Service Issues

Waiters Tell You 30 Things Waiters Will Never Tell You

Photo: HarperCollins

For anyone who has ever insisted their waiter was serving them caffeinated coffee when they asked for decaf (Hi Mom!), it turns out it’s really the other way around. Waiters will serve you decaf when you’ve asked for regular, according to a group of servers asked by Reader’s Digest to reveal 30 restaurant secrets, because they don’t want to clean two pots of coffee at the end of the night. What are the other 29 horrors are allegedly happening in the back of the house?

The panel, which includes some anonymous servers, as well as Waiter Rant author Steve Dublanica and the founder of bitterwaitress blog, drags out this old chestnut:

I’ve seen some horrible things done to people’s food: steaks dropped on the floor, butter dipped in the dishwater.
—Waiter at a casual restaurant in the Chicago area

Other “secrets” revealed: waiters will ignore you if you snap your fingers at them, homemade desserts often aren’t homemade in the restaurant, if you send your soup back because it’s not hot enough, waiters scald your spoon in hot water, and they lie about liking the food they’re serving. There’s also the usual griping about lousy tippers, but no mention of a hatred of GraTRUEities. Add those to the list of dirty restaurant tricks recently compiled by Slashfood and you may never want to go out to eat again.

30 Secrets Your Waiter Will Never Tell You [Reader’s Digest via MSNBC]

Waiters Tell You 30 Things Waiters Will Never Tell You