new burger joint opened up that I fell in love with at first bite. Their meat comes from local farmers and is top quality, their veggies are locally grown when available, and their chefs work magic in their kitchen. My husband and I go whenever we have an excuse to drive into […]

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Server Battles Bill Skipper

August 26, 2012 Diner Stories

Backstory: I’d been working as a server in a Tex-Mex restaurant for about a year when I had a patron and his wife sit down for dinner. Let’s call him Frank. They ordered a double order of beef fajitas. I made my way out of the kitchen to check on them to see how everything was. […]

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Dip Cup Couple

July 25, 2012 Diner Stories

I work at an upscale bar, a dive bar, and a family run Italian restaurant. I have been in the restaurant business for almost twenty years and I have never encountered such stupidity. Anyhow, I usually get asked for a “dip cup” or a “spit cup” in the bars, but tonight I was asked at […]

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The Breaking Point

July 14, 2012 Accident & Mishap Stories

Servers have a lot of bad days. With so little control over who and what comes our way, and an income 90% dependent on the largess of our clientele, days can be rollercoasters of emotion. But there are bad days, and then there are days that are slow-motion train wrecks, threatening to derail our sanity, […]

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Burned Out Server is Sacked

July 10, 2012 Server Stories

Waiting tables can burn you out hard, especially if you’re the type of person who hustles. After 20 years of serving low-life miscreants, my burn-out was way beyond being tired of it. Every fiber of my being was just done with it. It got to the point that everyone I waited on was a motherless, […]

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Second-Rate Service at Moose Jaw Restaurant

July 8, 2012 Server Stories

OK, I live in a small town. I am a waitress in a small diner in my town. It is a very busy diner and there is only myself and my boss who work the floor. Most times there is only one of us at a time. We both have worked where the diner fills […]

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Storm Floods Restaurant

July 6, 2012 Accident & Mishap Stories

Over here in the UK we are used to heavy bouts of rainfall. Heck it rains 200 days a year over here. But every now and then we get the rare but scary storm that puts us on our toes. Anyway to the story…

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Getting Regionally Screwed

July 4, 2012 Server Stories

If you look up the word c*nt in a dictionary, there’s a better than average chance you’ll find a picture of a restaurant Regional Manager. Regardless of gender.

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Living the Groupon Dream

June 30, 2012 Diner Stories

My night starts with a deuce on Table 24. I walk up, introduce myself and thank them for joining us this evening. Before I can ask them if they’d like to begin their dinner with a cocktail, the woman reaches into her purse and slaps a Groupon down on the table, essentially broadcasting their intention […]

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