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.

We’re Not Moving

May 16, 2010 Diner Stories

Our restaurant presents live musical performances on Fridays and Saturdays; usually upbeat jazz and R&B. These shows are very, very popular, and we encourage people (via our website and press releases) to call the restaurant to reserve a seat. I was in the middle of seating a whole lot of people on a Friday night; […]

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On A Slow Boat To China

May 12, 2010 Diner Stories

After spending the last 18 of my 32 years in the restaurant business in the Chinese restaurant niche, I’ve become astounded at the way some older men, particularly veterans, are like dinosaurs when it comes to their racist remarks. For the record, my heritage is German; I’m not Asian-looking at all (rather very WASPy) but […]

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What’s The Butter For?

May 9, 2010 Illness/Medical Stories

I was working on a slow Friday night in a small family owned B.B.Q. place in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was getting close to closing time when a family of 3 (mom, dad and a small child) came in and sat down at one of my booths. It was almost 10pm and I thought nothing of […]

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Some Like It Hot

May 7, 2010 Food & Drink Stories

I’m a server who’s been working in Chinese restaurants for years, even though I’m not Chinese. I had a group of four customers who’re older who used to come in at least once a week — and commence immediately telling me and anyone who’d listen that every single thing they got was “ice cold.” Except […]

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Black Specks

May 2, 2010 Sanitation Stories

I was once at a fast food restaurant getting lunch. I noticed they dropped a whole bunch of fries on the floor, but I didn’t think twice about it. Well, when I got home, I noticed the fries had black specks on them and were dirty. To make a long story short, I ended up […]

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Walmart Worker Is Not A Rockefeller

April 29, 2010 Server Stories

Recently I was working in the Hamptons and went after work to a restaurant to just have a little to eat. The bill came to 12 dollars and some change, so I gave her a 20 dollar bill. She had the audacity to ask me if I wanted the change back. I looked at her […]

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Busser Grabs Diner’s Privates

April 24, 2010 Server Stories

Many years ago I worked as an assistant manager for a well known chain of restaurants located in the Washington, DC area. The chain was owned by Mormons who were very generous in helping handicapped and mentally challenged individuals by providing them jobs in the kitchen, and as bus boys and girls. The particular Shoppe […]

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The Smelly Man

April 21, 2010 Diner Stories

I work in a busy restaurant and we have all sorts of people coming and going. But there was one customer that was quite frankly hard to forget. He was well known throughout my hometown as the smelly man because well – he smells. No that is an understatement, he reeks but I do not […]

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Cursed At For Cutting In Line

April 17, 2010 Diner Stories

I was visiting my family in Wichita, KS, and right before I was to fly out, we went to a well-known local fast food chain restaurant. We were standing and looking at the menu, when a large man came in with an elderly man and disabled child. They were standing somewhat closer to the counter, […]

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Creepy Diner

April 17, 2010 Diner Stories

My mother and I once went to Edinburgh in Scotland for a trip and stopped by to eat at a friendly looking restaurant. It was almost deserted as night had set in. However there was a scruffy, shifty and downright scary gentleman sitting just a few tables away from us. You could tell he was […]

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Revenge For Refills

April 14, 2010 Dining Hell Commentary

One of my pet peeves regarding customers is when someone asks for more water/iced tea/etc when there’s less than an inch of liquid missing from their glass. It doesn’t happen very often, but when it does it annoys me, so I came up with a satisfying solution. I go to their table with the water/iced […]

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Smashed By A Runaway Wheelchair

April 11, 2010 Accident & Mishap Stories

I once had an unusual and quite frankly painful experience while dropping by one of my favourite restaurants while on my lunch break from work. After grabbing a bottle of soda from the fridge, I took it to the counter to order my food. I was just about to order when two women appeared, one […]

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